JP2001036624A - Mobile phone set and its input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To attain ease of operation by improving an input device of a mobile phone and to reduce an occupied area at the outside of the mobile phone. SOLUTION: An operation section 100 is turned in the direction of an arrow 161 or 162 around a support 121 in an operation P1 or P2 so that contacts 101 and 111 or contacts 102 and 112 are brought into contact with each other. When the operation section 100 is shifted in a direction of an arrow 163 in an operation P3 so that the contacts of above-mentioned two sets are brought into contact with each other. Furthermore, when the operation section 100 is skidded in an upper or lower direction in an operation P4 or P5, the contacts 141 and 151 or the contacts 142 and 152 are brought into contact with each other. This input device is fitted to a side face of an enclosure of the mobile phone, and numeral, number and function keys are entered by discriminating the operations P1-P5 from each contact state while displaying an operation guide.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable telephone and an input device thereof, and more particularly to a small and easy-to-use input device and a portable telephone provided with the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional portable telephone, a push-button type (= keypad) is generally used as an operation key for inputting a telephone number or the like. This push-button input device is configured such that push-buttons such as numbers from "0" to "9" and other symbols are provided on the outer surface of the telephone body, and correspond to the numbers when making a call. By pressing a basic function key push button (= numeric keypad), the other party's telephone number is input. The same applies to other function keys and the like.

[0003]

In the conventional push button type input device described above, it is necessary to arrange at least three push buttons corresponding to the numbers and symbols of the numeric keypad side by side on the outer surface of the portable telephone. is there. For this reason, it is necessary to secure a surface area and a mounting volume necessary for the equipment, but the size and arrangement intervals of the push buttons themselves have become extremely small with the downsizing of the mobile phone itself. Therefore, when operating with a finger, it causes a transmission error or the like due to a wrong press.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to provide an input device having a structure in which an operation error hardly occurs and which can cope with downsizing of a mobile phone, and a mobile phone equipped with the input device.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an input device for a portable telephone, which is movable only along one surface, and performs right and left rotation operations with respect to a support point thereof, and a first position of the support point. And an operation unit configured to be capable of performing a push movement operation in the direction of the arrow and a slide movement operation in two directions perpendicular to the first direction, and the operation for each of the five operations And a switch that is turned on while the operation is performed.

Further, the present invention is a portable telephone provided with the above-mentioned input device on a side surface portion of an outer surface of a housing thereof, wherein a first circuit for detecting an ON state of each of the switches and each of the switches are provided. A second circuit for detecting whether or not the on-state time is equal to or greater than a threshold determined for each switch.

Further, according to the present invention, in the above-mentioned portable telephone, guidance display means for instructing operation of the input device in accordance with an operation state of the portable telephone, and the first and second display units when the input device is operated are provided. And a control means for shifting to the next operation state in accordance with the detection information of the second circuit.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is an external view showing an example of a mobile phone equipped with an input device which is a feature of the present invention on a side surface thereof. A display monitor 12 for displaying various information is provided on the front of a mobile phone main body 11. . The upper part is equipped with a receiving speaker 13, the lower part of the display monitor 12 is equipped with a transmitting microphone 14, and the upper part is provided with an antenna 15 which can be housed inside the device body 11 of the mobile phone and can be pulled out. Equipped. The input device 16 of the present invention is provided on a side surface of the device main body 11 of the mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of the portable telephone shown in FIG. In the figure, an antenna 15, an input device 16, a display unit 12, a speaker 13, and a microphone 1
4 is shown in the external view of FIG. The input signal detection unit 31 identifies a switch operation of the input device 16, and the pressing duration detection unit 32 detects whether the pressing time of the switch of the input device 16 has exceeded a predetermined value. These detectors 3
Outputs 1 and 32 are input to the control unit 33, and control of the communication unit 35 and the display unit 12 and registration of numbers and the like in the telephone number storage unit 34 are performed in accordance with the input contents.

FIG. 1 is a structural view showing an example of the configuration of an input device according to the present invention.
2 are attached, and slide-side contacts 111 and 112 corresponding to these contacts are attached to the side surface of the slide 140. The operation unit side 100 includes a slide unit 149.
The central portion is supported by a supporting body 121 supported by a spring 120 with respect to the side, and is movable by a seesaw operation and a push operation supported by springs 131 and 132. The operation unit 1 is provided inside the slide unit 140.
A guide is provided along the movable direction of 00, so that the operation unit 100 moves smoothly by a seesaw operation or a push operation. This guide uses the slide unit 14
A groove may be formed in the inside of the groove 0, or a guide rail may be provided. Also, contacts 141 and 142 are attached to the upper and lower side surfaces of the slide section 140, and a guide is provided in the operation section housing 150 in the movable direction of the slide section. Avoid hitting. The guide may be formed by forming a groove in the operation unit housing 150, or a guard rail may be provided. The operation unit housing 150 includes a slide unit side contact 14.
The contacts 151 and 152 facing the first and the second 142 are attached. The operation unit housing having the above structure is housed inside the side surface of the telephone device main body 11.

In the input device having the above structure, the arrow P
As shown by 1, when the upper part of the operation unit 100 is pressed, the operation unit 100 rotates around the fulcrum of the support 121 in the direction of the arrow 161, and the switch constituted by the contact points 101 and 111 is turned on. At this time, the fact that the switch has been turned on is detected by the input signal detection unit 31 in FIG. 3, and a signal indicating that an operation indicating application of the force of the arrow P1 has been performed is output. Hereinafter, this operation will be referred to as an operation P using the same symbol as the arrow.
1 and the output signal is called a signal p1. Similarly,
When the lower part of the operation unit 100 is pressed as indicated by an arrow P2 (operation P
2), the operation unit 100 rotates in the direction of the arrow 162, the switch constituted by the contacts 102 and 112 is turned on, and the detection unit 31 outputs the signal p2. These two operations P
1, P2 is a seesaw operation. When the center of the operation unit 100 is pressed as indicated by an arrow P3 (operation P3), the operation unit 100 moves to the left in FIG. Turn on,
At the same time, the switch composed of the contact 102 and the contact 112 is turned on, so that the detection unit 31 outputs a signal p3 indicating the on state of the two sets of switches. This operation P3 is a push operation. Furthermore, slide part 140 is moved to arrow P4.
(Operation P4), the contact 141 and the contact 151
Is turned on and the signal p
When the slide unit 140 is pressed in the direction of the arrow P5 (operation P5), the switch composed of the contact 142 and the contact 152 is turned on, and the signal p5 is output from the detection unit 31. These two operations P4 and P5 are slide operations.

In the following operations, when the pressing force is eliminated, the corresponding spring force returns to the state shown in FIG. 1, and the ON state of each switch is released. Accordingly, the signals p1 to p1 from the detecting unit 31 are released. The output of p5 is also turned off. The pressing duration detecting unit 32 monitors whether the ON duration of each of the switches is equal to or greater than a threshold determined for the operation, and when each of the switching exceeds the set threshold, a signal indicating that is exceeded. Output q.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing a procedure showing a series of operations from inputting a telephone number using the input device having the above-described configuration to making a call, talking, and disconnecting. This process is executed by the control unit 33. First, in step 41, the operation P1
The input operation is performed using. In this input operation, if the operation P1 is continuously pressed and held down, the characters (numbers and symbols between 0 and 9) are sequentially changed in a set ascending order at regular intervals, and the character string input so far is Display unit 1
2 is displayed. If the operation P2 is performed, the display changes sequentially in descending order. Here, it is assumed that the ascending order (descending order) can be set by operating the input device. The display change time interval is determined by threshold values t1 and t2 set by the detection unit 32 in correspondence with the signals p1 and p2. The display desired by the user is displayed on the display unit 1.
When the operation unit is released at the time point shown in FIG. 2, the operation unit returns to the original position, and the display state at that time point is maintained on the display screen.

In step 42, the user looks at the display screen, and if the user decides that this is the case, operation P3 is performed.
Receives the signal p3 to determine the display character. Also,
When it is determined that the characters on the display screen are inappropriate, the operation P5
Is performed, the input character string is erased in response to the signal p5 in step 45, and the process returns to step 41. At this time, if the duration of the signal p5 is shorter than the threshold value t5 set for the signal p5, detection is performed. Since the signal q is not output from the unit 32, only the last character of the displayed character string is deleted. When the duration of the signal p5 is longer than the threshold value t5, all the display character strings are deleted by the signal q from the detection unit 32.

When the input character string up to that point is determined in step 43, the user checks the determined character string in step 44 to determine whether the input has been completed. When it is determined that the input is to be continued, the operation P5 is performed, whereby the procedure returns to the procedure 41. When it is determined that the input has been completed, operation P4 is performed, and the control unit 33 receives the signal p4 and transmits the signal to the telephone number input in step 46. When the line is thus connected, a communication state is established by the communication unit 35, the microphone 14, and the speaker 13 of the mobile phone. When the user ends the call, the operation P4 is performed in step 47. When receiving the signal p4 at the time of this operation, the control unit 33 disconnects the line and ends the call.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a telephone directory registration operation when the input device of FIG. 1 is used. In this case, first, in step 51, the operation P3 is kept pressed for at least the threshold value t3 set for this operation, and then the operation P3 ends. As a result, the signal p3 and the signal q are transmitted from the detection units 31 and 32 to the control unit 33.
And the additional function mode is activated. In procedure 52, since the function switching is performed by pressing the operation P3 below the set threshold value t3 while looking at the display unit, the operation P3 is repeated until the telephone directory registration function mode is displayed. When the display of the telephone directory registration function mode appears, operation P1 is performed in step 53. This activates the telephone directory registration function in step 54. When activated, the user enters a name input state in step 55, and selects an input method for alphanumeric characters, kana, and the like. In this step 55, the input method of kanji input, katakana, alphanumeric characters and the like is selected by operations P1 and P2. This operation is the same as the operation described in step 41 of FIG.
When the pressed state of the operation P1 is held, the input method is sequentially displayed in ascending order at a constant interval, and when the operation P2 is performed, the input method sequentially displayed in descending order changes. When the operations P1 and P2 are stopped when it is determined that the desired input method is displayed,
Since the input method at that time remains displayed, in step 56, the user checks whether the input method is acceptable. If not, the user performs operation P5 and returns to step 55, and if it is acceptable, performs operation P3. Move on to input character selection. In this case, it is assumed that “Kanji input” is selected.

In input character selection, first, in step 57, an operation P
When 1 or P2 is performed, the kana "A line" to "Wa line" are displayed in order. When the target line is displayed, the operation P3 is performed, and a character is selected in the next step 58. Again, operation P1,
At P2, for example, the cursor is moved, and the input character is determined at the desired character by operation P3. As a result, the character string entered so far is displayed, so it is determined in step 59 whether to continue the kana input. If the kana input is still to be performed, the operation P5 is performed, and the process returns to the step 57. Character conversion (kana-kanji conversion) is performed in step 60 by P3, and the result is displayed. In step 61, the display of the conversion result is checked, and if not, the next conversion is designated by operation P1 or P2. In step 60, the conversion is performed again and the result is displayed. If the conversion result is as displayed, the operation P3 is performed. Displays the previous input character string (conversion result). Here, the operations P1 and P2 specify the order of the conversion candidates in the reverse order. In step 62, if it is determined that the input is continued following the displayed character string, the procedure returns to step 57 in operation P5. If it is determined that the current display character string is sufficient as the name, the input of the name is terminated in operation P3. Move on to the next phone number entry.

Although the detailed illustration of the telephone number input in step 63 is omitted here, it is the same as the operation for making a call, and may be the same as steps 41 to 44 in FIG. When the operation P3 is performed after the input of the telephone number, the input name and the telephone number are displayed. When the user sees the display and determines that some correction is necessary, the user performs the operation P5 and performs the operation P5. Is the name or telephone number in step 65
Selection is made by 1 or P2, and the procedure returns to step 57 or 63. If it is determined that all the input data is sufficient, the operation P3
Then, the process proceeds to step 66 to input a registration number. This input is not shown in detail but is the same as the telephone number input. When the registration number is thus input, the name, telephone number, and registration number are registered in the memory as a set of data, and the user determines in step 67 whether to continue the telephone directory registration.
If the end is selected in operation P3, the function mode is ended in step 68, and if the continuation is selected in operation P4, the process returns to step 54. In the procedure 67, the operation is ended by the operation P3 and the operation is continued by the operation P5. However, for example, “End: P1, continuation: P2” is displayed on the screen, and when one of the operations P1 and P2 is selected, the selection is made. It is easier to use that the highlighted one is displayed, and the operation P3 is performed when the operation P3 is performed.

As described above, using the input device of FIG.
By successively performing operations in an interactive manner in accordance with the instructions displayed on the screen, a telephone call or telephone directory registration can be performed. It is easy to determine such an operation for executing various functions other than the telephone directory registration, and the operation to be used in which case is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. The input device of FIG. 1 has advantages that the occupied area on the outer surface of the mobile phone is small and that it is easy to operate, as compared with a conventional input device in which many push buttons are arranged. Therefore, for example, the display area of the display device can be made larger than before, so that icons and the like can be used more freely than before, and it is also advantageous to improve the degree of freedom in the design of the mobile phone.

[0020]

According to the present invention, the size of the portable telephone can be reduced by eliminating the need for the push button, and the operability is improved. Further, there is an advantage that the display screen can be enlarged to display icons that are easier to use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an input device that is a feature of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of an external view of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit configuration example of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of an input device during a call;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an operation example of an input device when registering a telephone directory.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Main body 12 Display part 16 Input device 31 Input signal detection part 32 Pressing duration detection part 33 Control part 34 Telephone number storage part 100 Operation part 101, 102 Operation part side contact 111, 112 Sliding part side contact 120, 131, 132, 133, 134 Spring 121 Support 140 Slide part 141, 142, 151, 152 Contact 150 Operation part housing

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An input device of a mobile phone, wherein the input device is movable only along one surface, and performs a right rotation operation and a left rotation operation with respect to a support point thereof, and a push movement operation of the support point in a first direction. An operation unit configured to be capable of performing a sliding movement operation in two directions perpendicular to the first direction, and to be turned on while each of the five operations is being performed. An input device comprising: 2. A mobile phone comprising the input device according to claim 1 on a side surface of an outer surface of a housing thereof, wherein a first circuit for detecting an ON state of each of the switches, and each of the switches is ON. A second circuit for detecting whether the state time is equal to or greater than a threshold determined for each switch. 3. The portable telephone according to claim 2, wherein said guidance display means instructs an operation of said input device in accordance with an operation state of said portable telephone, and said first and second display units when said input device is operated. Control means for shifting to the next operation state in accordance with the detection information of the circuit.