JP2002207560A - Character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a character input device excellent in operability of character input. SOLUTION: This device comprises a character input part for inputting characters, an input processing part for processing character input information, and a memory part for storing data related to character input such as a character table necessary for input processing or the like, and a display part for displaying an inputted character, an input character code, and the character table. In this device, the numeric keys and a cursor key of the character input part are used to improve the operability of character input. Further, the character table corresponding to the input character code is simultaneously displayed by kana character and English letter on the display part to facilitate the operability of character input.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character input device for a portable telephone, and more particularly to a character input device with improved operability of character input.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A portable terminal and a character input device of a portable telephone are small in size because they are portable and can be installed only in a limited number of key input units due to size restrictions. Various character input devices used have been considered. For example, as a prior art,
There is a mobile communication terminal disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 4170. Here, input means to which a plurality of characters (character groups) grouped for one key are assigned, character group selecting means for selecting a specific character group, and a method for determining the selected character group for each character A display unit for displaying a character string by the input character determining unit for determining a certain character by a method for determining each character of the guidance display unit, and a determined character string displaying unit for displaying a character string composed of the determined character. Mobile communication terminals are described.

[0003]

In the conventional character input device described above, a character group for a specific character to be input is displayed on a guidance display for displaying a character group. Is not displayed, and the guidance display for displaying the character group is to display kana characters and English characters separately. In character code input, character input cannot be performed without knowing the character code assigned to each character. Since it is difficult to always carry a character code table with a mobile phone, it is desirable to be able to input characters without referring to the character code table. Since it is difficult to store the entire character code table, if a character is input without a character code table, an input error is inevitable. In addition, it is necessary to remember the current character code in order to correct a character input error. At the present time, it often happens that English characters are mixed in Kana characters. On the other hand, English character codes are very hard to remember,
It is desirable that the guidance display for alphabetic input be always visible.

[0004]

According to the present invention, there is provided a character input device for characters represented by a two-digit code including an upper digit code and a lower digit code. A first code group including one or more codes having a common upper digit code to an Nth code group including one or more codes having an Nth (N is an integer of 2 or more) common upper digit code A storage means for storing in a predetermined arrangement, an input means for inputting a code of a character to be read having a plurality of input keys, a display means for displaying a character specified by the input code, A control unit for controlling the storage unit and the input unit and the display unit,
The control means operates a predetermined input key of the input means to cause the code group read out of the first to Nth code groups to be changed in the predetermined arrangement to the code group. And a plurality of characters corresponding to the code group can be displayed on the display means.

[0005]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
17 will be described. This embodiment is an example in which the present invention is applied to a mobile phone as a character input device. The character input device is not limited to a mobile phone, but includes a mobile terminal device such as a mobile terminal, a stationary telephone capable of handling character information such as e-mail, and a facsimile device capable of displaying characters of a transmission destination of an abbreviated dial. Alternatively, an electronic device or a communication device that mainly uses numeric keys for character input may be used.

FIGS. 1 to 13 show a first embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. The external shape, the overall configuration, and the configuration of the main part of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment are shown in FIGS. 16, 17, and 1, respectively. 16 and 1
As shown in FIG. 7, the mobile phone includes a high-frequency circuit unit 420, an audio circuit unit 430, and a control unit 102 having a CPU and controlling various functions in a housing 400. The high-frequency circuit section 420 and the audio circuit section 430 are controlled in accordance with a control program stored in the storage section 103 connected to the storage section 103. The receiver 4 is provided in the audio circuit unit 430.
45, a microphone (hereinafter referred to as a microphone) 440 is connected. In the present embodiment, the mobile phone further includes a control unit 102.
Is connected to the input unit 101 and the display unit 104. The control unit 102 also controls the high-frequency circuit unit 420 or the audio circuit unit 430 based on the control program according to the input from the input unit 101, and outputs information ( The state of the radio wave, the telephone number of the other party, the mail address, the mail data received or transmitted, etc.) or the information required by the user of the mobile phone is displayed on the display unit 104 as a display device.
In the present embodiment, the display section 104 is configured by a display device in which a liquid crystal display is illuminated by a light emitting body. Further, in the present embodiment, the surrounding brightness is detected by the sensor 470, and the control unit 102 controls the brightness of the display unit 104 by the output of the sensor 470 according to the control program stored in the storage unit 103. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a surface having the display unit 104 is referred to as a front surface, and the opposite side is referred to as a back surface.

In this embodiment, the display unit 104 and the input unit 1
01 is provided on the front of the housing 400. Character input is also performed from the input unit 101, and the control unit 102 also performs processing of character input input from the input unit 101. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, the input unit 101 has function keys 101F (including cursor up / down / left / right keys and soft keys) for controlling a display screen and various functions, and dial keys 101N for mainly inputting numerical values and characters. . The display unit 104 displays information required by the user of the mobile phone and, at the time of character input, displays input characters and data related to the character input. The storage unit 103 has an area for storing data relating to character input required by the control unit 102. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, inside the storage unit 103, an upper digit storage unit 1031 for storing the upper digit of the character code, a lower digit storage unit 1032 for storing the lower digit of the character code, and a fixed character string storage unit 1033. , A character table 1034 corresponding to the character code. The character table 1034 includes one or more codes having one or more codes having a first common upper digit code and one or more codes having an N-th (N is an integer of 2 or more) common upper digit code. An N-th code group including codes is stored, and these code groups are stored in a predetermined arrangement so as to be readable for each of the first to N-th common upper digit codes. In the present embodiment, N is 10, and as shown in FIG. 11, codes from 1 to 0 are assigned as upper digit character codes. In each upper digit character code, a group of codes having the same upper digit character code is further stored as a table. In the present embodiment, one upper character code is assigned a code from 1 to 0 as a lower digit character code.
A code of 0 is stored. That is, in the present embodiment, the character table 1034 stores 100 codes and stores 1 code.
If one upper digit character code is selected, 1
Zero codes are read.

FIG. 2 shows the input unit 101. 201 is a dial key 101N having numeric keys and symbol keys,
Function keys 101F are cursor keys (four keys with up, down, left, and right arrows in the figure) 202 for moving the cursor in the up, down, left, and right directions, a character input method selection key (S1) 203, and an input character type selection key (S2). ) 20
4. It has a confirmation key (F) 205 and a deletion key (C) 206. In the present embodiment, for convenience of description, “up, down, left, and right” correspond to up, down, left, and right when the mobile phone is in a state where characters can be read correctly when viewed from the front, and the side having the microphone 440 in FIG. The lower side and the side having the receiver 445 are defined as the upper side. FIG. 3 shows an initial screen of the display unit 104. A character table 301 is displayed at the bottom of the screen, and an upper digit display unit 302 for displaying the inputted upper digit character code and an inputted lower digit character code at the upper part of the screen. Is displayed on the lower digit display section 303. In a non-input state, a question mark “?” Is displayed on the upper digit display section 302 and the lower digit display section 303. This display of "?" May be displayed continuously, or may be displayed blinking (blink display).

As a specific example, a character input method for inputting a character string "Sakura" in this embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. There are several character input methods, such as dial key input and character code input. Here, the character code input method is selected using the character input method selection key 203. As for the type of input character, a kana / alphanumeric uppercase character is selected with the input character type selection key 204. In this embodiment, the cursor key 2 is used during the character input process.
A case where the character code is corrected using 02 will also be described. In step 501, the character input method is determined to be the character code method.
Determined as uppercase alphanumeric characters. FIG. 11 shows an example of the character table used here. Characters in this character table are specified by specifying upper character codes and lower character codes in combination in this order. For example, to specify “A”, the upper character code “1” and the lower character code “1” are sequentially combined and specified as “11”, and to specify “F”, the upper character code “6” and the lower character code Character code "3" is sequentially combined and designated as "63". This designation method is the same for alphanumeric characters and symbols in this character table. If the type of the input character is determined to be Kana / alphanumeric uppercase in step 502, the character input initial screen state is entered in step 503, and the character table 301 is displayed on the display unit 104 below the display screen as shown in FIG. Is done. In this state, as the initial screen, the first character of each line of the kana character in the Japanese syllabary, that is,
Well, la, wa ". At this time, an upper digit display section 302 and a lower digit display section 303 are displayed at the top of the screen.

The process of inputting the characters "sa" and "ku" and correcting the character code by inputting the character "ra" will be described below. The control unit 102 as the control unit operates the first to tenth code groups, that is, the upper digit character code “1” by operating a predetermined input key of the input unit 101 as the input unit.
, A group of character codes specified by a combination of lower-order character codes “1” to “0” for each of
Has a function of reading out a code group adjacent to this code group in a predetermined arrangement for a code group read out of. In step 504, the upper digit character code “3” of the character code “31” corresponding to the character “sa” is input by pressing the numeric key 201 of the character input unit 101. The control unit 102 determines that the key input is one of the numeric keys 0 to 9 in step 505 and stores the upper digit character code “3” in the storage unit 103 in step 506 because it is a numeric key. It is stored in the unit 1031. The control unit 102 reads the character table corresponding to the upper digit character code “3” from the character table 1034 in the storage unit 103 and displays the character table on the upper digit display unit 302 of the display unit 104 in step 507. At this time, five kana and five alphanumeric characters corresponding to the upper digit character code "3" are displayed in the character table 301 as shown in FIG.

When the lower-order character code "1" is input in step 511, the control section 102 executes steps 512 and 51.
3 and 514, the key input is determined to be a numeric key, and in step 521, the lower-order character code "1" is stored in the storage unit 1.
03 in the lower digit storage unit 1032 and the display unit 104
"1" is displayed in the lower digit display section 303. Next, the control unit 102 reads data corresponding to the character “sa” specified by the character code “31” stored in the storage unit 103 from the character storage unit 103 in step 522, and determines in step 523 the determined character in the storage unit 103. The data corresponding to the character “sa” is stored in the column storage unit 1033, and as shown in FIG.
The character "sa" is displayed on the character display unit 304 of No.4. In the same procedure, the character code "23" for designating the character "ku" is input. The control unit 102 performs the same processing as in the case of “sa”,
As shown in FIG. 6, the character "ku" is displayed after the character "sa" on the character display unit 304 of the display unit 104. Thereafter, in order to input the character "La", the character code "91" designating the character "La" is input.

At this time, the upper digit character code of the character code designating the character "ra" is "9", but "8" is erroneously inputted as the upper digit character code as shown in FIG. The input correction method in the case will be described. Conventionally, when the upper digit character code is incorrectly input, it is necessary to press the delete key 206 to delete the upper digit character code "8" and to enter the upper digit character code "9" again as shown in FIG. Yes, 2 to fix
It took a step. In the present embodiment, the correction can be performed in one step using the cursor keys. In the present embodiment, the upper digit code and the lower digit code are each represented by a single digit number of 1 to 0, and when the numerical value is increased, 9 next to 8, 9 next to 0, The setting is made so that the order following 0 is 1 and the order following 1 is 2 and so on. The control unit 102 has a function of reading a code group adjacent to this code group in a predetermined arrangement by operating a predetermined input key of the input unit 101. In the present embodiment, the predetermined input keys are the up and down keys of the cursor, and the predetermined arrangement is shown in FIG.
It is a table. In FIG. 10, the cursor key 20 is changed from the state of waiting for input of the lower-order character code in step 511.
When the down key is pressed once, the control unit 102 determines in step 512 that the down key has been pressed, and in step 515, displays the upper digit character code “8” stored in the storage unit 103 as the down key. Increment for each press. That is, when the down key is pressed once, the upper digit character code is replaced with the current numerical value plus one. Here, “8” is replaced with “9”. That is, in the table of FIG. 11, a group of lower-order character codes having a common upper-order character code "8" is replaced by a group of lower-order character codes having a common upper-order character code "9" adjacent thereto in the table. . The replaced numerical value is stored in the storage unit 103 in step 506, and a new upper digit character code "9" is displayed on the upper digit display unit 302 of the display unit 104 as shown in FIG. Similarly, when "0" is erroneously input where "9" should be input as the upper digit character code, the cursor key 202 is moved upward from the state of waiting for input of the lower digit character code in step 511. When the key is pressed once, the control unit 102 determines in step 513 that the up key has been pressed, and decrements the upper digit character code “0” stored in the storage unit 103 in step 516 each time the up key is pressed. I do. That is, when the up key is pressed once, the upper digit character code is replaced with the current numerical value minus one. Here, “0” is replaced with “9”. The replaced numerical value is stored in the storage unit 10 in step 506.
3 and the new upper digit character code “9” is displayed on the upper digit display section 302 of the display section 104 as shown in FIG. When the character code is incremented and replaced in step 515, 0 is replaced after 9 and 1 is replaced after 0. In step 516, when the character code is decremented and replaced, 0 is replaced after 1. Subsequent to 0 is replaced with 9.

Next, when the lower-order character code "1" is input in step 511, the control unit 10 goes through the following steps.
2 reads out from the storage unit 103 data corresponding to the character “ra” specified by the character code “91” in step 522,
In step 523, the data corresponding to the character "Sa" is added to the data corresponding to the characters "Sa" and "KU" already stored in the storage unit 103, and the data corresponding to the "Sakura" is stored. It is displayed on the character display unit 304. When the enter key 205 is pressed in this state, the control unit 102 proceeds to step 5.
In step 531 from the key wait state of step 04, it is determined that there is a decision key, and the input character string is decided.
In step 7, the character string "Sakura" is registered. The display at this time is shown in FIG.
Shown in A character string “Sakura” is displayed on the character display section 304, and “?” Is displayed on the upper digit display section 302 and the lower digit display section 303, and the character is not entered. With this, the input of a series of character strings is completed, and the state of waiting for the input of the next character string is set.

Next, the case of inputting a mixed character string of kana and alphabetic characters in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. For the character input method, select the character code input method, and for the type of input character, select Kana alphanumeric capital letters. About character input of kana alphabet mixed character string Input character string "Kyo no N
EWS "will be described as an example. The character codes corresponding to the characters "ki", "yo", "u", and "no" of the kana character string "kyo" are "22", "85", "13", and "55", respectively, and can be input in the same procedure as above. . Note that the lowercase letter “ょ” is the input character type selection key 2
Select and enter kana and alphanumeric characters with 04.

Next, an English character string "NEWS" is input. In the present embodiment, since the lower-order character code for one upper-order character code includes kana characters and alphanumeric characters or symbols,
In the character table 301 of the display unit 104, kana characters and alphanumeric characters or symbols corresponding to one upper digit character code are simultaneously displayed. Therefore, for example, when inputting an alphabetic character following a kana character, an alphabetic character string can be input without operating the input character type selection key 204. FIG. 12 shows a display on the display unit 104 when a character code “39” corresponding to the alphabetical character “N” is input following the kana character string “Kyono”. The character codes corresponding to the characters "E", "W", and "S" following the letter "N" in the English character string "NEWS" are "10", "58", and "49", respectively. The character string is determined by pressing the key 205. FIG. 13 shows a display on the display unit 104 after the character string is determined.

FIGS. 14 and 1 show a second embodiment of the present invention.
5 will be described. The hardware of the character input device according to the present embodiment and the processing operation flow of the control unit 102 are the first operation flow.
This is the same as the embodiment. In this embodiment, the size of the character table is increased to improve user convenience. In the character table used in the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the number of characters in each line is 10 characters, but two symbol keys “* (asterisk)” and “# (sharp)” of the character input unit 101 are used. By using in combination with the numeric keys, a character table in which the number of characters in each line is 12 as shown in FIG. 14 can be formed.

In the 10-character display, the maximum number of characters that can be assigned to a character code is 100 characters. There are 2 characters, 26 alphabetic characters, and 84 numeric 10 characters, and the remaining 14 are marked with symbols. On the other hand, there are punctuation marks, prolonged symbols, several kinds of parentheses, arithmetic symbols, and alphabetic symbols that are often used in daily text writing. It is stored in the character type table.

FIG. 15 shows a display example of the display unit 104 when the character table shown in FIG. 14 is used. This figure shows an initial screen in an uninput state. Upper digit character code "*"
Specifies an equal sign, an arithmetic symbol such as "+" or "-", and the upper digit character code "#" specifies a general symbol such as "%", "￥" or "＠". I have. When the upper digit character codes "1" to "4" are selected, the lower digit character codes "*" and "#" designate parentheses.

By displaying the upper digit code and the lower digit code in 12 characters, the number of characters accommodated is 144.
Thus, all the commonly used symbols and the like can be accommodated in the table of uppercase alphanumeric characters, and the number of operations of the character type selection key is reduced, thereby greatly improving the operability of character input.
The kana alphanumeric uppercase table has room for storing characters, and in some cases, nine lowercase kana characters can be stored in the kana alphanumeric uppercase table, and the operability of character input can be further improved.

In the above embodiment, the upper and lower cursor keys are assigned to the increment and decrement of the upper digit code. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other function keys may be assigned. The display screens are not limited to those shown in the figure, and the character table 301, the character display unit 304, the upper digit display unit 302, the lower digit display unit 30
The size, shape, and arrangement of 3 may be appropriately changed according to the size or shape (vertical or horizontal) of the display screen.

[0021]

According to the present invention, a character input device with improved operability of character input can be obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a character input device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an input key configuration of a character input unit of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an initial screen of a display unit of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a display screen of a display unit when a high-order character code of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is input.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a display screen of a display unit when a high-order digit and a low-order digit character code of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention are input.

FIG. 6 is a front view illustrating a display screen of a display unit when a character code is input in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing a display screen when a high-order character code is erroneously input in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a display screen when the upper-order character code is corrected from the state shown in FIG. 7 in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a display screen when an input character string is determined in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a character input processing procedure of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character table of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a front view showing a display screen at the time of character input of a mixed character string of kana and alphabet characters in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a front view showing a display screen when an input character of a mixed character string of kana and alphabet is determined in the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character table in which the number of characters of the character input device according to the second embodiment of the present invention is set to 12;

FIG. 15 is a front view showing a display screen when the character table of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention is used.

FIG. 16 is a front view showing the external shape of the character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a character input device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

101: character input unit, 102: character processing unit, 103: storage unit, 104: display unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) H04M 1/02 F term (Reference) 5B020 AA03 AA05 CC12 DD02 FF17 FF53 GG05 GG13 HH21 5K023 AA07 BB11 GG04 5K027 AA11 BB01 FF01

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A character input device for a character represented by a two-digit code including an upper digit code and a lower digit code,
From a first group of codes including one or more codes having a first common upper-order code, an N-th (N is an integer of 2 or more) N-th including one or more codes having a common upper-order code
Storage means for storing a group of codes in a predetermined arrangement, input means for inputting a code of a character to be read having a plurality of input keys, and display for displaying a character specified by the input code Means, and control means for controlling the storage means and the input means and the display means,
The control means operates a predetermined input key of the input means to cause the code group read out of the first to Nth code groups to be changed in the predetermined arrangement to the code group. And a plurality of characters corresponding to the code group can be displayed on the display means. 2. The input means comprises a numeric key for inputting the code and a cursor direction key, and a code group read from the first to Nth code groups by operating the cursor direction key. 2. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein a code group adjacent to the code group is read and displayed on the display unit. 3. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein said storage means stores said first to N-th code groups as a table corresponding to upper digit codes. 4. A character input device for a character represented by a two-digit number code, comprising: character input means including a number key and a direction key for inputting the code; and displaying a predetermined number of characters. Storage means for storing a plurality of tables to be input, display means for displaying the input code and the character selected from the character table, and a table corresponding to the input high-order code read out from the storage means. An input processing unit for selecting a character designated by a digit code, changing the upper digit code of the input with the numeric keys with the direction keys, and displaying a table corresponding to the changed upper digit on the display means; A character input device characterized in that: 5. A character input device for a character represented by a two-digit number code, comprising: a character input means including a number key and a direction key for inputting the code; and displaying a predetermined number of characters. Storage means for storing a plurality of tables to be displayed, display means for displaying a character selected from the character table,
An input processing unit that reads a table corresponding to the input upper digit code from the storage unit and further selects a character specified by the lower digit code; the table has a plurality of different character types; A character input device wherein a character code of a plurality of character types can be input by inputting a numeric code. 6. The number of characters to be displayed in one table is 12
The character input device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the number is at least one.