CA1330064C - Alphabetical keyboard arrangement - Google Patents
Alphabetical keyboard arrangementInfo
- Publication number
- CA1330064C CA1330064C CA 600619 CA600619A CA1330064C CA 1330064 C CA1330064 C CA 1330064C CA 600619 CA600619 CA 600619 CA 600619 A CA600619 A CA 600619A CA 1330064 C CA1330064 C CA 1330064C
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- row
- keys
- key
- equivalent
- overflow
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired - Fee Related
Links
Classifications
-
- B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
- B41—PRINTING; LINING MACHINES; TYPEWRITERS; STAMPS
- B41J—TYPEWRITERS; SELECTIVE PRINTING MECHANISMS, i.e. MECHANISMS PRINTING OTHERWISE THAN FROM A FORME; CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS
- B41J5/00—Devices or arrangements for controlling character selection
- B41J5/08—Character or syllable selected by means of keys or keyboards of the typewriter type
- B41J5/10—Arrangements of keyboards, e.g. key button disposition
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F15/00—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general
- G06F15/02—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general manually operated with input through keyboard and computation using a built-in program, e.g. pocket calculators
- G06F15/0216—Constructional details or arrangements
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F3/00—Input arrangements for transferring data to be processed into a form capable of being handled by the computer; Output arrangements for transferring data from processing unit to output unit, e.g. interface arrangements
- G06F3/01—Input arrangements or combined input and output arrangements for interaction between user and computer
- G06F3/02—Input arrangements using manually operated switches, e.g. using keyboards or dials
- G06F3/023—Arrangements for converting discrete items of information into a coded form, e.g. arrangements for interpreting keyboard generated codes as alphanumeric codes, operand codes or instruction codes
- G06F3/0233—Character input methods
- G06F3/0235—Character input methods using chord techniques
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Human Computer Interaction (AREA)
- Computing Systems (AREA)
- Computer Hardware Design (AREA)
- Input From Keyboards Or The Like (AREA)
Abstract
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
The horizontal disposition of an alphabetical keyboard is transferred into a generally vertical arrangement suitable for hand held computers. The left hand extremes of the Q, A and Z
rows are disposed one above the other to facilitate orientation for a user accustomed to a standard typewriter keyboard. Several embodiments are disclosed.
The horizontal disposition of an alphabetical keyboard is transferred into a generally vertical arrangement suitable for hand held computers. The left hand extremes of the Q, A and Z
rows are disposed one above the other to facilitate orientation for a user accustomed to a standard typewriter keyboard. Several embodiments are disclosed.
Description
-- 1 .
The present invention relates to an alphabetical keyboard arrangement or pattern for use in computers and particularly in hand held computers but also in other devices in which alphanumeric input is required.
Rapid increase in the rate of use of microcomputers and the like electronic devices iB one of typical phenomena of recent years. Many different types of computers are now available, ranging - from the standpoint of their size - from a heavy equipment re~uiring separate rooms to place and operate, over lap top computers to small hand held computers whose size and weight is not substantially greater than that of scientific calculators.
Attempts are being made by the manufacturers of hand held computers to penetrate the micro-computer market to a more substantial degree. ~his can only be achieved by making hand held computers attractive to a much broader range of users than is presently the case.
One of the areas of intensive activity is the setup of the keyboard of the hand held computer. The hand held computer is unique in that its shape differs from the generally horizontally elongated arrangement of most other computers. A hand-held computer is typically held in one hand and its keyboard operated with one or more fingers of the other hand. The overall arrangement of the keys of the keyboard is dictated by the overall shape of the casing of the device which - unlike a regular computer or typewriter - is of a width shorter than the length of the device. This can also be described by referring to the "height" of the keyboard pattern being greater than it~
"width", the "wldth" being the length of the rows and the "height" the length of the columns. Thus, the rows are commonly referred to as being one "above" the other and the columns beside each other.
The same way of description, which also corresponds to the orientation of the letters or numerals marked on the keyboards, is used throughout this specification and in ths accompanying claims.
In some hand held computers, certain control keys are also disposed on the back surface of the computer casing to enable convenient operation by the finger or fingers of the hand holding the casing.
Regardless of the particular arrangement of the control keys, the main problem of the known hand held computers is in that their alphabetical keyboards are relatively difficult to use with the same efficiency as the keys of, say, a typewriter in typing messages, notes or the like, not to mention longer texts such as articles or reports. This is due to the fact that the alphabetical keyboards of hand held computers are arranged in a way which is unusual for a regular typewriter keyboard user.
Most of the hand held computers have the keys of alphabet simply arranged in alphabetical order. Such arrangement of which an example is shown in US Patent 4,615,629 issued to Daniel J.
15 Power October 7, 1986. The arrangement is not æuitable for fast typing as it disregards the frequency of different letters in an average text, which is the basis for the known typewriter pattern of the keys. An attempt to improve the pattern of a keyboard of a hand held aomputer is shown in German Patent Application DT-OS 32 20 34 417 (Siemens AG), published March 22, 1984, disclosing a square pattern of alphabet keys which does not follow the alphabetic arrangement of the aforesaid US patent but is still strange to ordinary user as it disregards the universally accepted pattern of a typewriter keyboard.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvad layout of alphabetical keys particularly suitable for use in hand held computers, which would be more "user friendly"
than the keyboards presently used in such computers.
In general terms, the present inventlon provides a keyboard layout of alphabetical keys whose pattern includes the following features:
a) the keys are disposed in parallel rows and in parallel columns;
b) the number of the alphabetical keys in any one of said rows is smaller than 10 and greater than or equal to 1;
c) the Q, A and Z keys are disposed each at the left-hand extreme of one of a trio of rows, said trio having a first row, a second row and a third row;
d) the Q key is disposed in a row located at a point higher than the row in which the A key is disposed, and the Z key is disposed in a row located at a point lower than the row in which the A key is disposed;
e) the first row and the second row has a predetermined number of at least one but at most eight subsequent assigned alphabetical keys, said subsequent assigned alphabetical keys being disposed according to the standard typewriter keyboard layout wherein the row of the Q key is assigned a first system of the W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys in that sequence, the row of the A key is assigned a second system of the S, D, F, G, H, J, K and L keys in that sequence, and the row of the Z key is assigned a third system of the X, C, V, B, N and M keys in that sequence;
f) those keys of the system of said firRt row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a first overflow row which is next to the first row;
g) those keys of the system of said second row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a second overflow row.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the arrangement of the alphabetical keys has the following general pattern of columns and rows:
Q W E
R T Y U I O P
D F G H J K L
A S
Z X C V B N M.
In another exemplary embodiment, the keyboard has the general pattern of I O P
Q W E R T Y U
A S D F G H J
Z X K L
C V B N M.
The invention is based on recognizing that an alphabetical - keyboard whose rows of keys are shorter than the rows of keys or a regular typewriter can be arranged such as to allow efficient use by a substantial number of users who are used to a standard typewriter keyboard.
The basic idea of the invention i5 in splitting at least two of the known three rows of keys Q, A and Z into two rows forming a continuation of each other. The initial letters of each standard typewriter row are disposed at the left extreme of the keyboard, as in a regular typewriter keyboard, but the end of at least one, and in most cases all three rows, is wrapped to a next row, also referred to as overflow row.
It should be emphasized that while reference is made in this specification to the rows of keys Q, A and Z, it is to be understood that this is a mere example of the arrangement of the letters in an English keyboard. In other languages, the keyboard may be different as far as indiviâual key names are concerned.
For instance, a standard German keyboard has the positions of Z
and Y interchanged so that whenever reference is made herein to the row of the Z key, it is to be understood that in a German keyboard, the "Z row" is that row which begins with the Y key.
The difference would be even more pronounced when the invention is applied to other languages, for instance to a Russian keyboard wherein the arrangement and even characters are substantially different. Therefore, any reference above and hereinafter to the particular alphabet keys, e.g. "the Q key", is to be interpreted as meaning not only the Q key of an English keyboard but also its equivalent, from the standpoint of position in the keyboard, in any foreign language keyboard, in accordance with the following standard pattern used in English alphabetical keyboard:
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M.
Furthermore, reference to the columns of keys is intended to indicate the arrangement of the keyboard sy~tem which includes the true parallel columns such as is shown, for instance, in the keyboard of the above US patent or a typical calculator, or to an offset column pattern such as is shown above, wherein the extreme left column is formed by the key~ of Q, A and Z.
It will also be appreciated that the examples shown include a great number of other usual keys and in particular the numeric keys the arrangement of which is, of course, optional even though common sense dictates that the numeric pad be made in accordance with the usual layout of calculator keys whose array even though the pad may be offset to one side of the keyboard or the other.
Those skilled in the art will also appreciate on review of the disclosure that the present invention assumes there is not room on a small, compressed keyboard, for a duplication of type-numeric and functional-numeric keyboards. The design offers to use what would be the "calculator" portion of the keyboard for functions such as writers including typed figures in, say, a new~
story. My approach is to use the calculator arrangement for both functions, and further, to assign it many of usual "shift"
functions of the ordinary type-numeric row of traditional typewriter keyboard; in fact, to double the possibilities assoclated with each number, the left actuated by "shift", the rlght by "option" (a~ in my design,or by "alt", "ctrl" or "cmd"
under other keyboard nomenclatures).
The invention will now be described in greater detail by way of three exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying simplified drawings, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a representation of a first exemplary embodiment of an alphabetical keyboard section of a hand held computer intended for left-handers;
FIGURE 2 iS a modification of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 for the right-handers;
FIGURE 3 iS a representation of a modified arrangement in which the alphabetical keyboard is changed to a more substantial degree, the embodiment being designed for a left hander; and FIGURE 4 is a representation of an embodiment of the invention.
In FIGU~E 1, reference number 10 designated a casing made of suitablP material, usually impact resistant plastic. The upper end of the face of the casing 10 i8 provided with di6play monitor 11 of rectangular contour. Disposed below the monitor is an alphanumeric keyboard 12. It is arranged within an upwardly elongated rectangular area as is usual in calculators. The keyboard 12 comprises an alphanumeric set of keys disposed in seven columns 13, 14, lS, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and eight rows 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28. Some of the keys are not within the columns and/or rows. For instance the space bar 29 or the "up" and "down" arrow keys 30, 31.
Reference numeral 32 designates a thumb notch or grip which facilitates the holding of the case 10 in the right hand.
Turning now to the alphabetical keyboard included in the layout of FIGURE 1, the Q, A and Z keys are disposed each at the left hand extreme (in column 13) of a trio of rows (24, 23 and 22, respectively). For convenience, the row 24 is also referred to as a first row, the row 23 as a second row and the row 22 a~ a third row. The arrangement of the Q, A and 2 keys is generally imilar to that of a ~tandard typewriter keyboard. The "standard"
keyboard in thls example is the English language keyboard, wherein the layout of the alphabetical keys is as follows:
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M.
In the embodiment shown, each of first and second rows 24 and 23 comprises only alphabetical keys. The number of the alphabetical keys in the first and second rows 24 and 23 is determined by the design of the hand held computer. In the embodiment shown, the predetermined number i8 seven.
Thus, the first key of the first row is the Q key. Since the subse~uent keys of the row of the Q key are W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P, and since the predetermined number of the alphabetical keys in one row is seven, there are six subsequent assigned keys in the first row 24, namely the W, E, R, T, Y and U. The overflow keys for which there is no place in the first row, are placed in the adjacent or next row, a "first overflow row" 25, at the right extreme thereof.
Similarly, the second row, which is the row of the A key, contains seven alphabetical keys Gf which the keys S, D, F, G, H
and J are in the sequence of letter keys assigned to the row of letter A in a regular typewriter. The exces6 or overflow K and L
keys are disposed in a next or adjacent "second overflow row~ 22 at the right hand extreme thereof.
Finally, the third row of the trio is the row of letter Z.
It only contains one additional alphabetical key, the X key. The remaining letters are overflow C, V, s, N and M keys. The letters Z - M, of course, belong to the group of letters in the third row of a standard typewriter used in typing the text in the English language.
The term "first row" or "second row" and "third row" within the concept of the present invention does not necessarily mean that the "first row" must be the row having the Q key at its left hand extreme. It could be as well the row of the Z key or of the A key. What is important, however, i8 the location of the overflow keys at a point which is close to what would normally be the natural extension of the respective row.
FIGURE 1 al~o shows that the row 22 of the keys Z and X is the same row which includes at its extreme right, the letters K
and L. Thus, it follows from the above that an "overflow row" and a first, second or third row of the trio as mentioned above do not necessarily have to be two separate rows as long as it is practical for the arrangement of the keyboard.
Reference should now be had to the arrangement of FIGURE 2.
Here the thumb notch 32 is disposed to the left hand for holding the computer in the left hand of a right-hander.
Otherwise, however, the arrangement of the alphabetical keyboard is the same as in the preceding embodiment, the only ~hanges in the keyboard being in the non-alphabetical portion of same.
~he embodiment of FIGURE 3 shows a further variant of a keyboard for use in a hand held computer. The primary reason for showing the alternative of FIGURE 3 is to demonstrate that a substantial rearrangement of the alphabetical keyboard of FIGURES
1 AND 2 can be made within the scope of the present invention.
S The arrangement of FIGURE 3 includes an array of the functional keys and of the numeric pad both of which are misaligned with respect to the alphabetic key pattern. Since the arrangement of non-alphabetical keys is entirely optional, in FIGURE 3, only the alphabetical key containing rows are numbered.
As in the case of the first two embodiments, there are five rows 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 in which the alphabetical keys are disposed. The number of columns is also the same, i.e. seven.
The particular keyboard layout of alphabetical keys of the arrangement of FIGURE 3 maintains the basic principle of the invention, namely that the Q, A and Z keys (or their equivalents, depending on the language of the keyboard used) are disposed each at the left hand extreme of the alphabetic keyboard as is the case in a regular typewriter.
As in the preceding embodiments, there is a minor deviation from a regular typewriter keyboard, namely that the columns 13 -19 are at right angles to the rows 21 - 25, while ln a typewriter the columns are at an acute angle to the rows.
The second basic condition of the present invention is that the Q, A and Z keys or their equivalents be disposed such that the Q key is located at a point above the A key, while the Z key is located at a point below the A key. The pattern of FIGURE 3 meets this requirement.
It can be observed that the row 25 of FIGURE 3 is the row of the Q key or i~ equivalent. Line 22 is the row of the A key or its aquivalent and row 21 is the row of the Z key or its equivalent. The first row of this trio is row 25, the second row thereof is the line 22 and the third row is line 21.
The R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys, all of which are assigned, in a standard typewriter, to the row of the Q - key, are disposed as overflow keys in a first overflow row 24, which i8 located next to the row 25.
1 33006~
g Similarly, the keys of the system of the A - key, in other words, of the second row, which are in excess of the respective number of keys, i.e. the overflow keys D, F, G, H, ~, K, L are disposed in a second overflow row 23.
In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, the third row 21 has a total of 7 keys which is all that is required for the characters of the row of the Z key. Accordingly, the only "overflow" keys of the row of the letter Z are the keys of the characters which can normally be seen in the bottom row of alphabetical keys of a standard typewriter, such as :,~,?,. etc. Accordingly, it can be said that even the row of the Z key is wrapped around by placing its three last characters (albeit not letter characters~ to the right hand extreme of row 22. Thus, this is another example of a single row 22 serving both as a second row and as a third overflow row for the three characters from the row of the Z key.
Turning now to FIGURE 4, this is a partial, simplified representation to show that, firstly, the offset arrangement of the columns (e.g. column 13) in which a part of the column is vertical or parallel at E and D keys, while other portions may be offset, such as at A, C and Z keys. Thi~ embodiment is also intended to 6how that the wrapping around of individual rows can be carried out at both ends of the respective row. See, as an example the Q row whose first two and three last letter keys are in one row, while the central part of the row is disposed below same.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate on review of the three examples presented herein that a large number of other combinations of the arrangement of the alphabetical keys could be utilized which would differ from the arrangement shown in FIGUR~S
1 - 3 but which would still stay within the scope of the pre~ent invention. Accordingly, I wish to protect by letter~ patent which may issue on this application all such embodiments which fairly and properly fall within the scope of my contribution to the art.
The present invention relates to an alphabetical keyboard arrangement or pattern for use in computers and particularly in hand held computers but also in other devices in which alphanumeric input is required.
Rapid increase in the rate of use of microcomputers and the like electronic devices iB one of typical phenomena of recent years. Many different types of computers are now available, ranging - from the standpoint of their size - from a heavy equipment re~uiring separate rooms to place and operate, over lap top computers to small hand held computers whose size and weight is not substantially greater than that of scientific calculators.
Attempts are being made by the manufacturers of hand held computers to penetrate the micro-computer market to a more substantial degree. ~his can only be achieved by making hand held computers attractive to a much broader range of users than is presently the case.
One of the areas of intensive activity is the setup of the keyboard of the hand held computer. The hand held computer is unique in that its shape differs from the generally horizontally elongated arrangement of most other computers. A hand-held computer is typically held in one hand and its keyboard operated with one or more fingers of the other hand. The overall arrangement of the keys of the keyboard is dictated by the overall shape of the casing of the device which - unlike a regular computer or typewriter - is of a width shorter than the length of the device. This can also be described by referring to the "height" of the keyboard pattern being greater than it~
"width", the "wldth" being the length of the rows and the "height" the length of the columns. Thus, the rows are commonly referred to as being one "above" the other and the columns beside each other.
The same way of description, which also corresponds to the orientation of the letters or numerals marked on the keyboards, is used throughout this specification and in ths accompanying claims.
In some hand held computers, certain control keys are also disposed on the back surface of the computer casing to enable convenient operation by the finger or fingers of the hand holding the casing.
Regardless of the particular arrangement of the control keys, the main problem of the known hand held computers is in that their alphabetical keyboards are relatively difficult to use with the same efficiency as the keys of, say, a typewriter in typing messages, notes or the like, not to mention longer texts such as articles or reports. This is due to the fact that the alphabetical keyboards of hand held computers are arranged in a way which is unusual for a regular typewriter keyboard user.
Most of the hand held computers have the keys of alphabet simply arranged in alphabetical order. Such arrangement of which an example is shown in US Patent 4,615,629 issued to Daniel J.
15 Power October 7, 1986. The arrangement is not æuitable for fast typing as it disregards the frequency of different letters in an average text, which is the basis for the known typewriter pattern of the keys. An attempt to improve the pattern of a keyboard of a hand held aomputer is shown in German Patent Application DT-OS 32 20 34 417 (Siemens AG), published March 22, 1984, disclosing a square pattern of alphabet keys which does not follow the alphabetic arrangement of the aforesaid US patent but is still strange to ordinary user as it disregards the universally accepted pattern of a typewriter keyboard.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improvad layout of alphabetical keys particularly suitable for use in hand held computers, which would be more "user friendly"
than the keyboards presently used in such computers.
In general terms, the present inventlon provides a keyboard layout of alphabetical keys whose pattern includes the following features:
a) the keys are disposed in parallel rows and in parallel columns;
b) the number of the alphabetical keys in any one of said rows is smaller than 10 and greater than or equal to 1;
c) the Q, A and Z keys are disposed each at the left-hand extreme of one of a trio of rows, said trio having a first row, a second row and a third row;
d) the Q key is disposed in a row located at a point higher than the row in which the A key is disposed, and the Z key is disposed in a row located at a point lower than the row in which the A key is disposed;
e) the first row and the second row has a predetermined number of at least one but at most eight subsequent assigned alphabetical keys, said subsequent assigned alphabetical keys being disposed according to the standard typewriter keyboard layout wherein the row of the Q key is assigned a first system of the W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys in that sequence, the row of the A key is assigned a second system of the S, D, F, G, H, J, K and L keys in that sequence, and the row of the Z key is assigned a third system of the X, C, V, B, N and M keys in that sequence;
f) those keys of the system of said firRt row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a first overflow row which is next to the first row;
g) those keys of the system of said second row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a second overflow row.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment, the arrangement of the alphabetical keys has the following general pattern of columns and rows:
Q W E
R T Y U I O P
D F G H J K L
A S
Z X C V B N M.
In another exemplary embodiment, the keyboard has the general pattern of I O P
Q W E R T Y U
A S D F G H J
Z X K L
C V B N M.
The invention is based on recognizing that an alphabetical - keyboard whose rows of keys are shorter than the rows of keys or a regular typewriter can be arranged such as to allow efficient use by a substantial number of users who are used to a standard typewriter keyboard.
The basic idea of the invention i5 in splitting at least two of the known three rows of keys Q, A and Z into two rows forming a continuation of each other. The initial letters of each standard typewriter row are disposed at the left extreme of the keyboard, as in a regular typewriter keyboard, but the end of at least one, and in most cases all three rows, is wrapped to a next row, also referred to as overflow row.
It should be emphasized that while reference is made in this specification to the rows of keys Q, A and Z, it is to be understood that this is a mere example of the arrangement of the letters in an English keyboard. In other languages, the keyboard may be different as far as indiviâual key names are concerned.
For instance, a standard German keyboard has the positions of Z
and Y interchanged so that whenever reference is made herein to the row of the Z key, it is to be understood that in a German keyboard, the "Z row" is that row which begins with the Y key.
The difference would be even more pronounced when the invention is applied to other languages, for instance to a Russian keyboard wherein the arrangement and even characters are substantially different. Therefore, any reference above and hereinafter to the particular alphabet keys, e.g. "the Q key", is to be interpreted as meaning not only the Q key of an English keyboard but also its equivalent, from the standpoint of position in the keyboard, in any foreign language keyboard, in accordance with the following standard pattern used in English alphabetical keyboard:
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M.
Furthermore, reference to the columns of keys is intended to indicate the arrangement of the keyboard sy~tem which includes the true parallel columns such as is shown, for instance, in the keyboard of the above US patent or a typical calculator, or to an offset column pattern such as is shown above, wherein the extreme left column is formed by the key~ of Q, A and Z.
It will also be appreciated that the examples shown include a great number of other usual keys and in particular the numeric keys the arrangement of which is, of course, optional even though common sense dictates that the numeric pad be made in accordance with the usual layout of calculator keys whose array even though the pad may be offset to one side of the keyboard or the other.
Those skilled in the art will also appreciate on review of the disclosure that the present invention assumes there is not room on a small, compressed keyboard, for a duplication of type-numeric and functional-numeric keyboards. The design offers to use what would be the "calculator" portion of the keyboard for functions such as writers including typed figures in, say, a new~
story. My approach is to use the calculator arrangement for both functions, and further, to assign it many of usual "shift"
functions of the ordinary type-numeric row of traditional typewriter keyboard; in fact, to double the possibilities assoclated with each number, the left actuated by "shift", the rlght by "option" (a~ in my design,or by "alt", "ctrl" or "cmd"
under other keyboard nomenclatures).
The invention will now be described in greater detail by way of three exemplary embodiments, with reference to the accompanying simplified drawings, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a representation of a first exemplary embodiment of an alphabetical keyboard section of a hand held computer intended for left-handers;
FIGURE 2 iS a modification of the embodiment of FIGURE 1 for the right-handers;
FIGURE 3 iS a representation of a modified arrangement in which the alphabetical keyboard is changed to a more substantial degree, the embodiment being designed for a left hander; and FIGURE 4 is a representation of an embodiment of the invention.
In FIGU~E 1, reference number 10 designated a casing made of suitablP material, usually impact resistant plastic. The upper end of the face of the casing 10 i8 provided with di6play monitor 11 of rectangular contour. Disposed below the monitor is an alphanumeric keyboard 12. It is arranged within an upwardly elongated rectangular area as is usual in calculators. The keyboard 12 comprises an alphanumeric set of keys disposed in seven columns 13, 14, lS, 16, 17, 18 and 19, and eight rows 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, and 28. Some of the keys are not within the columns and/or rows. For instance the space bar 29 or the "up" and "down" arrow keys 30, 31.
Reference numeral 32 designates a thumb notch or grip which facilitates the holding of the case 10 in the right hand.
Turning now to the alphabetical keyboard included in the layout of FIGURE 1, the Q, A and Z keys are disposed each at the left hand extreme (in column 13) of a trio of rows (24, 23 and 22, respectively). For convenience, the row 24 is also referred to as a first row, the row 23 as a second row and the row 22 a~ a third row. The arrangement of the Q, A and 2 keys is generally imilar to that of a ~tandard typewriter keyboard. The "standard"
keyboard in thls example is the English language keyboard, wherein the layout of the alphabetical keys is as follows:
Q W E R T Y U I O P
A S D F G H J K L
Z X C V B N M.
In the embodiment shown, each of first and second rows 24 and 23 comprises only alphabetical keys. The number of the alphabetical keys in the first and second rows 24 and 23 is determined by the design of the hand held computer. In the embodiment shown, the predetermined number i8 seven.
Thus, the first key of the first row is the Q key. Since the subse~uent keys of the row of the Q key are W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P, and since the predetermined number of the alphabetical keys in one row is seven, there are six subsequent assigned keys in the first row 24, namely the W, E, R, T, Y and U. The overflow keys for which there is no place in the first row, are placed in the adjacent or next row, a "first overflow row" 25, at the right extreme thereof.
Similarly, the second row, which is the row of the A key, contains seven alphabetical keys Gf which the keys S, D, F, G, H
and J are in the sequence of letter keys assigned to the row of letter A in a regular typewriter. The exces6 or overflow K and L
keys are disposed in a next or adjacent "second overflow row~ 22 at the right hand extreme thereof.
Finally, the third row of the trio is the row of letter Z.
It only contains one additional alphabetical key, the X key. The remaining letters are overflow C, V, s, N and M keys. The letters Z - M, of course, belong to the group of letters in the third row of a standard typewriter used in typing the text in the English language.
The term "first row" or "second row" and "third row" within the concept of the present invention does not necessarily mean that the "first row" must be the row having the Q key at its left hand extreme. It could be as well the row of the Z key or of the A key. What is important, however, i8 the location of the overflow keys at a point which is close to what would normally be the natural extension of the respective row.
FIGURE 1 al~o shows that the row 22 of the keys Z and X is the same row which includes at its extreme right, the letters K
and L. Thus, it follows from the above that an "overflow row" and a first, second or third row of the trio as mentioned above do not necessarily have to be two separate rows as long as it is practical for the arrangement of the keyboard.
Reference should now be had to the arrangement of FIGURE 2.
Here the thumb notch 32 is disposed to the left hand for holding the computer in the left hand of a right-hander.
Otherwise, however, the arrangement of the alphabetical keyboard is the same as in the preceding embodiment, the only ~hanges in the keyboard being in the non-alphabetical portion of same.
~he embodiment of FIGURE 3 shows a further variant of a keyboard for use in a hand held computer. The primary reason for showing the alternative of FIGURE 3 is to demonstrate that a substantial rearrangement of the alphabetical keyboard of FIGURES
1 AND 2 can be made within the scope of the present invention.
S The arrangement of FIGURE 3 includes an array of the functional keys and of the numeric pad both of which are misaligned with respect to the alphabetic key pattern. Since the arrangement of non-alphabetical keys is entirely optional, in FIGURE 3, only the alphabetical key containing rows are numbered.
As in the case of the first two embodiments, there are five rows 21, 22, 23, 24 and 25 in which the alphabetical keys are disposed. The number of columns is also the same, i.e. seven.
The particular keyboard layout of alphabetical keys of the arrangement of FIGURE 3 maintains the basic principle of the invention, namely that the Q, A and Z keys (or their equivalents, depending on the language of the keyboard used) are disposed each at the left hand extreme of the alphabetic keyboard as is the case in a regular typewriter.
As in the preceding embodiments, there is a minor deviation from a regular typewriter keyboard, namely that the columns 13 -19 are at right angles to the rows 21 - 25, while ln a typewriter the columns are at an acute angle to the rows.
The second basic condition of the present invention is that the Q, A and Z keys or their equivalents be disposed such that the Q key is located at a point above the A key, while the Z key is located at a point below the A key. The pattern of FIGURE 3 meets this requirement.
It can be observed that the row 25 of FIGURE 3 is the row of the Q key or i~ equivalent. Line 22 is the row of the A key or its aquivalent and row 21 is the row of the Z key or its equivalent. The first row of this trio is row 25, the second row thereof is the line 22 and the third row is line 21.
The R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys, all of which are assigned, in a standard typewriter, to the row of the Q - key, are disposed as overflow keys in a first overflow row 24, which i8 located next to the row 25.
1 33006~
g Similarly, the keys of the system of the A - key, in other words, of the second row, which are in excess of the respective number of keys, i.e. the overflow keys D, F, G, H, ~, K, L are disposed in a second overflow row 23.
In the embodiment of FIGURE 3, the third row 21 has a total of 7 keys which is all that is required for the characters of the row of the Z key. Accordingly, the only "overflow" keys of the row of the letter Z are the keys of the characters which can normally be seen in the bottom row of alphabetical keys of a standard typewriter, such as :,~,?,. etc. Accordingly, it can be said that even the row of the Z key is wrapped around by placing its three last characters (albeit not letter characters~ to the right hand extreme of row 22. Thus, this is another example of a single row 22 serving both as a second row and as a third overflow row for the three characters from the row of the Z key.
Turning now to FIGURE 4, this is a partial, simplified representation to show that, firstly, the offset arrangement of the columns (e.g. column 13) in which a part of the column is vertical or parallel at E and D keys, while other portions may be offset, such as at A, C and Z keys. Thi~ embodiment is also intended to 6how that the wrapping around of individual rows can be carried out at both ends of the respective row. See, as an example the Q row whose first two and three last letter keys are in one row, while the central part of the row is disposed below same.
Those skilled in the art will appreciate on review of the three examples presented herein that a large number of other combinations of the arrangement of the alphabetical keys could be utilized which would differ from the arrangement shown in FIGUR~S
1 - 3 but which would still stay within the scope of the pre~ent invention. Accordingly, I wish to protect by letter~ patent which may issue on this application all such embodiments which fairly and properly fall within the scope of my contribution to the art.
Claims (17)
1. A keyboard layout of alphabetical keys whose pattern includes the following features:
a) the keys are disposed in parallel rows and in parallel and/or offset columns;
b) the number of the alphabetical keys in any one of said rows is smaller than 10 and greater than or equal to 1;
c) the Q, A and Z keys or their equivalents are disposed each at the left-hand extreme of one of a trio of rows, said trio having a first row, a second row and a third row;
d) the Q key or its equivalent is disposed in a row located at a point above the row in which the A key or its equivalent is disposed, and the Z key or its equivalent is disposed in a row located at a point below the row in which the A key or its equivalent is disposed;
e) the first row and the second row has a predetermined number of at least one but at most seven subsequent assigned alphabetical keys, said subsequent assigned alphabetical keys being disposed according to the standard typewriter keyboard layout wherein the row of the Q key or its equivalent is assigned a first system of the W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys or their equivalents in that sequence, the row of the A key or its equivalent is assigned a second system of the S, D, F, G, H, J, K and L keys or their equivalents in that sequence, and the row of the Z key or its equivalent is assigned a third system of the X, C, V, B, N and M keys or their equivalents in that sequence;
f) those keys of the system of said first row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a first overflow row which is next to the first row;
g) those keys of the system of said second row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a second overflow row.
a) the keys are disposed in parallel rows and in parallel and/or offset columns;
b) the number of the alphabetical keys in any one of said rows is smaller than 10 and greater than or equal to 1;
c) the Q, A and Z keys or their equivalents are disposed each at the left-hand extreme of one of a trio of rows, said trio having a first row, a second row and a third row;
d) the Q key or its equivalent is disposed in a row located at a point above the row in which the A key or its equivalent is disposed, and the Z key or its equivalent is disposed in a row located at a point below the row in which the A key or its equivalent is disposed;
e) the first row and the second row has a predetermined number of at least one but at most seven subsequent assigned alphabetical keys, said subsequent assigned alphabetical keys being disposed according to the standard typewriter keyboard layout wherein the row of the Q key or its equivalent is assigned a first system of the W, E, R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys or their equivalents in that sequence, the row of the A key or its equivalent is assigned a second system of the S, D, F, G, H, J, K and L keys or their equivalents in that sequence, and the row of the Z key or its equivalent is assigned a third system of the X, C, V, B, N and M keys or their equivalents in that sequence;
f) those keys of the system of said first row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a first overflow row which is next to the first row;
g) those keys of the system of said second row which are in excess of the respective predetermined number, being disposed, as overflow keys, in a second overflow row.
2. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein said predetermined number of subsequent assigned keys in the first row is one and in the second row more than one.
3. The layout as claimed in claim 2, wherein the second row is the row of the Q key or its equivalent and the number of subsequent assigned keys is two, whereby the second row contains only the Q, W and E keys or their equivalents.
4. The layout as claimed in claim 2 or claim 3, wherein the first row is the row of the A key or its equivalent and number of the subsequent assigned keys of the first row is one, whereby the first row contains only the A and S keys or their equivalents.
5. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein at least one of the overflow rows commences at the left hand extreme of the respective overflow row.
6. The layout as claimed in claim 5, wherein the overflow row forming a continuation of the keys of the row of the Q key or its equivalent is disposed below the row of the Q key.
7. The layout as claimed in claim 5, wherein the overflow row forming a continuation of the keys of the row of the A key or its equivalent is disposed above the row of the A key.
8. The layout as claimed in claim 1 or claim 6, wherein the row of the Q key or its equivalent contains the Q, W and E keys or their equivalents, and the respective overflow row contains the R, T, Y, U, I, O and P keys or their equivalents, in that sequence.
9. The layout as claimed in claim 1 or 7, wherein the row of the A key or its equivalent contains the A key or its equivalent and the S key or its equivalent and the respective overflow row contains the D, F, G, H, J, R and L keys or their equivalents.
10. The layout as claimed in claim 7, wherein the row of the A
key or its equivalent contains the A key or its equivalent and
key or its equivalent contains the A key or its equivalent and
11 the S key or its equivalent and the respective overflow row contains the D, F, G, H, J, K and L keys or their equivalents, the row of the Z key or its equivalent being a single row containing the Z, X, C, V, B, N and M keys or their equivalents.
11. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first, second and third row are disposed adjacent to each other.
11. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein said first, second and third row are disposed adjacent to each other.
12. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first row is the row of the Q key or its equivalent and the second row is that of the A key or its equivalent and wherein the first overflow row is disposed immediately above the first row and the second overflow row is disposed immediately below the second row.
13. The layout as claimed in claim 11, wherein said predetermined number of subsequent assigned keys is six.
14. The layout as claimed in claim 13, said first row is the row of the Q key or its equivalent and the second row is the row of the A key, whereby the first row contains the Q, W, E, R, T, Y
and U keys or their equivalents, and the second row of said trio is the row of the A key, whereby the second row contains the A, S, D, F, G, H and J keys or their equivalents, the keys of the first overflow row being the I, O and P keys or their equivalents, and the keys of the second overflow row are the K
and L keys or their equivalents.
and U keys or their equivalents, and the second row of said trio is the row of the A key, whereby the second row contains the A, S, D, F, G, H and J keys or their equivalents, the keys of the first overflow row being the I, O and P keys or their equivalents, and the keys of the second overflow row are the K
and L keys or their equivalents.
15. The layout as claimed in claim 14, wherein the third row is the row of the Z key or its equivalent which is coincident with said second overflow row, said third row including, at its left hand extreme, the Z and X keys or their equivalents and the C, V, B, N and M keys or their equivalents disposed, in that sequence, at the left hand extreme of a third overflow row which is located below the third row.
16. The layout as claimed in claim 1, wherein the arrangement of the alphabetical keys follows the following general pattern of rows and columns:
17. The layout as claimed in claim 11, wherein the arrangement of the alphabetical keys has the following general pattern of rows and columns:
Priority Applications (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 600619 CA1330064C (en) | 1989-05-25 | 1989-05-25 | Alphabetical keyboard arrangement |
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 600619 CA1330064C (en) | 1989-05-25 | 1989-05-25 | Alphabetical keyboard arrangement |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1330064C true CA1330064C (en) | 1994-06-07 |
Family
ID=4140096
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA 600619 Expired - Fee Related CA1330064C (en) | 1989-05-25 | 1989-05-25 | Alphabetical keyboard arrangement |
Country Status (1)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| CA (1) | CA1330064C (en) |
-
1989
- 1989-05-25 CA CA 600619 patent/CA1330064C/en not_active Expired - Fee Related
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| MKLA | Lapsed |