Vehicle and control method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9801034-B2
Application number	US-201615149712-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 9, 2016
Priority date	May 13, 2015
Publication date	Oct 24, 2017
Grant date	Oct 24, 2017

Abstract

A vehicle including a wireless communication processor configured to provide wireless communication; a keypad; a display unit configured to display a character corresponding to a key input through the keypad; and a controller configured to activate the keypad when information related to a driving of the vehicle satisfies a preset condition, and deactivate the keypad when the information related to the driving of the vehicle does not satisfy the preset condition.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle comprising:
a wireless communication processor configured to provide wireless communication;
a keypad;
a display unit configured to display a character corresponding to a key input through the keypad;
a controller configured to:
activate the keypad when information related to a driving of the vehicle satisfies a preset condition, and
deactivate the keypad when the information related to the driving of the vehicle does not satisfy the preset condition; and
a voice recognition unit configured to input and output an external voice,
wherein the controller is further configured to activate a voice input function through the voice recognition unit when the keypad is deactivated.

2. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the keypad is mounted on a steering wheel of the vehicle, and
wherein the controller is further configured to receive an event notification from an external device via the wireless communication processor.

3. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
display on the display unit a notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle satisfies the preset condition, and
output, via an audio output unit in the vehicle, the notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle does not satisfy the preset condition.

4. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
not output a notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is being driven, and
output the notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is not being driven.

5. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
display on the display unit a notification concerning the received event notification, when the external device matches an approved mobile terminal, and
not display the notification on the display unit, when the external device does not match the approved mobile terminal.

6. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to output the notification concerning the received event notification via a speaker included in the vehicle, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates there are no passengers in the vehicle.

7. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to display notification information on the display unit indicating if the keypad is deactivated or activated.

8. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
deactivate the keypad a predetermined amount of time after activating the keypad based on the information related to the driving of the vehicle, and
display a countdown of time left in the predetermined amount of time on the display unit.

9. The vehicle of claim 8 , wherein the information related to the driving of the vehicle corresponds to a traffic signal, and
wherein the controller is further configured to activate the keypad when the traffic signal indicates the vehicle should stop, and deactivate the keypad when the traffic signal indicates the vehicle should go.

10. The vehicle of claim 9 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
display contents of the received event during the predetermined amount of time the keypad is activated, and
stop displaying the contents on the display unit when the predetermined amount of time expires and the keypad is deactivated.

11. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to determine information input via the keypad is destination information in response to the information being input via the keypad less than a predetermined time after the vehicle is started.

12. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to limit at least one of a number of characters that can be input through the keypad and an input time based on the information related to the driving of the vehicle.

13. The vehicle of claim 12 , wherein the controller is further configured to display information regarding the limited number of characters that can be input through the keypad and the limited input time on the display unit.

14. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to lock the steering wheel when the keypad is activated.

15. The vehicle of claim 2 , wherein the controller is further configured to:
receive schedule information from the external device, and
activate the keypad such that inputting can be performed through the keypad so that a preset function is performed based on the schedule information and the information related to the driving of the vehicle.

16. The vehicle of claim 2 , further comprising:
a camera,
wherein when a preset input is applied to the keypad, the controller is further configured to capture an image through the camera, and transmit the captured image to an SNS server through the external device.

17. The vehicle of claim 1 , wherein the information related to the driving of the vehicle includes at least one of driving state information of the vehicle, road information, and traffic signal information, and the driving state information of the vehicle includes at least one of a speed, acceleration, halt, and parking of the vehicle.

18. A vehicle comprising:
a wireless communication processor configured to provide wireless communication;
a display unit configured to display a character corresponding to a key input through a keypad; and
a controller configured to:
receive an event notification from an external device via the wireless communication processor,
output a notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is being driven,
output a prompt questioning whether or not detailed contents should be output, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is not being driven, and
output the detailed contents concerning the received event, in response to a confirmation to the output prompt.

19. A vehicle comprising:
a wireless communication processor configured to provide wireless communication;
a display unit configured to display a character corresponding to a key input through a keypad; and
a controller configured to:
receive an event notification from an external device via the wireless communication processor,
display a notification with a warning color concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is being driven, and
display the notification with a green color concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is not being driven.

20. A vehicle comprising:
a wireless communication processor configured to provide wireless communication;
a display unit configured to display a character corresponding to a key input through a keypad; and
a controller configured to:
receive an event notification from an external device via the wireless communication processor,
display a notification concerning the received event notification, when the information related to the driving of the vehicle indicates the vehicle is being driven at a preset location, and
not display the notif

Assignees

• Lg Electronics Inc

Inventors

• Kim Inshick
• Chang Sukjin

Classifications

• G06F3/023

  Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes · CPC title

• B62D1/046

  Adaptations on rotatable parts of the steering wheel for accommodation of switches · CPC title

• H04W4/12 Primary

  Messaging; Mailboxes; Announcements · CPC title

• G06F3/0219

  Special purpose keyboards · CPC title

• B60K35/25

  using haptic output · CPC title