Apparatus, method, and medium for providing area division unit having touch function patent

Abstract
Provided are an apparatus, method, and medium for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function, and more particularly, an apparatus and method for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function which are capable of dividing a display screen of a display device into one or more display areas using an area division unit equipped with a transparent touch pad and allowing a user to choose and execute one of a plurality of menu items that are displayed on the display screen and are seen through the transparent touch pad. The apparatus includes an area division unit which can be moved in a predetermined direction by a user and can thus divide a display screen into one or more display areas, the display screen which is divided into one or more display areas according to the location of the area division unit, and a touch pad which is attached on the top surface of the area division unit and allows the user to choose and execute one of a plurality of icons displayed on the display screen.


Description
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CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001]This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2006-0039298 filed on May 1, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002]1. Field of the Invention

[0003]The present invention relates to an apparatus, method, and medium for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function, and more particularly, to an apparatus, method, and medium for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function, the apparatus, method, and medium capable of dividing a display screen of a display device using an area division unit equipped with a transparent touch pad and allowing a user to choose and execute one of a plurality of menu items that are displayed on the display screen and are seen through the transparent touch pad.

[0004]2. Description of the Related Art

[0005]Recently, a variety of content providing servers capable of providing data streams of various moving image programs via a network such as the Internet or a mobile network have been commercialized.

[0006]Accordingly, personal computers connected to the Internet, mobile phones connected to a mobile communication network, personal data assistants (PDAs) connected to an access point, or portable media players (PMPs) can receive in real time various data streams transmitted by such content providing servers, process the received data streams, and enable users to watch various moving image programs via a network.

[0007]In particular, PMPs are portable devices capable of playing back various multimedia files (e.g., video, music, and photo files) ranging from MP3 music files to still image/moving image content items. PMPs have a variety of additional functions and are designed as embedded systems comprised of a CPU, a memory, an auxiliary memory device, and other peripheral devices so as to perform multiple tasks.

[0008]In order to perform multiple tasks using a PMP, it is necessary to perform menu manipulation using external buttons. However, mismatches between menu buttons displayed on a PMP screen and such external buttons result in poor intuitive operability.

[0009]Conventionally, when performing multiple tasks using a PMP, a display screen is divided into one or more display areas of a predefined size so that the areas can respectively display a plurality of content items. However, it is impossible to divide a display screen into one or more display areas of a size desired by a user.

[0010]In the meantime, Korean Patent Laid-Open Gazette No. 2004-071767, entitled "Touch-Screen Image Scrolling System and Method," discloses a touch-screen responsive system which displays a scrolling motion as an image on a display screen in response to the movement of a user's finger that contacts the display screen. This system, however, cannot provide a clear screen image especially when an entire display screen is used as a touch screen. Also, this system lacks a function of dividing a single display screen into a plurality of areas of a predefined size and playing back a plurality of content items using the areas.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011]Additional aspects, features, and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.

[0012]The present invention provides an apparatus, method, and medium for controlling the division of a display screen of a display device according to a user's preferences by moving an area division unit according to arbitrary user manipulation and dividing the display screen into one or more display areas according to the location of the area division unit.

[0013]The present invention also provides an apparatus, method, and medium for enabling a user to intuitively choose one of a plurality of icons that are displayed on a display screen and are seen through a transparent touch pad by installing the transparent touch pad on the top surface of an area division unit.

[0014]According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function. The apparatus includes an area division unit which can be moved in a predetermined direction by a user and can thus divide a display screen into one or more display areas, the display screen which is divided into one or more display areas according to the location of the area division unit, and a touch pad which is attached on the top surface of the area division unit and allows the user to choose and execute one of a plurality of icons displayed on the display screen.

[0015]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for providing an area division unit having a touch pad function. The apparatus includes a first signal input module which receives a signal that is generated when an area division unit is moved, a second signal input module which receives a touch signal that is generated when a user touches a touch pad, an area division unit location determination module which determines the location of the area division unit relative to a display screen based on the signal received by the first signal input module, a touch location calculation module which calculates a touch location on the display screen that is chosen by the user, based on the touch signal received by the second signal input module and the location of the area division unit determined by the area division unit location determination module, and a control module which divides the display screen according to the location of the area division unit determined by the area division unit location determination module.

[0016]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of providing an area division unit having a touch pad function. The method includes receiving a signal that is generated when a user moves an area division unit, determining the location of the area division unit relative to a display screen based on the received signal, dividing the display screen according to the determined location of the area division unit, receiving a touch signal that is generated when the user touches a touch pad, calculating a touch location on the display screen that is chosen by the user, based on the received touch signal and the determined location of the area division unit, and activating an icon corresponding to the calculated touch location.

[0017]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus, including: a movable area divider to divide a display screen into two or more display areas, wherein size of at least one display area is determined by location of movable area divider; and a touch pad which is attached on a top surface of the movable area divider and which is touched by a user to select one of a plurality of icons displayed on one of the display areas.

[0018]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display apparatus having a movable area divider, the display apparatus including: a first signal input module which receives a signal that is generated when the movable area divider is moved; a second signal input module which receives a touch signal that is generated when a user touches a touch pad attached to the movable area divider; an area divider location determination module which determines the location of the movable area divider relative to a display screen based on the signal received by the first signal input module; a touch location calculation module which calculates a touch location on the display screen that is selected by the user, based on the touch signal received by the second signal input module and the location of the movable area divider determined by the area divider location determination module; and a control module which divides the display screen according to the location of the movable area divider determined by the area divider location determination module.

[0019]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for dividing a display screen into display areas and adjusting size of content displayed in display areas, including: receiving a signal that is generated when a user moves a movable area divider; determining location of the movable area divider relative to the display screen based on the received signal; dividing the display screen according to the determined location of the movable area divider into the display areas; receiving a touch signal that is generated when the user touches a touch pad attached to the movable area divider; calculating a touch location on the display screen that is selected by the user, based on the received touch signal and the determined location of the movable area divider; activating an icon corresponding to the calculated touch location; and adjusting the size of content displayed in at least one of the display areas into which the display screen is divided by the movable area divider according to the size of the at least one display area.

[0020]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a movable area divider attached to a touch pad, wherein the movable area divider divides a display screen into at least three display areas which display an icon, content item corresponding to the icon, and information corresponding to the icon in three separate display areas; and size of content item displayed in one of the at least three separate display areas is adjusted according to location of the movable area divider which defines size of each display area.

[0021]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a movable area divider attached to a touch pad, wherein: the movable area divider divides a display screen into at least two separate display areas which display an icon and content item corresponding to the icon in two separate display areas; and size of content item displayed in at least one of the display areas is adjusted according to location of the movable area divider which defines size of each display area.

[0022]According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided at least one computer readable medium storing computer readable instructions that control at least one processor to implement the methods of the present invention.