JP2003029893A - Input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device whose convenience is improved by simplifying the inputting operating of a menu item or a set item to be frequently used. SOLUTION: This input device is provided with a display means 2 for displaying a picture, a control means 1 for allowing the display means 2 to display item information hierarchized from an upper rank menu item to a lower rank set item, an input means 3 for selecting the menu item or set item picture- displayed on the display means 2, a count means 4 for counting the number of times when the menu item or set item is selected, and a storage means 5 for storing the count value of the count means 4. The input means 3 is provided with a short cut input part 31, and the control means 1 assigns the menu item or set item whose count value is high stored in the storage means 5 to the short cut input part 31 so as to directly input the menu item or set time from the short cut input part 31.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device, and more particularly to inputting desired setting items by displaying hierarchical item information on a screen from menu items of higher layers and sequentially performing selection operations. The input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as an input device for inputting various functions, setting items of input functions are displayed on a display screen such as a liquid crystal display panel (LCD panel), and the setting items displayed on the screen are displayed. The input setting operation of a desired function is performed by selecting with a touch panel switch provided on the panel or a push-type switch arranged around the panel.

In recent years, devices in various fields have become multifunctional, and the number of setting items for the diversified functions has increased significantly. In such a multifunctional device, since the setting items of functions are diverse, in order to make them easy to see and to be able to display them on a display screen of limited size, each setting item is systematized It has a multi-layer tree structure from the menu item of to the lower setting item, and the menu item of the upper layer is displayed on the screen, and when any menu item is selected,
The menu items in the lower hierarchy are sequentially displayed so that the target setting item is finally displayed on the screen.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of hierarchical item information. Here, the case of a digital copying machine is shown.

Each item is hierarchized from the highest hierarchy C0 to the lowest hierarchy C3. In the highest hierarchy C0,
The "basic setting menu" (C0a) and the "applied setting menu" (C0b) are located. As for the “basic setting menu” (C0a), the lower layer C1 includes “system initial setting” (C1a), “copy initial setting” (C1b), “paper type setting” (C1c), and “touch panel”. "Adjustment" (C1d) is located respectively. Further, regarding the "system initial setting" (C1a), the "language" (C2a) and the "clock" (C2b) are located in the lower hierarchy C2. Furthermore, looking at the "language" (C2a), the lower layer C
3 includes "Japanese" (C3a) and "English" (C3b)
Are located respectively.

Here, the layers C0 to C2 constitute menu items for leading to the lowest layer C3, and the lowest layer C3 constitutes setting items for setting and inputting those functions. ing.

Now, in such item information, "English" (C3) for the user to switch the display screen to English display.
Looking at the case of selecting b), first, on the display screen, the "basic setting menu" and the "applied setting menu" of the highest level C0 are displayed as the top menu (Fig. 6 (a)). Select "Basic setting menu" from here. Here, it is assumed that a touch panel switch is provided on the display screen and each item is selected by a touch operation of the touch panel switch.

Then, the display screen is switched to the menu display of "system initial setting", "copy initial setting", "paper type setting" and "touch panel adjustment" (see FIG. 6).
(B)), "system initial setting" is selected from here.
As a result, the display screen is switched to the menu display of "Language" and "Clock" (Fig. 6 (c)), and by selecting "Language" from here, the display screen is set to "Japanese" and "English". Switch to the item (Fig. 6 (d)). By selecting "English" from here, the user can set "English" for the first time.

[0009]

When a target setting item is selected from the item information hierarchically arranged as described above, FIG.
As shown in the examples of (a) to FIG. 6 (d), it is necessary to repeat the selection operation a plurality of times. That is, if the menu item or setting item that the user wants to select is located in a deep position in the hierarchical structure, it is necessary to input many times before the menu item or setting item is displayed on the screen. Therefore, the input operation is very complicated. In particular, when the menu item or the setting item is frequently used by the user, a complicated input operation must be repeated a plurality of times each time, which is extremely inconvenient.

Therefore, the present invention is to provide an input device that facilitates the input operation of a frequently used menu item or setting item and has improved usability.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 is a display means for displaying a screen, and the display means for displaying item information hierarchized from upper menu items to lower setting items. Control means for displaying on the display, input means for selecting a menu item or setting item displayed on the screen of the display means, counting means for counting the number of times the menu item or setting item is selected, and the counting means. A storage unit for storing the count value according to the above, and the input unit is provided with a shortcut input unit, and the control unit causes the shortcut input unit to store a menu item or setting item with a high count value stored in the storage unit. By assigning it, the menu item or setting item is controlled so that it can be directly input from the shortcut input section. An input device which is characterized in that.

The invention according to claim 2 is the input device according to claim 1, wherein a menu item or a setting item at a deep position in a hierarchical structure is preferentially assigned to the shortcut input section. .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the input means is
2. The touch panel switch as claimed in claim 1.
Alternatively, it is the input device according to item 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the input means is
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input device is a push-type switch.

[0015]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to screens.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an input device according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is control means, 2 is display means, 3 is input means, 4 is counting means, and 5 is storage means.

The control means 1 controls the display means 2, the input means 3, the counting means 4, and the storage means 5 in a centralized manner, and has each item information of the function of a device (not shown). The respective items are displayed on the display means 2.

The display means 2 is for displaying the above item information on the screen so that the user can visually recognize it. Any display device such as a liquid crystal display panel (LCD panel) and a CRT monitor can be used as long as it can display the screen. Can be used.

The control means 1 is adapted to sequentially display the hierarchical item information as shown in FIG. 5 on the display means 2 in order from the menu item of the highest hierarchy C0. That is, when any one of the menu items of the highest hierarchy C0 is selected by the input means 3, then the display on the display means 2 is switched to the lower hierarchy C1, C2, C3 ...

The input means 3 selects a menu item or setting item displayed on the display means 2. When the setting item is finally selected, the control means 1 outputs a corresponding signal to the operation control unit of a device (not shown) so that a predetermined function operates.

As the input means 3, a touch panel switch or a push switch can be preferably used. In the case of the touch panel switch, it is preferable that the touch panel switch is provided on the display screen of the display unit 2 and each item on the screen visually recognized through the touch panel switch is selected by a touch operation of the touch panel switch. In the case of a push-type switch, it is arranged separately from the display means 2, such as around the display means 2, and the numbers given to the respective items displayed on the screen of the display means 2 are pushed. Input operation using the numeric keypad switch, etc., or arrange the push-type switch corresponding to the position of each item displayed on the screen, and press the push-type switch at the position corresponding to the item to be selected. Therefore, it is preferable to perform an input operation.

The input means 3 may be of a remote control type independent of the control means 1 and the like, and by allowing transmission and reception with the control means 1, remote input operation may be performed.

As shown in FIG. 1, the input means 3 is provided with a shortcut input section 31. Menu items or setting items that are frequently selected by the user are assigned to the shortcut input unit 31. here,
“Assigning a menu item or a setting item” means that the operation of selecting the menu item or the setting item can be directly performed by inputting the shortcut input unit 31. Therefore, by operating the shortcut input unit 31, the menu item or setting item assigned to the shortcut input unit 31 can be immediately selected.

The configuration for assigning menu items or setting items to the shortcut input section 31 will be further described. When a menu item or setting item hierarchically displayed on the display unit 2 is selected by the user via the input unit 3, the counting unit 4 counts the number of times the menu item or setting item is selected. . The control means 1 sends the count value to the storage means 5, and stores the count value for each item as shown in FIG. Based on the count value of each item stored in the storage unit 5, the control unit 1 automatically selects the item having the largest numerical value, that is, the item most frequently selected by the user, and the shortcut input unit. 31 and the selection of the item is made possible by the input operation of the shortcut input unit 31.

For example, referring to the examples shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, when the menu item of "language" located in the lower hierarchy C2 is frequently selected by the user, the number of times of selection is determined by the counting means 4. It is counted and stored as the largest count value in the storage means 5 (see FIG. 2). The control means 1 selects the menu item “language” having the largest count value and assigns it to the shortcut input unit 31.

As described above, in the input device according to the present invention, the shortcut input section 31 is assigned with a frequently used menu item or setting item, and the menu item or setting item can be immediately selected from the shortcut input section 31. As a result, it is possible to improve the usability of the input device and further the equipment in which the input device is incorporated.

The items assigned to the shortcut input section 31 are preferably displayed on the top menu on the display means 2. For example, in the above example, as shown in FIG. 3, the menu item of "language" is the "basic setting menu" of the top level C0 which is the top menu,
The "Language" menu item is immediately selected from the top menu by displaying it in the area allocated as the shortcut input section (touch panel switch) 31 on the display screen on which the "Application setting menu" menu item is displayed. Will be able to. Figure 4
FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a case where a menu item or setting item in a lower hierarchy is selected from the shortcut input unit 31 in this way. In this way, the shortcut input unit 31
By using, it is possible to immediately select and operate a menu item or a setting item in a deep position of the hierarchical structure assigned to the shortcut input section 31 from the top menu of the highest hierarchy.

As for the menu item or setting item assigned to the shortcut input section 31, it is preferable that the item located in a deeper lower layer of each layered item information is given priority. Therefore, if the count values of the items to be assigned to the shortcut input unit 31 are the same, it is preferable that the items located in the lower hierarchy are preferentially assigned. By doing so, the shortcut input unit 31 can be assigned a menu item or setting item that is located deep in the hierarchical item information and that is frequently selected by the user. By making it possible to perform an input operation on a frequently-used item using the shortcut input unit 31, it becomes possible to immediately display and select an item on the display unit 2 without having to repeat the selection operation a plurality of times on the input unit 3.

Similar to the input means 3, the shortcut input section 31 may be a push-type switch dedicated to shortcut input depending on the mode of the input means 3 in addition to the touch panel switch.

The number of shortcut input sections 31 is 1
Not only one but two or more menu items or setting items may be provided in order to enable a shortcut input operation. Therefore, when two or more shortcut input units 31 are provided, the count value of each item stored in the storage unit 5 is the largest, and the items are sequentially assigned according to the number of shortcut input units 31.

The storage means 5 for storing the count value
It is preferable that the stored data is not erased even when the power of the input device or a device incorporating the input device is turned off.
It is preferable to use a non-volatile memory.

The input device according to the present invention is configured such that hierarchical item information is displayed on the screen of the display means 2 and selected and operated by the input means 3, for example, a copying machine, a facsimile, a printer, or these. It can be applied as an input device of any device such as a digital multi-function peripheral, a mobile phone, a personal digital assistant, an electronic camera, etc.

[0033]

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an input device that facilitates the input operation of a menu item or setting item that is frequently used and has improved usability.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an input device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a count value stored in a storage unit.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a screen display of display means.

FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a case where a menu item or setting item in a lower hierarchy is selected from a shortcut input section.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing hierarchical setting items.

6A to 6D are plan views each showing an example of a screen display of a display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Control means 2: Display means 3: Input means 31: Shortcut input section 4: Counting means 5: storage means

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claim: What is claimed is: 1. Display means for displaying a screen, control means for displaying on the display means the item information hierarchically arranged from a higher menu item to a lower setting item, and a menu item displayed on the screen of the display means. Alternatively, the input means for selecting a setting item, the counting means for counting the number of times the menu item or the setting item has been selected, and the storage means for storing the count value by the counting means are included in the input means. A shortcut input unit is provided, and the control unit assigns the menu item or setting item with a high count value stored in the storage unit to the shortcut input unit so that the menu item or setting item is directly input from the shortcut input unit. An input device characterized by being controlled so that an input operation can be performed. 2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the shortcut input unit is preferentially assigned to a menu item or a setting item located deep in the hierarchical structure. 3. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input means is a touch panel switch. 4. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input means is a push-type switch.