Patent ID: 12223164

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments described herein are provided to assist in the understanding of the disclosure, and it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, and that the embodiments may be implemented to various forms and various modifications may be applied thereto. However, in describing the disclosure below, if it is determined that the detailed description on a related known function or element unnecessarily obscures the gist of the disclosure, the detailed description and illustration thereof may be omitted. In addition, the accompanied drawings are not illustrated in the actual scale to assist in the understanding of the disclosure, but are illustrated so that the dimensions of some elements are exaggerated.

The terms used in the disclosure and the claims are general terms identified in consideration of the functions of the various embodiments. However, these terms may vary depending on intention, legal or technical interpretation, emergence of new technologies, and the like of those skilled in the related art. In addition, some arbitrary terms may be used. The terms may be interpreted to a meaning defined in the disclosure, and unless otherwise specified, the terms may be understood based on the overall contents and technological common sense of those skilled in the related art.

In the description of the disclosure, order of each step should be understood to be non-limiting, unless a preceding step must be performed logically and temporally before a subsequent step. In other words, except for the exceptional case above, even if a process described as a subsequent step is performed before a process described as a preceding step, the nature of the disclosure is not affected and the claim should be defined regardless of order of the steps.

It is to be understood that the expressions, such as “comprise,” “may comprise,” “include,” or “may include” are used herein to designate a presence of a corresponding characteristic (e.g., an element, such as a number, a function, an operation, or a component), and not to preclude a presence or a possibility of additional characteristics.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc. May be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and, similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure

Further, because elements necessary in describing each embodiment are described herein, the embodiments are not necessarily limited thereto. Accordingly, some elements may be modified or omitted, and other elements may be included. In addition, the elements may be disposed broken up in apparatuses independent from one another.

Furthermore, although the accompanied drawings and embodiments have been described in detail with reference to the descriptions disclosed in the accompanied drawings, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited by the embodiments.

The present disclosure provides an electronic device in which a plurality of icon members corresponding to functions that may be performed in the electronic device are attachable to arbitrary positions on a touch panel and a control method thereof.

The disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG.1is a diagram schematically illustrating an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.1, an electronic device100may include a body10, a panel110, and a plurality of icon members130attachable to an upper portion of the panel110.

The electronic device100may be various devices that provide services to users by performing various functions. For example, the electronic device100may be implemented as a microwave, an oven, an induction stove, a refrigerator, a washing machine, a dryer, an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, a TV, a desktop PC, a laptop computer, a smartphone, a tablet PC, a wearable device, and the like. However, the electronic device100is not limited thereto, and the electronic device100may be any device as long as it receives a user's touch input through a touch panel.FIG.1illustrates an example in which the electronic device100is implemented as a microwave.

The panel110may be a touch panel displaying icons representing functions that may be performed in order to display services that may be provided to a user, and for receiving a user's touch input. The panel110is disposed on the front of the main body10, thereby increasing user accessibility.

The electronic device100may perform a function corresponding to a corresponding icon according to a user's touch input for each icon provided on the panel110.

Hereinafter, the plurality of icon members130attached to the panel110will be described with reference toFIG.2.

FIG.2is a diagram illustrating a plurality of icon members attached at random positions on a panel of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.2, for example, in a case in which the electronic device100is a microwave, in the plurality of icon members130, the electronic device100, icons corresponding to various functions provided in the electronic device100, such as a microwave131, a grill132, and an automatic cooking133may be shown or icons corresponding to a user's instruction for controlling the electronic device100, such as OK134, start135, and cancel/power saving136may be shown.

In this case, the icon may include at least one of an image and text, and may be displayed in a printed form on the icon member130. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the icon may be displayed on the icon member130in a three-dimensional form, such as embossing or intaglio.

The electronic device100may identify the attachment position of each of the plurality of icon members130attached to the panel110and store position information of each icon member130in a memory150. Accordingly, when the user touches an icon member, the electronic device100may identify the icon member in which the user's touch occurs by matching a touch position with the position information of each of the plurality of icon members130, and performs a function corresponding thereto. Details thereof will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG.3is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.3, the electronic device100may include a sensor120, a processor140, the memory150, a speaker160, and a display170.

The sensor120may be disposed below the panel110and may detect a user's touch on each of a plurality of regions of the panel110, and may generate and output an electrical signal based on a sensing result. The sensor120may transmit an electrical signal to the processor140or store a detection result in the memory150of the electronic device100or an external device.

The sensor120may be a capacitive sensor that detects capacitance. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the sensor120may be implemented as various types of sensors capable of detecting a touch input. The electronic device100may identify the position in which the user's touch occurs through a sensing value of the sensor120and may check the attachment positions of the plurality of icon members130. Details of an operation of the electronic device100to check position information of each of the plurality of icon members130through the sensor120detecting a user's touch will be described below with reference toFIGS.5and6.

The processor140may control overall operations of the electronic device100. To this end, the processor140may include RAM (not shown), ROM (not shown), a graphics processing unit (not shown), a main CPU (not shown), first to n interfaces (not shown), and a bus (not shown). At this time, the RAM (not shown), the ROM (not shown), the graphics processing unit (not shown), the main CPU (not shown), the first to n interfaces (not shown), etc. may be connected to each other through a bus (not shown).

When a user's touch occurs on one icon member among the plurality of icon members130, the processor140may perform a function corresponding to the icon member in which the user's touch occurs. For example, the processor140may identify a region in which a user's touch occurs among a plurality of regions of the panel110based on a sensing value of the sensor120, identify function information corresponding to the identified region, and perform a function corresponding to the identified function information.

Meanwhile, the processor140may attach the plurality of icon members130to the panel110and control an output interface, such as the speaker160, the display170, or the like to provide a guide message guiding to touch the attached icon members130. Details thereof will be described below with reference toFIGS.7to9.

The memory150may store various instructions, programs, or data necessary for the operation of the electronic device100or the processor140. For example, information acquired by the sensor120and data received from an external electronic device (not shown) may be stored in the memory150.

The memory150may be implemented as a volatile memory, such as static random access memory (S-RAM) and dynamic random access memory (D-RAM), a non-volatile memory, such as flash memory, read only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), and electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM) or the like, a hard disk drive (HDD), or a solid state drive (SSD). The memory150may be accessed by the processor140, and reading/writing/modifying/deleting/updating of data may be performed by the processor140. The term memory of the present disclosure may include the memory150, RAM (not shown) in the processor140, ROM (not shown), or a memory card (not shown) mounted in the electronic device100(e.g., a micro SD car, a memory stick, etc.).

Here, the processor140and the memory150may be implemented as physically separated components, or may be implemented as a single component such that the processor140includes the memory150. Also, the processor140may be implemented as a single system including a single component or a plurality of components. The memory150may also be implemented as a single system including a single component or a plurality of components.

The memory150may store regions in which the plurality of icon members130are located, among a plurality of regions of the panel110, and function information corresponding to the regions.

For example, the processor140may attach a plurality of icon members130to the panel110, provide a guide message for guiding the user to touch the attached icon members130, identify a region in which user's touch occurs, among the plurality of regions, and store the region in which the user's touch occurs, in the memory150as a region in which the attached icon member is located.

Accordingly, the electronic device100may identify and store the position of each icon member130even if the user attaches the plurality of icon members130to an arbitrary position on the panel110, and thereafter, when a user's touch occurs on a specific icon member, the electronic device100may identify an icon member in which the user's touch occurs by matching the region in which the user's touch occurs to position information of the plurality of icon members130stored in the memory150, thereby performing a function corresponding to the icon member.

The speaker160may be built in the electronic device100and output not only various types of audio data subjected to various processing operations, such as decoding, amplification, and noise filtering, by an audio processing unit (not shown) but also various notification sounds or voice messages directly as sound.

For example, the speaker160may output a guide voice guiding to attach a plurality of icon members130to the panel110and to touch the attached icon member130under the control of the processor140.

In this case, the speaker160may sequentially output a first guide voice for guiding attachment of the plurality of icon members130and a second guide voice for guiding to touch the attached icon member. Details thereof will be described below with reference toFIGS.7to9.

The display170may display various information. Specifically, the display170may display image data processed by an image processing unit (not shown) in a display region (or display).

For example, the display170may display a guide message for attaching a plurality of icon members130to the panel110and guiding the user to touch the attached icon members130under the control of the processor140.

At least a portion of the display170may be coupled to at least one of front surface, side surface, upper surface, and rear surface regions of the electronic device100in the form of a flexible display in which the display may be bent or bowed, a foldable display in which the display may be folded, and a rollable display in which the display may be rolled. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the display170may be implemented in an external form rather than being built in the electronic device100, and image data may also be displayed on the external display connected to the electronic device100by wire or wirelessly.

To this end, the display170may be implemented in the form of a liquid crystal display (LCD), light emitting display (LED), organic light emitting display (OLED), micro LED, electronic ink (e-ink), or the like, but this is only an example and the present disclosure is not limited thereto and may be variously modified and implemented.

FIG.4is a block diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.4, the electronic device100may further include communication interface180and an input interface190, in addition to the sensor120, the processor140, the memory150, the speaker160, and the display170. Among the components shown inFIG.3, detailed descriptions of components which are the same as those shown inFIG.2will be omitted.

The communication interface180may transmit/receive various types of data by communicating with an external device (e.g., a server, a smartphone, etc.) according to various types of communication methods. To this end, the communication interface180may include at least one of a Bluetooth chip (not shown), a Wi-Fi chip (not shown), a wireless communication chip (not shown), and a near-field communication (NFC) chip (not shown) performing wireless communication, and an Ethernet module (not shown) and a USB module (not shown) performing wired communication. In this case, the Ethernet module and the USB module performing wired communication may communicate with an external device through an input/output (I/O) port (not shown).

Here, the I/O port (not shown) may be implemented as a wired port, such as an HDMI port, a display port, an RGB port, a digital visual interface (DVI) port, a thunderbolt, a LAN port, a USB port, a lightning cable port, and a component port. The I/O ports may transmit and receive various types of data by communicating with various types of external devices through respective communication standards.

The input interface190is a component capable of receiving various types of user commands from a user, and may transmit the received user commands to the processor140. For example, the processor140may receive a user command for performing a specific function of the electronic device100through the input interface190.

The input interface190may include, for example, a touch panel or a key. The touch panel may use at least one of, for example, a capacitive type, a resistive type, an infrared type, or an ultrasonic type, and may include a control circuit therefor. The touch panel may further include a tactile layer to provide a tactile response to the user. Keys may be implemented through, for example, a physical button method, an optical method, or a virtual keypad method combined with a touch panel. Meanwhile, the input interface190may receive a user command through an external device (not shown), such as a keyboard, mouse, smartphone, etc. connected by wire or wirelessly.

The input interface190may directly receive the user's voice through a built-in or external microphone of the electronic device100, and convert the user's voice, which is an analog signal, into a digital signal by a digital converter (not shown) to obtain an audio signal. Also, as an embodiment, the input interface190may receive an analog signal of a user's voice or an audio signal obtained by digitally converting the user's voice from an external device (not shown), such as a smartphone connected by wire or wirelessly. In this case, the input interface190or the processor140may convert the user's voice into text data, such as speech-to-text (STT), using various speech recognition algorithms, and may interpret the text data to recognize a meaning thereof, and execute a command according to the recognized meaning.

When the input interface190performs wired communication, communication may be performed with an external device through the I/O port (not shown) described above.

FIG.5is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a sensor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.5, the sensor120may include a first sensor121detecting coordinates of a region in which a user's touch occurs in a horizontal direction (an X-axis direction) and a second sensor122detecting coordinates in a vertical direction (a Y-axis direction). Accordingly, the processor140may check the region in which the user's touch occurs based on the sensing value of the sensor120.

FIG.6is a diagram illustrating an operation of sensing a user's touch on at least one region among a plurality of regions of a panel by a sensor according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.6, when the icon member130is attached to the panel110and a user's touch applied to the attached icon member130occurs, the processor140may identify a region in which the user's touch occurs based on a sensing value of the sensor120disposed below the panel110.

In this case, the processor140may determine that a user's touch occurs in one or more regions among a plurality of regions of the panel110according to a size of the icon member130.

Meanwhile, each of the plurality of icon members130may have a different permittivity. To this end, the plurality of icon members130may be manufactured to have different sizes, thicknesses, areas, materials, and the like, respectively.

If the plurality of icon members130have different permittivity, capacitance change values detected through the sensor120may be different when a user touches each icon member130. Accordingly, the processor140may identify an icon member in which the user's touch occurs, among the plurality of icon members130, based on the sensing value detected through the sensor120detecting the user's touch with respect to each of the plurality of regions of the panel110. For example, an icon member in which a user's touch occurs may be identified based on the sum of a capacitance change of a region having the largest capacitance change, among a plurality of regions of the panel110, and a peripheral region of the region having the largest capacitance change.

Accordingly, the plurality of icon members130attached to the panel110may be identified, and based on this, information on a position in which each icon member130is attached on the panel110may be obtained.

Meanwhile, the electronic device100may output a first guide voice for guiding attachment of a plurality of icon members and a second guide voice for guiding to touch the attached icon member130. This will be described in detail with reference toFIGS.7to9hereinafter.

FIG.7is a diagram illustrating a first guide voice for guiding attachment of a plurality of icon members, andFIGS.8and9are diagrams illustrating a second guide voice for guiding to touch the attached icon members.

Referring toFIG.7, the electronic device100may output the first guide voice guiding attachment of the icon member through a speaker.

Here, the first guide voice may guide attachment of one icon member among the plurality of icon members130or guide attachment of all of the plurality of icon members130.

When the first guide voice guides the attachment of one icon member, the electronic device100may guide the attachment of a predetermined icon member, for example, an “OK” icon member. The user may attach the “OK” icon member to a desired position on the panel110according to the first guide voice guiding the attachment of the “OK” icon member. Also, referring toFIG.8, the electronic device100may output the second guide voice guiding the user to touch the “OK” icon member. When the user touches the “OK” icon member according to the second guide voice, the electronic device100may detect the position in which the user's touch occurs through the sensor120and store the region in which the user's touch occurs as a region in which the “OK” icon member is located in the memory150.

When the first guide voice guides attachment of all of the plurality of icon members130, the user may attach the plurality of icon members130to desired positions on the panel110according to the first guide voice. Also, referring toFIG.9, the electronic device100may output the second guide voice guiding to touch the plurality of icon members130in a predetermined order. When the user touches the plurality of icon members130in the predetermined order according to the second guide voice, the electronic device100may check the region in which the user's touch occurs and the order in which the user's touch occurs through the sensor120, and store the regions in which user's touch occurs as regions in which each of the plurality of icon members130are located based on the order in which the user's touch occurs in the memory150.

Meanwhile, when the first guide voice guides attachment of all of the plurality of icon members130, the second guide voice may guide the plurality of attached icon members130to be touched, respectively, by different number of times. When the user touches the plurality of icon members130by a predetermined number of times according to the second guide voice, the electronic device100may identify the region in which the user's touch occurs and the number of times the user's touch occurs through the sensor120, and may store the regions in which the user's touch occurs as regions in which each of the plurality of icon members130are located in the memory150based on the number of times user's touch occurs.

FIG.10is a diagram illustrating a control method of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIG.10, the control method of the electronic device100according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include guiding attachment of a plurality of icon members130in which icons corresponding functions performable in the electronic device100are shown to the panel110(S1010) and performing, when a user's touch occurs on one of the plurality of icon members130, a function corresponding to the icon member on which the user's touch occurs.

First, the electronic device100may guide attachment of the plurality of icon members130on which icons corresponding to functions that may be performed are shown to the panel110in operation S1010.

Here, each of the plurality of icon members130may have a different permittivity. In this case, when a user touches each icon member130, a capacitance change value detected through the sensor120may be different.

The electronic device100may identify an icon member in which the user's touch occurs, among a plurality of icon members130, based on a sensing value detected through the sensor120that detects the user's touch on each of a plurality of regions of the panel110.

For example, an icon member in which the user's touch occurs may be identified based on the sum of a capacitance change of a region having the largest capacitance change, among a plurality of regions of the panel110, and a capacitance change of a peripheral region of the region having the largest capacitance change.

Accordingly, THE plurality of icon members130attached to the panel110may be identified, and based on this, information on the position in which each icon member130is attached on the panel110may be obtained.

Meanwhile, the electronic device100may output a first guide voice for guiding attachment of a plurality of icon members and a second guide voice for guiding to touch the attached icon member130.

Here, the first guide voice guides attachment of one icon member among the plurality of icon members130, the second guide voice may guide to touch the attached icon member, and the electronic device100may output the first guide voice and the second guide voice for each of the plurality of icon members. In this case, after the second guide voice is output, the electronic device100may identify a region in which a user's touch occurs, among a plurality of regions, and store the region in which the user's touch occurs as a region in which the attached icon member130is located in the memory150. Accordingly, the electronic device100may sequentially check the position information to which each icon member130is attached based on the region in which the user's touch occurs and store the position information.

As another example, the first guide voice may guide attachment of the plurality of icon members130, and the second guide voice may guide to sequentially touch the plurality of attached icon members130. In this case, after the second guide voice is output, the electronic device100may identify the region in which the user's touch occurs, among the plurality of regions, and the order in which the user's touch occurs, and store the region in which the user's touch occurs as a region in which the plurality of icon members130are located in the memory150based on the order in which the user's touch occurs.

As another example, the first guide voice may guide attachment of the plurality of icon members130, and the second guide voice may guide to touch the plurality of attached icon members130, respectively, by different number of times. In this case, after the second guide voice is output, the electronic device100may identify the region in which the user's touch occurs, among the plurality of regions, and the number of times the user's touch occurs, and store the region in which the user's touch occurs as a region in which each of the plurality of icon members130are located in the memory based on the number of times the user's touch occurs.

Then, when a user's touch occurs on one icon member among the plurality of icon members130, the electronic device100may perform a function corresponding to the icon member in which the user's touch occurs (S1020).

Here, the electronic device100may identify a position in which the user's touch occurs, match the identified position to the attached position information of each icon member130stored in the memory150, identify the icon member in which the user's touch occurs, and perform a function corresponding thereto.

That is, the electronic device100may store the region in which the plurality of icon members130are located, among the plurality of regions of the panel110, and function information corresponding to the region in the memory150, identify the region in which the user's occurs, among the plurality of regions, and identify function information corresponding to the identified region. Also, the electronic device100may perform a function corresponding to the identified function information.

Various embodiments of the disclosure may be implemented by software (e.g., the program140) including an instruction stored in a machine-readable storage media readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). The machine may be a device that calls the instruction from the machine-readable storage media and operates depending on the called instruction and may include the electronic device (e.g., a microwave). When the instruction is executed by the processor, the processor may perform a function corresponding to the instruction directly or using other components under the control of the processor. The instruction may include a code generated or executed by a compiler or an interpreter. The machine-readable storage media may be provided in the form of non-transitory storage media. Here, the term “non-transitory”, as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency.

According to embodiments, the methods according to various embodiments disclosure in this document may be included in a computer program product and provided. The computer program product may be traded as goods between a seller and a purchaser. The computer program product may be distributed as a device-readable storage medium (e.g., compact disk read only memory (CD-ROM)) or online through an application store (e.g., play store™). In the case of online distribution, at least part of the computer program product may be temporarily stored or temporarily created in a storage medium such as a server of a manufacturer, a server of an application store, or a memory of a relay server.

While the present disclosure has been described and illustrated with reference to the preferred embodiments, the present disclosure is not limited to the above-described specific embodiments, and it will be understood that various modifications and variations may be made therein by those skilled in the art to which the present disclosure pertains, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims. These modifications and variations should not be understood separately from the technical spirit and prospect of the present disclosure.