KR20040092030A - Information input apparatus for portable wireless terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An information input device for a portable wireless terminal is provided to input text information easily and quickly with the hand catching the portable wireless terminal such as a PDA(Personal Digital Assistant) by using a joystick. CONSTITUTION: A keypad(101) leading a direction is installed to a part touched by the thumb and a matched character is assigned to each direction of the keypad. One or more key is installed to the part touched by the middle finger to the little finger, and a language mode including a special character or a moving mode on each language mode is assigned to one or more key. As the language mode or the moving mode is selected by manipulating the key with the middle finger to the little finger, and the keypad is manipulated with the thumb, one of the characters assigned to each direction is selected.

Description

Information input apparatus for portable wireless terminal

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information input device of a portable terminal that enables a user to easily enter text information with his or her hand while holding a small portable wireless terminal such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

In recent years, as portable wireless terminals such as PDAs become more and more popular, wireless terminals having various functions and designs are emerging. In addition, as the wireless terminal becomes smaller and lighter and shorter, a variety of functions are being highlighted. Therefore, in addition to the basic functions for transmitting and receiving voice with the other party, the wireless terminal requires processing of Internet information retrieval function, chat, e-mail, text information, graphics, and the like. Dual PDAs are portable wireless terminals that offer greater portability than laptops, and provide the ability to collect, store, create, retrieve information, and add new applications. Therefore, the PDA is portable and can carry out work using the Internet. In other words, a PDA has a variety of software and peripherals based on a CPU, a memory, an operating system (OS), an OS, and an application-based electronic notebook.

Accordingly, in the PDA, the display unit is gradually getting wider, while the volume of the terminal is getting smaller.

In this case, the PDA has a writing instrument shape as shown in FIG. 1, and inputs information such as a character by a touch screen method using a stylus pen with a sharp end, or a separate keyboard as shown in FIG. 2. To input information such as text. In the case of FIG. 1 described above, a desired operation or input is performed by pressing the touch screen of the PDA with the stylus pen. At this time, the stylus pen is to be carried separately by the user, stored in the interior of the PDA body, or used to be fixed on the back of the PDA.

However, the above-described method as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 has a disadvantage in that information such as a character must be input using both hands. In other words, when holding an object in one hand or using one hand for some reason, the PDA can be used only for viewing purposes.

In addition, in the case of Figure 1, if you do not properly manage after using the stylus pen has many disadvantages.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, an object of the present invention is to use a joystick to hold a portable door terminal, such as a PDA with one hand and a portable wireless terminal that allows you to enter text information easily and quickly with the hand In providing an information input device of the.

1 is a view showing an example of inputting information to a PDA using a conventional stylus pen

2 is a diagram illustrating an example of inputting information into a PDA using a conventional stylus fitted to a finger.

3 is a schematic diagram of a PDA device equipped with an input device according to the present invention;

4 is a view showing a combination example of keys installed in the PDA device of FIG.

5A to 5C are diagrams of the present invention showing examples of characters assigned to each orientation of the joystick in the Hangul mode;

6 is a diagram of the present invention showing an example of a language mode assigned to each orientation of a joystick;

Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

100: PDA body 101: Joystick

401: joystick center key

The information input device of a portable wireless terminal according to the present invention for achieving the above object is provided with a keypad that can instruct the direction on the portion where the thumb is touched in the portable wireless terminal, corresponding to each orientation of the keypad Assigning letters to the mobile terminal, and installing one or more keys on the touched portion of the portable wireless terminal, assigning a language mode including a special character and a moving mode in each language mode, The hand holding the portable wireless terminal by repeating the process of selecting the language mode and the moving mode by operating the key with one of the stops or the hand, and selecting one of the letters assigned to each bearing by operating the keypad with the thumb. The information may be input using a finger.

The keypad is characterized in that the center of the key serves as a selection key, it is composed of a joystick that can be instructed for each preset direction by movement.

The keypad may be configured as a jog dial in which a center key serves as a selection key and may be instructed for each preset direction by rotation.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings illustrating the configuration and operation of the embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation of the present invention shown in the drawings and described by it will be described as at least one embodiment, By the technical spirit of the present invention described above and its core configuration and operation is not limited.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a PDA according to the present invention, Figure 4 shows an example of a joystick and key combination for inputting information such as Korean, English, special characters in the present invention.

In general, when a user holds a PDA by hand, most of the thumb can be freely used, and the middle finger, ring finger, and the little finger (or the holding finger) can be moved to some extent.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 3, a joystick is installed at a part where a thumb can touch (for example, the upper right part of the PDA), and a middle finger, a ring finger, and a part where the finger touches (for example, the lower left middle of the PDA). Install the keys respectively.

In the present invention, for convenience of description, as shown in FIG. 4, the keys installed in the middle finger, the ring finger, and the touched part are referred to as KEY1, KEY2, and KEY3, and the joystick is referred to as KEY4.

That is, the KEY4 is a joystick for selecting a preset direction, and for example, the KEY4 may select left, left, top, right, top, right, bottom, left, and bottom directions.

In this case, Korean vowels, consonants, foreign languages, and special characters are assigned to each direction. And whenever the orientation is operated with KEY4, the characters assigned to the orientation are displayed on the PDA screen. In addition, the KEY1, KEY2, and KEY3 can perform a specific function. Then, by using the combination of the KEY1 ~ KEY4 it is possible to quickly and easily input the character information only by the hand holding the PDA.

Here, FIG. 3 shows the arrangement of keys assigned when the PDA is held by the right hand. In another example, when keys are held by the left hand, the keys may be arranged in the opposite manner to FIG. 3. At this time, the arrangement position in the KEY1 ~ KEY4 may vary depending on the designer, and can be applied to a wider variety of applications will not be limited to the examples presented above.

5A to 5C show examples of Hangul characters allocated to each direction of the joystick. For example, in the current Hangul mode, in Figure 5a 'ㄱ' in the left direction, 'b' in the upper left direction, 'c' in the upper direction, 'ㄹ' in the upper direction, 'ㄹ' in the right direction, 'ㅁ' in the right direction, right An example of assigning 'ㅂ' in the direction, 'ㅅ' in the downward direction, and 'ㅇ' in the lower left direction is shown.

In this case, the Hangul characters may be assigned to each direction by separating the consonants and vowels separately. Similarly, in the case of Japanese, hiragana and tanakana may be assigned in order or separately. In the case of English, uppercase and lowercase letters may be allocated in order, or separately.

6 shows an example in which each language mode is allocated for each direction of the joystick. For example, Korean characters in the left direction, English in the upper direction, Japanese in the upper direction, special general in the upper direction, special Roman in the right direction, special circle / brackets in the lower direction, special measure in the lower direction, and special figures in the lower direction. Shows the case of assigning.

Here, the selection of each language mode including the special character may be selected using any one of KEY1 to KEY3. In addition, since the number of characters in each language is generally more than eight, it is possible to select a movement mode in the corresponding language by using keys other than the key for the language mode.

For example, assume that KEY1 is a language mode selection key and KEY2 is a movement mode selection key. And, KEY3 can be reserved or assigned another function.

Therefore, when the user selects the KEY1 by using the middle finger, the character array as shown in FIG. 6 is shown on the PDA screen, and the language mode in the direction indicated by the joystick KEY4 is highlighted. Here, the highlighting may be expressed in various ways. For example, the character may be displayed in reverse, the character may blink, or the cursor may be positioned in the character string. If the user wants to select the Hangul on the screen as shown in FIG. 6, the user operates the joystick with the thumb to highlight the Hangul and then presses the key in the center of the joystick with the thumb.

Then, if you select KEY2 using the ring finger, you can enter the desired Hangul characters by the movement mode. For example, assume that 'ga' is entered in the assigned PDA as shown in FIG. 5. At this time, since the user selected the Hangul mode by manipulating KEY1 as a stop, the character string as shown in FIG. 5A will be displayed on the PDA screen. Here, the user manipulates the joystick with the thumb to select 'ㄱ', and again operates the KEY2 with the ring finger to display a string as shown in FIG. 5B. Then operate the joystick with your thumb to select 'ㅏ'. This completes the letter 'a'.

The rest can be inputted in the above-described process in the case of English or special characters.

And if you want to subdivide each language mode into 8 or more, you can subdivide and select into 8 or more using KEY1 and KEY2 or KEY3.

Here, the language assigned to KEY4 or each character string, and the functions assigned to KEY1 to KEY3 may be modified and may be applied in a wider variety.

In this way, when the combination of the combination of KEY1 to KEY3 and the combination of the orientation of KEY4 is used, all the character information can be easily input to the PDA using only the finger of the hand holding the PDA.

That is, a language mode or a movement mode is selected by using a key assigned to a part where the middle finger is touched or touched, and each direction is specified by operating a joystick assigned to the part where the thumb is touched with a thumb, and then the center of the joystick is selected. Pressing the key with the thumb selects the menu or text assigned to the direction the joystick points.

5 illustrates an example of directly inputting Korean characters into a PDA, and FIG. 6 illustrates a menu for selecting a language mode. Other menus can also be assigned and selected by applying the above procedure.

In addition, this invention can also use a jog dial instead of a joystick. The jog dial is rotated left or right by the user, and each time it moves left or right, the letter assigned to the preset orientation is highlighted.

As described above, according to the information input device of a portable wireless terminal according to the present invention, a language mode including a special character by using one or more function keys by installing and assigning one or more function keys is written in a portion where the middle finger is touched. And selecting a movement mode in each language mode, installing a joystick on the part where the thumb is touched, manipulating the joystick with the thumb to specify each direction, and then thumbing a menu or character assigned to the direction indicated by the joystick. By selecting with a finger, one hand can freely enter text and menu information into the PDA easily and quickly with the fingers of the hand holding the PDA. That is, it is possible to easily implement various document operations, e-mails, chats, and internet information search with only a hand holding a PDA.

In addition, the present invention, since the keys and joystick for information input is mounted directly on the PDA screen, there is no possibility of losing after use. In particular, the present invention can be applied to products such as mobile phones without a keypad.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the embodiments, but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (4)

In the information input device of a portable wireless terminal capable of wirelessly inputting information, searching the Internet, etc., Installing a keypad for indicating a bearing on a portion of the portable wireless terminal where a thumb is touched, and assigning a corresponding letter to each bearing of the keypad; Installing at least one key on a part of the portable wireless terminal touched by a pause or holding, and assigning at least one key a language mode including a special character and a movement mode in each language mode; The hand holding the portable wireless terminal by repeating the process of selecting the language mode and the moving mode by operating the key with one of the stops or the hand, and selecting one of the letters assigned to each bearing by operating the keypad with the thumb. Information input device of a portable wireless terminal, characterized in that information input is possible using a finger. The method of claim 1, wherein the keypad is The information input device of a portable wireless terminal, characterized in that the center key serves as a selection key, and is composed of a joystick that can be instructed for each preset bearing by movement. The method of claim 1, wherein the keypad is An information input device of a portable wireless terminal, characterized in that the center key serves as a selection key, and is configured with a jog dial which can be instructed for each preset direction by rotation. The method of claim 1, Assign each language mode including a special character to each bearing of the keypad in the form of a menu, select a language mode by operating the key with any one of the stops and the hand, and operate the keypad with a thumb to assign a language to each bearing. And selecting a menu using a finger of a hand holding the portable wireless terminal by repeating the process of selecting one of the modes.