KR20090046390A - The method and apparatus for input in portable terminal using touch screen - Google Patents

Abstract

In a text input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, when detecting a touch signal for text input, displaying a group of input characters including one or more characters and arranged in at least one column and the touch for changing the characters When detecting a movement, changing the position of the input character group in a direction corresponding to the touch movement; and changing the character to be input by changing the position of the input character group. By using the character input method using the touch screen in the terminal, the user can check the contents of the characters written on the relatively enlarged main screen by reducing the screen of the keyboard used for character input on the limited size touch screen. can do.

Touch Screen, Handheld Terminal, English Input, Scrolling, Panning

Description

Character input device and method using touch screen in portable terminal {THE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR INPUT IN PORTABLE TERMINAL USING TOUCH SCREEN}

The present invention relates to a character input device and method using a touch screen in a portable terminal.

The portable terminal includes a touch screen, and typically includes a personal digital assistant (PDA).

In general, the PDA is equipped with a variety of software and peripherals based on the central processing unit (CPU), memory, operating system (OS), operating system that is the basis of the computer, information collection, storage, creation, retrieval function As a device capable of carrying out, a mobile phone module has recently been developed as a multifunction device capable of voice call and data communication (using the Internet).

The PDA is called in various terms. For example, Palm Computing's Palm and other similar types of personal digital devices are called PDAs, and any device using a Windows CE operating system from Microsoft that uses a pen without a keyboard is available. Products that use the same Windows CE operating system as Palm-Size PC (PPC), but use a keyboard are called HPC (Handheld PC). Currently, the trend is to use the term PDA as an all-inclusive concept.

In general, a PDA has a touch screen, and is composed of a display window (LCD) of the touch screen and a touch panel installed thereon. Accordingly, the user executes an application by touching an icon displayed on the touch screen with a finger or a stylus pen, or inputs a character by touching a keyboard displayed on a predetermined area.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, the English input method in a portable terminal without a keypad and only a touch screen uses a method in which a user selects and inputs a corresponding character by displaying a QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen. have.

Small devices such as PDAs are inconvenient by pressing a number of keys simultaneously when a finger is touched by placing a common QWERTY keyboard on the touch screen due to the limitation of the screen size when inputting characters. That is, a touch error occurs due to the limitation of the screen size, so that input characters are often modified, causing inconvenience and unnecessary time due to frequent modifications.

In order to solve the problems described above, an object of the present invention is to input a character in a portable terminal using a touch screen, a character input device that can reduce the error of input caused by pressing several keys at the same time and In providing a method.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a character input device and method for convenient input of English or special characters in a portable terminal using a touch screen.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a character input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, in the case of detecting a touch signal for character input, including one or more characters but arranged in at least one column Displaying a character group and detecting a touch movement for changing the character, changing the position of the input character group in a direction corresponding to the touch movement, and changing the position of the input character group The above problem can be solved by using a character input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, the method including changing a character.

As described above, by using the character input device and the method using the touch screen in the portable terminal according to the present invention, it is possible to solve the problem of the multi-selection that occurs when selecting with the finger on the touch screen of a typical QWRTY keyboard.

In addition, by reducing the screen of the keyboard used for text input on the limited size touch screen, the user can input the contents of the text written on the relatively enlarged main screen while the user checks more.

In addition, in the case of inputting English characters, the keyboard can be input more conveniently by arranging the keyboard in alphabetical order that is familiar to ordinary users.

Hereinafter, the operating principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, detailed descriptions of well-known functions or configurations will be omitted if it is determined that the detailed description of the present invention may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention. Terms to be described later are terms defined in consideration of functions in the present invention, which may vary according to intention or custom of a user or an operator. Therefore, the definition should be made based on the contents throughout the specification.

2 illustrates a configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the controller 100 controls the overall operation of the portable terminal. For example, when performing a control for data processing and communication, and input characters by touching the keyboard displayed on the touch screen 102 in accordance with the present invention in addition to the usual functions, scrolling the keyboard (scrolling) Alternatively, a signal capable of panning may be received by the touch signal receiving unit 105, which will be described later, to display the keyboard by scrolling or panning the keyboard in a direction corresponding to the scrolling or panning signal. In addition, the enlarged display of the selected character by the touch movement in the scrolled or panned keyboard is confirmed, and when the touch is terminated, the confirmed character is displayed on the main screen.

In the following description, description of the processing and control of the conventional control unit 100 is omitted.

The memory 101 includes a program memory, a data memory, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The program memory stores a program for controlling the overall operation of the portable terminal. The program memory may use a flash memory. The data memory temporarily stores data generated during operation of the portable terminal. The data memory may use random access memory (RAM). The nonvolatile memory stores telephone numbers and system parameters registered to perform functions such as speed dialing. The nonvolatile memory may use EEPROM.

The touch screen 102 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) 103 and a touch panel 104 installed on the liquid crystal display. The touch screen 102 displays state information generated during the operation of the portable terminal, various moving images, still images, and the like, and outputs an electrical analog signal according to a screen contact to the touch signal receiving unit 105. The touch signal receiver 105 analyzes the electrical analog signal from the touch screen 102 and outputs position data according to the position of the touch screen to the controller 100.

The button input unit 106 includes a plurality of function buttons and outputs button input data corresponding to a button pressed by the user to the controller 100.

The wireless communication module 107 is a module for communicating with a base station according to a predetermined communication standard. As is well known, the wireless communication module 107 may be configured to include a radio frequency (RF) module, a baseband analog (BBA), and the like.

A codec (Codre-Decoder) 108 connected to the control unit 100 and a speaker 110 and a microphone 109 connected to the codec 108 are voice input / output blocks used for phone calls and voice recording. . The codec 108 converts the PCM data provided from the controller 100 into an analog voice signal, transmits the same through the speaker 110, and converts the voice signal received through the microphone 109 into PCM data. Provided to the controller 100.

FIG. 3 illustrates a procedure for inputting a character after scrolling or panning a keyboard displayed on a touch screen in a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when entering a text input mode, the controller 100 first displays a keyboard (or a keyboard) in a predetermined region (eg, a lower portion) of the screen in step 301.

According to the present invention, the keyboard may be referred to as an input character group capable of scrolling or panning by a user, as shown in FIG. 4 to be described later. The input character group may include an English lowercase group (eg, a, b, c)), an uppercase English letter (e.g., A, B, C, etc.), a group of special characters (e.g., *, /, etc.), and a number group (e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc.). In particular, the characters of the lowercase letter group, uppercase letter group, and numeric group are familiar to the user in the order (eg, "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F"). To make it easier for users to access.

In the state where the keyboard is displayed, the controller 100 proceeds to step 302 and checks whether a keyboard touch signal is received from the touch signal receiver 105. When the keyboard touch signal is received, the controller 100 analyzes the received keyboard touch signal in step 303 to recognize a character touched by a user. In operation 304, the controller 100 may enlarge and display the recognized text in a specific area of the screen.

After the enlarged display of the touched character, the controller 100 checks the keyboard touch signal received from the touch signal receiver 105 in step 305 to check whether the keyboard touch is terminated.

If the touch termination is not detected, the control unit 100 receives a signal for scrolling or panning the keyboard displayed in step 301 in a specific direction (eg, right, left, up, down) in step 306. Check if it is received from 105.

If the scrolling or panning signal is detected, the controller 100 proceeds to step 307 to scroll or pan the keyboard output in step 301 in a direction corresponding to the scrolling or panning signal. Thereafter, the process returns to step 303 to perform the following steps again. If the scrolling or panning signal is not detected, the control unit 100 returns to step 303 to perform the following steps again.

That is, the touch signal from the touch signal receiving unit 105 is analyzed again to recognize a character touched by the user, and the recognized character is enlarged and displayed on a specific area of the screen.

If the end of the touch is detected, the control unit 100 proceeds to step 309 to display a character displayed on a specific area of the screen on the main screen, and returns to step 302 to check the keyboard touch signal again. Goes. That is, the character displayed in the predetermined area of the touch screen is input at the position where the cursor of the main screen is located.

As described above, the present invention is characterized in that the keyboard of a specific input character group can be scrolled or panned.

In addition, in the scrolled or panned keyboard, the touched character may be enlarged and displayed in a specific area of the screen in advance, and when the touch end is detected, the character is input to the main screen. That is, if the touch end is not detected, the touched text is not input to the main screen. Hereinafter, in order to better understand the present invention, a practical application example will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5B.

4 illustrates screens displayed when a character is input on a touch screen according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the screen displayed according to the present invention includes a main screen 401 on which a character input at an upper portion is displayed, a screen 403 on which a keyboard is displayed at a lower portion, and a screen 402 for selecting a type of the keyboard. ).

According to the present invention, the keyboard may be referred to as a group of input characters that can be scrolled or panned by a user, and the input character group may include an English lowercase group (eg, a, b, c, etc.), English Can be one of uppercase letters (eg, A, B, C, etc.), special character sets (eg, *, /, etc.), or numbers (eg, 1, 2, 3, etc.).

In particular, the characters of the lowercase letters alphabet, uppercase letters alphabet, and numbers groups are familiar to the user in general (eg, "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F"). To make it easier for users to access.

The user selects a type of keyboard from the touch area of the screen 402. In this case, the lowercase letters are selected. When the selection is made, some lowercase letters (j, k, l, m, n, o, p) of the English lowercase letters are displayed in the touch area of the screen 403 as shown.

As will be described later, the user can scroll or pan in the direction of the arrow shown. Characters desired to be input by the scrolling or panning may be displayed on the screen 403.

) 또는 특정 영역에 디스플레이하여도 무방하겠다.In addition, as shown, when the user touches to input the letter "m", the letter "m" is enlarged and displayed in the touched area. This will help the user to read the text to be read easily, thereby reducing the error that occurs when entering the text. Herein, the enlarged letter "m" is used to input the letter of the main screen 401 (

) Or in a specific area.

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining that a keyboard is scrolled or panned in a touch screen according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In the specific keyboard described above in FIG. 4 (in this case, the English capital letter group), the user scrolls or pans in the direction (here, right) to which the character desired to be input belongs while pressing the letter "O" (non-touch state). Then, the keyboard scrolled or panned to the right is displayed on the screen 403 which is the keyboard touch area.

Herein, although the keyboard is scrolled or panned to the left and right in the horizontal direction, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the keyboard touch area may be vertically formed to scroll or pan up and down.

In addition, a specific touch area in which a button for scrolling or panning is displayed may be formed on the touch screen.

FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating input of characters using a keyboard displayed on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The string "ABCD" is currently entered. In this state, if the user touches the letter of the keyboard, the touched letter "G" is enlarged and displayed in a specific area (here, the touched location area) of the screen as shown in (a). At this time, since the user has not finished the touch, the touched text is not input to the main screen.

If the user wants to input the letter "K" rather than the letter "G", the user moves the keyboard to the position of the letter "K" while pressing the keyboard with an input means such as a finger or a stylus pen. When the user moves to the position of the letter "K" to be input, the letter "K" is enlarged and displayed, and when the user finishes touching the keyboard, the enlarged displayed letter "K" is displayed on the main screen 401 as shown in (b). Is entered.

Meanwhile, in the detailed description of the present invention, specific embodiments have been described, but various modifications may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the touched character may be displayed at the cursor position of the main screen 401 in an enlarged or original size, and may be input when a touch end is detected. In this case, when the touch is not terminated and a touch of another character is detected, the other character is displayed in the enlarged or original size in place of the cursor. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

1 is a view showing a state displaying a keyboard for inputting characters on a touch screen of a conventional portable terminal;

2 is a view showing the configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for inputting a character after scrolling or panning a keyboard displayed on a touch screen in a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a screen displayed when entering a character on the touch screen according to the present invention;

5A is a diagram for explaining that a keyboard is scrolled or panned in a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; And

FIG. 5B is a view for explaining input of characters using a keyboard displayed on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

Claims (10)

In the text input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, When detecting a touch signal for character input, displaying an input character group including one or more characters and arranged in at least one column; Changing a position of the input character group in a direction corresponding to the touch movement when detecting a touch movement for changing the character; And Character input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal comprising the step of changing the character to be input by changing the position of the input character group. The method of claim 1, Character input method using a touch screen in the portable terminal, And after the character change, displaying the changed character on a main screen. The method of claim 1, Changing the character to be input by changing the position of the input character group, Characterizing method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that it further comprises the step of displaying the character changed in accordance with the position change of the character group in a specific area. The method of claim 1, The input character group is a character input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that any one of the lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and special characters. The method of claim 4, wherein Character input method using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that the input character group of the lowercase letters, uppercase letters and numbers of English letters are arranged in sequential character data. In the character input device using a touch screen in a portable terminal, When detecting a touch signal for text input, displays a group of input characters including one or more characters and arranged in at least one column, and when detecting a touch movement for changing the character, a direction corresponding to the touch movement. And a control unit for controlling to change a character to be input by changing the position of the input character group. The method of claim 6, The control unit, Character input device using a touch screen in the portable terminal, characterized in that for changing the character, to display the changed character on the main screen. The method of claim 6, The control unit, Character input apparatus using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that for displaying the character changed in accordance with the position change of the character group is enlarged in a specific area. The method of claim 6, The input character group is a character input device using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that any one of the lowercase letters, uppercase letters, numbers and special characters. The method of claim 9, Character input device using a touch screen in a portable terminal, characterized in that the input letter group of the lowercase letters, uppercase letters and numbers of English letters are arranged in sequential character data.

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