Granted Patent B2

US 9,614,987 · App. 14/219,370 · Granted Apr 4, 2017

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. A mobile device for providing a user interface, the mobile device comprising:

a near field communication (NFC) module to receive a display specification of an image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus is tagged via NFC;

a controller to determine a first layout of a first user interface of the image forming apparatus and a second layout of a second user interface of the mobile device by comparing a display specification of the mobile device and the received display specification of the image forming apparatus; and

a user interface unit to display the second user interface of the mobile device having the determined second layout,

wherein the controller determines one of the first user interface and the second user interface as a main interface and another of the first user interface and the second user interface as a sub-interface based on a result of the comparing,

wherein the main interface comprises more detailed user interface configurations than the sub-interface, and

wherein if an activation command of an upper menu is input via the sub-interface, a lower menu related to the upper menu is displayed on the main interface.

2. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the second user interface is extended from the first user interface.

3. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the first user interface and the second user interface have different layouts.

4. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the user interface unit displays the second user interface of the mobile device based on job information that is input via the first user interface which is displayed on the image forming apparatus.

5. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein if the activation command of the upper menu is input via the first user interface of the image forming apparatus, then a corresponding command is received via the NFC module of the mobile device, and the user interface unit of the mobile device displays the lower menu, which is related to the corresponding command, of the upper menu displayed on the second user interface of the mobile device.

6. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to:

determine one of the mobile device and the image forming apparatus has superior display specifications by comparing the display specification of the mobile device and the received display specification of the image forming apparatus, and

determine the second layout of the second user interface of the mobile device based on a result of the determination.

7. The mobile device of claim 6 , wherein the controller determines one of the mobile device and the image forming apparatus is superior by further considering at least one of: a type of an application to be executed on the mobile device, a type of an application to be executed on the image forming apparatus, types of contents to be processed in the application to be executed on the image forming apparatus, and types of contents to be processed in the application to be executed on the mobile device, in addition to the display specifications.

8. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the received display specification of the image forming apparatus and the display specification of the mobile device both further comprise at least one of a display size and a display resolution.

9. The mobile device of claim 8 , wherein the controller determines a layout of the first user interface by of the image forming apparatus by comparing a display size of the image forming apparatus that is included in the received display specification.

10. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the controller executes an image job application, and the user interface unit displays, on the second user interface of the mobile device, menus that are not included on the first user interface that is transmitted to the image forming apparatus, among menus of an upper menu and menus of a lower menu of the image job application.

11. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the controller executes a text editing application, and the user interface unit displays, if a text editing window of the text editing application is not included in the first layout of the first user interface that is transmitted to the image forming apparatus, the text editing window is included on the second user interface.

12. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the controller executes an application that provides contents, and the user interface unit displays, if specific contents of the application are not displayed on the first user interface, the specific contents on the second user interface.

13. The mobile device of claim 1 , wherein the second user interface of the mobile device is linked to the first user interface of the image forming apparatus with respect to a predetermined application, and the user interface unit displays the second user interface having the layout determined with respect to the predetermined application.

14. An image forming apparatus for providing a user interface, the image forming apparatus comprising:

a near field communication (NFC) module to receive a display specification of a mobile device when the mobile device is tagged via NFC;

a controller to determine a first layout of a first user interface of the image forming apparatus and a second layout of a second user interface of the mobile device by comparing a display specification of the image forming apparatus and the received display specification of the mobile device; and

a user interface unit to display the first user interface of the image forming apparatus having the determined first layout,

wherein the controller determines one of the first user interface and the second user interface as a main interface and another of the first user interface and the second user interface as a sub-interface based on a result of the comparing,

wherein the main interface comprises more detailed user interface configurations than the sub-interface, and

wherein if an activation command of an upper menu is input via the sub-interface, a lower menu related to the upper menu is displayed on the main interface.

15. The image forming apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the user interface unit displays the first user interface of the image forming apparatus based on job information input via the second user interface of the mobile device.

16. The image forming apparatus of claim 15 , wherein when the activation command of the upper menu that is input via the second user interface of the mobile device is received via the NFC module of the image forming apparatus, the user interface unit displays lower menus of the upper menu displayed on the first user interface of the image forming apparatus.

17. The image forming apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the controller is configured to

determine a superior device among the mobile device and the image forming apparatus by comparing the received display specification of the mobile device and a display specification of the image forming apparatus, and

determine the layout of the first user interface based on a result of the determining of the superior device.

18. A method of providing a user interface in a mobile device, the method comprising:

receiving information about display specification of an image forming apparatus when the image forming apparatus is tagged via near field communication (NFC);

determining a first layout of a first user interface of the image forming apparatus and a second layout of a second user interface of the mobile device by comparing a display specification of the mobile device and the received display specification of the image forming apparatus;

displaying the second user interface having the determined second layout on the mobile device; and

providing the first user interface, which is displayable, having the determined first layout to the image forming apparatus using NFC,

wherein the determining of the first layout and the second layout comprises determining one of the first user interface and the second user interface as a main interface and another of the first user interface and the second user interface as a sub-interface based on a result of the comparing,

wherein the main interface comprises more detailed user interface configurations than the sub-interface, and

wherein if an activation command of an upper menu is input via the sub-interface, a lower menu related to the upper menu is displayed on the main interface.

19. A method of providing a user interface in an image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

receiving information about display specification of a mobile device when the mobile device is tagged via near field communication (NFC);

determining a first layout of a first user interface of the image forming apparatus and a second layout of a second user interface of the mobile device by comparing a display specification of the image forming apparatus and the received display specification of the mobile device;

displaying the first user interface having the determined first layout on the image forming apparatus; and

providing the second user interface, which is displayable, having the determined second layout to the mobile device using NFC,

wherein the determining of the first layout and the second layout comprises determining one of the first user interface and the second user interface as a main interface and another of the first user interface and the second user interface as a sub-interface based on a result of the comparing, and

wherein the main interface comprises more detailed user interface configurations than the sub-interface, and

wherein if an activation command of an upper menu is input via the sub-interface, a lower menu related to the upper menu is displayed on the main interface.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable recording medium having embodied thereon a program to execute the method of claim 18 .

Assignments (6)