JP6525082B2 - Electronic device, information input method and information input control program used for the electronic device, and portable terminal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a portable terminal device, for example, a portable telephone or a PDA (Personal Digital) that performs a predetermined operation when characters are input from a touch panel. The present invention relates to an electronic device suitable for application to Assistants (Personal Digital Assistant) and the like, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a mobile terminal device.

  In an electronic device configured to perform character input using a touch panel, a configuration in which all hiragana characters are displayed on the touch panel is generally used, but a mobile phone, PDA, etc. in which a touch panel for character input is displayed on a display unit In the portable electronic device of the present invention, the size of the display unit is restricted due to the nature of the portable device, and it is difficult to secure an area for displaying the touch panel. As a countermeasure, characters corresponding to character lines ("A line", "ka line", etc.) are displayed, and for example, the touch screen of "A line" is pressed a fixed number of times, "A"-> " The method of changing the input character is taken as “I” → “U” → “E” → “O”. In addition, in the character input by the key, in addition to the method of switching the input character in the same manner as described above, when the key of “A line” is pressed once, “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, There is also a method of displaying "o" as a selection candidate on the display unit and determining characters by the second selection operation.

  As a related art of this type, there is, for example, a kana character input device described in Patent Document 1.

  In this Kana character input device, five characters are defined in one of a plurality of keys on the touch panel or the keyboard, and one character is determined by the key selection operation and the operation point after the selection or the movement direction of the operation force. It is selected. Specifically, five kana characters are ordered and corresponded to one of the keys, and one kana character is selected by selecting a row of the Japanese syllabary array based on the operated or pressed key. Since five characters are defined for one key, the number of character keys can be significantly reduced. Therefore, the area of the touch panel or the keyboard can be reduced without reducing the size of the keys. The user can easily learn the input operation by associating it with the Japanese syllabary arrangement.

  Further, in the pseudonym input method using the liquid crystal touch panel described in Patent Document 2, the character string "Akasata Hanayama Rawa" is superimposed on one line in a row on the screen of the liquid crystal touch panel, and one of the characters is touched In response to the input, the remaining character string on any one of the lines “A” to “W” containing the touch character under the touch character is superimposed on one vertical line, The character is input by touch-inputting one of the display characters arranged in a vertical line including the one character in one column.

  In the character input device described in Patent Document 3, a hiragana input screen is displayed on the display unit, and the CPU (central processing unit) contacts the stylus pen with the display surface of the display unit via the touch panel and the touch panel. Is detected, and based on the detection result, when the stylus pen touches a predetermined area of the touch panel facing the hiragana input key of the hiragana input screen at one point, the predetermined character assigned to the hiragana input key is input and the hiragana input is input When the stylus pen moves in contact with a predetermined area of the touch panel facing the key, by entering different characters, a dramatically simple selection operation is performed on the hiragana input key, and a large number of characters are easily input. Ru.

  Further, in the character input method described in Patent Document 4, in the character input device for inputting Kana characters with the ten keys to which the characters from the "A" line to the "Wa" line are respectively allocated, Contact points to detect pressing from the left and right, and contacts to detect pressing from the top, bottom, left, and right are input from the front of the letter “A” input from the front and four directions from the top, bottom, left, and right A signal corresponding to five characters including the characters of the "" stage, the "U" stage, the "E" stage, and the "O" stage is output.

JP 2000-112636 A (abstract, FIG. 1) JP 2002-222053 A (abstract, FIG. 6) JP, 2003-157144, A (abstract, FIG. 4, FIG. 14) JP, 2006-178755, A (abstract, FIG. 4)

  However, the above-mentioned techniques including the above-mentioned documents have the following problems.

  That is, the method of switching the input character by pressing the touch panel has a problem that it is necessary to press the key many times when displaying the character intended by the user. In addition, even if all of the Japanese syllabary is displayed, it is difficult for the user to instantly search for a character that the user wants to input because the number of characters is large. In addition, in character input using a key, when displaying characters intended by the user, it is necessary to press the key many times.

  Further, in the kana character input device described in Patent Document 1, one character is selected according to the key selection operation and the operation point after the selection or the movement direction of the operation force from front to back and from right to left. , Configuration and processing methods are different.

  In the kana input method described in Patent Document 2, the character is input by touch-inputting one of the display characters arranged in a vertical row including one character in a horizontal row, but the present invention Are different in configuration and processing method.

  In the character input device described in Patent Document 3, a selection operation is performed on a hiragana input key and a large number of characters are easily input. However, the configuration and the processing method are different from the present invention.

  In the character input method described in Patent Document 4, the characters of the "A" column input from the front and the "I" column, the "U" column, and the "E" input from the four directions up, down, left, and right A signal corresponding to five characters of the stage and the letter of the stage is output, but the configuration and processing method are different from those of the present invention.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and even when the size of the display unit is restricted as in a portable device such as a portable telephone, characters and information are input from the touch panel by a simple operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a portable terminal device.

  In order to solve the above problems, a first configuration of the present invention relates to an electronic device having a touch panel for inputting information, the touch panel being partitioned by a predetermined number of information input frames, and a plurality of information being predetermined The information input frame is assigned and displayed, and when any of the information input frames where the information is displayed is pressed, the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame is already displayed. The sub information accompanying the information displayed in the pressed information input frame is displayed regardless of the presence or absence of the information, and when the press is released after being pressed, immediately before the release It is characterized in that input information determining means for determining the information or sub information displayed in the information input frame which has been pressed as input information is provided.

  A second configuration of the present invention relates to an information input method used for an electronic device having a touch panel for inputting information and the touch panel is partitioned by a predetermined number of information input frames, and a plurality of pieces of information are divided into predetermined ones. Each information input frame is assigned and displayed, and when any of the information input frames in which the respective information is displayed is pressed, the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame is already displayed. The sub information associated with the information displayed in the pressed information input frame is displayed regardless of the presence or absence of the information, and when the press is released after being pressed, the sub information is pressed immediately before the release. The present invention is characterized in that the information or sub-information displayed in the information input frame that has been set is determined as input information.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when the plurality of pieces of information are allocated to the predetermined information input frames and displayed by the input information determination means, and any of the information input frames in which the respective pieces of information are displayed is pressed, In the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame, sub-information attached to the information displayed in the pressed information input frame is displayed regardless of the presence or absence of the information already displayed, and When the same button is released after the button is pressed, the information or sub information displayed in the information input frame that was pressed immediately before the release is determined as input information, and thus the information input frame that was pressed earlier and Information can be accurately input only in a narrow area consisting of adjacent information input frames.

It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the principal part of the electronic device which is one Example of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining operation | movement of the mobile telephone 1 of FIG. It is a figure explaining the state where a character is selected with the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the state from which a character is selected with the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the state from which a character is selected with the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining the other example of the state from which a character is selected with the touch panel 11 in FIG.

  The electronic device has a touch panel for character input, and the touch panel is partitioned by a predetermined number of character input frames. Then, each character in the "A" column of the Japanese syllabary is assigned to each predetermined character input box and displayed, and one of the character input boxes in which each character in the "A" column is displayed is pressed When the character input frame adjacent to the pressed character input frame is the remaining characters of the character line including the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame regardless of the presence or absence of the characters already displayed And an input character determination means for determining the character displayed in the character input frame that was pressed immediately before this release as the input character when the same press is released after being displayed. An electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a portable terminal device are provided.

  Further, according to the present invention, the input character determination means sets the characters displayed in the character input box adjacent to the character input box to the vowels of the characters displayed in the character input box pressed. The relative positional relationship is fixed and displayed.

  Further, in the present invention, the input character determination unit is configured to set the character input frame adjacent to the upper side, the lower side, the left side, and the right side of the character displayed in the character input frame pressed. Each character to be displayed is configured to be displayed with the relative positional relationship of vowels fixed.

  Further, in the present invention, the input character determination means is adjacent to the upper left side, the lower left side, the upper right side and the lower right side of the character input frame with respect to the character displayed in the pressed character input frame. Each character displayed in the character input box is displayed with the relative positional relationship of vowels fixed.

  Further, in the present invention, the input character determination means is a relative of vowels of the character displayed in the pressed character input box and each character displayed in the character input box adjacent to the character input box. There is provided a positional relationship setting unit for arbitrarily setting the positional relationship.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a main part of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The electronic device of this example is a mobile phone 1 as shown in the figure, and has a display unit 10, a processing device 20, and a character database 30. The display unit 10 is configured of, for example, a liquid crystal display device, and has a function as a touch panel 11 for character input. The touch panel 11 is divided by a predetermined number of character input frames by an input frame setting signal fa of the processing device 20, and each character ("A, C, T, ...な, 割 り 当 て, 、, 、, 」”) are assigned to each of the predetermined character input boxes and displayed. Further, when any of the character input frames is pressed, the touch panel 11 outputs position information da corresponding to the position of the pressed character input frame. Further, when an operation of updating the character database 30 is performed, the touch panel 11 outputs a database update signal cd.

  The processing device 20 has a CPU (central processing unit) 20a as a computer that controls the entire mobile phone 1 and a ROM (read only memory) 20b in which an information input control program for operating the CPU 20a is recorded. ing. In particular, in this embodiment, the processing device 20 outputs the input frame setting signal fa to the touch panel 11 to assign each character of the “A” row of the fifty sounds to each predetermined character input frame. Adjacent to the pressed character input frame based on the position information da output from the touch panel 11 when any of the character input frames in which each character of the “A” column is displayed is pressed. The remaining characters of the character line including the characters displayed in the pressed character input box are displayed in the input character box regardless of the presence or absence of the characters already displayed, and the same characters are displayed after being pressed When the press is released, the character displayed in the character input box pressed immediately before the release is decided as an input character.

  Further, with respect to the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame, the processing device 20 fixes the relative positional relationship of the vowels to each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame. Display. For example, the characters to be displayed are fixed so that the vowel "i" is lower, "u" is left, "e" is upper, and "o" is right. The relative positional relationship of vowels of these characters is preset and stored in the character database 30. Further, the character input frame adjacent to the pressed character input frame is, for example, adjacent to the upper side, lower side, left side and right side of the pressed character input frame, or upper left side, lower left side, upper right side and right side Adjacent to the lower side. Further, the processing device 20 is provided with a positional relationship setting unit 21. The positional relationship setting unit 21 sends a positional relationship setting signal ce to the character database 30 based on the database update signal cd output from the touch panel 11 to arbitrarily set the relative positional relationship.

  FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile phone 1 of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are diagrams for explaining a state in which characters are selected by the touch panel 11 in FIG. .

  The processing contents of the information input method used for the mobile phone 1 of this example will be described with reference to these figures.

  In this mobile phone 1, each character ("Akasa / Tanaha / Maaya / Wa") in the "A" row of the Japanese syllabary is assigned to each character input frame set in advance and displayed. When any of the character input boxes in which each character of the "A" column is displayed is pressed, regardless of the presence or absence of characters already displayed in the character input box adjacent to the pressed character input box And the remaining characters of the character line including the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame are displayed, and when the pressed is released after being pressed, the characters that were pressed immediately before this release The character displayed in the input box is confirmed as the input character.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the user performs an operation using a function that requires character input, such as mail creation, for example, the processing device 20 is activated (step A1). An input frame setting signal fa is output to 11 and a character input frame is set (step A2). On the touch panel 1, as shown in FIG. 3 (a), a character input frame is displayed, and each character in the "A" column in each character input frame set in advance ("Akasa / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa") Is assigned and displayed (step A3). In this state, for example, when the character input frame displaying "A" is pressed (step A4), the position information da is detected and sent to the processing device 20 (step A5).

  In the processing device 20, the character database 30 is inquired based on the position information da (step A6), the relative positional relationship of the characters is read (step A7), and the character information cn corresponding to the relative positional relationship is It is sent to the touch panel 1 (step A8). The touch panel 1 displays characters corresponding to the character information cn (step A9). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, for the characters (“A”) displayed in the pressed character input frame, for example, on the lower side, left side, upper side and right side of the character input frame The characters displayed in the adjacent character input boxes ("I, u, u, o") are displayed in a state where the relative positional relationship of vowels is set in advance. When the press is released in this state (step A10), "A" is decided as an input character (step A11). On the other hand, without releasing the press in the step A10, for example, the character input frame in which "o" is displayed is pressed (step A12), and the press of the character input frame of "a" is released. When the depression of the character input frame of "" is released (step A13), as shown in FIG. 3C, "o" is decided as an input character (step A14).

  Also, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), for example, when the character input frame displaying "sa" is pressed, each character input adjacent to the lower side, the left side, the upper side and the right side of the character input frame is input. The characters displayed in the frame ("S, S, S, S") are displayed with the relative positional relationship of vowels in the same state as in FIG. 3 (b). When the press is released in this state, "sa" is decided as an input character, but without releasing the press, for example, the letter input frame in which "shi" is displayed is pressed, and the letter input frame for "sa" When releasing the pressing of the button and releasing the pressing of the character input frame of "shi", as shown in FIG. 4C, "shi" is decided as an input character.

  In addition, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the character input frame in which “W” is displayed is pressed, the characters displayed in the respective character input frames adjacent to the right side of the character input frame are displayed. “), The relative positional relationship of vowels is displayed in the same state as FIG. 3 (b). When pressing is released in this state, "wa" is decided as an input character, but without releasing pressing, the character input frame in which "「 "is displayed is pressed, and the character input frame of" wa "is pressed. When the character input frame of “を” is released after releasing “リ リ ー ス”, as shown in FIG. 5C, “を” is determined as the input character.

  When an operation of updating the character database 30 is performed on the touch panel 11 (step B1), a database update signal cd is output from the touch panel 11 to the positional relationship setting unit 21. A positional relationship setting signal ce is transmitted to the character database 30 by the positional relationship setting unit 21, and the relative positional relationship of vowels of the stored characters is arbitrarily set. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), for the character ("A") displayed in the pressed character input box, for example, the left side, lower left Characters ("I, U, U, O") displayed in the adjacent character input boxes on the lower right side are displayed. When pressing is released in this state, "A" is decided as an input character. On the other hand, without releasing this pressing, for example, the character input frame in which "o" is displayed is pressed, and the pressing of the character input frame of "a" is released, and then the character input frame of "o" is pressed. Is released, as shown in FIG. 6C, "o" is decided as an input character.

  As described above, in this embodiment, each character ("Akasaka / Tanaha / Maaya / Wa") in the "A" column is assigned to each character input box set in advance and displayed. When any of the character input boxes in which each character in the column is displayed is pressed, regardless of the presence or absence of characters already displayed in the character input box adjacent to the pressed character input box, The remaining characters of the character line including the character displayed in the pressed character input frame are displayed, and when the pressed is released after the character is pressed, the character input frame that was pressed immediately before this release Since the character displayed on the is fixed as an input character, character input can be accurately performed only in a narrow area consisting of a 5 × 6 character input frame. In addition, since it is not necessary to press the same character input frame a plurality of times when inputting one character, for example, there is no occurrence of an operation error such as pressing a place to be originally pressed 3 times. .

  Further, in FIG. 5, if the character input frame is not provided in the lower row of "wa", character input can be performed only in the area consisting of the 5 × 5 character input frame. Further, in FIG. 6, if the character input frame is not provided in the upper row of “A” and the lower row of “W”, character input is performed only in the area consisting of the 5 × 4 character input frame be able to. In addition, since the character corresponding to the corresponding character line is displayed for each character ("Akasaka / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa") in the "A" column, the user can instantly search for the character he / she wants to input it can. In addition, with respect to the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame, each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame is displayed with the relative positional relationship of vowel fixed. Character input is always performed accurately in one fixed action or two actions. Also, basically, since the character input method of a general mobile phone is followed, there is no need for the user to newly learn the input method. Further, since the relative positional relationship of the vowels is arbitrarily set by the positional relationship setting unit 21, the positional relationship according to the user's preference is set, and the operability is improved.

  Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the embodiments, and even if there is a design change or the like within the scope of the present invention, Included in the invention.

  For example, although characters are input by the touch panel 11 in the above embodiment, an information input frame may be provided instead of the character input frame, and information such as a menu may be selected, for example.

  In this case, a plurality of pieces of information are allocated to each information input frame and displayed, and when any of the information input frames in which each information is displayed is pressed, the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame is displayed. The sub information associated with the information displayed in the pressed information input frame is displayed regardless of the presence or absence of the information already displayed (corresponding to claim 1 or 7).

  The present invention can be applied not only to mobile phones but also to electronic devices in general having a touch panel for inputting information and characters, and is particularly effective for use in mobile devices etc. in which the size of the touch panel is restricted.

1 Mobile phone (Electronic equipment, mobile terminal device)
10 Display unit (part of electronic device, part of input information determination means, part of input character determination means)
11 touch panel 20 processing device (part of input information determination means, part of input character determination means)
20a CPU (central processing unit) (part of input information determination means, part of input character determination means)
20b ROM (Read Only Memory) (part of input information determination means, part of input character determination means)
21 Positional relationship setting unit (part of input character determination means)
30 character database (part of input character determination means)

Claims (10)

A display unit displaying, in a matrix, a third plurality of regions configured of a first plurality of regions and a second plurality of regions disposed outside the first plurality of regions;
A first character and an input unit for selecting a plurality of second characters associated with the first character based on a touch on a surface of the display unit;
The first character is assigned to each of the first plurality of areas and displayed, and while a state in which one of the first plurality of areas is touched is detected, the first character is displayed in the one area. A first character displayed and a second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area, at least on the same column in the vertical direction of the one area in the third plurality of areas; In one direction and in a plurality of directions including at least one direction on the same line in the left and right direction, a selection for each of the first character displayed in the one area and the second character and the selection Make the cancellation available, and enter the character that the selection was last cancelled,
In the case of displaying a first character displayed in the one area and a second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area, in another area adjacent to the one area When the first character is displayed, the mobile phone displays the second character which is a character having the same consonant as the first character displayed in the one area , instead of the first character. Terminal equipment.   The mobile terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the other area is an area adjacent to the one area in the same column direction and the same row direction.   The character according to any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the second character is displayed in each of the upper and lower two directions in the same line of the one area and the left and right two directions in the same line. The portable terminal device described in.   The second character has two or more types, and the display position for each type of the second character with respect to the one area is set according to the type. The portable terminal device according to any one of 3. The mobile terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first character is a representative character in a character group having the same consonant. The first character is a character of "a", "ka", "sa", "ta", "na", "ha", "ma", "ya", "ra" and "wa" Including
The "A", the "A", and the "Sa" are displayed side by side in a row,
The “T”, the “N”, and the “H” are displayed in a horizontal row below the “A”, the “K”, and the “S”.
The "ma", the "ya", the "ra" are displayed side by side in a row under the arrangement of the "ta", the "na" and the "ha",
The mobile terminal device according to any one of claims 4 to 5 , wherein the "wa" is displayed under the arrangement of the "ma", the "ya" and the "ra". Displaying a second character corresponding to the displayed "I" column of the first character in a first direction which is one of upper, lower, left and right directions;
A second character corresponding to the "u" column of the first character input by operation, is a second one of the upper, lower, left, and right directions that is different from the first direction. Display in the direction,
The second character corresponding to the "e" column of the first character input by operation is one of upper, lower, left and right different from the first and second directions. Display in the third direction,
The second character corresponding to the “O” column of the first character input by operation is one of upper, lower, left and right different from the first to third directions. The mobile terminal device according to any one of claims 4 to 6 , wherein display is performed in a fourth direction. A display unit displaying, in a matrix, a third plurality of regions configured of a first plurality of regions and a second plurality of regions disposed outside the first plurality of regions;
A first character and an input unit for selecting a plurality of second characters associated with the first character based on a touch on a surface of the display unit;
And a control unit for inputting, among the selected characters, the character of which the selection has been released last.
The control unit assigns the first character to each of the first plurality of areas, displays the first character, and detects a state in which one of the first plurality of areas is touched. The first character displayed in the one area and the second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area in the vertical direction of the one area in the third plurality of areas Display in a plurality of directions, including at least one on the same row and at least one on the same row in the left-right direction,
In the case of displaying a first character displayed in the one area and a second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area, in another area adjacent to the one area When the first character is displayed, the mobile phone displays the second character which is a character having the same consonant as the first character displayed in the one area , instead of the first character. Terminal equipment. A display unit in which a plurality of third regions, each of which is formed of a first plurality of regions and a plurality of second regions disposed outside the first plurality of regions, are displayed in a matrix; A method of inputting information used in an electronic device, comprising: a first character; and an input unit for selecting a plurality of second characters associated with the first character based on a touch on a surface of the unit.
The first character is assigned to each of the first plurality of areas and displayed, and while a state in which one of the first plurality of areas is touched is detected, the first character is displayed in the one area. A first character displayed and a second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area, at least on the same column in the vertical direction of the one area in the third plurality of areas; Display in a plurality of directions including one direction and at least one direction on the same line, and accepts selection and cancellation of the selection for each of the first character and the second character displayed in the one area Enable, and enter the character that the selection was last canceled,
In the case of displaying a first character displayed in the one area and a second character attached to the first character displayed in the one area, in another area adjacent to the one area Information that displays the second character, which is a character having the same consonant as the first character displayed in the one area , instead of the first character when the first character is displayed input method. The information input method according to claim 9 , wherein the other area is an area adjacent to the one area in the same column direction and the same row direction.

Images