JP2005135101A - Input device, portable terminal device and input method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To input characters, etc. with ease, at a high speed and also with enjoyment. <P>SOLUTION: An operation part 11 of a character input device 1 is provided with a first input line L1 with an input area to which a "line" of characters are specified disposed thereon, a second input line L2 with an input area to which a "stage" of characters are specified disposed thereon; and a third input line L3 with an input area to which numeric characters are specified disposed thereon, the lines being formed by means of touch pads. The operation part 11 is provided with a button B1 changing an input mode, a button B2 transforming input characters into Kanji characters and a button B3 canceling the input characters, the buttons being formed by means of the touch pads. A user, for example, hold the input device 1 at a left hand, performs press operations of the buttons B1-B3 with fingers of the left hand and performs touch operations and slide operations of each input line L1-L3 with fingers of the right hand, so that the user inputs the characters, etc. with such a feeling of playing the guitar. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention provides an input device, an input method, and a mobile terminal device that are suitable for use in a terminal device such as a mobile phone, a PHS phone (PHS: Personal Handyphone System), a PDA device (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant), and a personal computer device. In particular, the present invention relates to an input device, a portable terminal device, and an input method that allow a desired character or the like to be input using a linear input means.

  Nowadays, character input in personal computer devices is mainly performed using a keyboard. In this keyboard, one English letter, one Kana character, etc. are assigned to one key, and when a key is pressed, the key and mode (English character mode, Kana character mode, etc.) are pressed. Corresponding characters are entered.

  On the other hand, the character input of the mobile phone is performed using a numeric keypad. In this numeric keypad, a plurality of English characters, kana characters, etc. are assigned to one key so that characters corresponding to the mode (English character mode, kana character mode, etc.) and the number of times the key is pressed are input. It has become.

In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-189792, a touch pad is provided at a position on the back side of the device that can be operated with the index finger of the user when the device is held with one hand, and the touch pad is attached to the index finger. There is disclosed a portable mobile communication device that performs a movement input of a pointer on a display by operating with.
JP 2001-189792 A (3rd page: FIG. 3)

  However, since the keyboard has almost one character assigned to each key, high-speed input operation is possible. However, the number of keys to be provided increases, installation space increases, and each character There was a problem that required labor to memorize the placement.

  On the other hand, since the ten key has a plurality of characters assigned to each of the dozen keys, the number of keys to be provided is not different from only ten, and the installation space can be the same as the original ten key. However, there is a problem in that it takes time to input a desired character because it is necessary to press the same key five times at the maximum to input the desired character.

  In addition, character input using a numeric keypad is a monotonous operation that simply presses a key corresponding to a desired character, and thus there is a problem that the input operation is not interesting.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can be installed in a small space, and can be installed in a small space so that characters can be input easily and at high speed. It is another object of the present invention to provide an input device, a portable terminal device, and an input method that can input characters and the like while having fun.

  According to the present invention, the line contact area detection means is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the line input operation means, and the user touches the line designation area for designating a desired “line”. The operated row designation area is detected, and the stage contact area detection means is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the stage input operation means, and a stage designation area for designating a desired “stage”. Among them, the step designation area where the user performs a touch operation is detected.

  Then, the row stage detection means is configured to input the “row” and the “stage” designated by the user based on the row designation area touched by the row input manipulation means and the stage designation area touched by the stage input manipulation means. And the control means detects the “row” and the “row” detected by the row stage detection means from the input information storage means in which the plurality of pieces of input information are stored in association with the “row” and “stage”, respectively. Read input information corresponding to “stage” and output it.

  Further, according to the present invention, the line contact area detection unit includes a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the line input operation unit, and the user designates a row designation area for designating a desired “line”. A row designation region for detecting a row designated area touched, and a step contact region detection means designating a desired “stage”, which is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the step input manipulation means. Among the regions, a step designation region that is touched by the user is detected.

  Further, the line detection means detects a “line” designated by the user based on the contact operation amount of the line designation area touched by the line input operation means, and the stage detection means detects the stage input operation means. The “step” designated by the user is detected based on the presence / absence of the touch operation in the step designated area touched in step (b).

  Then, the control means detects the “row” detected by the row detection means from the input information storage means in which a plurality of pieces of input information are stored in association with “rows” and “stages”, and the above steps. Input information corresponding to the “stage” detected by the stage detection means is read and output.

  Since the present invention can be installed in a space in which linear line input operation means and stage input operation means are installed, it can be installed in a small space.

  In addition, since characters are input by touch input operations such as touching the linear operation means with a finger or sliding the finger in the touched state, characters and the like can be input easily and at high speed. Can do.

  In addition, characters and the like are input by an input operation such as touching the linear operation means with a finger or sliding the finger in a touched state, so that characters and the like can be enjoyed as if playing a stringed instrument. Can be entered.

[First Embodiment]
The present invention can be applied to a mobile phone.

[External configuration of mobile phone]
In the cellular phone according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the character input device 1 and the cellular phone main body 2 are configured separately, and both are covered with a non-conductive member such as a rubber member. The signal lines 3 are connected to each other. The total length of the signal line 3 is, for example, a longer length such as 60 cm, and functions as a neck strap for the character input device 1 and the mobile phone body 2. The signal line 3 functioning as a neck strap allows a desired character or the like to be input by operating the character input device 1 while the character input device 1 is put on the neck.

  In this example, the description is made assuming that the character input device 1 and the mobile phone main body 2 are configured separately, but the character input device 1 and the mobile phone main body 2 are integrally formed as shown in FIG. It may be configured. When both are integrally configured, a so-called stick-like configuration may be used, or a hinge portion or a rotation mechanism is provided at the boundary (indicated by a dotted line in FIG. 2) between the character input device 1 and the display panel 2a. It is good also as a structure of a foldable type or a revolver type.

[Appearance of character input device]
As shown in FIG. 3, the character input device 1 includes an operation unit 11 provided on a main surface portion of a rectangular casing-like main body 10, and a speaker unit 24 provided on one end surface on the short side of the main body 10. have.

  The operation unit 11 is provided with a first input line L1, a second input line L2, and a third input line L3 that are each formed by a linear touch pad so as to be parallel to each other. The operation unit 11 is provided with buttons B1, B2, and B3 on one end side of each of the input lines L1 to L3.

  The first input line L1 and the input line L2 are assigned a plurality of input areas corresponding to the input characters and symbols, and the third input line L3 is a plurality of input areas corresponding to the input numbers and symbols. Is assigned.

  The button B1 has a function for selecting the type of character to be input, the button B2 has a function for specifying Kanji conversion (and katakana conversion) of the input character, and the button B3 has a function for specifying input characters and numbers. Each function is assigned to cancel (clear input).

  In this example, the description will be given assuming that three input lines L1 to L3 are provided on the operation unit 11. However, this is because one touch pad is provided on the operation unit 11, and this one touch pad is provided. The input areas may be virtually divided into three input areas, and the input areas corresponding to the input lines L1, L2, and L3 may be assigned to the respective input areas. In addition, although each input line L1, L2, L3 is configured by a touch pad, it may be configured by another sensor such as a pressure sensitive element instead of the touch pad.

[Hardware configuration of character input device]
FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the character input device 1. In FIG. 4, the character input device 1 includes the input lines L1 to L3, the buttons B1 to B3, a timer 21 for measuring the input time, the input lines L1 to L3, and the input lines L1 to L3. A character memory 22 storing character data corresponding to an input operation using the buttons B1 to B3, a sound memory 23 storing voice data corresponding to an input operation, voice data of an input operation error, and the like, and a sound memory 23 A speaker unit 24 that produces a sound read out from the terminal, and an interface 25 for connecting the character input device 1 to a terminal device (information processing device) such as the mobile phone 2 or a personal computer device. Are respectively connected to a control unit 26 that controls the entire character input device 1.

[Overview of input operation]
For example, when the user's dominant hand is the right hand, the character input device 1 supports the character input device 1 from the back surface (the surface opposite to the surface on which the input lines L1 to L3 are provided) with the left hand as shown in FIG. While the character input device 1 is supported, the buttons B1 to B3 are touched with the left index finger or middle finger, and the input lines L1 to L3 are touched and slid with the right index finger or middle finger. Operate to input desired characters.

Specifically, the control unit 26, every time the button B1 is pressed,
・ "Kanji input (full-width) mode" to input Kanji,
・ Hiragana input is "Hiragana input (full-width) mode",
・ "Full-width katakana input mode" to enter full-width katakana
・ Half-width katakana input mode to enter half-width katakana
・ "Full-width alphabet input mode" for entering full-width English characters,
・ Half-width alphabet input mode to enter half-width alphabet
・ "Symbol input mode" for entering symbols such as △ and%,
・ "Standard text input mode" for inputting standard text such as "Good morning" and "Contact us immediately"
The input mode is switched in this order.

  Further, every time the button B1 is pressed and the input mode is switched, the control unit 26 sends information indicating the current input mode to the mobile phone body 2 via the signal line 3 (neck strap) shown in FIG. Supply. The control unit of the mobile phone body 2 performs a display corresponding to the information indicating the input mode on the display unit 2a.

  Thereby, each time the button B1 is pressed, for example, “kanji input (full-width) mode” → “Hiragana input (full-width) mode” → “full-width katakana input mode” is displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2. → "Half-width katakana input mode" → "Full-width alphabet input mode" → "Half-width alphabet input mode" → "Symbol input mode" → "Standard text input mode" → "Kanji input (full-width) mode" → "Hiragana input (full-width) Display indicating the current input mode such as “mode”...

  In this way, when the input mode is set, the control unit 26 assigns and controls the input area of each character corresponding to the set input mode on each of the input lines L1 to L3. The user performs a touch operation and a slide operation (contact operation) on the input areas on the input lines L1 to L3 according to the input characters. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5, the input operation of a desired character is performed in such a manner that the strings are played with the left hand and each string is played with the right hand, that is, the guitar is played.

  When each input line L1 to L3 is input, an input operation signal corresponding to this input operation is supplied to the control unit 26 via the bus line 20. The control unit 26 reads character data corresponding to the input operation signal from the character memory 22 and supplies the character data to the mobile phone body 2 via the interface 25. Thereby, characters and the like corresponding to the input operations of the input lines L1 to L3 are displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2.

  In addition, the control unit 26 reads out audio data corresponding to the input operation signal from the sound memory 23 and supplies it to the speaker unit 24. As a result, sounds corresponding to the input operations of the input lines L1 to L3 and the buttons B1 to B3 are generated via the speaker unit 24.

  In the above description, the buttons B1 to B3 are operated with the left hand finger supporting the character input device 1, and the input lines L1 to L3 are operated with the right hand finger. Only the buttons B1 to B3 and the input lines L1 to L3 may be operated, or the buttons B1 to B3 and the input lines L1 to L3 may be operated only with the finger of the left hand. In other words, the method of operation is free.

[Specific examples of input operations]
Hereinafter, the input operation of the character input device 1 will be described more specifically by taking several input modes as examples.

[Kanji input mode]
When the input mode of “Kanji input (full-width)”, “Hiragana input (full-width)”, “full-width katakana input” or “half-width katakana input” is selected by the button B1, the first input line L1 is It becomes a line selection line for selecting “line”, and the control unit 26 sequentially selects “a line”, “ka line”, “sa line”, “ta line”, “na line” from the area close to the button B1. , “Ha Line”, “Ma Line”, “Ya Line”, “Ra Line”, and “Wa Line” are assigned to the first input line L1 for control.

  In addition, when any one of the input modes “Kanji input (full-width)”, “Hiragana input (full-width)”, “full-width katakana input”, and “half-width katakana input” is selected with the button B1, the second input line L2 is a stage selection line for selecting “stage”, and the control unit 26 sequentially selects “stage”, “stage”, “stage”, “stage”, “O” from the area close to the button B2. Each of the “stage” input areas is assigned and controlled on the second input line L2.

  In the character input device 1, the default input mode (the input mode when the button B1 is not operated) is the “Kanji input (full-width) mode”. In this “kanji input (full-width) mode”, when inputting a kanji with “scale”, the user first inputs hiragana characters “me”, “mo”, “ri”, and the kanji conversion button. The button B2 is pressed to convert the hiragana characters “me”, “mo”, and “ri” into kanji characters “tick”.

  In other words, the character “me” is a character “mandakudan”. For this reason, the user first performs a touch operation on the “ma” input area of the first input line L1, and then performs a touch operation on the “e” input area of the second input line L2. Similarly, the character “mo” is the character “ma row dan”. For this reason, the user first performs a touch operation on the “ma” input area of the first input line L1, and then performs a touch operation on the “o” input area of the second input line L2. Similarly, the character “ri” is the character “Rashidan”. For this reason, the user first performs a touch operation on the “R” input area of the first input line L1, and then touches the “I” input area of the second input line L2.

  In this way, the text input operation requires a touch operation on the two lines of the first input line L1 and the second input line L2, which may seem like a troublesome input operation. However, the actual operation of the user is to touch the first input line L1 with a finger to select “row”, and in the touched state, slide the finger to the second input line L2 to select “stage”. This is a very simple input operation.

  The dotted arrow shown in FIG. 6 indicates the trajectory of the user's input operation when inputting the “me” character, and the alternate long and short dash line arrow shown in FIG. 6 indicates the user's input when inputting the “MO” character. The locus of the input operation is shown, and the two-dot chain line arrow shown in FIG. 6 indicates the locus of the user's input operation when the character “RI” is input. As can be seen from the trajectories shown in FIG. 6, in the case of this character input device 1, the characters “me”, “mo”, and “ri” can be input by simply sliding the finger three times.

  As described above, the first input line L1 to the third input line L3 are touch pads, and each input line L1 to L3 supplies operation area information indicating an area touched by the user to the control unit 26. To do. The control unit 26 recognizes the “line” based on the operation area information supplied from the first input line L1, and recognizes the character “stage” based on the operation area information supplied from the second input line L2. .

  Each character is stored in the character memory 22 in association with “row” and “column”. That is, for example, the character “a” is stored in the character memory 22 as “a character in the row”, and the character “to” is stored in the character memory 22 as “a character in the row”. .

  For this reason, the control unit 26 refers to the character data stored in the character memory 22 based on the recognized “line” and “column”, and corresponds to the recognized “line” and “column”. Character data is detected and read out, and is supplied to the mobile phone body 2 via the signal line 3 (neck strap) shown in FIG. The control unit of the mobile phone body 2 controls the display of the character data on the display unit 2a. As a result, hiragana characters “me”, “mo”, and “ri” are displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2.

  The sound memory 23 stores sound data corresponding to each character in association with “row” and “column”. In other words, for example, for “A row and row characters (=“ A ”characters”), the sound data of the first “De” of “De les mi fa so so la si de” In addition, sound data of “F” is stored in the sound memory 23 for “characters in the row (=“ to ”characters”) ”.

  As the sound data, sound generation data such as MIDI data is used to control the sound of animal sounds, electronic sounds, predetermined music phrases, sounds of musical instruments such as stringed instruments and wind instruments, burst sounds, and celebrity voices. You may do it.

  The control unit 26 refers to the sound data stored in the sound memory 23 based on the recognized “line” and “stage”, and thereby obtains the sound data corresponding to the recognized “line” and “stage”. This is detected and read out and supplied to the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The speaker unit 24 controls the sound corresponding to the sound data. Thereby, the sound corresponding to the character input by the user is pronounced through the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1.

  In this example, the character “Hi” in Hiragana is stored in the character memory 22 as the character “Washidan”, and the character “n” in Hiragana is stored in the character memory 22 as the character “Washidan”. ing. For this reason, the characters “Wagashi Dan” and the characters “Wagashi Dan” do not exist and are not stored in the character memory 22, but the control unit 26 is designated by the user's input operation. When the characters corresponding to “line” and “column” are not stored in the character memory 22, the sound information of the error sound such as a beep sound stored in the sound memory 23 is read out, and the sound generation control is performed via the speaker unit 24. To do. Thereby, it is possible to notify the user of an input operation error.

  In addition, a dull mark, a punctuation mark, a punctuation mark, or the like may be assigned to an empty area such as “Wakashi Dan” or “Wagashi Dan” in the character memory 22.

  The control unit 26 counts time information from the timer 21 at the timing when the first line L1 is operated by the user. When the count value becomes equal to or greater than a predetermined count value (= Count-up or count-down may be performed.) The sound information of the error sound stored in the sound memory 23 is read out, sound generation is controlled through the speaker unit 24, and the first line L1 is operated to be input. The “row information” is cleared and the operation returns to the operation waiting state for the first line L1 again (time-up process). In this case, the user operates the first line L1 again and designates the “line” corresponding to the desired character.

  Next, in the case of this example, since the character of “scale” is input in Chinese characters, the user presses the button B2, which is a Kanji conversion button. When the button B2 is pressed, the control unit 26 is stored in the character memory 22 corresponding to the character “Memori”, for example, “scale” → “scale” → “memo” → “memory”. The character data such as “→” is sequentially read and supplied to the mobile phone body 2 every time the pressing operation is performed once.

  When this character data is supplied, the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 controls the display of the supplied character data instead of the character “Memori” currently being displayed. As a result, every time the button B2 is pressed on the display unit 2a of the cellular phone main body 2, “Scale” → “Scale” → “Memo” → “Memory” → “Memo” → “Scale” → “Scale” In this order, the character data stored in the character memory 22 corresponding to the character “Memori” is displayed and controlled.

  Next, as an example, in the case of this character input device 1, when the input character is confirmed, the sliding operation is continuously performed for five input areas of the first input line. For this reason, the user confirms the character data displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2, and when desired character data is displayed, the user continuously slides the five input areas of the first input line L1. Manipulate. The continuous slide operation for the five input areas is, for example, “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na”, five input areas, or “ta”, “na”, “ha”. , “MA”, “YA”, and the like, the desired five input areas may be continuously slid.

  The control unit 26 transmits determination information to the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 when detecting a continuous slide operation for five input areas of the first input line L1. Upon receiving this determination information, the control unit of the mobile phone main body 2 recognizes that the input is confirmed with the character currently being controlled for display on the display unit 2a (in this example, the kanji of “scale”) Recognizing that an input has been made), a predetermined display control is performed to make the user recognize that the currently controlled character has been determined, and the process shifts to the next character input waiting state.

(Batch display of conversion candidates)
Here, in this example, the button B2 is a Kanji conversion button, and each time the button B2 is pressed, the control unit 26 stores in the character memory 22 corresponding to the character “Memori”. The character data such as “scale” and “scale” displayed on the display unit 2a is controlled to be displayed on the display unit 2a one by one via the control unit of the mobile phone main body 2. This is because the control unit 26 controls the character memory. A plurality of character data stored in correspondence with the characters “Memori” in FIG. 22 are displayed on the display unit 2 a at a time, and the user presses the button B 2, so that the displayed character data can be selected from the displayed character data. You may make it select desired character data.

  Specifically, the case where the character “MIM” is input as described above will be described as an example. When the button B2 is pressed, the control unit 26 corresponds to the character “MIM”. A plurality of character data such as “scale”, “scale”, “memo”, “memory”, “memory”, etc. stored in the character memory 22 are read at once (if there are many character data) The character data is transmitted to the control unit of the mobile phone body 2. The control unit of the mobile phone main body 2 controls to display the character corresponding to each transmitted character data on the display unit 2a at a time, and adds a cursor indicating the currently selected character to the character. Control display with.

  In this case, the button B2 is a button for selecting a desired character from the plurality of characters displayed on the display unit 2a, and the control unit 26 performs the pressing operation of the button B2 once. In addition, the pressing information indicating that the button B2 is pressed is transmitted to the control unit of the mobile phone body 2. Each time the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 receives the press information, the control unit moves and controls the cursor sequentially along each character currently displayed. Such cursor movement display control allows the user to recognize the currently selected character.

  Next, when the user moves the cursor with respect to a desired character, the user continuously slides the five input areas of the first input line L1 as described above to input the selected character data. Make a confirmation instruction. Thus, the input of the character selected by the cursor movement operation is confirmed.

  By controlling the display of conversion candidates in this way, the user can recognize a desired character at a glance, so that the user can quickly move the cursor to the desired character display position by pressing the button B2. Thus, the desired character can be selected, and the selected character can be confirmed by performing a continuous slide operation for the five input areas.

(English input mode)
Next, as an example, in this character input device 1, 26 alphabetic characters “A” to “Z” are divided into five characters, and are handled by “row” and “column” in the same manner as the above hiragana. It has become.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7, the five characters “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, and “E” are set as alphabetic characters in the first line,
The five characters “F”, “G”, “H”, “I”, “J” are set as the second alphabetic characters,
The five characters “K”, “L”, “M”, “N”, “O” are the alphabetic characters in the third line,
The five characters “P”, “Q”, “R”, “S”, and “T” are the alphabetic characters in the fourth line,
The five letters “U”, “V”, “W”, “X”, “Y” are the alphabetic characters in the fifth line,
One character “Z” is handled as an English character on the sixth line.

Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the letters “A”, “F”, “K”, “P”, “U”, “Z” are the first alphabetic characters,
The letters “B”, “G”, “L”, “Q”, “V” are the second letter,
The letters “C”, “H”, “M”, “R”, “W” are the third letter of the alphabet,
The letters “D”, “I”, “N”, “S”, “X” are the fourth letter,
The characters “E”, “J”, “O”, “T”, and “Y” are handled as the fifth letter.

  When inputting an alphabetic character, the user operates the button B1 to select an input mode of “full-width alphabet input” or “half-width alphabet input”. When one of the input modes “full-width alphabet input” and the above-mentioned “half-width alphabet input” is selected, the first input line L1 becomes an alphabet line selection line for selecting “alphabet line”.

For this reason, when the input mode of “full-width alphabet input” or “half-width alphabet input” is selected with the button B1, the control unit 26 inputs the input area of the “A line” on the first input line L1. Control is performed by assigning input areas of characters “A”, “B”, “C”, “D”, and “E” to the input areas corresponding to
Assign and control the input areas of the characters “F”, “G”, “H”, “I”, and “J” to the input area corresponding to the input area of the above “ka line”;
Assigning and controlling the input areas of the characters “K”, “L”, “M”, “N”, and “O” to the input area corresponding to the “Sa line” input area;
Assigning and controlling the input areas of the characters “P”, “Q”, “R”, “S”, and “T” to the input area corresponding to the input area of “Ta Line”;
Assigning and controlling the input areas of the characters “U”, “V”, “W”, “X”, and “Y” to the input area corresponding to the input area of the “na line”,
Control is performed by assigning an input area of the character “Z” to an input area corresponding to the input area of “ha”.

  When any one of the “full-width alphabet input” and the “half-width alphabet input” input modes is selected with the button B1, the second input line L2 is, among the alphabet characters handled as “line” as described above. This is an English character column selection line for selecting “English character column”.

Therefore, when one of the “full-width alphabet input” and “half-width alphabet input” modes is selected with the button B1, the control unit 26 enters the input area of the “stage” of the second input line L2. Assign and control the input areas of the characters “A”, “F”, “K”, “P”, “U”, “Z” to the corresponding input areas,
Assign and control the input areas of the characters “B”, “G”, “L”, “Q”, and “V” to the input area corresponding to the input area of the above “stage”;
Assigning and controlling the input areas of the characters “C”, “H”, “M”, “R”, and “W” to the input area corresponding to the input area of the “Udan”,
Assigning and controlling the input areas of the characters “D”, “I”, “N”, “S”, and “X” to the input area corresponding to the input area of “Edan”,
Control is performed by assigning the input areas of the characters “E”, “J”, “O”, “T”, and “Y” to the input area corresponding to the “dan” input area.

  When any one of the “full-width alphabet input” and “half-width alphabet input” input modes is selected, the third input line L3 is a number selection line for selecting “numbers” as described above. .

  In the “full-width alphabet input mode”, when an alphabetic character “AGM” is input, the character “A” is the character “A line A stage” as shown by underlining in FIG. For this reason, the user first performs a touch operation on the input area of the A row of the first input line L1, and then touches the input area of the A stage of the second input line L2. Similarly, the letter “G” is the letter “F row B stage”. For this reason, the user first touches the input area of the F row of the first input line L1, and then touches the B-stage input area of the second input line L2. Similarly, the letter “M” is the letter “K row C stage”. For this reason, the user first performs a touch operation on the K-row input area of the first input line L1, and then touches the C-stage input area of the second input line L2.

  The control unit 26 detects an English “line” character based on the operation area information supplied from the first input line L1 by such a touch operation, and uses the operation area information supplied from the second input line L2. Based on this, the alphabet “dan” character is detected. Then, the English character information corresponding to the “line” and “column” is read from the character memory 22 and supplied to the mobile phone body 2 via the signal line 3 (neck strap) shown in FIG. The control unit of the mobile phone body 2 controls the display of this alphabetic information on the display unit 2a. As a result, the letters “A”, “G”, and “M” are displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2.

  When the user looks at the alphabet displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2 and the displayed alphabet is the same as the input alphabet, as described above, it corresponds to the five input areas of the first input line L1. Is continuously operated to instruct to confirm the input character data. As a result, the input of the alphabetic characters “A”, “G”, and “M” is confirmed.

  In this example, the 26 alphabetic characters A to Z are divided every 5 characters to form “row” and “column”, but this is because the above 26 characters are divided every 3 characters, for example. You may change according to the design etc. of the said character input device like forming a "line" and a "column".

[Numeric input]
Next, regardless of the set input mode, the third input line L3 is a line dedicated to inputting numbers, and the control unit 26 controls the third input line to be an area close to the button B3. From “0”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, “9”, input areas are assigned respectively. It is done. Note that an input area of “*” or “#” may be allocated after the input area of the number “9”.

  For example, when inputting the numbers “0”, “4”, and “5”, the user selects the input area “0”, the input area “4”, and the input area “5” of the third input line L3. Touch in order. When the control unit 26 detects a touch operation on the third input line L3, the control unit 26 supplies information indicating the touch-operated number to the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 regardless of the current input mode. The control unit of the mobile phone body 2 controls display of information indicating the numbers on the display unit 2a. As a result, the numbers “0”, “4”, and “5” are displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2.

  When the user looks at the number displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2 and the displayed number is the same as the input number, as described above, it corresponds to the five input areas of the first input line L1. Is continuously operated to instruct to confirm the input character data. As a result, the input of the numbers “0”, “4”, and “5” is confirmed.

[Input cancel operation]
Next, in this example, the button B3 is a cancel button for input characters (including letters and symbols) and numbers. When the user finds an erroneous input of characters or numbers being input before and after the input confirmation operation for continuously sliding the five input areas of the first input line L1, the user presses this button B3. The control unit 26 supplies deletion information to the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 every time the button B3 is pressed. Each time the deletion information is supplied, the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 controls to hide and display the characters and numbers that are currently being displayed.

  Specifically, when the characters “eye”, “score”, and “ri” are displayed and controlled, the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 performs “ri” → “score” every time deletion information is supplied. Delete the characters displayed in the order of “→”. As a result, it is possible to erase the erroneously input characters.

[Input support display according to the input mode]
Next, as described above, each of the input lines L1 to L3 and each of the buttons B1 to B3 is formed by a touch pad, and the control unit 26 performs “A row” or “No step” for each of the input lines L1 to L3. ", Etc., and functions such as the Kanji conversion function and the input cancel function are assigned to the buttons B1 to B3. Since the mode is changed depending on the mode, there is a possibility that the contents assigned to the input lines L1 to L3 and the like may be difficult to understand.

  In this case, a liquid crystal display unit is provided on the operation surface of the character input device 1, and input lines L1 to L3 and buttons B1 to B3 formed by a touch pad made of a transparent member are provided on the liquid crystal display unit. Display corresponding to each input mode may be performed in the display areas corresponding to the input lines L1 to L3 and the buttons B1 to B3.

  Although it is an example, the control unit 26 corresponds to the characters “change input mode” in the display region corresponding to the button B1 of the liquid crystal display unit, the characters “conversion” in the display region corresponding to the button B2, and the button B3. The display of the character “delete” is controlled in the display area.

  In addition, the control unit 26 selects one of the input modes “Kanji input (full-width)”, “Hiragana input (full-width)”, “full-width katakana input”, and “half-width katakana input” by the button B1. As shown in FIG. 6, "A", "KA", "SA", "TA", "NA", "HA", "MA" are displayed in the display area corresponding to the first input line L1 of the liquid crystal display unit. , “YA”, “RA”, “WA”, the characters “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O” are displayed in the display area corresponding to the second input line L2. Characters indicating steps are displayed in the display area corresponding to the third input line L3 as “0”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4”, “5”, “6”, “7”, “ Display control is performed for each of the numbers 8 ”and“ 9 ”.

  In addition, when either “full-width alphabet input” or “half-width alphabet input” mode is selected by the button B1, the control unit 26 sets the “line” of the first input line L1 of the liquid crystal display unit. Characters “A” for selecting the above-mentioned “A” to “E” lines are displayed in the display area corresponding to the display area, and “F” to “J” are displayed in the display area corresponding to the “ka line” display area. "F" for selecting the line "", and "K" for selecting the lines "K" to "O" in the display area corresponding to the display area "Sa line", The character “P” for selecting the lines “P” to “T” is displayed in the display area corresponding to the display area of “Ta Line”, and the display area corresponding to the display area of “Na Line” is “ Select the letter “U” to select the lines “U” to “Y”, and select the line “Z” in the display area corresponding to the display area “ha”. The letter "Z" in order to display control, respectively.

  In addition, when either “full-width alphabet input” or “half-width alphabet input” mode is selected by the button B1, the control section 26 selects the “stage” of the second input line L2 of the liquid crystal display section. “A”, “F”, “K”, “P”, “U”, “Z” for selecting the stage of “A”, “F”, “K”, “Z” in the display area corresponding to the display area, In the display area corresponding to the display area of “B”, “B” for selecting the stage of “B”, “G”, “L”, “Q”, “V”, the display area of “U” The character “C” for selecting the column of “C”, “H”, “M”, “R”, “W” in the display area corresponding to is equivalent to the display area of “Edan”. The character “D” for selecting the column “D”, “I”, “N”, “S”, “X” in the display region is displayed in the display region corresponding to the above-mentioned “bar” display region. “E”, J "," O "," T ", the letter" E "for selecting the stages of the" Y ", and displays the control, respectively.

  Thus, by performing display for assisting the input operation in accordance with the current input mode, it is possible to suggest the input operation location to the user, and to prevent erroneous input and the like.

[Overall operation flow]
Next, the operation of the character input device 1 is controlled by the control unit 26 operating based on the flowchart shown in FIG. This flowchart starts when the main power supply of the character input device 1 is turned on. In step S1, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the first input line L1 has been operated by the user by determining whether or not there is operation information from the first input line L1. The fact that the operation information is supplied from the first input line L1 indicates that the character input operation by the user has started, and thus the control unit 26 executes the character input process in step S2. The operation of this character input process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, when the input operation of the first input line L1 is not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is operation information from the second input line L2 in step S3, so that the user can input the second input line. It is determined whether or not L2 has been input.

  The fact that the input operation of the second input line L2 is detected without detecting the input operation of the first input line L1 means that the “stage” has been designated without designating the “row”. Since the character that is desired to be input cannot be specified, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 in step S4 and controls the sound generation through the speaker unit 24 to recognize an erroneous operation for the user. Let

  Next, when the input operation of the first input line L1 and the second input line L2 is not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is operation information from the third input line L3 in step S5. Then, it is determined whether or not the user has performed an input operation on the third input line L3.

  As described above, in this example, a numeric input area is assigned to the third input line L3. For this reason, the control part 26 performs a number input process in step S6. The operation of this numeric input process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, when the input operation of the first input line L1 to the third input line L3 is not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the button B1 is pressed in step S7.

  As described above, in this example, the button B1 is a button for changing the input mode. For this reason, the control part 26 performs an input mode change process in step S8. The operation of this input mode change process will be described later with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, when the input operation of the first input line L1 to the third input line L3 and the pressing operation of the button B1 are not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the pressing operation of the button B2 is performed in step S9. Is determined. As described above, the button B2 functions as a button for converting the hiragana into kanji or the like when the hiragana is input. However, in the flow from step S1 to step S9, the hiragana is input. , Not done. Therefore, in step S10, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation through the speaker unit 24, thereby causing the user to recognize an erroneous operation.

  Next, when the input operation of the first input line L1 to the third input line L3 and the pressing operation of the button B1 and the button B2 are not detected, the control unit 26 performs the pressing operation of the button B3 in step S11. Determine whether it was done. As described above, the button B3 is a button for designating cancellation of an input character. For this reason, when detecting the pressing operation of the button B3, the control unit 26 instructs the control unit of the mobile phone body 2 to delete the input characters in step S12. Thereby, the display of the characters displayed on the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2 is controlled to be hidden.

[Character input processing]
Next, the flowchart of FIG. 9 shows the flow of the character input process performed in step S2. This flowchart starts when the control unit 26 detects an input operation of the first input line L1 in step S1 of the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S21, the control unit 26 starts timing based on the timing information from the timer 21 at the timing when the input operation of the first input line L1 is detected. In step S22, by referring to the character memory 22 based on the input operation of the first input line L1, it is determined whether or not the “line” corresponding to the input operation has been detected. If this “row” cannot be detected, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation via the speaker unit 24 in step S23, thereby causing the user to recognize an erroneous operation.

  Next, when the “row” corresponding to the input operation of the first input line L1 is detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is operation information from the second input line L2 in step S24. When the operation information from the second input line L2 is not supplied, the control unit 26 performs the first input based on the count value of the timer that starts counting in step S25 using the input operation of the first input line L1 as a trigger. It is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the input operation on the line L1 has been performed (whether or not a timeout has occurred). When the time-out has not occurred, the control unit 26 repeatedly executes the operations of Step S24 and Step S25, thereby waiting for the operation of the second input line L2.

  Next, when the input operation of the second input line L2 is detected in step S24, the control unit 26 refers to the character memory 22 based on the input operation of the second input line L2 in step S26. Then, it is determined whether or not the “stage” corresponding to the input operation has been detected. If the “stage” cannot be detected, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation via the speaker unit 24 in step S23, thereby causing the user to recognize an erroneous operation.

  Next, when the “stage” corresponding to the input operation of the second input line L2 can be detected in step S26, the control unit 26 reads the “line” and “stage” from the character memory 22 in step S27. The character data corresponding to the character data is read out from the sound memory 23, and the sound generation is controlled via the speaker unit 24. As a result, the character corresponding to the user's input operation is displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2, and the sound corresponding to the character is controlled to be generated via the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The Rukoto.

  Next, the characters input as described above are determined by continuously sliding the five input areas of the first input line L1. Therefore, the control unit 26 determines whether or not this determination operation has been performed in step S28, and at the timing when the determination operation is detected, in step S29, determination information for designating the input character is specified. Transmit to the mobile phone body 2. Thereby, the input confirmation process of the input character is performed on the mobile phone body 2 side.

[Numeric input processing]
Next, the flowchart of FIG. 10 shows the flow of the number input process performed in step S6. This flowchart starts when the control unit 26 detects an input operation of the third input line L3 in step S5 of the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S <b> 31, the control unit 26 refers to the character memory 22 based on the input operation of the third input line L <b> 3, and determines whether or not the “number” corresponding to the input operation has been detected. . When the “number” designated by the user cannot be detected by the input operation of the third input line L 3, the control unit 26 reads the error sound from the sound memory 23 in step S 32 and passes the speaker unit 24 through the speaker unit 24. By controlling pronunciation, the user is made to recognize an erroneous operation.

  On the other hand, when the “number” corresponding to the input operation of the third input line L3 can be detected, the control unit 26 corresponds to the detected “number” from the character memory 22 in step S33. The numerical information to be read is read out and transmitted to the mobile phone body 2, and the sound data corresponding to the numerical information is read out from the sound memory 23, and sound generation is controlled via the speaker unit 24. Thereby, the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2 is controlled to display a number corresponding to the user's input operation, and the sound corresponding to the number is controlled to be generated via the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The Rukoto.

  Next, in step S34, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the input number determination operation has been performed, and specifies the input number determination in step S35 at the timing when the determination operation is detected. The decision information for transmitting is transmitted to the mobile phone body 2. Thereby, the input confirmation process of the input number is performed on the mobile phone body 2 side.

[Input mode change processing]
Next, the flowchart of FIG. 11 shows the flow of the operation of the input mode changing process executed in step S8. This flowchart starts when the control unit 26 detects the pressing operation of the button B1 in step S7 of the flowchart of FIG.

  In step S41, the control unit 26 detects the currently set input mode. In step S42, the control unit 26 sets the input mode shifted by one from the current input mode as the current input mode.

  Accordingly, each time the button B1 is pressed once as described above, for example, “Kanji input (full-width) mode” → “Hiragana input (full-width) mode” → “full-width katakana input mode” → “half-width katakana input mode” ”→“ Full-width alphabet input mode ”→“ Half-width alphabet input mode ”→“ Symbol input mode ”→“ Standard sentence input mode ”→“ Kanji input (full-width) mode ”→“ Hiragana input (full-width) mode ”, etc. As described above, the input mode is sequentially changed and set.

[Effect of the first embodiment]
As is clear from the above description, the cellular phone according to the first embodiment can perform characters and slides by touching and sliding the input lines L1 to L3 and the buttons B1 to B3 of the character input device 1. It is designed to input numbers.

  That is, one character is input by sliding the finger from the input area corresponding to the input character on the first input line L1 to the input area corresponding to the input character on the second input line L2. It is supposed to be.

  This means that a desired character can be input simply by sliding the finger on the character input device 1. Therefore, a desired character can be input easily and at high speed, and a sensory input operation can be performed.

  In addition, when a character is input, the sound corresponding to the input character is sounded, so that it is possible to input the character while enjoying the feeling of playing a stringed instrument such as a guitar. .

Furthermore, assuming a voice that is pronounced when a character is input, it is possible to perform a character input operation so that the music is played with this voice. In other words, the user is also provided with the pleasure of creating a sentence that “the sentence is formed with the input characters and the music is made with the sound that is pronounced corresponding to the input characters”. can do. It would be fun to hold competitions and events to create such sentences.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a mobile phone according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the case of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment described above, the character input device 1 uses “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na”, “ha” for the first input line L1. ”,“ MA ”,“ YA ”,“ RA ”,“ WA ”are all assigned to the input areas, and“ 0 ”,“ 1 ”,“ 2 ”,“ 3 ”are assigned to the third input line L3. ”,“ 4 ”,“ 5 ”,“ 6 ”,“ 7 ”,“ 8 ”, and“ 9 ”.

  In the mobile phone according to the second embodiment, when the button B1 is not pressed, as shown in FIG. 12, “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta” with respect to the first input line L1. ”And“ NA ”lines are allocated, and when the button B2 is being pressed, as shown in FIG. 13, the first input line L1 is“ ha ”,“ ma ”,“ ya ”,“ ”And“ Wa ”line input areas are allocated.

  Further, in the cellular phone according to the second embodiment, when the button B3 is not pressed, as shown in FIG. 12, “0”, “1”, “2”, When numerical input areas of “3” and “4” are allocated and the button B3 is being pressed, as shown in FIG. 13, “5”, “6”, and “7” with respect to the third input line L3. , “8”, “9” numerical input areas are assigned.

  In the character input device 1 of the mobile phone according to the second embodiment, an input mode changing function and an input character Kanji conversion function are assigned to the button B2.

  That is, a character is input by the touch operation and the slide operation described above, and in a state before the input of the selected character is confirmed by the slide operation for the five input areas, the button B2 is used for kanji conversion. The control unit 26 functions as a button, and performs a Kanji conversion process on the input character each time the button B2 is pressed once.

  On the other hand, when no character is input (when the touch operation and the slide operation described above are not performed), the button B2 functions as a button for changing the input mode. “Kanji input (full-width) mode” → “Hiragana input (full-width) mode” → “Full-width katakana input mode” → “Half-width katakana input mode” → “Full-width alphabet input mode” → “Half-width” Change the input mode sequentially, such as “English character input mode” → “Symbol input mode” → “Standard text input mode” → “Kanji input (full-width) mode” → “Hiragana input (full-width) mode”. To set.

[Character input processing]
The flowchart of FIG. 14 shows the flow of operations in the character input process. This flowchart is for the case where “Kanji input (full-width) mode”, “Hiragana input (full-width) mode”, “full-width katakana input mode” or “half-width katakana input mode” is selected by pressing the button B2 described above. It will start.

  In step S51, as shown in FIG. 12, the control unit 26 inputs “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, and “na” as a default to the first input line L1. Assign and control the area.

  In step S52, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the button B1 is pressed. If the button B1 is pressed (= the button B1 is continuously pressed), in step S53, As shown in FIG. 13, “ha”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, and “na” are substituted for the input areas of the first input line L1 by default. ”,“ MA ”,“ YA ”,“ RA ”, and“ WA ”are assigned to the first input line L1.

  Next, as in the first embodiment described above, the user performs an input operation of a desired character by a touch operation and a slide operation. In step S54, the control unit 26 starts from the first input line L1. It is determined whether or not the first input line L1 has been operated by determining the presence or absence of the operation information. Then, timing is started based on the timing information from the timer 21 at the timing when the operation of the first input line L1 is detected.

  Next, in step S56, the control unit 26 refers to the character memory 22 based on the input operation of the first input line L1, thereby determining whether or not the “line” corresponding to the input operation has been detected. Is determined. If this “row” cannot be detected, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation via the speaker unit 24 in step S63, thereby allowing the user to recognize an erroneous operation.

  Next, when the “row” corresponding to the input operation of the first input line L1 can be detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is operation information from the second input line L2 in step S57. When the operation information from the second input line L2 is not supplied, the control unit 26 performs the first input based on the count value of the timer that starts counting in step S58 using the input operation of the first input line L1 as a trigger. It is determined whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the input operation on the line L1 has been performed (whether or not a timeout has occurred). If the time-out has not occurred, the control unit 26 repeatedly performs the operations of step S57 and step S58, thereby waiting for the operation of the second input line L2.

  Next, when the input operation of the second input line L2 is detected in step S57, the control unit 26 refers to the character memory 22 based on the input operation of the second input line L2 in step S59. It is determined whether or not the “stage” corresponding to the input operation has been detected. If the “stage” cannot be detected, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation via the speaker unit 24 in step S63, thereby causing the user to recognize an erroneous operation.

  Next, when the “stage” corresponding to the input operation of the second input line L2 is detected in step S59, the control unit 26 reads the “line” and “stage” from the character memory 22 in step S60. The character data corresponding to the character data is read out from the sound memory 23, and the sound generation is controlled via the speaker unit 24. As a result, the character corresponding to the user's input operation is displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2, and the sound corresponding to the character is controlled to be generated via the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The Rukoto.

  Next, the characters input as described above are determined by continuously sliding the five input areas of the first input line L1. For this reason, the control unit 26 determines whether or not this determination operation has been performed in step S61, and at the timing when the determination operation is detected, in step S62, determination information for designating the input character is specified. Transmit to the mobile phone body 2. Thereby, the input confirmation process of the input character is performed on the mobile phone body 2 side.

  More specifically, for example, when inputting the characters “ka”, “e”, and “ru”, the user does not press the button B1 so that the input area of the “line” for the first input line L1 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 12, the assignment is assigned to the input areas of the lines “A”, “K”, “SA”, “TA”, and “NA”, and in this state, as indicated by the locus of the dotted line in FIG. A finger is slid from the input area of the “ka” row of the first input line L1 to the input area of the “a” stage of the second input line L2. As a result, the character “ka”, which is the character “ka line,”, is input.

  Next, the user does not press the button B1 in the same manner, thereby assigning the input area of “row” to the first input line L1, as shown in FIG. 12, “A”, “KA”, “SA”, “TA ”And“ NA ”are assigned to the input areas, and in this state, as indicated by the dashed line locus in FIG. Slide your finger over the input area. As a result, the character “e”, which is the character “Akadandan”, is input.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the user presses the button B1 to assign the input area of “row” to the first input line L1 as “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and the like. , “WA” is assigned to the input area of each row, and in this state, as indicated by a straight line locus in FIG. Slide your finger over the input area. As a result, the character “RU”, which is the character of “Rakudan”, is input.

[Numeric input processing]
Next, the flowchart of FIG. 15 shows the flow of operations in the numeric input process. As described above, the third line L3 for performing a numeric input operation is an input line dedicated to numeric input. For this reason, when the main power supply of the character input device 1 is turned on, the control unit 26 defaults to the third line L3 in step S71, as shown in FIG. 12, "0", "1", " The input areas of numbers “2”, “3”, and “4” are assigned and controlled.

  Further, the control unit 26 constantly monitors whether or not the pressing operation of the button B3 has been performed based on the operation information from the button B3. When the pressing operation of the button B3 is detected (= the button B3 is pressed) In the case where the operation is continued), in step S73, the numbers “0”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” set as defaults for the third input line L3 are set. Instead of the input area, as shown in FIG. 13, the input areas of numbers “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, and “9” are assigned to the third input line L3 and controlled. . Step S72 shows a step of determining whether or not the button B3 is pressed.

  Next, in step S74, the control unit 26 determines whether or not an input operation has been performed on the third input line L3 based on operation information from the third input line L3. When it is detected that an input operation has been performed on the third input line L3, the control unit 26 refers to the character memory 22 based on the input operation on the third input line L3 in step S75, and performs the input. It is determined whether or not the “number” corresponding to the operation has been detected. When the “number” designated by the user cannot be detected by the input operation of the third input line L 3, the control unit 26 reads the error sound from the sound memory 23 in step S 79 and passes through the speaker unit 24. By controlling pronunciation, the user is made to recognize an erroneous operation.

  On the other hand, when the “number” corresponding to the input operation of the third input line L3 can be detected, the control unit 26 corresponds to the detected “number” from the character memory 22 in step S76. The numerical information to be read is read out and transmitted to the mobile phone body 2, and the sound data corresponding to the numerical information is read out from the sound memory 23, and sound generation is controlled via the speaker unit 24. Thereby, the display unit 2a of the mobile phone body 2 is controlled to display a number corresponding to the user's input operation, and the sound corresponding to the number is controlled to be generated via the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The Rukoto.

  Next, in step S77, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the input number determination operation has been performed, and specifies the input number determination in step S78 at the timing when the determination operation is detected. The decision information for transmitting is transmitted to the mobile phone body 2. Thereby, the input confirmation process of the input number is performed on the mobile phone body 2 side.

  More specifically, for example, when inputting the numbers “0”, “4”, and “5”, the user does not press the button B3 so that the number input area is assigned to the third input line L3. As shown in FIG. 12, “0”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” input areas are assigned, and in this state, “0” numerical input areas shown in FIG. Touch to operate. As a result, the number “0” is input.

  Next, the user does not press the button B3 in the same manner, thereby assigning numerical input areas to the third input line L3 as shown in FIG. 12, "0", "1", "2", "3", In the state where the input areas of the numbers “4” are assigned, the input area “4” shown in FIG. 12 is touch-operated. As a result, the number “4” is input.

  Next, the user presses the button B3 to assign numerical input areas to the third input line L3 as shown in FIG. 13 as “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, “ In this state, the input area of the numeral “5” shown in FIG. 13 is touch-operated. As a result, the number “5” is input.

[Effect of the second embodiment]
As is apparent from the above description, the mobile phone according to the second embodiment has the first input line L1 when the button B1 of the character input device 1 is not pressed and when the button B1 is pressed. The input area for the character of “line” to be assigned to is “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na” and “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra” , "Wa" is switched between each line.

  Similarly, in the cellular phone according to the second embodiment, the number input area to be assigned to the third input line L3 when the button B3 of the character input device 1 is not pressed and when the button B3 is pressed. The numbers “0”, “1”, “2”, “3”, “4” and the numbers “5”, “6”, “7”, “8”, “9” It is supposed to switch.

As a result, as in the first embodiment described above, the input areas of all rows “a” to “wa” are assigned to the first input line L1, and the third input line L3 is assigned to the third input line L3. Compared with the case where all numeric input areas of “0” to “9” are assigned, the total length of the first input line L1 and the third input line L3 can be made substantially half the length. Accordingly, the overall length of the character input device 1 can be made substantially half as long as the character input device 1 can be significantly reduced in size and effects similar to those of the first embodiment described above. Can be obtained.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a mobile phone according to a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. The cellular phone according to the third embodiment is similar to the cellular phone according to the second embodiment described above in “kanji input (full-width) mode” and “hiragana input (full-width)”. When the “mode”, “full-width katakana input mode”, or “half-width katakana input mode” is selected and the button B1 is not pressed, “a”, “ka”, “ When the input areas of the rows “sa”, “ta”, and “na” are allocated and the button B2 is being pressed, “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, etc. are applied to the first input line L1. ”,“ Wa ”line input areas are allocated, the character“ line ”is determined based on the sliding operation amount (sliding amount) of the first input line L1, the presence or absence of the pressing operation of the button B2, and the second For input line L2 and third input line L3 On the basis of the presence or absence of power operation is obtained so as to determine the character of the "stage".

  That is, in the case of the character input device 1 of the mobile phone according to the third embodiment, when the button B1 is not pressed, the control unit 26 selects “1” for the first input line L1 as shown in FIG. Assign and control the input area of each line of “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na”. When the button B1 is pressed, the control unit 26 performs “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, “wa” on the first input line L1, as shown in FIG. The input area of each line is assigned and controlled.

  Further, when the button B2 is not pressed, the control unit 26 assigns and controls the “high step” input area to the second input line L2, as shown in FIG. 16, and controls the third input line L3. On the other hand, the “Udan” input area is assigned and controlled. In addition, when the button B2 is not pressed, the control unit 26 assigns and controls the “stage” input area to the second input line L2, as shown in FIG. 17, and controls the third input line L3. On the other hand, an input area of “dan” is assigned and controlled.

  Such a character input device 1 uses the input area of the “a” line of the first input line L1 (or the input area of the “ha” line of the first input line L1) as a base point, and the base point A desired “row” is designated by the slide operation amount of the slide operation performed along one input line L1.

  For example, when “ka line” is designated, the user touches the input area of “a line” on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. The finger is slid to the input area of “ka line” on one input line L1. Similarly, when “ka line” is designated, the user touches the input area of “a line” on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. The finger is slid to the input area of “Na Line” on the first input line L1.

  Furthermore, for example, when “ma line” is designated, the user changes the input area assigned to the first input line L1 by pressing the button B1 shown in FIG. 17 and keeps pressing the button B1. In this state, the finger is operated to touch the input area “ha” on the first input line L1. Then, in a state where the touch operation is performed, the finger is slid to the input area “MA” on the first input line L1.

  Similarly, when designating “Ra line”, the user touches the input area of “Ha line” on the first input line L1 with the finger while pressing the button B1 shown in FIG. With the touch operation still performed, the finger is slid to the “R” line input area on the first input line L1.

  The control unit 26 recognizes the “row” designated by the user based on the presence / absence of the pressing operation of the button B1 and the sliding operation amount resulting from the sliding operation of the first input line L1.

  In addition, such a character input device 1 designates a desired “stage” by a touch operation on the second input line L2 and a continuous touch operation from the second input line L2 to the third input line L3. It has become.

  For example, when “NO” is designated, the user slides the finger that has been slid on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. 16 without touching the button B2 so as to touch the second input line L2. Let Accordingly, “row” is designated by the sliding operation of the first input line L1, and “high” is designated in this case by touching the second input line L2.

  Similarly, when designating “Udan”, the user does not press the button B2 and slides the finger on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. 16 with the second input line L2 and the third input. Slide to touch line L3. Thus, “row” is designated by the sliding operation of the first input line L1, and “stage” is designated in this case by touching the second input line L2 and the third input line L3.

  Similarly, when “Edan” is designated, the user touches the second input line L2 with the finger slid on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. 17 while pressing the button B2. Slide. Accordingly, “row” is designated by the sliding operation of the first input line L1, and “stage” is designated in this case by touching the second input line L2.

  Similarly, when designating “dan”, the user presses the button B2 and slides the finger on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. 17 with the second input line L2 and the third input. Slide to touch line L3. Accordingly, “row” is designated by the slide operation of the first input line L1, and “dan” is designated in this case by touching the second input line L2 and the third input line L3.

  Here, in the case of this character input device 1, “characters on line (=“ a ”,“ ka ”,“ sa ”,“ ta ”,“ na ”,“ ha ”,“ ma ”,“ ya ”, The characters “ra” and “wa” are input by touching (double-clicking) twice in a short time the input area corresponding to the desired character on the first input line L1. ing.

  That is, when the user inputs any of the characters “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, and “na”, the user does not press the button B1 shown in FIG. Double-click the input area for any of the characters “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, or “na”. In addition, when inputting any of the characters “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, “wa”, the button “B” shown in FIG. Double-click the input area for any of the characters "", "YA", "RA", or "WA". When the control unit 26 detects a double-click operation on the first input line L1, the control unit 26 recognizes that the input of the character in the input area subjected to the double-click operation is designated (= double on the first input line L1). (It is recognized that the character “Adan” corresponding to the input area of the operated “line” is designated by the click operation).

  More specifically, for example, when inputting characters “a”, “hi”, “ru”, the user first inputs the input area of the line “a” on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. Double-click on. As a result, the control unit 26 recognizes the character “A”, which is the character “A”.

  Next, the user presses button B1 to assign the input area of “row” to the first input line L1, as shown in FIG. 17, “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and the like. ", Change to the input area allocation of the" wa "line. Then, while the button B1 is being pressed, the “ha” input area on the first input line L1 is touched, and the touched finger is slid sideways to touch the second input line L2. To do. In a state where the button B2 is not pressed, the “stage” input area is assigned to the second input line L2 as the “stage” input area. For this reason, by this input operation, the control unit 26 recognizes the character “HI”, which is the character “hajidan”.

  Next, the user presses button B1 to assign the input area of “row” to the first input line L1, as shown in FIG. 17, “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and the like. ", Change to the input area allocation of the" wa "line. Then, with the button B1 kept pressed, the input area of the “ha” row on the first input line L1 is touch-operated, and the touched finger is moved to “ra” on the first input line L1. Slide to the input area of the line. Thereby, the control unit 26 recognizes that the input of the character “R” is designated based on the slide operation amount from the input region “H” to the input region “R”. To do.

  Next, the user slides the finger that has been slid to the input area of the row “ra” to the side, and successively touches the second input line L2 and the third input line L3 in order. When the button B2 is not pressed, the “stage” input area is assigned to the third input line L3 as the “stage” input area. For this reason, by this input operation, the control unit 26 recognizes the character “RU”, which is the character of “Established stage”.

  Similarly, when inputting the characters “MA”, “RI”, “MO”, first, the user presses the button B1 to assign the input area of “ROW” to the first input line L1. As shown in FIG. 17, the input area allocation is changed to “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and “wa”. Then, while the button B1 is being pressed, the input area of the row “MA” on the first input line L1 is double-clicked. As a result, the character “ma”, which is the character “ma line”, is recognized by the control unit 26.

  Next, the user touches the input area “ha” on the first input line L1 shown in FIG. 17 while pressing the button B1, and the finger that has been touched operates the first input line L1. Slide to the input area in the “R” line above. Thereby, the control unit 26 recognizes that the input of the character “R” is designated based on the slide operation amount from the input region “H” to the input region “R”. To do.

  Next, the user performs a touch operation on the second input line L2 by sliding the finger that has been slid to the input area of the row “ra” to the side. In a state where the button B2 is not pressed, the “stage” input area is assigned to the second input line L2 as the “stage” input area. For this reason, by this input operation, the control unit 26 recognizes the character “RI”, which is the character “Rashidan”.

  Next, the user presses the button B1 and the button B2. As a result, as shown in FIG. 17, the first input line L1 is assigned with the input areas of “ha” to “wa”, and the second input line L2 is “stage”. The character input area is assigned to the third input line L3.

  Therefore, the user touches the input area “ha” on the first input line L1 while pressing the buttons B1 and B2, and the finger operated on the first input line L1 is touched. Slide to the input area of the “MA” line. Thereby, the control unit 26 recognizes that the input of the character “MA” is designated based on the slide operation amount from the input region of the “HA” row to the input region of the “MA” row. To do.

  Next, the user sequentially touches the second input line L2 and the third input line L3 sequentially by sliding the finger that has been slid to the input area of the “MA” line to the side. As described above, when the button B2 is pressed, the “stage” input area is assigned to the third input line L3 as the “stage” input area. Therefore, by this input operation, the control unit 26 recognizes the character “MO”, which is the character “MAGO MANDANO”.

  Next, such character input processing by the control unit 26 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The flowchart shown in FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 starts when “Kanji input (full-width) mode”, “Hiragana input (full-width) mode”, “full-width katakana input mode” or “half-width katakana input mode” is selected. Become.

  When the designation of any one of the input modes is detected, the control unit 26, as a default, in step S81, for each row of “A” to “N” for the first input line L1, as shown in FIG. In addition to setting the input area, in step S82, the second input line L2 is set as the “high stage” input area, and the third input line L3 is set as the “high stage” input area.

  Next, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the button B1 is pressed in step S83. When the pressing operation of the button B1 is detected, the control unit 26, in step S85, displays the input areas of the respective rows “A” to “N” set as default for the first input line L1, with “H” Change to the input area of each line from "" to "Wa".

  Next, when the pressing operation of the button B1 is not detected in step S83, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the button B2 is pressed in step S84. When the pressing operation of the button B2 is detected, in step S86, the control unit 26 changes the input area “default” set as the default for the second input line L2 to the input area “stage”. In addition, the “Udan” input area set by default for the third input line L3 is changed to an “Odan” input area.

  Next, in step S87, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the first input line L1 has been operated by the user by determining whether or not there is operation information from the first input line L1.

  When the operation of the first input line L1 is not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is operation information from the second input line L2 and the third input line L3 in step S90, thereby allowing the user to input the second input. It is determined whether or not the line L2 or the third input line L3 has been operated. When an operation on the second input line L2 or the third input line L3 is detected, this operation is an operation for designating a “column” without designating a “line” of the character, and specifying the designated character. In step S91, the control unit 26 reads out the error sound from the sound memory 23 and controls the sound generation through the speaker unit 24 to notify the user of an erroneous operation.

  On the other hand, when the operation of the first input line L1 is detected, the control unit 26 starts timekeeping based on the timekeeping information from the timer 21, and proceeds to step S89. In step S89, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the input operation is a double-click operation based on the number of inputs and the operation time corresponding to the input operation on the first input line L1.

  When the input operation of the first input line L1 is a double click operation, the control unit 26 designates an input in step S92 based on whether or not the button B1 is pressed and the input area where the double click operation is performed. The “line” and “column” of the character thus recognized are recognized, and the process proceeds to step S98 in FIG.

  On the other hand, when the input operation of the first input line L1 is not a double click operation, the control unit 26 advances the process to step S93 in FIG. In step S93, a slide operation amount due to the user performing a slide operation on the first input line L1 is detected. This detection of the slide operation amount is detected based on the operation amount based on the “A” line input area (or “HA” line input area) in the first input line L1 as described above.

  Next, in step S95, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the second input line L2 has been touched. When the touch operation on the second input line L2 is not detected, the control unit 26 determines whether or not there is a touch operation on the third input line L3 in step S101.

  If the touch operation on the third input line L3 is detected when the touch operation on the second input line L2 is not detected, the error sound is controlled to be sounded in step S91 in the flowchart of FIG. 18 in order to process this input operation as an erroneous input. To do.

  When neither the touch operation on the second input line L2 nor the third input line L3 is detected, the control unit 26 detects the count value of the timing information from the timer 21 started in step S88. If the count value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the error sound is controlled to be sounded in step S91 of the flowchart of FIG.

  Next, when detecting a touch operation on the second input line L2 in step S95, the control unit 26 determines whether or not the touch operation on the third input line L3 is performed in step S96. As described above, “stage” is designated by sliding from the first input line L1 to the second input line L2, and from the first input line L1 to the third input line via the second input line L2. There is a case where it is specified by sliding to L3. Then, when the finger is slid from the first input line L1 to the second input line L2, designation of “Yes” or “Ed” is made, and the third input from the first input line L1 through the second input line L2 When the finger is slid to the line L3, “Udan” or “Udan” is designated.

  Therefore, in step S97, the control unit 26 divides the case into the case where the touch operation on the second input line L2 is detected and the case where the touch operation on the second input line L2 and the third input line L3 is detected. Recognize the “stage” specified from.

  Next, when the characters “line” and “column” designated by the user are recognized in step S92, or the characters “line” and “column” designated by the user are recognized in steps S94 and S97. In step S98, the control unit 26 reads out the character data corresponding to the “line” and “stage” from the character memory 22, transmits the character data to the mobile phone body 2, and the sound data corresponding to the character data. Is read out from the sound memory 23 and the sound generation is controlled through the speaker unit 24. As a result, the character corresponding to the user's input operation is displayed on the display unit 2 a of the mobile phone body 2, and the sound corresponding to the character is controlled to be generated via the speaker unit 24 of the character input device 1. The Rukoto.

  Next, in the case of the character input device 1 of the mobile phone according to the third embodiment, for example, the input character is specified by sliding the five input areas of the third input line L3 continuously. It is like that. For this reason, the control unit 26 determines whether or not this determination operation has been performed in step S99, and at the timing when the determination operation is detected, in step S100, determination information for designating the input character is specified. Transmit to the mobile phone body 2. Thereby, the input confirmation process of the input character is performed on the mobile phone body 2 side.

[Effect of the third embodiment]
As is apparent from the above description, in the mobile phone according to the third embodiment, the character input device 1 is assigned to each of the input lines L1 to L3 depending on whether the button B1 or the button 2 is pressed. The first input line L1 is double-clicked or slid while changing the input area of the “line” and “stage” to be designated, and the “line” corresponding to the desired character is designated, and the second input line L2 or By touching the second input line L2 and the third input line L3 and designating a “stage” corresponding to the desired character, the input operation of the desired character is performed.

In the case of the cellular phone according to the third embodiment, many sliding operations are performed on the first input line L1 of the character input device 1 with respect to the cellular phones according to the first and second embodiments described above. However, the fact that the number of slide operations on the first input line L1 increases means that the input operations are similar to the performance of a stringed instrument. Therefore, it is possible to input characters while enjoying the feeling of playing a stringed instrument, and the same effects as those of the mobile phone according to the first and second embodiments described above can be obtained.

[Other application examples of the present invention]
In the above description of each embodiment, the present invention is applied as the character input device of the mobile phone main body 2. However, the present invention is not limited to the other terminal devices such as a PDA device and a personal computer device. On the other hand, it may be applied integrally or separately (may be externally attached).

  Finally, the best mode for carrying out the present invention described above should be understood as an example of the present invention. That is, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment described as an example, and can be designed as long as it does not depart from the technical idea of the present invention, even if it is other than the above-described embodiment. It should be added that various changes can be made according to the above.

It is a figure which shows the example which formed separately the mobile telephone main body and character input device of the mobile telephone which become 1st Embodiment to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the example which formed integrally the mobile telephone main body and the character input device of the mobile telephone which becomes 1st Embodiment to which this invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of input operation in the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the input area of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the "stage" and "line" in the English character input of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the whole operation | movement of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the character input process of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the number input process of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the change process of the input mode of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the input area | region when not pressing button B1 in the character input device of the mobile telephone which becomes 2nd Embodiment to which this invention is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating the input area at the time of pressing button B1 in the character input device of the mobile telephone used as 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating operation | movement of the character input process of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 2nd Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the number input process of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the input area | region when not pressing button B1 and button B2 in the character input device of the mobile telephone which becomes 3rd Embodiment to which this invention is applied. It is a figure for demonstrating the input area at the time of pressing button B1 and button B2 in the character input device of the mobile telephone which becomes 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the operation | movement of the character input process of the character input device of the mobile telephone of 3rd Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process following the flowchart of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  1 character input device, 2 mobile phone main body, 2a mobile phone display, 3 signal line (neck strap), 10 character input device main body, 11 character input device operation unit, 21 character input device timer, 22 character input Character memory of the device, sound memory of the 23 character input device, speaker unit of the 24 character input device, control unit of the 26 character input device, first input line of the L1 character input device, second input line of the L2 character input device, L3 3rd input line of character input device, B1 button of character input device, B2 button of character input device, button of B3 character input device

Claims (11)

Input information storage means for storing a plurality of input information in association with "rows" and "stages", respectively;
A plurality of contact detection areas, line input operation means arranged in a line as a line designation area for designating a desired "line";
Stage input operation means in which a plurality of contact detection areas are linearly arranged as a stage designation area for designating a desired “stage”;
Based on the row designation area touched by the row input operation means and the stage designation area touched by the stage input operation means, the “row” and “stage” designated by the user are detected, and this detection is performed. An input device comprising: control means for reading input information corresponding to the “row” and “stage” from the input information storage means and outputting the information. Input information storage means for storing a plurality of input information in association with "rows" and "stages", respectively;
A plurality of contact detection areas, line input operation means arranged in a line as a line designation area for designating a desired "line";
Stage input operation means in which a plurality of contact detection areas are linearly arranged as a stage designation area for designating a desired “stage”;
Based on the contact operation amount of the line specified area touched by the line input operation means, the “line” specified by the user is detected, and specified by the user based on the presence / absence of the contact operation in the step input operation means. And a control means for detecting the input “stage” and reading out the input information corresponding to the detected “row” and “stage” from the input information storage means and outputting the input information. The input device according to claim 1 or 2,
Line type change designating means for designating the change of the “line type” assigned to each line designating area of the line input operation means by the contact operation,
When the change of the “line type” is designated by the line type change designation means, the control means replaces the line designation area of the “line” that has been assigned to the line input operation means until then with a different type. An input device characterized by allocating a row designation area of “row” in the row input operation means. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The input information stored in the input information storage means is stored in association with the “row” and “stage” for each type of input information.
It has information type designation means for designating the type of input information to be input by contact operation,
The control means corresponds to the input information of the type designated by the information type designation means in correspondence with the “row” and “stage” designated by the user by the row input operation means and the stage input operation means. An input device that reads out from the input information storage means and outputs the information. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
It has a cancel designation means for designating input cancellation of inputted input information by contact operation,
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the control means outputs cancellation information for designating input cancellation of inputted input information when the cancel designating means is touched. The input device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Voice information storage means in which at least one of the voice information corresponding to the contact operation of the row input operation means and the stage input operation means and the voice information corresponding to the input information is stored;
When the line input operation means or the stage input operation means is touched, or when desired input information is designated by the line input operation means and the stage input operation means, the control means An input device that reads out and outputs corresponding audio information from the information storage means. Input information storage means for storing a plurality of input information in association with "rows" and "stages", respectively;
Display means for displaying the input information;
A plurality of contact detection areas, line input operation means arranged in a line as a line designation area for designating a desired "line";
Stage input operation means in which a plurality of contact detection areas are linearly arranged as a stage designation area for designating a desired “stage”;
Based on the row designation area touched by the row input operation means and the stage designation area touched by the stage input operation means, the “row” and “stage” designated by the user are detected, and this detection is performed. And a control means for reading the input information corresponding to the “row” and “stage” from the input information storage means and controlling the display on the display means. Input information storage means for storing a plurality of input information in association with "rows" and "stages", respectively;
Display means for displaying the input information;
A plurality of contact detection areas, line input operation means arranged in a line as a line designation area for designating a desired "line";
Stage input operation means in which a plurality of contact detection areas are linearly arranged as a stage designation area for designating a desired “stage”;
Based on the contact operation amount of the line specified area touched by the line input operation means, the “line” specified by the user is detected, and specified by the user based on the presence / absence of the contact operation in the step input operation means. And a control means for reading input information corresponding to the detected “row” and “stage” from the input information storage means and controlling display on the display means. apparatus. The portable terminal device according to claim 7 or 8,
Voice information storage means in which at least one of the voice information corresponding to the touch operation of the row input operation means and the stage input operation means and the voice information corresponding to the input information is stored;
A sound generation means for generating the voice information,
When the line input operation means or the stage input operation means is touched, or when desired input information is designated by the line input operation means and the stage input operation means, the control means A portable terminal device which reads out corresponding voice information from an information storage means and controls sound generation via the sound generation means. The line designation by which the user performs a touch operation among the line designation areas for designating a desired “line”, which is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the line input manipulation means. Detecting a region;
The stage designation where the user performs a contact operation among the stage designation areas for designating a desired “stage”, which is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the stage input operation means. Detecting a region;
Based on the row designation area touched by the row input operation means and the stage designation area touched by the stage input operation means, the row stage detection means detects the “row” and “stage” designated by the user. Detecting step;
The control means detects the “row” and “stage” detected by the row stage detection means in the above step from the input information storage means in which a plurality of pieces of input information are stored in association with the “row” and “stage”, respectively. And reading out the input information corresponding to “”. The line designation by which the user performs a touch operation among the line designation areas for designating a desired “line”, which is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the line input manipulation means. Detecting a region;
The stage designation where the user performs a contact operation among the stage designation areas for designating a desired “stage”, which is a plurality of contact detection areas arranged in a line on the stage input operation means. Detecting a region;
A step of detecting a “row” designated by the user based on the contact operation amount of the row designation area touched by the row input operation means;
A step detecting means for detecting a “step” designated by the user based on the presence or absence of a contact operation in the step designated area touched by the step input operation means;
The control means, from the input information storage means in which a plurality of pieces of input information are stored in association with “rows” and “stages”, respectively, “rows” detected by the row detection means in the above steps, and the steps And reading out the input information corresponding to the “stage” detected by the stage detection means.

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