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Touch screen device and method of displaying and selecting menus thereof

This is a Continuation application of Ser. No. 11/646,604 filed Dec. 28, 2006, which claims priority to Application Serial Nos. 10-2006-0035443 filed Apr. 19, 2006 and 10-2006-0046719 filed on May 24, 2006 in Korea, the entirety of which are incorporated herein by reference.

1. Field

A touch screen device method of displaying menus on a touch screen device are disclosed herein.

2. Background Art

Generally, electronic devices are provided with a menu screen to allow a user to easily use the functions provided by the device. Since a single device typically provides a variety of services and functions, menu screen(s) and the related menu information is necessary, and a variety of methods for more easily executing the functions provided by the menus are continuously being developed and introduced. A menu structure typically includes a main menu where functions are classified by categories, and submenus linked to respective menu items of the main menu. A listing of favorite menus may be provided such that frequently used functions can be easily accessed.

Since portable information terminals must be small enough in overall size to be easily carried, conventional key button input methods are difficult to use. As such, a touch screen method may be employed, which uses a finger or stylus pen for the selection and input of information to improve the convenience and ease of use of portable information terminals.

However, due to the size of most portable information terminals, a plurality of menu bars are inevitably displayed close together on the touch screen making it difficult to accurately select a desired menu, resulting in touch errors and/or erroneous selections.

Further, when such an error occurs, there is no way to correct the error. That is, a user must typically first execute an undesired function before returning to an earlier menu to correct the error, or the touch screen does not respond to the user's input when the touch error occurs.

Embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exemplary illustration of menu bars displayed on a touch screen of a portable information terminal device;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are block diagrams of a touch screen device, in accordance with embodiments;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary illustration of menu bars displayed on a touch screen device, in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method of displaying and selecting menus on a touch screen device, in accordance with an embodiment; and

FIGS. 6A-6F are exemplary illustrations of operation of a touch screen device, in accordance with an embodiment.