Patent ID: 7684829

Claim:
An input apparatus of a mobile terminal, the apparatus comprising: a keypad having a plurality of keys and configured to generate key signals corresponding to a selection of the keys; a plurality of light emitting elements relating to the plurality of keys, respectively, configured to illuminate the keys; a key sensor configured to sense the key signals from the keypad; a storage unit configure to store the key signals; and a controller configured to display, on the keypad, information corresponding to the key signals by selectively controlling the plurality of light emitting elements based on the key signals, wherein the storage unit is configured to store therein different sets of lighting pattern information, each set corresponding to a piece of the information, and the controller is configured to illuminate the light emitting elements corresponding to each set of the lighting pattern information, and wherein for each piece of the information, when a user selects a plurality of light emitting elements by using the plurality of keys corresponding to a particular piece of the information, and thereafter, if no key selection is made during a preset time duration, then the controller is configured to store into the storage unit the key signals corresponding to the selected plurality of keys corresponding to the particular piece of the information, and wherein the controller is configured to sequentially illuminate each of the keys corresponding to the key signals, so that the information gradually appears on the keypad.