JP2006074134A - Character input apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple character input apparatus suitable for a mobile terminal that enhances entry operations and reduces an entry time. <P>SOLUTION: In the case of entering a kana (Japanese syllabary), a rotary dial 12 selects an alphabet letter representing the consonant of the kana and a vowel selection button 14 selects an alphabet letter representing the vowel of the kana. Then the character input apparatus recognizes a Roman letter comprising a combination of the consonant alphabet selected by the rotary dial 12 and the vowel alphabet selected by the vowel selection button 14 as a Roman letter entry and converts it into the kana. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device.

  In recent years, devices capable of inputting characters, such as home appliances, mobile terminals (including mobile phones), car navigation systems, and the like, have become widespread. Such devices often do not have the space to place many keys or buttons for entering characters. Therefore, a means for inputting characters such as kana and numbers efficiently with a small number of keys is required for such a device. When there is no space for assigning one button to one character in a device for inputting kana characters, various methods have been conventionally considered. A typical method is as follows.

(1) Method of using the numeric keypad A key is assigned as “a” line, “ka” line, “sa” line, for example, “a” line every time the key of “a” line is pressed. Are sequentially displayed in the order of “A” → “I” → “U” → “E” → “O”. When the character to be input is displayed, the select key is pressed (Patent Document 1).

  As another method, alphabetic characters representing kana consonants and alphabetic characters representing kana vowels are grouped and assigned to a numeric keypad, and kana is input by a combination of inputs from both groups (Patent Document 2).

(2) Method of Using Jog Dial Characters are assigned according to the physical rotation angle of the jog dial, the jog dial is rotated to display a desired character, and then clicked (Patent Document 3).

(3) Method of determining by combination of buttons A consonant is determined with two keys, and then a vowel is determined with one key (Patent Document 4).

In addition, input of an e-mail address or the like requires alphabetical input, but a plurality of keys such as “A, B, C” in one key and “D, E, F” in another key are also used. The method of assigning alphabetic characters is the mainstream.
JP-A-6-348383 JP 2000-276288 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-212281 JP-A-60-169923

  In a character input device equipped with a full keyboard such as a personal computer, alphabetical Roman-to-Kana conversion is widely used. In the Romaji-kana conversion method, if you remember the keyboard layout of the alphabetic characters, you can input either English or Japanese.

  However, in the portable terminal, since the number of keys is limited, the number of times the key is pressed increases, and it takes time to input characters. In addition, the kana and alphabet layout were not related, and it was a burden to remember them. Even if the above prior art is applied to a portable terminal, there are certain limitations in improving the input operation of kana characters and shortening the input time.

  The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a character input device capable of improving input operation and shortening input time.

  The character input device of the present invention is a dial that can be rotated and pressed and used to select an alphabet character that represents a kana consonant, and a plurality of keys that are used to select an alphabet character that represents a kana vowel. And a means for converting a Roman character by a combination of a consonant alphabet selected by the dial and a vowel alphabet selected by the plurality of keys into kana.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to input with less input means in an easy-to-understand manner and in a shorter time, and it is possible to improve the input operation and shorten the input time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a portable terminal having a character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  A mobile terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a mobile terminal (including a mobile phone) having a simple character input device suitable for the mobile terminal, and includes a rotary dial 12, a vowel selection button 14, a screen display unit 16, and a shift key 18. Have

  The rotary dial 12 is provided on the left side of the main body of the mobile terminal 10 and can be pressed not only to the rotation but also to the main body side. Characters can be selected, kanji conversion, selection of characters in a sentence, deletion of selected characters, and the like can be performed by a combination of rotation operation and pressing operation on the rotary dial 12.

  FIG. 2 is a table showing a list of dial operations.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the dial operation includes a character input mode and a text editing mode.

  In the character input mode, when the rotary dial 12 is pressed and held for a predetermined time or longer, the mode shifts to the text editing mode. When the rotary dial 12 is rotated, alphabetic consonants (“B”, “C”, “D”, “F”, “G”, “H”, “J”, “K”, “L”, “M”) , “N”, “P”, “Q”, “R”, “S”, “T”, “V”, “W”, “X”, “Y”, “Z”). . When the rotary dial 12 is clicked once (pressed once), the character is confirmed. When the rotary dial 12 is clicked twice (pressed twice), Kanji conversion is performed after the character is confirmed, and the character type selection mode is set otherwise.

  In the text editing mode, when the rotary dial 12 is pressed and held for a predetermined time or longer, the character input mode is entered. When the rotary dial 12 is rotated, characters in the text are selected. When the rotary dial 12 is clicked once (pressed once), the moving direction of the cursor in the sentence is alternately switched horizontally or vertically. When the rotary dial 12 is clicked twice (pressed twice), the selected character is deleted.

  The vowel selection button 14 also serves as a numeric keypad provided on the surface of the main body of the mobile terminal 10, and is an alphabetic character (“A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “ O ”) can be selected with the keys“ 1 ”to“ 5 ”.

  FIG. 3 is a table showing a list of button operations.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the vowel selection button 14 is clicked once (pressed once), a kana character based on the currently selected consonant is selected. When the vowel selection button 14 is clicked twice (pressed twice), it is selected as an alphabetic character. When the vowel selection button 14 is pressed for a predetermined time or longer, it is selected as the “A” line character.

  The screen display unit 16 is provided on the surface of the main body of the mobile terminal 10 and displays a list of input character candidates and the like in the character input mode, and displays a text and a cursor indicating the edit location in the text edit mode.

  The shift key 18 is provided on the main body surface of the mobile terminal 10 and is a key for switching between uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

  Although not shown, signals obtained by operating the rotary dial 12, the vowel selection button 14, and the shift key 18 are processed by the CPU. Specifically, the functions corresponding to the operations shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 are realized by the CPU. For example, a romaji by a combination of a consonant alphabet selected by the rotary dial 12 and a vowel alphabet selected by the vowel selection button 14 is recognized as a romaji input and converted to kana. In addition, a character string that is continuously input is converted into a sentence. Various data (50 sound codes, Kanji codes, etc.) and programs necessary for these processes are stored in the ROM in advance. Data processed or processed by the CPU is temporarily stored in the RAM.

  Next, the operation of the character input device of the mobile terminal 10 having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, a method for inputting kana characters will be described.

  Press and hold the rotary dial 12 to set the character input mode. As a result, the screen display unit 16 displays a list of alphabetic characters representing kana consonants as shown in FIG. In FIG. 4, a character surrounded by a broken line (here “B”) is the currently selected character.

  In this state, each character (alphabet consonant) is selected with the rotary dial 12, and vowels are selected with the numeric keys "1" to "5". For example, when inputting “kana” of kana, “K” is selected by selecting “K” of the consonant with the rotary dial 12 and clicking “A” of the vowel with the “1” key of the numeric keypad. Selected. To input the vowels “A” to “O” themselves, press and hold the “1” to “5” keys.

  When the character is determined, the character is confirmed by clicking the rotary dial 12 once.

  When the same operation is repeated to select and confirm characters to form a certain character string, the character string is converted into kanji by clicking the rotary dial 12 twice. Note that, as with a normal Japanese input device, it is also possible to perform batch conversion after inputting a certain amount of text.

  After the conversion to kanji, if it is not the desired kanji, click the rotary dial 12 again to set the character type selection mode, display the kanji candidates in turn with the rotary dial 12, and rotate when the desired kanji is reached Click on the dial 12 to confirm Kanji conversion.

  When canceling kanji conversion, the rotary dial 12 is clicked once when the kanji candidates are displayed.

  Next, an English character input method will be described.

  Press and hold the rotary dial 12 to set the character input mode. For characters other than “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O”, select the character with the rotary dial 12, The character is changed by changing the capital letter or the small letter by the shift key 18 and clicking the rotary dial 12 by one click. In the case of the characters “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O”, select the numbers “1” to “5” of the numeric keypad by clicking two times, and use the shift key 18 to select uppercase or lowercase letters. Change to

  When inputting symbols and pictograms, a table of these virtual characters is created, and the table is selected in the same manner as when inputting kana characters.

  Next, the text editing mode will be described.

  Transition from the character input mode to the text editing mode is performed by long-pressing the rotary dial 12. In the text editing mode, the cursor in the text displayed on the screen display unit 16 is moved by the rotation of the rotary dial 12. When the rotary dial 12 is clicked once, the movement direction of the cursor is alternately switched between horizontal and vertical. By this method, the selected character can be deleted by moving the cursor to the character to be deleted and clicking the rotary dial 12 twice.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, in inputting kana characters, an alphabet character representing a kana consonant is selected by the rotary dial 12, and an alphabet character representing a kana vowel is selected by the vowel selection button 14. The number of operations for character input can be shortened, the operation can be performed intuitively, and the input time can be shortened.

  In addition, since alphabetic characters can be directly selected and English characters can be input as they are, there is no need to switch modes and there is no need to re-learn the key character arrangement.

  Furthermore, since the characters can be selected / deleted only with the rotary dial 12, the editing operation can be easily performed.

  In addition, the user can perform input and editing operations of kana characters or English characters while holding the mobile terminal 10, and can input with one hand even in a poor environment (for example, a crowded train). It can be carried out.

  The present invention can improve the input operation and shorten the input time, and is particularly useful as a character input device for a portable terminal.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the portable terminal which has the character input device which concerns on one embodiment of this invention Table showing a list of dial operations Table showing a list of button operations Illustration for explaining how to select characters

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Mobile terminal 12 Rotating dial 14 Vowel selection button 16 Screen display part 18 Shift key

Claims (5)

A rotatable and depressible dial used to select alphabetic characters representing kana consonants;
A plurality of keys used to select alphabetic characters representing kana vowels;
Means for converting a Roman character by a combination of a consonant alphabet selected by the dial and a vowel alphabet selected by the plurality of keys;
A character input device comprising:   2. The character input device according to claim 1, further comprising means for switching between a character input mode and a text edit mode using the dial.   The character input device according to claim 2, further comprising means for converting the character into an appropriate kanji after confirming the character using the dial in the character input mode.   3. The character input device according to claim 2, further comprising means for selecting characters of an already input sentence using the dial in the sentence editing mode.   3. The character input device according to claim 2, further comprising means for deleting an already input character using the dial in the text editing mode.

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