JP2003333159A - Mobile telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile telephone set in which a plurality of characters including hiragana (the cursive form of KANA), katakana (square forms of KANA), Roman characters and figures are inputted without performing mode switching. <P>SOLUTION: In the mobile telephone set, in accordance with an operation of an arbitrary one character input key, a plurality of characters assigned to the character input key are displayed as one group on an auxiliary screen 82 on a display 8 and in accordance with a character selecting operation, an arbitrary one character is selected out of the character group displayed on the auxiliary screen 82. In accordance with a character determining operation, the selected character is determined as an input character, and the determined character is displayed on a character input screen 81 on the display 8. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a mobile phone capable of inputting a plurality of characters including hiragana, katakana, romaji and numbers by operating a plurality of character input keys and displaying the input characters on a display. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a portable telephone, it is possible to input a numeral by using a numeric keypad of 0 to 9 and, for example, when composing an electronic mail, a character input mode is switched from a numeral mode to a kanji mode or an English mode. By doing so, it is possible to input hiragana and romaji by operating the ten-key pad. For example, in the Kanji mode shown in FIG. 7, all the hiragana characters are assigned to ten numeric keys, and all the hiragana characters can be input by operating these character input keys one or more times.

Further, in the English mode shown in FIG. 8, all uppercase and lowercase Roman letters and various symbols are assigned to ten numeric keys, * key and # key, and one of these character input keys is used. Alternatively, all the uppercase and lowercase letters of Roman letters and various symbols can be input by a plurality of operations. Further, in the alphanumeric mode shown in FIG. 9, the input characters in the English mode and the numbers 0 to 9 are assigned to the respective character input keys, and the 12 character input keys are operated one or more times. It is possible to input characters in the English mode and numbers 0-9.

[0004]

However, in the conventional mobile phone, when inputting a text such as when composing an e-mail, the character is input while switching the kanji mode, the English mode and the alphanumeric mode. Had to do. For example, when inputting "LOFT today at 2 o'clock", first input "Kyo" in kanji mode, operate the conversion key to convert to "today", switch to alphanumeric mode, and operate the numeric keypad to operate "2. ", Then switch to Kanji mode, enter" Ji ", operate the conversion key to convert to" hour ", then enter" ni ", switch to English mode and change to" LOFT " There was a problem that the input had to be done and the mode switching was complicated.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a mobile phone capable of inputting a plurality of characters including hiragana, katakana, romaji and numbers without switching modes.

[0006]

A mobile phone according to the present invention, in response to an operation of any one character input key (9), displays a plurality of characters assigned to the character input key (9).
Character group display means for displaying as a group on the display (8) and a display according to the character selection operation
A character selecting means for selecting any one character from the character group displayed in (8), and the selected character is determined as an input character according to the character confirmation operation, and the display (8 ) And a fixed character display means for displaying.

In the mobile phone of the present invention, all the characters that can be input, including hiragana, katakana, romaji and numbers, are assigned to any of the plurality of character input keys (9), and each character input key is assigned. It is grouped. For example, one character group assigned to one character input key conventionally includes a plurality of characters that can be input by operating the character input key by switching the input mode. When inputting a sentence, if any one character input key (9) is operated, the character group assigned to the character input key (9) will be displayed (8).
Is displayed in. Therefore, by sequentially operating all the character input keys (9), all the character groups can be sequentially displayed. Any one of the plurality of characters displayed on the display (8) can be selected by a character selection operation such as cursor movement. Therefore,
By operating the character input key (9) and selecting characters, any character can be selected from the characters that can be input. Then, by performing an operation of confirming the selected character, the character is confirmed, and the confirmed character is displayed on the display (8). Therefore, it is possible to input a sentence including hiragana, katakana, roman letters, and numbers by repeating the above-described character selection and character confirmation operations, and it is not necessary to switch the input mode in this process.

Specifically, it further comprises character conversion means for converting one or a plurality of hiragana characters displayed on the display (8) into corresponding katakana or kanji characters in response to a character conversion operation. With this, it becomes possible to input a sentence containing kanji.

Further, specifically, the character group display means sequentially displays a plurality of character groups assigned to the character input key (9) according to the number of times the character input key (9) is operated. To do. This allows the display (8)
You can reduce the number of characters that should be displayed at once.

[0010]

According to the mobile phone of the present invention, it is possible to input a plurality of characters including hiragana, katakana, romaji and numbers without switching modes.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone according to the present invention has a receiving circuit (2) and a transmitting circuit (3) connected to an antenna (10) via a duplexer (1), and a receiving circuit (2) and a transmitting circuit. Control circuit for (3)
(4) is connected, the audio signal input from the microphone (5) is supplied to the transmitting circuit (3) via the control circuit (4), and the audio signal obtained from the receiving circuit (2) is supplied to the control circuit. (4)
It is supplied to the speaker (6) via. Control circuit
In (4), multiple character input keys for entering characters, etc.
(9) and a display for displaying the entered characters, etc.
(8) and the memory (7) for storing a plurality of characters assigned to the character input key (9) are connected.

FIG. 2 shows the key arrangement of the mobile phone according to the present invention, which is ten numeric keys 0 to 9 (91), *.
Twelve character input keys (9) are configured by the key and # key, and in addition, a direction key (92) for selection operation, an OK key (93) for confirmation operation, and a conversion key for conversion operation.
(94) etc. are deployed.

As shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of characters consisting of hiragana, katakana, Roman capital letters and small letters, and numbers are assigned to each of the ten numeric keys 91, and one numeric keypad is used. The group of plural characters assigned to (91) is further divided into small groups according to the number of key operations. The allocation table is stored in the memory (7), and the control circuit
It can be referred to by (4). The assignment table shown in the figure is the Kanji mode assignment table shown in FIG. 7, and the English mode assignment table shown in FIG.
It is a combination of the alphanumeric mode assignment table shown in FIG. 9, and one character group assigned to one character input key is a plurality of characters that can be input by conventional mode switching. It consists of

As the character input mode of the portable telephone according to the present invention, the kanji mode shown in FIG. 7 and the character input mode shown in FIG.
The English mode shown in FIG. 6 and the alphanumeric mode shown in FIG. 9 can be set, and the integrated mode based on the allocation table shown in FIG. 4A can be set.

FIG. 3 shows a character input procedure in response to a key operation in the integrated mode. First step S
At 1, it is determined whether or not any character input key has been operated. If the result is YES, the process proceeds to step S2 to determine the operated character input key. Next, in step S3, of the character groups assigned to the operated character input key, the first character in the small group assigned to the first operation and the plurality of characters included in the small group are assigned. The characters (group characters) and are displayed on the display.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), when the "2" button is pressed, "ka" is displayed as the first character on the character input screen (81) and "ka" is displayed as the group character.
"Aa 2" is displayed on the auxiliary screen (82). The auxiliary screen (8
One of the plurality of characters displayed in 2) can be selected by moving the cursor by operating the direction key (92).

Next, in step S4 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not a cursor moving operation has been performed. If YES, the cursor is moved within the auxiliary screen (82) in step S5. Then, in step S6, the OK key (9
It is judged whether or not there is a confirming operation by 3), and when the judgment is NO, the process returns to step S4 and the cursor moving process is repeated. Then, if YES is determined in step S6, the process proceeds to step S7, and the confirmed character is displayed on the display.

For example, when a confirmation operation is performed by the OK key (93) in the state where "ka" is selected as shown in FIG. 5A, the confirmation character is displayed on the character input screen 81 as shown in FIG. " Ka "
Is displayed. However, the character selected on the auxiliary screen (82) can be confirmed by operating the next character input key without operating the OK key (93).

Next, in step S8 of FIG. 3, it is determined whether or not the character input key has been operated. If YES is determined, the process returns to step S2 to repeat the display of the input character. When the same character input key is operated a plurality of times in succession, a small group of characters corresponding to the number of operations is displayed on the auxiliary screen (82) according to the character allocation table of FIG.

For example, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), the "7" button is pressed 2
When "mi" is input by pressing the button twice, the character input screen (81)
After the “ ka ” in “”, “ mi ” is displayed as the first character, and the auxiliary screen (82) displays “ mi mi Q” as a group character.
"q" is displayed. Then, the cursor is moved in the auxiliary screen (82) according to the operation of the direction key (92). For example, " mi "
When the OK key (93) is operated in the state of selecting, and the unconfirmed " M " is confirmed, the character input screen (8
After " ka " in 1), the confirmed " mi " is displayed.

After that, if it is determined NO in step S8 of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S9 and the conversion key (9
It is determined whether or not the operation of 4) has been performed, and if YES is determined, kana-kanji conversion processing is executed in step S10. Succeedingly, in a step S11, it is determined whether or not a confirming operation is performed, and if NO, the process returns to the step S9 to repeat the converting process. Then, if YES in step S11, the process proceeds to step S12 to display the converted characters on the display.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6 (d), the conversion key is pressed with " bite ".
If (94) is operated, the auxiliary screen (82), to display the "adding paper god hair", by operating the direction key (92) "paper"
When the OK key (93) is pressed with selected,
As shown in (e), the unconfirmed " paper " is confirmed, and the confirmed "paper"
Is displayed on the character input screen (81).

According to the above-mentioned mobile phone of the present invention, the hiragana, katakana, romaji and numeric characters are maintained without changing the mode among the kanji mode, the english mode and the alphanumeric mode while maintaining the character input mode in the integrated mode. You can enter a sentence consisting of.

For example, when a sentence "LOFT at 2 o'clock today" is input, the following operation is performed with the character input mode set to the integrated mode. 1. Press the "2" button twice. As a result, "Kiki B
b ”is displayed. If you select "ki",
“Ki” is displayed. 2. Press the "8" button three times. This will display "Yo Yo V v". If you select "yo",
“You” is displayed. 3. Press the "1" button three times. This will display "Uuuuu 1". When "U" is selected, "U" is displayed. 4. Operate the conversion key. As a result, "today" is converted to "today", and "today" is displayed by the confirmation operation. 5. Press the "2" button once. With this,
a 2 ”is displayed. When "2" is selected, "2" is displayed. 6. Press the "3" button twice. As a result, "Shishi E
e ”is displayed. If you select "shi" and press the * button, "ji" will be displayed. 7. Operate the conversion key. As a result, "ji" is "hour"
Is converted to and the hour is displayed by the confirmation operation. 8. Press the "5" button twice. With this,
k ”is displayed. When "ni" is selected, "ni" is displayed. 9. Press the "5" button three times. As a result, "nu Nu L
l ”is displayed. When "L" is selected, "L" is displayed. 10. Press the "6" button three times. As a result,
“O o” is displayed. When "O" is selected, "O" is displayed. 11. Press the "3" button three times. This will
F f ”is displayed. When "F" is selected, "F" is displayed. 12. Press the "8" button three times. As a result,
T t 8 ”is displayed. If you select "T", "T"
Is displayed.

It is not necessary to switch the character input mode in the above series of operations. Further, the number of key operations does not increase as compared with the conventional character input method. Therefore, the user can concentrate on character input without being bothered by mode switching, and the operability of character input is dramatically improved. Also, when displaying character groups, it is sufficient to display at most 7 characters at a time on the auxiliary screen (82).
On a large display, the display space does not pose a problem, and the operation of selecting one character can be easily performed by operating the direction keys (92).

The configuration of each part of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the technical scope described in the claims. For example, instead of the allocation table shown in FIG. 4 (a), the allocation table shown in FIG. 4 (b) can be adopted. In this case, by operating the conversion key, Hiragana is converted to Katakana, and uppercase Roman letters are converted to lowercase.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile phone according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the mobile phone.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a character input procedure in the mobile phone.

FIG. 4 is a chart showing a character allocation table for each character input key.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the first half of a screen display example when a character is input.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the latter half of the screen display example.

FIG. 7 is a table showing an assigned character table in a conventional Kanji mode.

FIG. 8 is a table showing an assigned character table in a conventional English mode.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an assigned character table in a conventional alphanumeric mode.

[Explanation of symbols]

(4) Control circuit (7) Memory (8) Display (9) Character input key (91) Numeric keypad (92) Direction keys (93) OK key (94) Conversion key

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B020 AA02 AA04 AA05 BB10 FF13                       FF53                 5K027 AA11 BB02 FF01 FF22 MM04                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 DD11 DD51                       EE02 FF02 FF23 FF25 KK17

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of characters including hiragana, katakana, romaji and numbers can be input by operating a plurality of character input keys, and the input characters can be displayed on a display. In a mobile phone in which characters are assigned to any of the character input keys, a plurality of characters assigned to the character input keys are displayed on the display as a group according to the operation of any one of the character input keys. Character group display means, a character selection means for selecting any one character from the character groups displayed on the display in response to a character selection operation, and the character selection means for selecting a character according to the character confirmation operation. A mobile phone, comprising: a confirmed character display means for confirming the entered character as an input character and displaying it on a display. 2. The mobile phone according to claim 1, further comprising character conversion means for converting one or a plurality of hiragana characters displayed on the display into corresponding katakana or kanji characters in response to a character conversion operation. . 3. The character group display means according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of characters are sequentially displayed in the character groups assigned to the character input key according to the number of times the character input key is operated. Mobile phone. 4. The character group display means displays the character group on the auxiliary screen (82) of the display (8), and the confirmed character display means displays the confirmed character on the character input screen (81) of the display (8). The mobile phone according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which is displayed on the screen.