Abstract:
An electronic device includes a vibration sensor. The vibration sensor senses shake of the electronic device. If the user shakes the electronic device when a screen of the electronic device is in a locked state, the electronic device detects if the vibration sensor is activated. If the vibration sensor is activated, the electronic device counts a number of activation times of the vibration sensor. If the number of the activation times of the vibration sensor is the same as a predefined number, the screen of the electronic device is unlocked.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to unlocking systems and methods, and particularly to a system and a method for unlocking a screen of an electronic device. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    A plurality of electronic devices (mobile phone, tablet personal computer, for example) provide touch screens for users. A touch screen is easy to be inadvertently activated, thus a screen lock is often adopted to avoid unintentional operations. Mostly, a user has to perform a slide operation on the screen to unlock the screen. However, too much slides may damage the screen. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0005]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device including an unlocking system. 
           [0006]      FIG. 2  is a block diagram of one embodiment of function modules of the unlocking system in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating one embodiment of a method for unlocking a screen of an electronic device. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0008]    The disclosure, including the accompanying drawings, is illustrated by way of examples and not by way of limitation. It should be noted that references to “an” or “one” embodiment in this disclosure are not necessarily to the same embodiment, and such references mean “at least one.” 
         [0009]    In general, the word “module,” as used herein, refers to logic embodied in hardware or firmware, or to a collection of software instructions, written in a programming language. One or more software instructions in the modules may be embedded in firmware, such as in an EPROM. The modules described herein may be implemented as either software and/or hardware modules and may be stored in any type of non-transitory computer-readable medium or other storage device. Some non-limiting examples of non-transitory computer-readable media may include CDs, DVDs, BLU-RAY, flash memory, and hard disk drives. 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of one embodiment of an electronic device  1  including an unlocking system  10 , a vibration sensor  11  and a screen  12 . In some embodiments, the electronic device  1  may be a mobile phone, a tablet personal computer, for example. The vibration sensor  11  is activated and detects vibration data of the electronic device  1  when the electronic device  1  is shaken. The vibration sensor  11  controls unlocking of the screen  12 . 
         [0011]    In an exemplary embodiment, the electronic device  1  includes at least one processor  13  and a storage system  14 . The unlocking system  10  may include one or more modules (described in  FIG. 2 ). The one or more modules may comprise computerized code in the form of one or more programs that are stored in the storage system  14 . In one embodiment, the storage system  14  may be a magnetic storage system, an optical storage system, or other suitable storage medium. The computerized code includes instructions that are executed by the at least one processor  13  to provide functions for the one or more modules described below. 
         [0012]    As shown in  FIG. 2 , the unlocking system  10  includes a setting module  100 , a first sensing module  101 , a timing module  102 , a counting module  103 , a first detecting module  104 , a second sensing module  105 , a second detecting module  106 , and an opening module  107 . 
         [0013]    The setting module  100  sets an initial value of activation times of the vibration sensor  11 . The activation times indicate how many times that the vibration sensor  11  has been activated. In one embodiment, the initial value of the activating times is zero. 
         [0014]    The first sensing module  101  detects if the vibration sensor  11  is activated when the screen  12  is in a locked state. In one embodiment, the vibration sensor  11  may be a ball switch. The ball switch includes a ball and a circuit. If the electronic device  1  is shaken, the ball may hit the circuit. An electric level of the circuit may change if the ball hits the circuit. The vibration sensor  11  is activated because of the change of the electric level of the circuit. 
         [0015]    If the vibration sensor  11  is activated, the timing module  102  reads a first system time of the electronic device  1 . The counting module  103  increase a present value (e.g., the initial value) of the activation times of the vibration sensor  11  by one and obtains a first value of the activation times. 
         [0016]    The first detecting module  104  calculates a difference between a second system time of the electronic device  1  and the first system time of the electronic device  1 , and detects if the difference is the same as a predefined value. If the difference is different from the predefined value, the second sensing module  105  detects if the vibration sensor  11  is further activated. If the second sensing module  105  detects that the vibration sensor  11  is further activated, the counting module  103  increases the first value of the activation times by one and obtains a second value of the activation times. 
         [0017]    If the difference is the same as the predefined value, the second detecting module  106  detects if the first value or the second value of the activation times is the same as a predefined number. 
         [0018]    If the first value or the second value of the activation times is the same as the predefined number, the opening module  107  unlocks the screen  12  of the electronic device  1 . If either the first value or the second value of the activation times is different from the predefined number, the screen  12  of the electronic device  1  remains in the locked state. 
         [0019]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart illustrating a method for unlocking a screen of an electronic device. Depending on the embodiment, additional steps may be increased, others removed, and the ordering of the steps may be changed. 
         [0020]    In step S 30 , the setting module  100  sets an initial value of an activation times of the vibration sensor  11 . 
         [0021]    In step S 31 , if the screen  12  is in a locked state, the first sensing module  101  detects if the vibration sensor  11  is activated. If the vibration sensor  11  is in the locked state, step S 32  is implemented. If the vibration sensor  11  is not in the locked state, step S 31  is repeated. 
         [0022]    In step S 32 , the timing module  102  reads a first system time of the electronic device  1 . 
         [0023]    In step S 33 , the counting module  103  increases a present value (e.g., the initial value) of the activation times of the vibration sensor  11  by one and obtains a first value of the activation times. 
         [0024]    In step S 34 , the first detecting module  104  calculates a difference between a second system time of the electronic device  1  and the first system time of the electronic device  1 , and detects if the difference is the same as a predefined value. If the difference is not the same as the predefined value, step S 35  is implemented. If the difference is the same as the predefined value, step S 37  is implemented. 
         [0025]    In step S 35 , the second sensing module  105  detects if the vibration sensor  11  is activated again. If the vibration sensor  11  is activated again, step S 36  is implemented. If the vibration sensor  11  is not activated again, step S 34  is repeated. 
         [0026]    In step S 36 , the counting module  103  increases the first value of the activation times by one and obtains a second value of the activation times and implements step S 37 . 
         [0027]    In step S 37 , the second detecting module  106  detects if the first value or the second value of the activation times is the same as a predefined number. If the first value or the second value of the activation times is the same as the predefined number, step S 38  is implemented. If each of the first value and the second value of the activation times is not the same as the predefined number, the procedure ends. 
         [0028]    In step S 38 , the opening module  107  unlocks the screen  12  of the electronic device  1 . 
         [0029]    Although certain inventive embodiments of the present disclosure have been specifically described, the present disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Various changes or modifications may be made to the present disclosure without departing from the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.