JP2004318362A - Information terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information terminal by which a screen is scrolled with good ease of operation by key input with less uncomfortable feeling. <P>SOLUTION: The information terminal 1 has a ten-key part where two or more buttons are arranged in rows and columns, and has a touch sensor processing circuit which, when two or more buttons in the ten-key part are touched in a predetermined order (for instance, in an order shown by an arrow Y1), in correspondence with the order, outputs a scroll direction signal defining the scroll direction (for instance, in a direction shown by arrow Y2) of the screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information terminal, and more particularly to an information terminal suitable for a mobile communication terminal such as a mobile phone and a PHS.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In a conventional mobile phone, when browsing an e-mail or a registered list of a telephone directory, the display information is updated and browsed by scrolling in page units or line units with the same up / down arrow keys as the cursor of the personal computer. I have. For this reason, in the conventional input means of a mobile phone, the scroll direction is determined by tilting not only the up / down keys but also a stick-shaped thing such as a rotatable dial or a joystick up and down.
[0003]
Some conventional information processing apparatuses include a pad-type pointing device and a scroll operation unit for a pad-type screen.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 10-254622 [Patent Document 2]
JP-A-2001-69223
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, conventionally, when scrolling with the up and down direction keys, it is necessary to press the keys for the number of lines to be scrolled, and when browsing a long sentence, many up and down keys must be pressed. There is a problem in that the reading speed and the scrolling speed do not coincide with each other, which tends to cause stress. When a key is pressed at high speed, the result is the same as that when a tap test is performed, and may cause tendonitis.
[0006]
Also, even if the up / down direction key is designed to perform continuous scrolling by long pressing, key pressing detection time to distinguish short pressing and long pressing is absolutely necessary, and scrolling does not start for this time, There is an inconvenience that accurate panning is not possible.
[0007]
Also, in any conventional scroll control, it is necessary to provide these control input keys separately from the numeric keypad. As a result, the degree of freedom in the key arrangement of the mobile phone decreases, and many keys must be arranged in a limited area, and each key becomes smaller and the number of keys increases, so beginners can It gives a difficult impression and makes it difficult to operate the mobile phone itself.
[0008]
In addition, since the conventional control keys have to be arranged at positions different from the numeric keypad for performing normal character input, the amount of movement of the finger when the key is pressed increases, and the operation is unstable when the operation is performed with one hand. May be forced to hold or drop.
[0009]
In addition, with the input method other than the conventional rotary dial, the scroll speed cannot be controlled in an analog sense, and the scroll speed may be controlled by the pressed amount or, when the button is pressed for a long time, gradually depending on the continuous pressing time. It is possible to perform control to increase the scroll amount and accelerate, but it is not possible to scroll at the speed that the user wants to read.
[0010]
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide an information terminal capable of scrolling a screen with good operability by key input with little discomfort.
[0011]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, an information terminal according to the first aspect of the present invention is an information terminal including a ten-key part in which a plurality of buttons are arranged in a matrix, wherein a plurality of buttons in the ten-key part are a predetermined number. When touched in the order, a processing circuit for outputting a scroll direction signal defining a scroll direction of the screen in accordance with the order is provided.
[0012]
The information terminal according to claim 2, wherein the processing circuit is configured such that, when the plurality of buttons are touched in a predetermined order, a time from when a certain button is touched to when another button is touched. Correspondingly, a scroll speed signal defining a scroll movement speed of the screen is output.
[0013]
An information terminal according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the button of the ten-key unit includes a touch sensor of a capacitance type or a resistive type.
[0014]
An information terminal according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is a portable communication terminal, characterized by having a structure capable of covering the numeric keypad.
[0015]
The information terminal according to claim 5, wherein the processing circuit displays the screen in the oblique direction when the buttons arranged in an oblique direction among the plurality of buttons arranged in a matrix on the numeric keypad are sequentially touched. The scroll direction signal for scrolling is output.
[0016]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, an information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, a mobile phone will be described as an example of the information terminal.
[0017]
FIG. 1 is an external view showing a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention. The appearance of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment can be the same as a conventional mobile phone. FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing the numeric keypad 10 of the mobile phone 1 shown in FIG. The appearance of the numeric keypad 10 can also be made the same as the numeric keypad provided in a conventional mobile phone. However, the function of the numeric keypad 10 of the present embodiment differs from the function of the numeric keypad of a conventional mobile phone as described below.
[0018]
The numeric keypad unit 10 of the present embodiment is provided with two key input states based on times of “short press” and “long press”, and a third input state in which an instruction can be input by touching with a finger. In other words, each key of the numeric keypad unit 10 can be detected as three inputs of “short press”, “long press”, and “only touchable without touching (with a finger or the like)”. In the conventional key, there is only a key input state based on the time of “short press” and “long press”.
[0019]
A specific configuration for detecting a state touched by a finger can be realized by disposing a capacitance type or resistive film type sensor on a keytop, as has been conventionally used. Since a key click feeling of each key is required, a capacitance electrode or a resistive film is arranged on a key top portion without reducing a key stroke obtained by a conventional membrane key, so that a sensor of each key of the ten-key portion 10 is provided. It can be.
[0020]
This sensor is arranged, for example, on the central row of keys (2, 5, 8, 0) in the numeric keypad section 10 shown in FIG. Then, when the user traces the numeric keypad portion 10 with a finger in the direction of arrow Y1 shown in FIG. 1, the keys are touched with the finger in the order of key 2, key 5, key 8, and key 0. Then, a touch signal is sequentially output from each of the keys 2, 5, 8, and 0, and the signal is taken into the CPU (arithmetic processing unit or the like) of the mobile phone 1 for each unit time. Note that a key in another column or row may be used in place of the key in one column (2, 5, 8, 0) in the center.
[0021]
The arithmetic processing unit can detect that the movement is from the top to the bottom by the touch signal (scroll direction signal), so that the characters and images of the e-mail displayed on the screen of the mobile phone 1 are displayed in the up (down) direction. (In the direction of arrow Y2 in FIG. 1).
[0022]
At the same time as the detection of the scroll direction signal, the movement speed can be detected by measuring the interval between the signals generated from the respective keys of the numeric keypad 10, and the detection of the movement speed can be output as the scroll speed signal. it can. For this reason, the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment can change the scroll time of each line or the number of lines to be scrolled at a time, and change the scroll speed of the screen according to the movement amount.
[0023]
Contrary to the above, when the keys 10 are traced in the order of key 0, key 8, key 5, and key 2 on the numeric keypad 10, the order of the sense signals from each key is reversed, so that scrolling in the downward direction is performed. And it is possible to scroll downward.
[0024]
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the touch sensor in the keypad section incorporated in the numeric keypad section 10, and shows a cross section of a key 0, a key 8, a key 5, and a key 2. The numeric keypad 10 includes a membrane key base 11, an electrode unit 12, a key top 13, a key contact contact 14, an electrode connection wiring 15, and an electrode connector 16.
[0025]
The ten-key part 10 embeds a conductive conductor in a key top 13 made of an existing rubber keypad and uses it as an electrode part 12. An electrode connection wiring 15 which is a signal line is drawn out from each electrode portion 12 of each key top 13, and each electrode connection wiring 15 is collected by an electrode connector 16 and connected to a sensor processing circuit. ing.
[0026]
In the numeric keypad 10 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 3, an example of the capacitance type is shown. However, in the case of the resistive type, the conductor at the tip needs to be changed to a resistive touch sensor. The resistive film method has the advantage that it does not need to be touched by a finger and can be operated with gloves, but since it is used in conjunction with key press, there is a possibility that it may be scratched with nails etc. Is done.
[0027]
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating an example of the touch sensor circuit. The touch sensor circuit 20 is connected to the electrode section 12 of the numeric keypad section 10 shown in FIG. 3 via the electrode connection wiring 15 and the electrode connector 16. The touch sensor circuit 20 corresponds to the capacitance type. By preparing such touch sensor circuits 20 for the number of sensors, it is possible to detect the touch sensor of each key. In a current integrated circuit built in a mobile phone, the cost is not increased at all to the extent that a plurality of touch sensor circuits 20 are built in.
[0028]
Further, in the touch sensor circuit 20, although the detection threshold is not variable, there is a possibility that the “Low” level may be output only when the finger approaches, so that the gain of the amplifier section of this circuit is reduced. It is also possible to perform threshold setting by connecting a comparator to the touch output and varying the reference voltage for comparison.
[0029]
In this case, by setting a variable threshold by software, the sensitivity of the sensor unit can be changed, and a "Low" level signal can be output only when a finger touches the sensor unit. If the sensitivity is increased, the input can be made while wearing gloves.
[0030]
FIG. 5 shows an output signal of the touch sensor circuit 20 shown in FIG. As described above, the touch of each key is detected by software (or the touch sensor processing circuit 30 in FIG. 6), and the time t1 of touching one key and the time interval t2 of touching one key are measured. This makes it possible to appropriately detect the scroll direction and the scroll amount.
[0031]
Further, by measuring the repetition period at which four signals as shown in FIG. 5 are generated, it is possible to detect that the user wants to scroll at high speed. In addition, it is also possible to perform analog-like processing, for example, by adding inertia to the scroll processing itself.
[0032]
FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the mobile phone 1. The difference between the mobile phone 1 and the conventional mobile phone is that the mobile phone 1 includes a touch sensor circuit 20 and a touch sensor processing circuit 30. Therefore, the mobile phone 1 includes a high-frequency circuit section 61, a signal processing circuit 62, an arithmetic processing section 63, a keypad 64, a display section (LCD) 65, a memory 66, an external interface 67, a power supply provided in a conventional mobile phone. This can be realized only by adding the touch sensor circuit 20 and the touch sensor processing circuit 30 to the circuit 68, the external device connector 69, and the battery 70.
[0033]
Thus, according to the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment, three input instructions (short press, long press, touch) can be obtained with one key. The mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment can use a conventional key (numeric keypad) as compared with a case where a keypad is configured by a touch panel or a touch key. Key input becomes possible.
[0034]
Furthermore, the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment does not need to move a finger to a direction key located at a position different from that at the time of inputting a character or a number when performing screen scrolling, so that operability for screen scrolling is excellent. In addition, other terminal operability can be improved. Further, the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment can operate screen scrolling or the like with an analog sense by moving the amount of a finger or the like, like scrolling with a wheel on a mouse of a personal computer.
[0035]
In the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment, the keys 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of the numeric keypad 10 are of the above-mentioned capacitance type or resistive type. When a sensor of the system is provided, a diagonal user instruction, which cannot be obtained with the conventional up, down, left, and right direction keys, can be performed, and scrolling and the like in recent map display can be more easily operated.
[0036]
Further, in the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment, even when no key input is performed, by changing the threshold for sensing, it is possible to confirm that the user's finger is nearby and input or browsing is in progress. Can be sensed. Thereby, operability can be further improved, for example, by keeping the backlight on. With conventional mobile phones, it is not possible to determine whether or not the user has a mobile phone after key input has been performed, so it is not possible to determine whether or not the backlight should be turned on.
[0037]
In addition, the mobile phone 1 of the present embodiment is in a closed state when the user puts the mobile phone 1 in a pocket, and a folder type (folding type) in which the touch sensor is not affected by static electricity charged on a human body. It is preferably a mobile phone.
[0038]
As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and may include a design change or the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.
In the above embodiment, a mobile phone is given as an application target of the information terminal. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention is applied to a PHS (Personal Handyphone System), a personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistance), and the like. The invention may be applied.
[0039]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information terminal capable of performing an operation such as scrolling of a screen with good operability by key input with little discomfort.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an external view showing a mobile phone according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a numeric keypad portion of the mobile phone of the above.
FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a numeric keypad of the mobile phone.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a touch sensor circuit of the mobile phone of the above.
FIG. 5 is a waveform chart showing an output signal of the touch sensor circuit of the above.
FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the above mobile phone.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile telephone, 10 ... Numeric keypad, 11 ... Membrane key base, 12 ... Electrode part, 13 ... Keytop, 14 ... Key contact contact, 15 ... Electrode connection wiring, 16 ... Electrode connector, 20 ... Touch sensor Circuit, 30: Touch sensor processing circuit, t1: Time of touching one key, t2: Time interval of touch in order, Y1, Y2 ... Arrow

Claims (5)

An information terminal including a numeric keypad portion in which a plurality of buttons are arranged in a matrix,
An information terminal, comprising: a processing circuit that, when a plurality of buttons on the numeric keypad are touched in a predetermined order, outputs a scroll direction signal that defines a screen scroll direction in accordance with the order. The processing circuit defines a scroll movement speed of a screen in correspondence with a time from when a certain button is touched to when another button is touched when the plurality of buttons are touched in a predetermined order. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the information terminal outputs a scroll speed signal. 3. The information terminal according to claim 1, wherein the button of the numeric keypad unit includes one of a capacitive touch sensor and a resistive touch sensor. 4. The information terminal is a mobile communication terminal,
The information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the portable communication terminal includes a structure capable of covering the numeric keypad. The processing circuit outputs the scroll direction signal for scrolling the screen in the oblique direction when the buttons arranged in the oblique direction among the plurality of buttons arranged in a matrix on the numeric keypad are sequentially touched. The information terminal according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein

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