Method and electronic device for interacting between multiple areas of a display

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11449216-B2
Application number	US-201916709385-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 10, 2019
Priority date	Dec 19, 2018
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

An electronic device is provided and includes a display including a front area and a plurality of side areas, at least one processor, and at least one memory. The at least one memory stores instructions configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to receive a grip input for the display, identify a grip type based on the grip input, receive a touch input to at least one of the plurality of side areas while the electronic device is gripped, and identify a function corresponding to the touch input based on the identified grip type.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An electronic device, comprising:
a display including a front area and a plurality of side areas comprising a first side area corresponding to a left side area, a second side area corresponding to a right side area, a third side area corresponding to an upper side area, and a fourth side area corresponding to a lower side area, wherein the first side area, the second side area, the third side area, and the fourth side area indicate different directions from each other;
at least one processor; and
at least one memory, wherein the at least one memory stores instructions configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
receive a grip input for the display through the first side area and the second side area,
identify a grip type based on the grip input and identify an operation state of the electronic device,
in response to a first touch input being received through the third side area of the plurality of side areas while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, display a first screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a first area corresponding to the third side area among the front area of the display, and
in response to a second touch input being received through the fourth side area while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, display a second screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a second area corresponding to the fourth side area among the front area of the display.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
identify the grip type based on at least one of numbers, coordinates, shapes, patterns, or sizes of the grip input.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
perform different functions based on a grip type, an operation state, or a direction of a touch input.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
deactivate the first side area and the second side area, and
receive the first touch input through the third side area or the second touch input through the fourth side area neighboring the deactivated first side area and the deactivated second side area.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
in response to the operation state being identified as an idle state, activate at least one of the third side area or the fourth side area, and
in response to the first touch input or the second touch input being received, activate the first area or the second area among the front area.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the operation state is identified based on the grip type.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are further configured to, when executed, enable the at least one processor to:
provide a tactile feedback through a haptic circuit of the electronic device based on the grip type.

8. A method of operating an electronic device comprising a display including a front area and a plurality of side areas comprising a first side area corresponding to a left side area, a second side area corresponding to a right side area, a third side area corresponding to an upper side area, and a fourth side area corresponding to a lower side area, the method comprising:
receiving a grip input for the display through the first side area and the second side area;
identifying a grip type based on the grip input and identifying an operation state of the electronic device;
in response to a first touch input being received through the third side area of the plurality of side areas while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, displaying a first screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a first area corresponding to the third side area among the front area of the display; and
in response to a second touch input being received through the fourth side area while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, displaying a second screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a second area corresponding to the fourth side area among the front area of the display.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
identifying the grip type based on at least one of numbers, coordinates, shapes, patterns, or sizes of the grip input.

10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
deactivating the first side area and the second side area, and
receiving the first touch input through the third side area or the second touch input through the fourth side area neighboring the deactivated first side area and the deactivated second side area.

11. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
in response to the operation state being identified as an idle state, activating at least one of the third side area or the fourth side area, and
in response to the first touch input or the second touch input being received, activating the first area or the second area among the front area.

12. The method of claim 8 , wherein the operation state is identified based on the grip type.

13. A non-transitory computer readable recording medium recording a program running on a computer, the program comprising executable instructions configured to, when executed by a processor, enable the processor to:
receive a grip input for a display included in an electronic device through a first side area corresponding to a left side area and a second side area corresponding to a right side area of a plurality of side areas of the display,
identify a grip type based on the grip input and identify an operation state of the electronic device,
in response to a first touch input being received through a third side area corresponding to an upper side area of the plurality of side areas of the display while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, display a first screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a first area corresponding the third side area among the front area of the display, and
in response to a second touch input being is received through the fourth side area while the grip type identified through the first side area and the second side area is maintained, display a first screen identified based on the identified operation state, on a first area corresponding to the third side area among the front area of the display.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further comprises executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, enable the processor to:
identify the grip type based on at least one of numbers, coordinates, shapes, patterns, or sizes of the grip input.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable recording medium of claim 13 , wherein the program further comprises executable instructions configured to, when executed by the processor, enable the processor to:
deactivate the first side area and the second side area, and
receive the first touch input through the third side area or the second touch input through the fourth side area neighboring the deactivated first side area and the deactivated second side area.

16. The non-tr

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Rho Jaeyeon
• Kwak Jiyeon
• Yoon Yeojun
• Seo Jooho

Classifications

• G06F2203/0339

  Touch strips, e.g. orthogonal touch strips to control cursor movement or scrolling; single touch strip to adjust parameter or to implement a row of soft keys · CPC title

• G06F1/1626

  with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs] · CPC title

• G06F2203/04806

  Zoom, i.e. interaction techniques or interactors for controlling the zooming operation · CPC title

• G06F3/1431

  using a single graphics controller · CPC title

• G06F3/0484

  for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range · CPC title