JP2006081137A - Electronic apparatus equipped with keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an efficient and simple character input method using a numeric keyboard, and an electronic apparatus with the method. <P>SOLUTION: In a method for inputting kana characters and 26 alphabet characters by keying numeric keys twice, the appropriate display of numeric keys on key tops and appropriate character assignment on each key are performed so as to allow a user to input characters seeing the key tops without learning a character assignment table by heart. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device including a keyboard, and more particularly to an electronic device including a keyboard for inputting characters.

  The character input of the cellular phone is performed using a numeric keyboard. As a character input method at this time, there is a two-touch input method in which characters are input by continuously pressing ten numeric keys twice. By this method, it is possible to input up to 100 character types such as kana characters, numbers, English letters and symbols. Furthermore, there are hiragana and katakana characters for kana, and uppercase and lowercase letters for alphabetic characters. In order to distinguish this, an input mode of full-width / half-width distinction and upper / lower shift mode is provided. As a result, Hiragana / Katakana, uppercase / lowercase letters, numbers, and many symbols can be input with 10 numeric keys and a few control keys.

  FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard of a current mobile phone and a key top marking display. The keyboard 400 includes ten keys 401 to 410, a control key * 111, and a control key # 112. FIG. 5 is a character assignment table (full-width input mode) of a keyboard of a current mobile phone. FIG. 6 is a character allocation table (half-width input mode) of the keyboard of the current mobile phone.

  For example, in the full-width input mode, when the user presses the key 402 in FIG. 4 and then presses the key 403, the hiragana “ku” is input. Similarly, when the user presses the key 402 in FIG. 4 and then presses the key 407, the letter “G” is input. Similarly, for example, in the half-width input mode, when the user presses the key 402 in FIG. 4 and then presses the key 403, katakana “K” is input. Similarly, when the user presses the key 402 in FIG. 4 and then presses the key 407, the letter “G” is input. At this time, in the lower input (lowercase) mode, the lowercase characters displayed in the lower portion of each box in FIG. 5 or 6 are input.

  The key top display of each key in FIG. 4 is displayed so as to be convenient for the 5-touch input method, which is another character input method of the mobile phone. The 5-touch input method is easier to learn than the current 2-touch keyboard, but the input efficiency is low (the average number of keystrokes per character is large). On the other hand, the current 2-touch input method is more difficult to remember than the 5-touch keyboard, but the input efficiency is high (the average number of keystrokes per character is small).

  In the 5-touch input method, it is possible to input kana characters and alphabetic characters according to simple rules while viewing the key top display of FIG. On the other hand, in the current two-touch method, an appropriate display is not performed on the key top in FIG. 4, so the character assignment table in FIG. 5 or 6 must be memorized and input.

  Even if the character allocation table is not memorized, it is a problem that characters can be input by a two-touch method with high input efficiency while viewing an appropriate key top display.

Means to solve the problem

An electronic device equipped with a keyboard includes a keyboard having ten numeric keys for inputting a decimal number from 1 to 0. By using the numeric keys, the alphabet 26 can be formed with two consecutive numeric keystrokes. There is a means to input characters, and the 26 alphabets cannot be assigned to 10 numeric keys. Therefore, the characters are arranged in alphabetical order, and 3 or 4 alphabets are assigned to one key. Twenty-six alphabetic characters are entered with two numeric keystrokes. The first keystroke is a key that selects three or four letters assigned in alphabetical order, and the subsequent keystroke is the selected key. To select which of the 3 or 4 characters assigned to the Configured to enter the 26 letters of the alphabet by typing four numeric key a predetermined specifying the ascending alphabetical order of selectively.

An electronic device equipped with a keyboard includes a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0, and means for inputting kana characters and 26 alphabetic characters by pressing two consecutive numeric keys. Then, “A” to “Wa” representing each row of the kana 50 syllables are displayed on the key tops of the ten keys 1 to 0 of the numeric keys, and the five keys 1 to 5 of the numeric keys In addition, on the top, a display representing each stage of the 50-sound chart is displayed, and the first key is pressed to enter a numeric key for selecting each line of the 50-sound chart according to the display of the key top, and the selection is performed by the subsequent key-sampling. A kana character is input by selectively typing the characters in each of the five characters in each line of the 50 sound chart with the keystroke made according to the display on the key top; and , "A" to "Wa" In addition to the display, in addition to the key top display of the numeric key, a display in which three or four letters of the alphabet are assigned to one key in alphabetical order is added to the key top, and 26 letters of the alphabet are generated by pressing the numeric key of the keyboard twice. In the first keystroke, the key for selecting the three or four characters assigned in alphabetical order is keyed, and in the subsequent keystroke, the three or four character assigned to the selected key is entered. In order to select which of these characters, 26 alphabets are input by selectively pressing four predetermined numeric keys that specify the ascending order of the alphabet among the characters. To do.

In an electronic device equipped with a keyboard, a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0 and one control key is provided, and a kana character is input by pressing two consecutive numeric keys. In this way, when the kana character input immediately before is a character that is allowed to be accompanied by a dakuten or semi-dakuten, the dakuten or semi-dakuten may be inputted by pressing the control key.

Three or four alphabets assigned in ascending order of alphabets are displayed on the key tops of the numeric keys, and four displays for specifying the ascending order of alphabets are displayed on four of the ten numeric keys, respectively. In other words, it may be configured such that the operator can easily input 26 letters of the alphabet while viewing the display on the key top.

In an electronic device having a keyboard, a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0 and one control key is provided. It may be configured such that a character is input, the upper / lower input mode is switched with a single keystroke of the control key, and the half-width / full-width input mode is switched with two consecutive keystrokes. .

The invention's effect

The first effect of the present invention is that a character input using a keyboard can be performed by a two-touch input method with high input efficiency without memorizing a character assignment table.
The second effect of the present invention is that it includes a key top display that is convenient for the 5-touch input method that is widely used in mobile phones, and therefore it is easy to coexist with the 5-touch input method.
The third effect of the present invention is that a kana mark or symbol can be input even in the same manner as the 5-touch input method.
The fourth effect of the present invention is that switching between the half-width / full-width input mode and the upper and lower input modes can be easily and efficiently performed.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The keyboard 100 is composed of ten numeric keys 101 to 110, a control key * 111, and a control key # 112. A key top of each key is displayed on each cell in FIG. For example, the number “2”, the hiragana “ka”, the Roman numeral II, and the alphabet ABC are displayed on the key top of the key 102.

FIG. 2 is a character allocation table in the full-width input mode in the 2-touch input system according to the present invention. According to the assignment table of FIG. 2, for example, when the numeric key 102 is pressed and then the numeric key 103 is pressed, the hiragana “ku” is input. Similarly, for example, when the numeric key 102 is pressed and then the numeric key 108 is pressed, the letter “B” is input.
As an operation method at this time, the operator can input hiragana or alphabetic characters according to a simple rule while looking at the key top in FIG.

  For example, when inputting hiragana “ku”, the operator presses the number “2” key 102 on which hiragana “ka” is displayed because “ku” belongs to the “ka” line of the kana 50 syllables. Since the hiragana “ku” is the third letter of the kana 50 syllable, the number “3” key 103 on which the Roman numeral III is displayed is pressed. According to the character assignment table of FIG. 2, when the first keystroke is the number “2” key and the subsequent keystroke is the number “3” key, the hiragana “ku” is input.

  Similarly, when inputting the letter “B”, first, the operator presses the number “2” key 102 on which “ABC” is displayed. Subsequently, since the letter “B” is the second character from the left displayed as “ABC”, the number key 107 in FIG. According to the character allocation table of FIG. 2, when the first keystroke is the number “2” key and the subsequent keystroke is the number “7” key, the alphabet “B” is input.

Similarly, when inputting the number “2”, the operator first presses the number “2” key 102 on which the number “2” is displayed. Subsequently, a numeric initial “n” meaning a number presses the number key 106 of the display FIG. According to the character assignment table of FIG. 2, when the first keystroke is the number “2” key and the subsequent keystroke is the number “6” key, the number “2” is input.
Symbols can also be entered in accordance with the character assignment table of FIG. 2 or FIG. 3, but the key top display is complicated, so it is omitted in the key top display of FIG. You may display on a peripheral part.

The input in full-width mode has been described above, but the same applies to input in half-width mode. In the case of single-byte characters, the character allocation table of FIG. 3 is used, and katakana is input as the kana.
In the above description, the input in the upper mode has been described. In the lower input mode, a lowercase kana (such as “Ya”) is input as a kana, and a lowercase alphabet is input as an alphabetic character.

  Next, the function of the control key * 111 in FIG. 1 will be described. When the control key * 111 is pressed once, the input mode of the upper shift and the lower shift is switched. That is, with this function, in the case of kana input, the lowercase letters of the kana can be input. In the case of English letters, you can switch between lowercase and uppercase letters. (Incidentally, according to the conventional character allocation table of FIGS. 5 and 6, this function is performed by the first “key” being the number “8” key and the subsequent key pressing by the number “0” key.)

  Furthermore, when the control key * 111 of FIG. 1 is pressed twice in succession (without pressing another key in between), the upper / lower shift mode is restored, but at the same time the half-width / full-width input mode is restored. Switches.

  Next, the function of the control key # 112 will be described. For the kana / semi-turbidity of the kana, as in the conventional method, the first key is the numeric “0” key 110, and the subsequent key is the numeric “4” key 114 or the numeric “5” key 115. Can be entered. However, this display is omitted from the key top in FIG. Instead, the muddy / semi-voiced point is input by pressing the control key # 112. That is, when the character input immediately before is a kana (for example, “TA”) that can be accompanied by a cloud point, the cloud point is input when the control key # 112 is pressed. If the control key # 112 is further depressed continuously, a semi-turbid point is input instead of the muddy point. Further, when the control key # 112 is continuously pressed, “long sound-”, “reading mark”, “punctuation mark”, “middle point”, “exclamation point!”, And “question word?” Are input in order. These methods are the same as the conventional 5-touch input method, and the key top display of the control key # 112 in FIG. 1 is the same as the key top of the control key # 412 in FIG. Not all of the symbols are displayed, but the muddy / semi-turbid point and a part of the symbol are displayed, so you can enter the muddy / semi-turbid point and main symbols without memorizing them while looking at the key top display in Fig. 1. can do. For symbols that are omitted from the key top display, it is necessary to keep the symbol table at hand or memorize them.

  Next, the coexistence of the 2-touch input method according to the present invention and the 5-touch input method mainly used in mobile phones will be described. The 5-touch input method is used in the key arrangement and key top display of the keyboard shown in FIG. Keyboard of the present invention The key top display of FIG. 1 is the same as the key top display of FIG. 4 except that the Roman numerals II III IV V and the round numerals (1), (2), (3), (4), Since it is only added to the vacant space, the key top keyboard displayed as shown in FIG. 4 can be used even with the 5-touch input method. As a result, a person familiar with the 5-touch input method as before can use the 5-touch input and shift to the efficient 2-touch input method without memorizing the character allocation table.

Here, the difference between the conventional 2-touch input method and the 2-touch method according to the present invention will be described together.
The character assignment table is the same for the input method of kana. The difference is that in FIG. 1, Roman numerals I II III IV V V are added to represent each step of the kana 50 syllabary of the key top display. The input method of the muddy / semi-voiced sound can be input by the same method as the conventional method, but can also be input by the same method as the conventional 5-touch input method. The symbol can be input in the same manner as the conventional 2-touch input method, but can also be input by a 5-touch input method which is a simpler method. By these things, it is possible to input a kana while looking at the key top without memorizing the operation method.

The letter assignment table is different for English input methods. The character assignment table of FIG. 2 or FIG. 3 is created in accordance with the key top display of English characters in FIG. 1 (in accordance with the key arrangement of 5 touch English characters). The first keystroke of an alphabetic character is selected according to the keytop display of the alphabetic character of FIG. 1, and the subsequent keystrokes are the numbers 1), 2), 3) and 4) of FIG. Select according to the order position from. This makes it possible to input alphabetic characters according to simple rules while viewing the key top display of FIG. 1 without memorizing the character assignment table of FIG. 2 or FIG.
Switching between the upper / lower or half-width / full-width input modes can be easily performed using the control key * 111.

  In the above description of the embodiment of the present invention, in the key top display of the keyboard of FIG. 1, the Roman numerals I II III IV V and the round numerals (1), (2), (3), (4), and the initials of numeric However, depending on the situation, it is possible to memorize these displays or operate a separate display memo at hand. In this case, the operation is much easier as compared with the conventional case where the character assignment table of FIG. 5 or FIG. 6 is memorized or operated with a memo at hand.

The specific example of the key top specific display character and character allocation table shown in the above embodiment of the present invention is not limited to these, and other display methods and other methods of the character allocation table are conceivable. .
In addition, the electronic device including the keyboard according to the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone, and many electronic devices that require portability or simplicity and perform character input can be assumed.

[Figure 1]
FIG. 3 is a key layout diagram of a keyboard according to the present invention.
[Figure 2]
It is a character allocation table (in the case of full-width input) of the 2-touch input system by this invention.
[Fig. 3]
It is a character allocation table (in the case of half-width input) of the 2-touch input system by this invention.
[Fig. 4]
It is a key arrangement figure of the keyboard of the conventional mobile telephone.
[Fig. 5]
It is a character allocation table (in the case of full-width input) of the conventional 2-touch input method of a mobile phone.
[Fig. 6]
It is a character allocation table (in the case of half-width input) of the conventional 2-touch input method of a mobile phone.

Explanation of symbols

100 Keyboard of the Present Invention 101 [1 A] key 102 〃 [2 or II ABC] key 103 〃 [3 III DEF] key 104 〃 [4 IV GHI] key 105 〃 [5 V JKL] key 106 〃 [6 is n MNO] key 107 〃 [7 or ▲ 1 PQRS] key 108 〃 [8 or ▲ 2 ▼ TUV] key 109 〃 [9 or ▲ 3 ▼ WXYZ] key 110 〃 [0 or ▲ 4 ▼] ] Key 111 〃 Control key [* mode] Key 112 〃 Control key [# ″ _-o ] key 400 Conventional mobile phone keyboard 401 [1 A] key 402 〃 [2 or ABC] key of conventional mobile phone keyboard 403 〃 [3 DEF] key 404 〃 [4 GHI] key 405 〃 [5 JKL] key 406 〃 [6 is MNO] Key 4 7 〃 [7 or PQRS] key 408 〃 [8 and TUV] key 409 〃 [9 et al WXYZ] key 410 〃 [0 Wa] key 411 〃 control key [*] key 412 〃 control key [# "- _o] key

Claims (5)

In an electronic device equipped with a keyboard, a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0 is assigned, and three or four alphabets are assigned to one key in alphabetical order. In the keystroke, the key for selecting the three or four characters assigned in the alphabetical order is keyed, and in the subsequent keystroke, the numeric key for designating the alphabetical order of the three or four letters assigned to the key. An electronic device equipped with a keyboard, characterized by comprising means for inputting 26 letters of the alphabet by selectively typing keys. An electronic device equipped with a keyboard is equipped with a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0, and the key top of the 10 keys from 1 to 0 of the numeric keys has a kana 50 phonogram. “A” to “WA” representing each line are displayed, and the tops of the five keys 1 to 5 of the numeric keys or the periphery thereof are additionally displayed to represent each stage of the 50-sound chart, With the first keystroke, a numeric key that selects each line of the 50 sound chart according to the display of the key top is pressed, and with each subsequent keystroke, each of the five characters in each line of the 50 sound chart with the selected keystroke is displayed. Means for inputting kana characters by selectively typing the characters according to the display on the key top, and in addition to the display of “a” to “wa”, one key in alphabetical order 3 or 4 characters In addition to the display of the tops of the numeric keys, the display with duplicated assignments of the fabbets is added, and three or four alphabets are assigned to one key in alphabetical order. A key for selecting three or four characters is pressed, and in the subsequent key pressing, a number key that designates the ascending order of the alphabets among the three or four characters assigned to the key is selectively keyed to select the alphabet 26. An electronic device equipped with a keyboard, characterized by comprising means for inputting characters. Alphabetically assigned three-letter or four-letter alphabets are displayed on the top of the numeric keypad, and four displays that specify the ascending order of the alphabets are displayed on four of the ten numeric keys or on the periphery thereof. An electronic device comprising the keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the electronic device is displayed. In an electronic device equipped with a keyboard, a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0 and one control key is provided, and a kana character is input by pressing two consecutive numeric keys. And a means for inputting a dakuten or a semi-turbid point by a keystroke of the control key when the kana character inputted immediately before is a character allowed to have a dakuten or a semi-dakuten. An electronic device comprising the keyboard according to claim 3.   In an electronic device having a keyboard, a keyboard having 10 numeric keys for inputting decimal numbers from 1 to 0 and one control key is provided. Characterized in that it comprises means for inputting characters, and has means for switching the upper / lower input mode with a single keystroke of the control key and switching between half-width / full-width input mode with two consecutive keystrokes. An electronic device comprising the keyboard according to claim 3.

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