JP2006174214A - Mobile terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mobile terminal with high operability wherein inputting can be easily performed by operating an operating unit while watching an indication of the operating unit. <P>SOLUTION: An arbitrary pattern can be displayed by self-emission respectively independently on a display screen 22 of an operating unit 20, so that a desired indication can be performed on each display screen 22. It is conventionally necessary to press an operating button 20 of "a (KANA)" further four times in order to input "o (KANA)" but in the operating unit 20 of the mobile terminal according to the present invention, it is enough only to press "o" next to "a". Thus, inputting can be easily performed while watching the indication of the operating unit 20, thereby improving operability. Furthermore, operating buttons 20 disposed while being aligned longitudinally and laterally are made into one display screen as a whole, so that it is available as a display screen other than original display screens provided in the mobile terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable terminal capable of making a call or mail by input from an operation unit.

As an operation panel used for a conventional portable terminal or the like, one as shown in FIG. 9 is disclosed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
As shown in FIG. 9, the operation panel 100 is provided on the back surface of the digital camera 101, and an organic EL display module sheet display 102 is incorporated inside the operation panel 100. The organic EL display module sheet display 102 is provided with a first information display unit 103, a second information display unit 104, and a third information display unit 105 to constitute a space-saving, low-cost, power-saving multi-display. . In the vicinity of the operation buttons 106 to 110 of the organic EL display module sheet display 102, name display portions 111 to 115 for displaying the names of the operation buttons are provided so that display in different languages can be performed for each destination. The contact pattern of the switch that is turned on / off by the operation of the operation buttons 106 to 110 is formed on the organic EL display module sheet display 102, the switch wiring board is omitted, and the operation panel 100 is reduced in thickness and cost. I am trying.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-133131 (FIG. 1)

By the way, as shown in FIG. 10, in the operation unit 120 of the mobile phone as a mobile terminal, for example, operation buttons 120 for inputting numbers and characters are arranged in 3 × 4, and the operation is performed in the mode for inputting numbers. The numbers shown on the display surface of the button 120 are input. Further, in the character input mode such as e-mail, generally, characters such as “A”, “KA”, “SA”... Are displayed on the display surface of the operation button 120. If 120 is pressed once, the letters “I”, “U” if pressed twice, “e” will be displayed on the display screen (not shown), and will be input if determined.
Therefore, for example, to input “O”, it is necessary to press the “A” operation button 120 four times to display “A” on the display screen and confirm it, and the operation button 120 is frequently pressed. There was a problem of being troublesome. Further, since it is necessary to press the operation button 120 while looking at the display screen, it is necessary to move the line of sight between the display screen and the operation button 120, and there is a problem that the operability is poor.

  The present invention has been made to solve the conventional problem, and provides a portable terminal with excellent operability that can be easily input by operating the operation unit while viewing the display of the operation unit. Objective.

  The portable terminal of the present invention is a portable terminal having a plurality of operation units having input contacts and a display surface that can be visually recognized by an operator, and each of the operation units is an independent self-luminous type. It has a configuration provided with a display surface capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern.

With this configuration, it is possible to perform a desired display on the display surface of each operation unit. For example, at the beginning, on the display surface of the operation button, characters such as “a”, “ka”, “sa” are displayed at the beginning of the line. For example, if you press the “A” operation button, “I”, “U”, “E” “O”, “A”, “I”, “U” will appear on the display surface of the other buttons. “D”, “O”, etc. can be displayed. Therefore, in order to input “O” in the past, it was necessary to press the “A” operation button five times. However, in the operation unit of the portable terminal of the present invention, it is only necessary to press “O” after “A”. . Thereby, it is possible to input easily while viewing the display of the operation unit, and the operability is improved.
Further, by arranging the operation buttons arranged in the vertical and horizontal directions as one display surface as a whole, it can be used as an auxiliary display surface of the original display surface provided in the portable terminal.
An example of the operation unit is an input key.

  The present invention has an effect that by providing a display surface capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern by self-emission independently on each operation unit, it is possible to input easily while looking at the display on the operation unit and the operability is improved. The portable terminal which has can be provided.

Hereinafter, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an input unit of a mobile phone which is a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the input unit. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG.
1 to 3, the mobile terminal 10 includes a plurality of operation units 20 each having an input contact 21 and a display surface 22 that can be viewed by an operator. The operation units 20 are independent of each other. A self-luminous display surface 22 capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern is provided.

Here, as the mobile terminal, a mobile phone (hereinafter referred to as a mobile phone 10) can be exemplified. The operation unit 20 can be exemplified by a plurality of input keys (hereinafter referred to as keys 20) as shown in FIG. Further, as the display surface 22 capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern with a self-luminous type, as shown in FIG. 3, an organic EL display module 23 provided inside a transparent or translucent key 20 can be exemplified. . That is, characters, figures, and the like displayed by the organic EL display module 23 capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern can be seen from the outside through the key 20.
The organic EL display module 23 is provided on a key FPC 24 that is a flexible printed board, and the key FPC 24 is overlaid on the key base 25.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the key 20 can be moved up and down independently, and contacts 21 a and 21 b are provided below the key 20. Therefore, when the key 20 is pressed downward, the key FPC 24 and the key base 25 are bent, the contact 21a provided on the lower surface of the key base 25 is pushed down, and input is made by contacting the contact 21b. The key 20 is always urged upward by the elastic force of the key base 25, and the contact 21a and the contact 21b are separated from each other.

The operation of the cellular phone 10 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, when starting (step SS), an input mode is selected (step S1). That is, when inputting numbers, the number input mode is selected (step S2). In this case, as shown in FIG. 5, on the display surface 22 of the key 20, at least numbers 0 to 9 and predetermined symbols displayed on the organic EL display module 23 are displayed transparently (step S3). Therefore, the key 20 on which the desired number is displayed on the display surface 22 is pressed (step S4), the contacts 21a and 21b are turned on, and the number is input (step S5).
Thereafter, returning to step S1, the above-described steps are repeated. If it is desired to change to the character input mode, the character input mode is selected in step S1, and the character input is performed according to the procedure described later.

On the other hand, when it is desired to input a character, a character input mode is selected in step S1 (step S6). As a result, as shown in FIG. 6A, the organic EL display module 23 causes the display surface 22 of the key 20 to display the initial characters such as “A” indicating the A line and “WA” indicating the A line. Predetermined numbers, symbols, and the like are displayed (step S7), and a line is selected by pressing the key 20 indicating the bullet of the character to be input (step S8). When a line is selected, as shown in FIG. 6B, the display of the organic EL display module 23 on each key 20 changes to the character on the line (step S9), so the key 20 on which a desired character is displayed is displayed. The character is input by pressing (step S10) (step S11). Note that FIG. 6B illustrates a case where each character of that line is displayed.
Thereafter, returning to step S1, the above-described steps are repeated. The character input mode generally includes numbers, but if it is desired to change to the number input mode, the number input mode is selected in step S1, and characters are input in the above-described procedure.

  In step S1, when the confirmation / end mode is selected, the input is confirmed and the process ends. If necessary, it is determined after character conversion.

Next, another method of using the key 20 of the mobile phone 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
Since the organic EL display module 23 provided in each key 20 can display an arbitrary pattern, it is possible to control all the keys 20 (for example, 3 × 4) collectively to form one display unit as a whole. Is possible. That is, each key 20 displays 1/12 of the entire image corresponding to the position of the key 20, and the entire image is displayed with 12 keys 20.
Thereby, like the main screen of the mobile phone 10, it can be used as a sub-screen for displaying various images.

  As described above, according to the mobile terminal 10 of the embodiment of the present invention, each key 20 is provided with a display surface capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern by self-light emission independently, so that it is easy to see the display of the key 20. It is possible to input and the operability can be improved. Further, when the character at the beginning of the line is displayed and the line of the character to be input is designated, the display is changed to the character on the line, so that the desired character can be easily input with a small number of presses. At this time, since the characters in the entire line are displayed, it is possible to input a desired character with certainty without making an input error.

In the above description, the key 20 is provided so as to be movable up and down, and contacts 21a and 21b are provided below the key 20, and the key 21 is pressed downward to bring the contact 21a and the contact 21b into contact for input. Although the case has been described, the same can be applied to the key 20 as shown in FIG.
That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the key 20 can be fixedly provided, and the touch panel 26 can be provided on the surface 20 a of the key 20. The organic EL display module 23 can be provided similarly to the case of the key 20 described above. In this case, the non-display portion 27 (see FIG. 7) between the adjacent keys 20 can be reduced to display a more complete image.
In the above-described operation unit, the case where the keys 20 are provided in 3 × 4 has been described, but the arrangement is not limited thereto.

  As described above, the portable terminal according to the present invention can be easily input while viewing the display of the cropping unit by providing each operation unit with a display surface capable of displaying an arbitrary pattern by self-emission. It has an effect that operability is improved, and is useful as a portable terminal or the like that can make a call or mail by input from the operation unit.

The perspective view of the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention Exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the input unit Sectional view at position III-III in Fig. 1 The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the portable terminal in embodiment of this invention Explanatory diagram showing keys displaying numbers (A) An explanatory diagram showing a key displaying a character at the beginning of a line in the character input mode. (B) An explanatory diagram showing a key displaying each character on a desired line in the character input mode. Explanatory drawing showing the state where the entire key part is used as a sub-screen Sectional drawing equivalent to FIG. 3 which shows the case where a touch panel is used as a contact A perspective view showing an example of a conventional portable terminal Explanatory drawing which shows the display of the key of the conventional portable terminal

Explanation of symbols

10 Mobile device 20 Key (operation unit)
21 Contact 22 Display surface

Claims (1)

A portable terminal having a plurality of operation units having a display surface that has an input contact and is visible to an operator,
The portable terminal provided with the display surface in which the said operation part is an independent self-light-emitting type and can display arbitrary patterns.

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