JP4953920B2 - Key input support device, key input method and program thereof. - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention mainly relates to a key input support device, a key input method, and a program thereof that are employed in an electronic device having restrictions on input keys such as characters and symbols such as a mobile phone terminal.

  Conventionally, electronic devices such as a mobile phone terminal, a car navigation device, and a DVD recorder have a function of inputting characters, but due to their external restrictions, the number of input keys such as characters is limited.

  For example, taking the example of the mobile phone terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1, when inputting characters such as hiragana or katakana, all keys such as the character key cannot be displayed on the key input unit 106. FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the key input unit 106. In this case, for example, when inputting the character “A line”, the key 112 corresponding to “A line” is pressed and the key input unit 106 is continuously displayed. The characters “A line” corresponding to the number of times of pressing are displayed on the display unit 101 composed of a liquid crystal or the like. In general, the character display is confirmed and input processing is performed.

  However, in the character input as described above, the input is complicated, and erroneous input is likely to occur. When an incorrect input is made, it is necessary to cancel the input character by pressing the clear key 111 and input the correct character again.

On the other hand, in Patent Document 1, based on a character input key that has been pressed, the number of times that the character input key has been continuously pressed, a time interval of pressing, and the like in order to reduce the user's input error by correcting an input error by the user. A technique for identifying and correcting a character to be corrected is disclosed.

JP 2005-115621 A

As described above, in the conventional general technique, for example, when you want to input “red flag”, after confirming “red”, mistakenly input “hana” and notice before conversion. In this case, it was necessary to delete “NA” by pressing the clear key, input “TA” again to “HA”, and then confirm “Flag” with the conversion key. That is, every time there is an erroneous input, it is necessary to move the finger to press the clear key 111 and move the finger to a predetermined character key of the operation unit 106 to continue the input, thus preventing a prompt character input. .

  On the other hand, according to Patent Document 1, a code (character or the like) is associated with the number of times a character key is pressed, and if the number of times the key is pressed is mistakenly pressed, A technique is disclosed in which the previous code (characters or the like) is reflected as a candidate on the display, and finger movement is reduced. However, this technique has a problem that it is displayed sequentially from the previous code. For example, in the previous example, when an incorrect input of “na” is noticed, it is understood that “no” is displayed in front of “na” and the lines are sequentially displayed in the technique of Patent Document 1. However, it is unclear how "ta" that I want to display appears. In other words, there is a problem that the characters to be displayed cannot cope with the case where the key arrangement is different as in this case.

  The present invention is intended to solve the above problems. That is, the present invention provides a key input support device, a key input method, and a program thereof that reduce the number of finger movements as much as possible even when an erroneous input is performed.

  The key input support device according to the present invention includes an operation unit having an input key, a pressing continuation time detecting means for detecting a pressing continuation time of the input key, a display unit, and the pressing continuation time exceeding a predetermined time. Includes a control unit that causes the display unit to display the display information obtained by the previous press in place of the display information obtained by the press immediately before the press. That is, the key input support device according to the present invention replaces the display information obtained by the pressing immediately before the pressing when the pressing continuation time exceeds a predetermined time, and further displays the previous pressing. By providing a function that information is displayed on the display unit, the display of erroneously input display information such as character information is restored to the display of character information before erroneous input, without using the clear key. And the number of times the user's finger moves can be reduced.

  The key input method of the present invention comprises a plurality of input keys, and displays on the display unit in response to the key input. After one display information corresponding to one key input is displayed on the display unit When the subsequent key input is performed using the same key as the one key, the step of measuring the key pressing continuation time during the subsequent key input and the key pressing continuation time for a predetermined time In the case of exceeding the one display information, the display information immediately before the one display information is displayed on a display unit instead of the one display information. That is, according to the key input method of the present invention, when the key press continuation time exceeds a predetermined time, the display information immediately before the one display information is displayed on the display unit instead of the one display information. By providing a step, it is possible to restore the display of erroneously input display information, for example, character information, etc., without using the clear key, to the display of character information before erroneous input, and the number of times the user's finger has moved Can be reduced. The present invention also provides a program relating to a key input method.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to obtain a key input support device, a key input method, and a program thereof that reduce the number of finger movements as much as possible.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5. Note that the key input support device of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone terminal, and is widely used in DVD recorders, car navigation devices, and other small electronic devices. The following embodiment will be described assuming that the portable terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 is provided. Therefore, FIG. 1 and FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the key input support device 10 of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the key input support device of the present invention includes a display unit 11, a display control unit 12, a control unit 13, a storage unit 14, a timer 15, an operation unit 16, and a press detection unit 17. Further, the area surrounded by the alternate long and short dash line 20, that is, the timer 15 and the press detection unit 17 are grasped as the press continuation time detection means 20. Hereinafter, each of these parts will be briefly described. It should be noted that the “key” in the present invention is a generic term for the input keys of the operation unit unless otherwise specified. The input “key” may also be referred to as an input “button”.

  The display unit 11 includes a display screen such as a liquid crystal display, and has a function of displaying, for example, character information such as characters input by the user and display information such as marks, comics, and drawings. The display unit corresponds to 101 in the mobile phone terminal of FIG. The display control unit 12 includes, for example, a function of converting the content determined by the control unit 11 into the display unit 11 and directly controls the display unit. Note that the character information referred to in this specification is a broad concept including characters such as hiragana, katakana, and alphabet, numbers, line feed symbols, and the like. The display information is a broader concept including marks, photos, comics, etc. in addition to character information displayed on the display screen.

  The control unit 13 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a microcontroller, and directly and indirectly controls each part of the key input support device and other parts of the mobile phone terminal (not shown) if necessary. ing. In connection with the present invention, for example, confirming key input, determining whether or not the key pressing continuation time has exceeded a predetermined time, determining the character input operation of the display unit, etc. Control is in progress.

  The storage unit 14 includes a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), and stores information obtained by past key operations. The timer (Timer) 15 has a function of generating a time for determining the key pressing continuation time and the like. The operation unit 16 includes keys for a user (operator) to input characters and the like. The operation unit 16 corresponds to 106 in FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example of the key layout of the operation unit. As shown in FIG. 2, the operation unit 16 has many keys. For example, there are various power keys 109, clear keys 111, and the like, but the character information keys that are particularly problematic in the present invention include the key 112 including "A line" and the key 114 including "Ta line". Keys shown in the area surrounded by 120. In other words, it refers to a key that is directly used to input elements constituting a sentence including numbers, alphabets, and punctuation marks. In the present invention, a key for confirming character information, that is, a confirmation key is also a target for effective correction of erroneous input as described later. As an example, in FIG. Of course, display information such as pictographs and marks prepared in advance or set by the operator can be added to the normal character information and set for the character information keys in the area surrounded by the one-dot chain line. It is. Of course, a key other than the character information key can be provided with such a designation function.

  The character press detection unit 17 has a function of detecting information that the key of the operation unit 16 is pressed and transmitting the information to the control unit 13. As described above, each unit other than the display unit 11 and the operation unit 16 does not appear in the outer shape of FIG. The timer 15 and the press detection unit 17 are used to detect the time during which the press of a specific key is continued by the operator. In other words, the timer 15 and the press detection unit 17 constitute a press continuation time detection means 20.

  Next, the operation of the key input support device 10 of the present invention will be described mainly with reference to the operation flowchart of FIG. When the key input support device 10 becomes usable, for example, when the electronic device such as a mobile phone terminal (not shown) including the key input assist device 10 is turned on and becomes operable, the start state of FIG. 4 is entered.

  If it will be in a start state, the control part 13 will perform a timer (Timer) count initial setting rapidly (step S00). In the initial setting, a threshold value of a key pressing time (hereinafter also referred to as a timer setting value or a Timer setting value) is set and the timer 15 is initialized. In the flowchart of FIG. 4, “Timer count initial setting” and the timer are described in English, and “Timer count initial setting” and the like are not described in katakana. However, this is difficult to read when the katakana continues. Therefore, it is only written in English, and has no special meaning. In the following description, the description of the flowchart in English is used as it is.

  Next, key input is performed by the operator, and the resulting character information is displayed on the display screen by known means. Since the present invention aims to effectively cope with an erroneous input or the like, the description of the flowchart of FIG. 4 is entered from a situation where a certain amount of input is made and an erroneous input or the like may be made. That is, when a new key is input from an operator or the like, that is, when the key is pressed, the press detection unit 7 detects the press. That is, key input detection is performed (step S2).

  When a press detection is made in step S2, the press detection unit 7 notifies the control unit 3 of this, and the control unit 3 instructs the timer 5 to start time measurement. As a result, the timer 5 starts timer counting (step S3). Next, in step S4, it is determined whether or not the key previously input by the operator is the same key as before, that is, whether or not the key input value is the same. The process proceeds to each step according to the determination result. Here, the “key input value” shown in the flowchart is also referred to as a key code such as “A” key 112 and “TA” key 114, for example, referring to FIG. Therefore, it can be said that in step S4, it is determined whether or not the key is the same as the key pressed immediately before. The meaning of this will be described later with a specific example.

  If YES is determined in step S4, that is, if it is the same as the previously pressed key value, that is, if the same key is pressed, the time for which the operator continues to press the key is detected (step S5). . When the operator removes his / her finger from the key, the key-on signal is not detected. That is, it becomes a key-off state. In the key-off state, the pressing detection unit 17 in FIG. 3 sends a key-off signal to the control unit 13, and in response to this, the control unit 13 instructs the timer 15 to stop the timer count, and proceeds to stop the timer count in step S6.

  Next, it is determined whether or not the count value of the timer, that is, the count time exceeds a predetermined threshold value (Timer set value) (step S7). If it has exceeded, in other words, if the button has been pressed for a long time exceeding the predetermined time (hereinafter also simply referred to as “long press”), the Timer count value is cleared (step S8), and the current key display is cleared. Then, the control unit 3 and the display control unit 2 control to return the display shown on the display unit to the state before the key operation pressed last time is pressed (step S9). As a result, the display unit is updated (step S10). That is, the display returns to the previous state. That is, it can be said that the previous display information is redisplayed. In other words, a display recovery function is provided. This specific example will be described later.

  In step S7, if the Timer count value is equal to or smaller than the Timer set value, it is a normal key input, so that the value is processed as a correct input value as will be described later.

  Although the flowchart of FIG. 4 is in the middle of the description, FIG. 5 showing a specific example of the point portion of the present invention that the key input display immediately before that is cleared when there is a long press as described above is also shown. Details will be described with reference to FIG.

  Briefly describing case 1 in FIG. 5, this is a case of correcting an erroneous input. For example, if you want to input “Red Hat”, after confirming to “Red Hat”, enter the next input by mistake “N”, and the operator notices before confirming the input. is there. In this case, “red flower” is displayed on the display unit immediately before step S2 in FIG. Here, the underline of “NA” indicates the state before the input confirmation process. The same applies to the underlined portions below.

  Since the operator notices the erroneous input, in order to cancel the “NA” that is the target of the erroneous input, the operator presses the “NA” 115 that is the erroneous input key for a long time in Step 2 of FIG. That is, press and hold. For example, when the normal key input time, that is, the threshold value of the key pressing time is set to 1 second, the pressing continues for more than 1 second. As a result, the determination in step S4 is the same as the previous key input value, so the answer is YES, and the determination in step S7 is also long-pressed, so the answer is YES. As a result, step S9 in FIG. 4 is performed to return to the state before the key operation that was pressed last time. That is, “NA” of “RED HANA” shown in S01 of FIG. As a result, the update display in step S10 is “red”. That is, according to the present embodiment, instead of the character information “red flower” obtained by the pressing immediately before the long pressing, “red flower” which is the character information immediately before is displayed. In other words, it can be said that display recovery processing has been performed. It can also be said that the display recovery processing has a function of performing without using the clear key. Until this update display is made, “red flower” continues to be displayed on the display screen. Here, the flowchart of FIG. 4 is temporarily terminated.

  When the “ta” key 114 is pressed once as a subsequent operation, that is, an operation after the next time in FIG. 5, “red hat” is displayed on the display screen. FIG. 5 shows only up to this point on account of space, but after that, the input can be confirmed to obtain “red hat”. Therefore, conventionally, in such a case, it was necessary to move the finger and input “ta” after canceling “na”. Become. Although it is a detailed story, there is no time explanation about the pressing of “ta” because a different key is pressed, so that a determination such as a long press is not performed. However, in such a case, the operator usually does not perform a long press or the like.

  Note that when it is desired to obtain a display of “red flag” as an expected input, the display immediately before step 2 is displayed as “red flower” unlike FIG. 5, and in this case as well, step 2 in FIG. By performing a long press similar to that shown in FIG. 6, the update display in step S10 is obtained as “red”, and thereafter, although not shown, the correct character “ta” is input, and “red” is displayed. After that, press the conversion key to “hata” to display several character candidates such as “flag”, “秦”, “field” on the screen. After that, if the “flag” which is the desired character is selected and confirmed using the confirmation key, the “red flag” is obtained.

  Next, the case of Case 2 in FIG. 5 will be described. Case 2 is a case where the same key as the previous key is pressed, but in the middle of normal input. For example, the expected input is “red splash”. Here too, the state immediately before step S2 is “red flower” as in case 1. Here, in order to obtain the display of “red splash”, it is necessary to continuously press the “na” key 115 three times.

  4 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 as well. As an operation in Step 2, the “na” key 115 is pressed once, not for a long time, but for a short time, that is, in a normal state. The key is depressed (hereinafter referred to as “normally depressed” when the key depression time is equal to or less than the threshold value, that is, when the key is not depressed for a long time). As a result, since it is the same key as before in step S4, the answer is YES. However, in step S7, the depressing continuation time is less than the threshold value, so the determination is NO. Returning to FIG. 4, the key value is stored in the RAM as the key value pressed this time (step S11). Thereafter, the Timer count value is cleared (step S12). The key input process is performed with this key input as valid (step S13). As a result, the display unit is updated (step S14). This completes the flowchart of FIG. Returning to case 2 in FIG. 5, the display corresponding to step S14 in FIG. That is, “NI” corresponding to the second press of the key value “NA” pressed this time is displayed. From this point onward, as shown in FIG. 5, if “NA” 115 is normally depressed twice more, the updated display will be “red splashing”, and if this is confirmed, the expected input can be obtained. It will be.

  Returning to step S4 in FIG. 4, if the key input value is different from the previously pressed key value, that is, if NO in S4, the character input corresponding to the current key input is stored in the RAM because it is a normal input. (Step S11). Although not shown in the figure, a case close to the case shown in FIG. 5 is, for example, a case where the expected input is “red is still” and the display immediately before step S2 is “red”. .

After step S11, the timer count value is cleared from the control unit 3 (step S12), key input processing corresponding to the current key input is performed (step S13), and this is reflected on the display unit. That is, the display unit is updated (step S14).
As a result, “red is still” is displayed. After that, if the confirmation process is performed with the confirmation key, “red is still” is confirmed.

  The above description of FIG. 5 has been performed centering on a case (example 1) in which an erroneous input is found before the confirmation process, but the erroneous input correction process according to the present invention can also be performed after the confirmation process. . The process in this case will be described using a case close to case 1. For example, if you want to enter “red flag”, enter “red hat” and use the conversion key to confirm the candidate character information such as “field”, “秦”, and “flag” as confirmation candidates. Is displayed, and “field” is selected and confirmed by mistake. In this case, the display immediately before step 2 in FIG. 4 is “red field”. To correct this, it is only necessary to press and hold the enter key again. Since this result is the same long press, the process finally proceeds to step S10 in FIG. That is, the display unit is updated to the state before the key operation previously pressed is pressed.

  Specifically, a display screen (not shown) such as “field”, “秦”, “flag”, etc. appears again. Therefore, if the operator selects the correct term “flag” and normally presses the enter key again, the desired “red flag” is obtained. In other words, instead of the character information “red field” obtained by pressing immediately before the long press, the final candidate character information such as “field”, “秦”, “flag” which is the previous character information is displayed. Is displayed. That is, it can be said that the display recovery process is performed, and the display recovery process can be effectively used by the operator. On the other hand, if the conventional clear key function is used as it is, first clear the "flag" of the "red flag" with the clear key, then enter a new "hata" and convert it to a candidate character Then, it is necessary to finalize the process. That is, in the conventional case, it is necessary to input up to “ha”, but this is not necessary in the present invention. Note that, as an example of the confirmation key, as shown by 110 shown in FIG. 2, it is generally in a different area from the character information key 120, but the number of key inputs can be reduced as a whole. That is, the number of finger movements can be reduced.

  As described above, according to the present invention, even when an erroneous input is performed, a key input support device, a key input method, and a program thereof that reduce the number of finger movements as much as possible can be obtained.

  In addition, there is a step of confirming whether or not the key input value is the same as the previous key input value in step S4 of FIG. 4, and no mention has been made of the target key for performing this operation until now. Although it is possible to use all keys, if this causes inconvenience, for example, it is limited to a specific key such as the character information key or the confirmation key 110 shown in the area surrounded by the one-dot chain line 120 in FIG. Needless to say, you can do it. Further, as an example of the pressing continuation time detection means 20, the configuration including the timer 15 and the pressing detection unit 17 is shown, but the timer 15 and the pressing detection unit 17 are not necessarily required, but other configurations Needless to say, it is only necessary to be able to detect the duration of pressing even if elements are used.

  Further, in the description of the embodiments of the present invention, the description has been focused on the case where the present invention is used for an electronic device such as a cellular phone terminal in which the number of input keys such as characters is limited, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to these electronic devices. It is not limited to application to equipment. For example, an electronic device having a keyboard in which one key corresponds to all letters of the alphabet, such as a normal personal computer, can be provided with the display recovery function in the case of a long press as described in the present invention. .

  In addition, the explanation has been developed mainly on character information, but recently, the usage of giving a special meaning to a specific figure, pictogram, mark, etc. is also progressing. Therefore, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied not only to character information but also to all display information used on these display screens.

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above disclosure, and various modifications and alterations can be made within the scope of the idea of the invention. Needless to say.

It is an example of the conventional mobile telephone terminal. It is the figure which expanded the operation part of FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the key input assistance apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the key input assistance apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the operation | movement of FIG. 4 etc. according to a specific example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Key input assistance apparatus 11 Display part 12 Display control part 13 Control part 14 Memory | storage part 15 Timer 16 Operation part 17 Press detection part

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Mobile phone terminal 101 Display part 106 of a mobile phone terminal Operation part 109,110,111,112,113,114,115 of a mobile phone terminal Input key 120 of a mobile phone terminal Character information input key

Claims (3)

An operation unit having a plurality of input keys;
A pressing continuation time detecting means for detecting a pressing continuation time of each of the plurality of input keys;
A display unit for displaying display information corresponding to the type and the number of continuous presses of each of the plurality of input keys ;
When the pressing of the first key is detected, whether or not the second key pressed immediately before and the first key are the same key, and the first pressing continuation time of the first key is a predetermined time. and determining the control unit whether exceeded
Equipped with a,
The controller is
The first display that is displayed based on the pressing of the second key when the first key and the second key are the same and the first pressing continuation time exceeds the predetermined time Instead of information, the display unit displays second display information that is displayed based on pressing of a third key that is different from the second key immediately before the second key,
When the first key is different from the second key, or when the first pressing continuation time does not exceed the predetermined time, third display information based on the pressing of the first key is displayed on the display unit. Key input support device to be displayed . Detecting the pressing of the first key of the plurality of input keys;
  Whether the second key pressed immediately before the first key and the first key are the same key, and whether the first pressing continuation time of the first key has exceeded a predetermined time Determining
When the first key is the same as the second key and the first pressing continuation time exceeds the predetermined time, the first key is displayed on the display unit based on the pressing of the second key. Instead of the first display information, the second display information displayed on the display unit based on pressing of a third key different from the second key immediately before the second key is displayed on the display unit. Steps to display,
When the first key is different from the second key, or when the first pressing continuation time does not exceed the predetermined time, third display information based on the pressing of the first key is displayed on the display unit. Steps to display and
With
Key input method.   Detecting the pressing of the first key of the plurality of input keys;
  Whether the second key pressed immediately before the first key and the first key are the same key, and whether the first pressing continuation time of the first key has exceeded a predetermined time Determining
When the first key is the same as the second key and the first pressing continuation time exceeds the predetermined time, the first key is displayed on the display unit based on the pressing of the second key. Instead of the first display information, the second display information displayed on the display unit based on pressing of a third key different from the second key immediately before the second key is displayed on the display unit. Steps to display,
When the first key is different from the second key, or when the first pressing continuation time does not exceed the predetermined time, third display information based on the pressing of the first key is displayed on the display unit. Steps to display and
Key input program that causes a computer to execute.

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