JP2009053759A - Character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To much more easily input desired characters. <P>SOLUTION: Characters are displayed along the side of a display part, and a position where the finger is brought into contact with a touch pad formed along the side and a position where the finger is released are detected so that characters can be input. That is, the characters are grouped, and the list of characters representing each group is displayed (step S102). Then, when the touch pad position close to the position where the character representing a certain group is displayed is touched, the characters included in the group are displayed (step S104). Then, when the finger is moved while being brought into contact with the touch pad, and released at a certain position, the character displayed at the position close to the touch pad position is input (step S107). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device, and more particularly to a character input process that allows simple character input.

  In a small device such as a mobile communication terminal device, processing such as e-mail is performed, and characters are input for that purpose. However, these devices only have as few as 20 keys. Therefore, depending on the method of operating a key once and inputting one character corresponding to the key used in a device equipped with a full keyboard, all characters, for example, all hiragana characters may be input. I can't.

  Therefore, in a small apparatus such as a mobile communication terminal apparatus, a toggle method, that is, a process of inputting a transparent character by operating a key a plurality of times is known. According to this toggle method input, the number of key operations for inputting one character is large, and therefore the time required for input tends to be long.

  Further, a process is known in which a Japanese alphabetical table of hiragana characters is displayed on a touch screen, and a portion where a character to be input is displayed is selected by clicking on the pen to select and input the character. .

  In addition, without displaying all of the Japanese syllabary table, first of all, the letters of the dan, namely “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na”, “ha”, “ma” , “Ya”, “ra”, “wa” and “n” characters are displayed, and when one of the displayed characters is selected using a pen, the line of the line starting with the selected character is displayed. Display characters.

Next, when one character in the displayed line is selected using a pen, a process of inputting the selected character is known. By selecting characters in these two stages, many characters are not displayed at the same time, so that a desired character can be easily recognized and selected (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-202784 (page 2, FIG. 3, FIG. 5)

  However, the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above has a problem that a pen is required for selecting characters. Although it is not impossible to select a character by touching or pressing with a finger instead of a pen, the display of the character to be selected with the finger is hidden when using a finger, so that a desired character may not be selected. In order to reduce this possibility, there is a problem that one character needs to be displayed in a large size and a large display portion is required.

  Moreover, since the number of characters displayed at one time is reduced by displaying the characters in two stages, the position where the desired character is displayed can be more easily grasped. However, there is a problem that the display unit must be stared twice in order to appropriately press the position where the desired character is displayed twice. These problems are prominent in small devices such as mobile communication terminal devices. This is because the display unit of a small device is small, and it is inevitable that characters are displayed small.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a character input device in which a desired character can be input more easily.

  In order to achieve the above object, a character input device of the present invention includes a display unit that displays representative characters at a plurality of character display positions, and a contact position that detects contact with a position corresponding to the character display position of the display unit. When a contact is detected by the contact position detecting means while the representative means is displaying the representative character at the character display position, the representative character is represented by the representative character displayed at the character display position corresponding to the contact position. When a character included in a character group to be displayed is displayed in place of a part of the representative character and then separated by the contact position detecting means, the character corresponding to the contact position detected to be separated Character input control means for inputting the character displayed at the display position.

  According to the present invention, a desired character can be input more easily.

  Embodiments of a character input device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a mobile communication terminal device to which a character input device of the present invention is applied. This mobile communication terminal apparatus includes a control unit 11 that controls the entire apparatus, an antenna 12a that transmits and receives radio waves to and from a base station (not shown), a communication unit 12b, a transmission / reception unit 13, and a receiver. Speaker 14a, transmitting microphone 14b, calling unit 14c, display unit 15, touch pad 16, character input unit 17, e-mail transmission / reception unit 21, music playback unit 22, and music playback unit Speaker 22a, a cable 22b connecting the music playback unit 22 and the speaker 22a, and a content storage unit 23. The character input unit 17 stores a character group 17a and an input character 17b. The content storage unit 23 stores music content 23a.

  The operation of each part of the apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. The communication unit 12b outputs the high-frequency signal received by the antenna 12a to the transmission / reception unit 13, and transmits the high-frequency signal output from the transmission / reception unit 13 from the antenna 12a.

  The transmission / reception unit 13 amplifies, converts and demodulates the high frequency signal from the communication unit 12b, thereby obtaining a digital signal, and receives the obtained call voice signal in the call unit 14c and the control signal in the control unit 11. The sent e-mail signal is sent to the e-mail transmission / reception unit 21.

  Further, the transmission / reception unit 13 receives a digital signal, that is, a call voice signal output from the call unit 14c, a control signal output from the control unit 11, and an e-mail signal to be transmitted output from the e-mail transmission / reception unit 21. Modulation, frequency conversion and amplification are performed to obtain a high frequency signal, which is sent to the communication unit 12b for transmission.

  The call unit 14c converts the digital audio signal output from the transmission / reception unit 13 into an analog audio signal, amplifies it, and sends it to the speaker 14a. The analog audio signal output from the microphone 14 b is amplified, converted into a digital audio signal, and transmitted to the transmission / reception unit 13.

  The display unit 15 is, for example, an LCD and is controlled by the control unit 11 to display characters / numbers and video data. The displayed data can be input from the touch pad 16 or an incoming signal. In response to an instruction from the control unit 11.

  The touch pad 16 is an electrostatic touch pad installed adjacent to the side of the display unit 15, and determines which point on the touch pad 16 is touched (for example, the contact and the contact). Detect by detecting that it has left. The contact is not limited by the finger. It may be by contact with an object that can detect that the touch pad 16 is in contact, including an appropriate stylus pen. In particular, as long as the touch pad 16 is a pressure-sensitive type, any contact with pressing of an object may be performed. Hereinafter, contact with a finger includes contact with a predetermined object.

  Note that the touch pad 16 may be an proximity sensor. In the case of the proximity sensor, the touch pad 16 can be detected if the object approaches without touching the touch pad 16. The proximity sensor includes an electromagnetic induction type and a capacitance type. Here, the electromagnetic induction type proximity sensor requires a dedicated stylus pen. Hereinafter, the finger contact includes the approach of a predetermined object.

  Further, the touch pad 16 may be a keyboard composed of densely arranged keys, that is, a structure in which a plurality of densely arranged electrical switches that detect whether or not a finger is pressed are arranged. good. In the case of this structure, it is desirable that the switches are closely arranged so that the finger can smoothly slide on the touch pad 16.

  When the finger is in contact with a position with a large area, the touch pad 16 detects that it is in contact with a point that is the center of gravity of the area in contact. Here, the center of gravity is the center of gravity of the capacitance if it is an electrostatic touch pad, the center of pressure if it is a pressure-sensitive touch pad, and the center of gravity of an electromotive force if it is an electromagnetic induction touch pad. It is detected which point on the touch pad 16 is touched by the finger, but the position of the detected point, for example, the coordinate value may include a predetermined error. The allowable error is larger as the characters displayed on the display unit 15 are larger and smaller as the characters are smaller.

  The character input unit 17 displays characters on the display unit 15 and inputs characters depending on which position of the touch pad 16 installed adjacent to the display unit 15 is touched. In displaying characters, the character group 17a stored in the character input unit 17 is referred to. The input character is temporarily stored in the character input unit 17 as the input character 17b, and the stored character string (including the case where the character string is composed of one character hereinafter) is controlled at a predetermined time. In accordance with the instruction of the unit 11, it is sent to each unit that requested the character input. The input character may be sent to each part that requested the character input without being temporarily stored as the input character 17b.

  The e-mail transmission / reception unit 21 receives the e-mail address of the e-mail transmission destination, the subject of the e-mail to be transmitted, and the text of the e-mail to be transmitted, which are input by the character input unit 17. Then, an e-mail consisting of the input subject and text is transmitted to the input address.

  The e-mail transmission / reception unit 21 stores the e-mail received via the transmission / reception unit 13 in the e-mail transmission / reception unit 21. Based on the instruction input by the character input unit 17, the stored subject and text of the electronic mail are displayed on the display unit 15.

  The music playback unit 22 searches the music content 23a using information for identifying the music content 23a input by the character input unit 17, for example, a music name as a search key. Then, the searched music content 23a is reproduced to generate music from the speaker 22a. Further, when the music content 23a is reproduced, control including fast forward and rewind is performed depending on which position on the touch pad 16 is touched by the finger.

  Hereinafter, a character input operation of the mobile communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention and a process using the input character will be described.

(Hiragana character input operation and music selection operation to be played back)
The display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 are installed adjacent to each other, are divided into a plurality of positions, and the plurality of positions are associated with each other. FIG. 2 is an external view of the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16. The display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 have a vertically long shape, and the lengths in the vertical direction are substantially the same.

  In addition, although the display part 15 is installed on the left and the touchpad 16 is adjacent to the right, it is not restricted to this. The display unit 15 may be installed adjacent to the right and the touch pad 16 may be installed adjacent to the left. In addition, the display unit 15 may be installed on the upper side and the touch pad 16 may be installed on the lower side, or the display unit 15 may be installed on the lower side and the touch pad 16 may be installed on the upper side.

  In the following description, the case where the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 have a vertically long shape is taken as an example. Therefore, “displaying the ordered characters in the order of the order” means displaying from top to bottom and stopping. If not, display from bottom to top. However, when the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 have a horizontally long shape, they are displayed from left to top, and when they cannot be stopped, they are displayed from right to left. This is because character input for Japanese is assumed, and may be different from the above depending on the language.

  Further, the side of the display unit 15 on the touch pad 16 side is linear, but is not limited thereto. It may be a curved line or a polygonal line. In that case, the side of the touch pad 16 on the display unit 15 side is similarly curved or polygonal, and the distance between the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 is preferably constant, but is not limited thereto. . In short, the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 may be divided into a plurality of positions and the respective positions may be associated with each other.

  The display unit 15 is displayed at 15 display positions whose height is substantially equal from top to bottom, that is, a first display position 15-1, a second display position 15-2,. It is divided into eleventh display positions 15-11.

  The i-th display position 15-i (where i is an integer not less than 1 and not more than 10, for example, and a description of possible values of i is omitted hereinafter) and the i + 1-th display position 15-i + 1. There may be a horizontal line display indicating the boundary between the display positions. The background color displayed at the i-th display position 15-i and the background color displayed at the i + 1-th display position 15-i + 1 are different from each other, and the i-th display position 15-i and the i + 1-th display position 15-i + 1 are displayed. The boundary with the display position 15-i + 1 may be clearly shown.

  In FIG. 2, characters are displayed at the j-th display position 15-j of the display unit 15 (where j is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 11, for example, and description of possible values of j is omitted hereinafter). An example is shown. That is, nothing is displayed at the first display position 15-1, and each of the kth display positions 15-k (where k is an integer of 2 to 11 for example) is “A”. "", "Ka", "sa", "ta", "na", "ha", "ma", "ya", "ra", "wa", "a" row characters are displayed.

  This display order is the order of the rows of the well-known Japanese syllabary. The width of the display unit 15 is required to be at least as long as these characters can be displayed. As will be described later, it may have a width in which many characters are displayed.

  The touch pad 16 has eleven positions that are substantially equal in height from top to bottom, that is, the first touch pad position 16-1, the second touch pad position 16-2,. Divided into -11. When the touch pad 16 detects a point where a finger is touched, the point is included in any one touch pad position.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which a horizontal line-shaped figure indicating a boundary between positions is drawn between the i-th touchpad position 16-i and the (i + 1) th touchpad position 16-i + 1. The boundary between the i touchpad position 16-i and the (i + 1) th touchpad position 16-i + 1 is clearly shown. However, this figure is not essential. Further, the i-th touch pad position 16-i and the i + 1-th touch pad position 16-i + 1 may be painted in different colors.

  The width of the touch pad 16 is determined by whether the finger is in contact with the first touch pad position 16-1, the second touch pad position 16-2, ..., the eleventh touch pad position 16-11, Alternatively, it may be possible to detect whether any position is touched, and as a result, it may be possible to detect whether the finger touches a certain position and stops or moves. Therefore, for example, it may be narrower than the horizontal width of the display unit 15.

  Here, the touch pad 16 is displayed so that the correspondence between the j-th display position 15-j of the display unit 15 and the j-th touch pad position 16-j of the touch pad 16 is easily visible. It is provided along the part 15. Therefore, the interval between the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 is not excessive. For example, it is desirable that the width of the touchpad 16 is 0 to 0.

  However, it is not limited to this. For example, the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 may partially overlap. When overlapped, the touch pad 16 operates as a touch screen.

  However, if it is impossible to visually recognize the display on the display unit 15 with a finger touching the touch pad 16, the j-th touch pad position 16-j of the touch pad 16 to be touched with the finger is selected at the touch pad position. The display of the corresponding jth display position 15-j cannot be referred to. Alternatively, the display needs to be performed at another position on the display unit 15, for example, a position away from the touch pad 16.

  Therefore, it is not preferable that the overlap is excessive. As described above, the interval between the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 may be within a predetermined range including overlapping, and within this range, the touch pad 16 is provided along the display unit 15. It is assumed that

  Hereinafter, the character input operation of the mobile communication terminal apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the character group 17a. This character group 17a is composed of information in which a group head character 17c, a clear sound character 17d, a muffled character 17e, a semi-voiced character 17f, and a small letter 17g are associated. One character group is stored with a set of associated information.

  In FIG. 3, the associated information is illustrated as being stored adjacently, but this is illustrated for easy understanding, and the storage structure is not limited thereto. In particular, from the viewpoint of processing speed when the character input unit 17 refers to the character group 17a and performs character input, for example, when the character input unit 17 is a program used by the CPU, the character group 17a includes the program. It may be distributed and stored as constants in the table.

  The group head character 17c is a hiragana character representing each character group 17a, and is a character in “A” level, but is not limited thereto. However, the characters are usually included in each character group 17a. It should be noted that the definition of “dan” does not necessarily need to follow a well-known table. As an example, in the character group 17 a shown in FIG. 3, the character “n” is handled as a character in the “WA” level.

  Therefore, there are ten group head characters 17c: “a”, “ka”, “sa”, “ta”, “na”, “ha”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and “wa”. Are stored in the same order as described above. In other words, the characters input by the character input unit 17 are hiragana characters, and are divided into groups consisting of characters on the line identified by the group head character 17c, that is, ten groups. The order of ordering, with “A” as the first and “WA” as the last, is in accordance with the well-known 50-syllabary table.

  The hiragana character 17d, the muffled character 17e, the semi-voice character 17f, and the lowercase letter 17g are hiragana characters belonging to the line identified by the associated group head character 17c. The phonetic and lowercase letters are remembered. These characters are stored in the order of “A” column character, “I” column character, “U” column character, “E” column character, and “O” column character. The order of ordering, with the “A” step letter being the first and the “O” step letter being the last, is in accordance with the well-known 50-syllabary table.

  Here, although the clear character 17d includes the group head character 17c, the present invention is not limited to this. Even if it is not included, there is no problem in the subsequent operation of the character input unit 17. The lowercase letters include stuttering characters and prompting characters, and also include “a”, “i”, “ぅ”, “e”, and “ぉ” characters that are expressed in small letters. Depending on the character group, the muffled character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the lowercase letter 17g may not be stored. The fact that it is not stored is indicated by the “−” symbol in FIG.

  Note that the clear sound character 17d, the muffled character 17e, the semi-voice character 17f, and the small letter 17g are subgroups for subdividing the characters included in the character group 17a. Therefore, whether a certain character is stored in the clear sound character 17d, the muddy character 17e, the semi-voice character 17f, or the small letter 17g is fixed according to the definition of the well-known clear character, moji character, semi-voice character, and lower case. It is not something. FIG. 3 shows an example in which a small “ゎ” character is stored in the clear sound character 17d.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of the configuration of the music content 23a. The music content 23a includes information associated with a music content identifier 23b, a music name 23c, a music name reading 23d, and encoded data 23e. Then, one music content is stored by one set of associated information.

  In FIG. 4, the related information is illustrated as being stored adjacently, but this is illustrated for easy understanding, and the storage structure is not limited thereto. In particular, since the encoded data 23e requires a large storage area, it may be stored as a file, and the file name may be stored in the encoded data 23e. The encoded data 23e is stored in a storage area dedicated to the encoded data, and the encoded data 23e stores information indicating the position where the data is stored in the storage area. It may be.

  The music content identifier 23b is information for uniquely identifying music content. The music name 23c is the name of the music content. The music name reading 23d is a reading of the music name 23c and is a hiragana character, but is not limited thereto. It may be a katakana character. It may be an alphabetic character, and the reading of the music name 23c may be written in Roman letters. The encoded data 23e is encoded music content.

  FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of a character input operation by the character input unit 17. When a predetermined operation is performed on the touch pad 16, the character input unit 17 is activated by the control unit 11 and starts an operation of inputting hiragana characters (step S101). Here, the case where a predetermined operation is performed on the touch pad 16 is a case where it is determined that a finger touches a predetermined position on the touch pad 16 for a predetermined time and / or a predetermined number of times. There is, but is not limited to this. The apparatus may include a key input device (not shown) including a keyboard, and a predetermined key operation of the key input device may be performed.

  Subsequently, the character input unit 17 displays the group head character 17c on the display unit 15 (step S102). FIG. 2 shows the display performed in step S102. Nothing is displayed at the first display position 15-1, and each of the second display position 15-2 to the eleventh display position 15-11 is displayed. The group first characters 17c are displayed from top to bottom in the order in which they are ordered.

  And the character input part 17 is the 2nd touchpad position 16-2 corresponding to the 11th display position 15-11 from the 2nd display position 15-2 in which the character was displayed. It is checked whether or not a finger has touched -11 (step S103). If not touched, the operation of checking whether or not the finger is touched in step S103 is continued.

  When touched, the character input unit 17 immediately enters an operation for inputting the character stored in the character group 17a in association with the group head character 17c displayed at the display position corresponding to the touched pad position. That is, the character input unit 17 displays on the display unit 15 information for identifying the clear character 17d associated with the group first character 17c and the character type associated with the group first character 17c and storing the character ( Step S104).

  Here, the character type is one or more of a clear sound character, a cloudy sound character, a semi-sound character, and a lower case character. The character included in the clean sound character 17d, the character included in the cloudy character 17e, and the semi-sound sound, respectively. The characters included in the character 17f and the characters included in the lowercase letter 17g. However, since the clear character 17d is displayed, the fact that the clear character is stored is not displayed.

  Further, the information for identifying the character type is handled as a character. This is because, as will be described later, even if it is not necessarily one character, it is displayed one character large and displayed at any display position. Note that the display operation in step S104 is preferably performed immediately after the finger touch is detected in step S103. Fast response is beneficial for the user.

  In step S103, as an example, it is determined that the seventh touch pad position 16-7 corresponding to the seventh display position 15-7 on which the group head character 17c “ha” is displayed has been touched. The display during the operation of will be described.

  FIG. 6 shows the content displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 in the above case. “Ha”, “hi”, “fu”, “he”, and “ho” included in the clear character 17d associated with the head character 17c of “ha” are the seventh display positions 15-7 to 15th, respectively. Eleven display positions 15-11 are displayed from top to bottom in the order ordered.

  Furthermore, since characters are stored in the muffled character 17e and the semi-voiced character 17f associated with the group head character 17c “ha” and characters are stored in the lower case 17g, that is, the group head “ha” is stored. Since the character type of the character associated with the character 17c includes a muffled character and a semi-voiced character in addition to the clear sound character, each of the fifth display position 15-5 and the sixth display position 15-6 includes: “°” (semi-sound mark character) is displayed as information for identifying the semi-sound character, and “” (sound symbol character) is displayed as the information for identifying the sound character.

  Here, the character “ha” is continuously displayed at the seventh display position 15-7 displayed in step S102 shown in FIG. Since the position where the character “ha” is displayed does not move, the time required for the user to search for the character that the user wants to input is shortened, and the character input becomes easy.

  Further, “°” (semi-symbol symbol character), “′” (turbid symbol character), “ha”, “hi”, “fu”, “he” and “ho” displayed in step S104 are shown in FIG. Compared with the characters “a”, “ka”, and “sa” that are continuously displayed from the display in step S102, the display may be more conspicuous and different. The different display includes one or a plurality of combinations such as a display in a different color, a display using a large font, a display of a different background color, and a blinking display, but is not limited thereto. In FIG. 6, the different display is shown by diagonal lines.

  Note that the characters “a”, “ka”, and “sa” that are continuously displayed from the display in step S102 shown in FIG. 2 may be changed to a less conspicuous display in the display in step S104. Further, it may not be displayed. This is because the character input unit 17 indicates that an operation of inputting a character associated with the group head character 17c is not performed.

  In addition, characters (“ta”, “na”, “ma”, “ya”, “ra”, and “wa” that are displayed in the display in step S102 shown in FIG. 2 and are no longer displayed in the display in step S104. .) Is not limited to not being displayed. Characters newly displayed by “ha” and its related characters, that is, characters newly displayed in step S104 (“°” (semi-symbol symbol character), “” (sound-symbol symbol character), “hi”, “ As long as it does not adversely affect the visual recognition of "", "", and "".

  Returning to the description of the operation of the character input unit 17 with reference to FIG. The character input unit 17 touches the touch pad 16 as to whether or not the finger is separated from the touch pad 16 and, if the finger is touching the touch pad 16, which touch pad position is touched. To detect whether it is moving or stopped.

  And in order to alert | report the touchpad position detected that the finger | toe is touched, the display position corresponding to the position is displayed differently from other display positions, and it alert | reports (step S105). That is, when it is detected that the finger touches the jth display position 15-j, the jth display position 15-j is displayed differently from the other display positions. Here, different displays are as described above.

  When it is detected that the finger has left the touch pad 16 or the movement of the finger has stopped on the touch pad 16, the character input unit 17 has been touched when the finger has been released or stopped. The operation branches depending on the touch pad position (step S106). When the touch pad position touched when the finger is released is the position where the characters belonging to the group are displayed in step S104 (in the example shown in FIG. 6, the seventh touch pad position 16-7). To eleventh touch pad position 16-11), and characters displayed at the display position corresponding to the touch pad position (in the example shown in FIG. 6, “ha”, “hi”, “fu” , “To” or any character of “ho”) is input (step S107), and the process proceeds to the operation of displaying the group head character 17c in step S102.

  When the touch pad position touched when the finger is stopped is a position corresponding to the position where the information for identifying the character type is displayed in step S104 (in the example shown in FIG. 6, the fifth touch Pad position 16-5 and sixth touch pad position 16-6), and character input unit 17 displays the character type displayed at the display position corresponding to the touch pad position (in the example shown in FIG. The character of any one of the two-toned characters and the semi-voiced characters is displayed at the display position where the clear character is displayed (in the example shown in FIG. 6, the seventh display positions 15-7 to 11). Display position 15-11.).

  Furthermore, the character input unit 17 displays the character type (in the example shown in FIG. 6, a clear sound character) that has been displayed at the display position corresponding to the touch pad position that was touched when the finger stopped. ) For identifying () is displayed (step S108). Then, in step S105, the finger touches the touch pad 16 as to whether the finger has moved away from the touch pad 16, and if the finger touches the touch pad 16, which touch pad position is touched. Continue to detect whether it is moving or stopped.

  With the above operation, the character type to be input is changed, and the user visually recognizes that the character of the character type to be input is displayed, and immediately moves to the touch pad position corresponding to the position where the character to be input is displayed. Move your finger.

  Note that the character type to be input can be changed an arbitrary number of times by the operation of step S108. On the other hand, if the finger is continuously touching the position where the information for identifying the character type is displayed, it is determined that the finger is stopped if there is no change in the position where the finger is touched for a very short time. It is not preferable to do so. After visually recognizing that the character of the character type desired to be input is displayed, if the user's finger moves slowly, the character type to be input is switched to mischief. Therefore, an appropriate threshold is used when determining that the finger is stopped at a certain touch pad position.

  Also, the finger passes through the sixth touchpad position 16-6 before and after sliding the finger to the fifth touchpad position 16-5 to stop entering the semi-voice character. However, it should not be determined that the finger has stopped at the sixth touchpad position 16-6 during this passage. Therefore, it is not preferable to determine that the finger has stopped when the finger is at the sixth touchpad position 16-6 for a time equal to or greater than the above threshold value, and whether or not the coordinates of the point where the finger is touched are changed. To determine whether the finger is moving or stopped.

  In step S104, after the display of FIG. 6 is performed, in step S106, the touch pad position touched when the finger is released is the sixth touch pad position 16-6, and the corresponding sixth display position 15 is displayed. In -6, the display performed on the display unit 15 in step S108 will be described by taking, as an example, the case where “” (turbid symbol character) is displayed as information for identifying the character type.

  FIG. 7 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S108 in the above case. Compared with the contents displayed in step S104 shown in FIG. 6, the voiced characters 17d (“ha”, “hi”, “fu”, “he” stored in association with the group head character 17c “ha” are stored. ”And“ ho ”), the muddy character 17e (“ B ”) stored in association with the group first character 17c at the display position where the characters were displayed from top to bottom in the order in which they were ordered. , “Bi”, “bu”, “be” and “bo”) are displayed from top to bottom in the ordered order.

  Further, in place of “” (turbid symbol character), “(clear)” (information indicating the clear sound character is displayed at the display position where the symbol is displayed. For example, the seventh display position 15-7. Is displayed in the same size as the “B” character displayed on the screen.). Note that two pieces of information for identifying the character type continue to be displayed, which are the display position where the information for identifying the character type is displayed in step S104 (the fifth display position in the example shown in FIG. 6). 15-5 and the sixth display position 15-6), and information for identifying any character type may be displayed at any display position.

  After the display of FIG. 6 is performed in step S104, the touchpad position touched when the finger is released in step S106 is the fifth touchpad position 16-5, and the corresponding fifth display position 15 is displayed. -5 describes the display performed on the display unit 15 in step S108, taking as an example the case where “°” (semi-dot symbol character) is displayed as information for identifying the character type.

  FIG. 8 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S108 in the above case. Compared with the contents displayed in step S104 shown in FIG. 6, the voiced characters 17d (“ha”, “hi”, “fu”, “he” stored in association with the group head character 17c “ha” are stored. ”And“ ho ”), instead of the semi-voice characters 17f (“ P ”) stored in association with the group head character 17c at the display positions where the characters were displayed from top to bottom in the order in which they were ordered. ”,“ Pi ”,“ Pu ”,“ Pe ”and“ Po ”) are displayed from top to bottom in the order in which they are ordered.

  Furthermore, instead of “°” (semi-symbol symbol character), “(clear)” is displayed at the display position where the symbol was displayed. Note that two pieces of information for identifying the character type continue to be displayed, which are the display position where the information for identifying the character type is displayed in step S104 (the fifth display position in the example shown in FIG. 6). 15-5 and the sixth display position 15-6), and information for identifying any character type may be displayed at any display position.

  Returning to the description of the operation of the character input unit 17 with reference to FIG. The touch pad position touched when the finger is released in step S106 corresponds to the display position where the character of the group identified by the group head character 17c is displayed by the operation of step S104 or step S108. When it is detected that the position is other than the position, the character input unit 17 proceeds to an operation of displaying the group head character 17c in step S102.

  The positions other than the corresponding touch pad positions are the first touch pad position 16-1 to the sixth touch pad position 16-6 in the example shown in FIG. 6 or FIG. This operation is performed even if the user touches the touch pad 16 to input the characters in the “ha” line (including all of the clear voice characters, the muffled characters, and the semi-voiced characters). This is equivalent to entering characters on a line other than. According to this operation, after inputting an unnecessary character and deleting the character, it is possible to change the character to be input with fewer operations than performing the input operation of the character to be input again.

  If it is detected in step S106 that the finger has stopped at a position other than the position where the information for identifying the character type is displayed, the character input unit 17 determines whether or not the finger in step S105 has moved away from the touch pad 16. If the finger is touching the touch pad 16, the operation of detecting which touch pad position is touching and whether the finger is touching and moving on the touch pad 16 is continued.

  When a predetermined operation is performed on the touch pad 16, the character input unit 17 ends the character input operation at an arbitrary time (not shown). Here, the case where a predetermined operation is performed on the touch pad 16 is a case where it is determined that a finger touches a predetermined position on the touch pad 16 for a predetermined time and / or a predetermined number of times. There is, but is not limited to this. It may be a case where a predetermined key operation of the key input device is performed. Further, when the character input to the input character 17b is stored at the end of the operation, the character is sent to each part that requested the character input.

  The operation of the character input unit 17 has been described above by taking the display performed on the display unit 15 when inputting characters on the “ha” line as an example. Indicates the display when entering characters on other lines. First, a description will be given of a display when the characters of the “a” line are input, that is, when the finger touches the second touchpad position 16-2 in step S103.

  FIG. 9 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when the characters of the “A” line are input. “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, and “O” included in the clear character 17d associated with the group leading character 17c “A” are the second display positions 15-2 to 15-2, respectively. 6 are displayed from top to bottom in the order in which they are arranged at the display position 15-6.

  Furthermore, since the muffled sound character 17e and the semi-voiced sound character 17f associated with the group head character 17c of “A” are not stored and the character is stored in the lowercase letter 17g, the first display position 15-1 displays “(small)” (information for identifying a lowercase character type. For example, it is assumed that the character is displayed in the same size as the “a” character displayed at the second display position 15-2. ) Is displayed.

  The operation when inputting the characters of the “a” line is characterized in that the display is made at the first display position 15-1. However, if all the characters stored in the lower case 17g in the characters of the “a” line are moved to the clear character 17d, the first display position 15-1 becomes unnecessary, and at the same time, the first touch pad position 16-1 is changed. This is unnecessary and is advantageous for downsizing of the apparatus. A total of 10 characters are stored in the clear sound character 17d to which the lower case letter 17g has been newly transferred. The 10 characters can be displayed in the second display position 15-2 to the eleventh display position 15-11. .

  In addition, the user can input a desired lowercase letter once without passing through the first touchpad position 16-1, and the finger movement operation is facilitated. If the user inputs a lower case letter without an operation passing through a predetermined touchpad position, the character included in the lower case letter 17g of the “ta” line and the character contained in the lower case letter 17g of the “ya” line are associated with each other. It is also possible to move to the specified clear character 17d.

  Next, the display when the character “ma” is input, that is, when the finger touches the eighth touch pad position 16-8 in step S103 will be described. FIG. 10 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when inputting the character “ma”. “MA”, “MI”, “MU”, “ME” and “MO” included in the clear sound 17d associated with the group leading character 17c “MA” are the eighth display position 15-8 and the 7 are displayed from bottom to top in the order of display position 15-7, sixth display position 15-6, fifth display position 15-5, and fourth display position 15-4. Since characters are not stored in the muffled character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the lowercase letter 17g associated with the group leading character 17c “ma”, the information for identifying the character type is not displayed.

  The operation when inputting the characters of the “ma” line is ordered, whereas the characters included in the clear sound 17d are displayed from top to bottom according to the ordered order in the above description. It is characterized by being displayed from bottom to top according to the order. The reason for this is that the “ma” character is displayed in the eighth display position 15-8 in the display in step S102 and in the display in step S104. This is because there is no display position for displaying the characters to be displayed from top to bottom.

  When inputting characters according to the character group 17a shown in FIG. 3, in addition to the case of inputting the characters on the “ma” line, the case of inputting the characters on the “ra” line, and the input of the characters on the “wa” line In the case of, the characters included in the clear sound 17d are displayed from the bottom to the top according to the ordered order. The reason is as described above.

  Next, a description will be given of a display when the characters in the “ya” line are input, that is, when the finger touches the ninth touchpad position 16-9 in step S103. FIG. 11 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when the characters in the “ya” line are input. “Ya”, “yu”, and “yo” included in the clear character 17d associated with the group head character 17c “ya” are displayed in the ninth display position 15-9 to the eleventh display position 15-11, respectively. It is displayed from top to bottom according to the ordered order.

  Here, since the melody characters in the “ya” line are three characters, they are displayed from top to bottom in the order in which the characters are ordered. And since the character is memorize | stored in the small letter 17g linked | related with the group first character 17c, it is "(small)" (display of the information which identifies a character type of a small letter) in the 8th display position 15-8. Is displayed.

  On the other hand, in the character group 17a shown in FIG. 3, the display when the character stored in the small letter 17g in the “ya” line is moved to the clear character 17d in that line will be described. FIG. 12 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when the characters in the “ya” line are input when the above movement is performed. “Ya”, “yu”, “yo”, “nya”, “yu”, and “yo” included in the clear character 17d associated with the group leading character 17c “ya” are the ninth display positions 15 respectively. -9, eighth display position 15-8, seventh display position 15-7, sixth display position 15-6, fifth display position 15-5, and fourth display position 15-4. They are displayed from bottom to top.

  That is, regarding the characters in the “Ya” line, when the character stored in the lower case 17g is moved to the Kiyoji character 17d, the characters included in the Kiyoku character 17d are displayed from the bottom to the top in the order in which they are ordered. As already described, regarding the “ma” line and the “wa” line adjacent to the “ya” line, the characters included in the clear sound 17d are displayed from the bottom to the top in the ordered order. This movement is preferably performed from the viewpoint of being familiar to the user.

  Next, a description will be given of a display when the character of the “Wa” line is input, that is, when the finger touches the eleventh touchpad position 16-11 in step S103. FIG. 13 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when the characters of the “Wa” line are input. “Wa”, “O”, “N”, and “ゎ” included in the clear sound 17d associated with the group head character 17c “wa” are the eleventh display position 15-11 and the tenth display position, respectively. 15-10, the ninth display position 15-9, and the eighth display position 15-8 are displayed from bottom to top in the order in which they are ordered.

  Here, in the character group 17a shown in FIG. 3, it is assumed that the small letter “ゎ” is included in the clear character 17d in the “WA” line. For this reason, no characters are stored in the muffled character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the lowercase letter 17g associated with the group head character 17c "wa". Therefore, no information indicating the character type is displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104.

  If the information indicating the character type is displayed, for example, a twelfth display position (not shown) below the eleventh display position 15-11 and an eleventh touchpad position 16-11 are displayed. A twelfth touch pad position (not shown) is required underneath, which causes a disadvantage of increasing the size of the display unit 15 and the touch pad.

  In the above description, “清” and “ゑ”, which are the clear characters of the “WA” line, are not input. When inputting these characters, the clear sound 17d associated with the group first character 17c, which is “WA”, may be set to “WA, ゐ, ゑ, ON, ゎ”. Along with this, the number of characters displayed on the display unit 15 when inputting the characters of the “Wa” line is increased, but the display is in accordance with the method described in the above description of the operation, and any trouble occurs. Absent.

  Next, an example of contents displayed on the display unit 15 when the number of character groups is reduced, that is, when the number of character lines is reduced will be described. The character group 17a shown in FIG. 2 includes 10 character groups, which indicates that the characters are divided into 10 lines. Here, an example will be described in which the “ra” line and the “wa” line are newly designated as “ra” lines to form nine character groups.

  In this way, in order to form nine sets of character groups, in the character group 17a shown in FIG. 2, “R”, “Ri”, “R” are used as the clear characters 17d associated with the group head character 17c “R”. ”,“ Re ”,“ ro ”,“ wa ”,“ ”,“ n ”,“ ゎ ”are stored in this order. Then, the character group identified by the group head character 17c “WA” is deleted.

  FIG. 14 shows the display of the group head character performed in step S102 when the character group 17a is changed in this way. This display consists of nine characters, and no characters are displayed at the eleventh display position 15-11.

  FIG. 15 shows the content displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when a new “ra” line character is input. “Ra”, “ri”, “ru”, “re”, “ro”, “wa”, “wa”, “n”, “ra” included in the clear character 17d associated with the group leading character 17c “ra” “ゎ” is from top to bottom in the order in which the tenth display position 15-10, ninth display position 15-9, eighth display position 15-8,... Is displayed. This display consists of nine characters, and no characters are displayed at the eleventh display position 15-11.

  By making the “ra” line and the “wa” line a new “ra” line, no characters are displayed at the eleventh display position 15-11, which is unnecessary. Corresponding to this, the eleventh touch pad position 16-11 is also unnecessary, which is advantageous for miniaturization of the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16.

  In the case of a configuration that does not include the eleventh display position 15-11 and the eleventh touchpad position 16-11, the characters in the “ha” line displayed in step S104 are displayed in the order in which they are ordered. Displayed up. This is because there is no display position necessary for displaying from top to bottom according to the ordered order.

  The character input unit 17 may have a kana-kanji conversion function. That is, the input hiragana character is stored in the input character 17b, the kana-kanji conversion function is activated by a predetermined operation on the touch pad 16 or the key input device, the hiragana character stored in the input character 17b is converted into the kanji, Send to each part that requested input.

  Next, an operation of selecting the encoded data 23e to be reproduced from the music content 23a of the music reproducing unit 22 will be described. The music playback unit 22 searches the encoded data 23e from the music content 23a using the character string sent from the character input unit 17 as a search key. That is, if the character string is kanji, the music name 23c equal to the kanji is searched, and the encoded data 23e associated with the searched music name 23c is reproduced. On the other hand, if the character string is a hiragana character, the music name 23c equal to the hiragana character is searched, and the encoded data 23e associated with the searched music name 23c is reproduced.

(Katakana character input operation)
The character input unit 17 starts an operation of inputting katakana characters by a predetermined operation on the touch pad 16 or the key input device. For this input, the character input unit 17 uses a character group 17a that is facilitated for inputting katakana characters. The character group 17a is obtained by replacing all hiragana characters included in the hiragana character input example illustrated in FIG. 3 with katakana characters, and the display on the display unit 15 is katakana characters. The operation of the unit 17 and the operation of the touch pad 16 are not changed at all, and the description is omitted.

  The katakana characters include characters having no corresponding hiragana characters, ie, “V”, “KA”, and “GA”. According to the embodiment of the present invention, these characters can be input. There is no hindrance. That is, the “V” character is additionally stored in the clear sound 17 d or the lower case 17 g associated with the group head character 17 c “A”. Further, the “ka” character and the “ka” character may be additionally stored in the clear character 17d or the muffled character 17e associated with the group head character 17c “ka”.

  In addition, a “V” character may be newly stored in the muffled character 17e associated with the group leading character 17c “A”. In this case, when inputting the characters in the “A” line, there are muddy characters and lowercase characters as character types, so two display positions are required for displaying information for identifying the character type. Therefore, another display position is prepared on the first display position 15-1, and another touch pad position is prepared on the first touch pad position 16-1.

  In addition, a “k” character and a “k” character may be newly stored in the small letter 17g associated with the group head character 17c “K”. In this case, when inputting characters in the “K” line, there are muddy characters and lowercase letters, and two display positions are required for displaying information for identifying the character type. For this purpose, the first touch pad position 16-1 and the second touch pad position 16-2 may be used.

(Numeric and alphabetic character input operations)
The character input unit 17 starts an operation of inputting numbers and alphabet characters by a predetermined operation on the touch pad 16 or the key input device. For the input, the character input unit 17 uses a character group 17a prepared for inputting numerals and alphabetic characters. FIG. 16 shows an example of a character group 17a for inputting numerals and alphabetic characters. Characters are not stored in the muddy character 17e and the semi-voiced character 17f of the character group 17a. This is because the number of character types is one, and the character types of alphabetic characters are two types, uppercase letters and lowercase letters.

  Nine character groups are stored in the character group 17a, and one group includes a group leading character 17c of a number “1”, a clear character 17d of “1” to “9”, and “0”. Is a character group 17a including numbers. The other 8 groups contain 26 alphabetic characters, divided into 3 or 4 characters in alphabetical order.

  The group first character 17c is the uppercase letter of the first alphabetical character of the group, the clear character 17d is the uppercase alphabetic character of the group in alphabetical order, and the lowercase letter 17g is the alphabet of the group. Lowercase letters are stored in alphabetical order and associated with each other. Here, the alphabetical order is a well-known order starting with the letter “A” and ending with the letter “Z”.

  FIG. 17 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S102 when inputting numbers and alphabetic characters. The group head character 17c is displayed in the second display position 15-2 to the tenth display position 15-10 from top to bottom in the order in which they are ordered.

  Note that the number has only one character type (in the character group 17a shown in FIG. 16, characters are stored in the muffled character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the lowercase letter 17g related to the group leading character 17c of “1”. Therefore, no display is made at the first display position 15-1 in order to select a different character type. Therefore, this display may be displayed at the first display position 15-1 to the ninth display position 15-9.

  Following this display, the finger touches the touch pad position corresponding to the display position where the character is displayed in step S103, and the content displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 is understood from the display when the hiragana character is input. Therefore, illustration is omitted.

  In the character group 17a shown in FIG. 16, lower case letters of alphabet characters may be stored in the group head character 17c and the clear sound character 17d, and upper case letters of the alphabet may be stored in the lower case letters 17g. In this case, the display of the information for identifying the character type for setting the character type of the input character as the character stored in the lowercase letter 17g is “(small) (identifying the lowercase character type” described when inputting the hiragana character. "(Large) (display of information identifying uppercase character type. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, the" A "character displayed at the third display position 15-3 Is displayed in the same size as).

  In the above description, numbers and alphabet characters are input, but the present invention is not limited to this. You may separate the operation | movement for inputting a number, and the operation | movement which inputs an alphabetic character. For this purpose, a character group 17a for each operation may be prepared.

  That is, the character group 17a for inputting a number is related information in which the group head character 17c is “1” and the voice character 17d is “1” or the group head character 17c is “9” and the voice character 17c. A total of 10 sets of information, in which the associated information with the character 17d being “9” and the associated information with the group first character 17c being “0” and the clear sound character 17d being “0”, are ordered in this order. What is necessary is just to define the given character group 17a.

  The character group 17a for inputting alphabetic characters may be deleted from the character group 17a for inputting numbers and alphabetic characters shown in FIG. 16 with associated information whose group leading character 17c is “1”.

(Symbol character input operation)
The character input unit 17 starts an operation of inputting a symbol character by a predetermined operation on the touch pad 16 or the key input device. For this input, the character input unit 17 uses a character group 17a prepared for symbol character input. First, how the grouping is performed and how the group head character 17c for each group is determined will be described.

  Hiragana characters and katakana characters can be easily understood as to what characters are included in a group by the principle of including different groups of characters on different lines. The alphabet characters can be easily understood as to which characters are included in a certain group by grouping 3 to 4 characters in alphabetical order.

  With respect to symbol characters, grouping includes a method based on the division numbers of 7-bit and 8-bit 2-byte information exchange coded kanji sets (JIS X0208), which are Japanese Industrial Standards. In addition, there is a method of grouping into character types such as interval characters, descriptive symbol characters, parenthesis symbol characters, academic symbol characters, unit symbol characters, and general symbol characters.

  However, it is difficult for a user who is unfamiliar with the Japanese Industrial Standards to understand what characters are included in the group identified by the one character group head character 17c in the method using the Japanese Industrial Standards division number. Also, the method based on the type of character has a large difference in the number of characters included in each type, and it is difficult to input at a limited number of display positions and touch pad positions.

  Therefore, a symbol character input operation by the character input unit 17 that is easy to operate even for a user unfamiliar with the code and that effectively uses the display position will be described. FIG. 18 shows an example of the character group 17a for inputting symbol characters. No characters are stored in the muddy character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the lower case 17g of the character group 17a. This is because there is only one character type of the symbol, and there is only one character type (quiet character 17d).

  In the character group 17a, the same plural characters are stored in the associated group head character 17c and the clear sound character 17d. That is, when displaying the group head character 17c in step S102, when inputting hiragana characters, etc., one character in each group representing each group is displayed as a list. However, all characters included in each group are displayed when inputting the symbol character. For this reason, the display unit 15 displays more characters than in the case of the operation described above.

  A character group 17a shown in FIG. 18 is obtained by grouping symbol characters based on the division numbers of Japanese Industrial Standards. That is, it is defined to input a total of 108 symbol characters including a symbol character having a ward number of 1 and a symbol character having a ward number of 2 and a dot number of 1 to 14. Character group 17a. Here, “(SP)” indicates an interval character, and “(,)” indicates a “,” character.

  These 108 characters are basic symbol characters that were defined in the Kanji code system for information exchange (JIS C6226, 1978), which is a past Japanese industrial standard (in the above standard, they are called special characters). ing.). These symbol characters are sorted in the order of the ward number, and if the same ward number, they are further sorted in the order of the dot number, the 11 characters from the top are ordered as one character group according to the sort order, and the characters included in one character group Are ordered.

  FIG. 19 shows the contents displayed on the display unit 15 in step S102 when inputting a symbol character. The group head characters 17c are displayed from the top to the bottom in the second display position 15-2 to the eleventh display position 15-11 in the order in which they are ordered. Here, “(SP)” shown in the second display position 15-2 indicates an arbitrary display meaning an interval character. Note that this display may be displayed at the first display position 15-1 to the tenth display position 15-10, as already described in the description of the numerical and alphabetic character input operations. .

  FIG. 20 shows the content displayed on the display unit 15 in step S104 when the finger touches the ninth touch pad position 16-9 when the above display is performed. In the above display, each character included in the group head character 17c displayed at the ninth display position 15-9, that is, each character included in the clear character 17d is one character at a time. Are displayed from top to bottom according to the order of the 11th display position 15-11.

  In the above description, in order to input basic symbol characters defined in the Japanese Industrial Standard, all the j-th display positions 15-j shown in FIG. A character is displayed on the screen. For this reason, it is not possible to select not to input characters from the stage of selecting characters in the group shown in FIG. However, it is clear that by reducing the number of symbol characters to be input, it is possible to not input characters from the stage of selecting characters in the group.

(Quick character input operation)
When inputting hiragana characters or katakana characters, if the characters are not stored in the muffled characters 17e, semi-voiced characters 17f and lowercase characters 17g of the character group 17a, the capacity required for storing the character group 17a can be reduced. Further, the first display position 15-1 and the first touch pad position 16-1 used for changing the character type of the input character are not necessary, which is advantageous for downsizing the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16. In addition, the user of the apparatus can easily input characters.

  However, if characters are not stored in the muddy character 17e, the semi-voiced character 17f, and the small letter 17g, only the character stored in the sound character 17d, that is, the sound character is input in principle. If the clear sound character 17d includes a muffled character, a semi-voiced character, and a small letter, the included characters are input. However, these included characters are not described in the explanation of the clear character input operation. It is regarded as Kiyone characters.

  An example in which the convenience of the user of the apparatus is greatly increased by inputting only the Kiyoji characters is an operation of inputting Kanji characters through Kana-Kanji conversion from the inputted Kiyoji characters. That is, in a dictionary that associates kana characters with kanji characters used in kana-kanji conversion, muffled characters, semi-voiced characters, and lowercase letters included in kana characters are converted into corresponding clear characters and only the clear characters are stored.

  As a result, it is possible to convert only Kiyone characters into Kanji characters. At the time of conversion from only a clear sound character, if the dictionary contains many words, more homophone characters may be searched, and there may be more operations for selecting a desired kanji. However, in Kana-Kanji conversion limited to a specific field, many homophone characters are not searched, and an operation of converting only this clear character into Kanji is effective.

(An example of the form of the display part 15 and the touchpad 16)
Next, an example of an embodiment of the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 will be described. FIG. 21 shows an example of this embodiment, in which a music playback remote controller 22c is provided in the middle of a cable 22b connecting the music playback unit 22 and the speaker 22a. Is installed.

  In this example, the music playback remote controller 22c is used in a horizontally long direction as a general rule, and the display unit 15 is provided at the upper part of the music playback remote controller 22c and the touch pad 16 is provided at the lower part. Also, the cable 22b is connected via a hole penetrating the housing provided on the left and right sides of the housing of the music playback remote controller 22c.

  The music playback remote controller 22 c provided with the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 is used for playback control of the music playback unit 22. That is, “ON / OFF” is displayed in the vicinity of the tenth display position 15-10, and when the tenth touch pad position 16-10 is touched, the reproduction operation of the music reproduction unit 22 is started and ended. Let Further, in the vicinity of the eighth display position 15-8, a display in which two left-facing triangles are arranged is displayed. By touching the eighth touchpad position 16-8, the music playback unit 22 is playing back. The rewinding operation of the music content 23a is started.

  In the vicinity of the sixth display position 15-6, a square-shaped display is made. By touching the sixth touch pad position 16-6, the music playback unit 22 starts music playback unless music playback is in progress. If the music is being played, the music playback is stopped. Further, in the vicinity of the fourth display position 15-4, a display in which two right-pointing triangles are arranged is displayed. By touching the fourth touchpad position 16-4, the music playback unit 22 is playing back. The fast-forward operation of the music content 23a is started.

  Further, a display “music selection” is displayed near the second display position 15-2, and the music playback unit 22 touches the second touchpad position 16-2, so that the music playback unit 22 can input the music name 23c or music The music content 23a to be reproduced is searched using the name reading 23d as a search key.

  FIG. 22 shows an example of the content displayed on the display unit 15 during the operation in which the music playback unit 22 searches for the music content 23a after touching the second touchpad position 16-2. The displayed content includes a display used for hiragana character input for inputting the music name 23c and a display of the music name 23c in which part or all of the music name 23c is input.

  The display used for hiragana character input is the same as the content displayed on the display unit 15 described with reference to FIG. However, since this music playback remote controller 22c is used in the landscape orientation, the characters displayed above in FIG. 2 are displayed on the left, and the characters displayed below in FIG. 2 are displayed on the right. That is, in FIG. 22, “A” is displayed at the eleventh display position 15-11, then the characters in the “A” stage other than the “A” line are sequentially displayed, and the second display position 15-2 is displayed. “Wa” is displayed. Here, no display is made at the first display position 15-1. And the 1st touchpad position 16-1 is used for control of kana-kanji conversion, for example. As the display of the input music name 23c, “Song A” is displayed.

  The character input operation using the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 installed in the music playback remote controller 22c is the same as the character input operation using the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 shown in FIG. Is that the character displayed above in FIG. 2 is displayed on the left and the character displayed below in FIG. 2 is displayed on the right. Therefore, the description is omitted. Note that this difference includes displaying from left / right to right / left according to the ordered order instead of being displayed from top / bottom to bottom / top according to the ordered order.

  Here, the character input using the display unit 15 and the touch pad 16 installed in the music playback remote controller 22c is used to input the music name 23c, and the types of input words are not necessarily many. Therefore, it is appropriate to input only clear-sound characters. Then, the music reproduction unit 22 retrieves the music content 23a from the input clear character, displays the retrieved music name 23c on the display unit 15, and reproduces the retrieved encoded data 23e.

  The operation of searching for the music content 23a from the clear character input by the music playback unit 22 is performed by any of the following processes. First, the music playback unit 22 stores only a clear sound character in the music name reading 23d. That is, if there is a muddy character, a semi-voiced character, and a small letter, it is converted into a clear character corresponding to those characters and stored. Then, a search is performed by comparing the input clear character and the music name reading 23d.

  Secondly, the music reproducing unit 22 stores the music name reading 23d converted into only the clear character in the music content 23a in association with the music content identifier 23b (not shown). Then, a search is performed by comparing the input clear sound and the music name reading 23d converted into only the clear sound.

  Third, when the music playback unit 22 performs a search by comparing the input clear character and the music name reading 23d, the clear character is a moji character, a semi-voice character and a lower case character corresponding to the kiyoji character. Compare and search as a match.

  In the above description of hiragana character input, the character included in the group head character 17c is one character, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, among the ordered characters included in the clear character 17d associated with the group first character 17c, there may be two characters of a first ranking character and a last ranking character. According to this, instead of “A”, “A” is displayed. Further, for example, a predetermined character may be displayed between two characters such as “Ao-O”.

  The above explanation of hiragana character input is based on the principle that hiragana characters included in the same line are one group, and characters included in the same group are divided into sub-groups of clear sound characters, makuon characters, semi-moji characters and lower case characters. Went as. However, it is not limited to this. For example, hiragana characters are divided into large groups, and characters included in the “a” line to the “na” line, and characters included in the “ha” line to the “wa” line and “n” are each set as one large group. .

  First, after selecting any large group, the characters included in the group included in the selected large group are input according to the above description. By increasing the hierarchy of this group, the number of display positions and the number of touch pad positions necessary for input can be reduced, which is advantageous for downsizing of the apparatus.

  In the above description, the display for changing the character type is displayed, for example, simultaneously with the display of the clear character on a certain line, and after changing the character type, the character of the changed character type is input. However, it is not limited to this. For example, the character type of the input clear sound may be changed to a toggle type by inputting the clear sound and then touching a predetermined touch pad position. The present invention is not limited to the above configuration, and various modifications are possible.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile communication terminal device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 1 is an external view of a display unit and a touch pad according to an embodiment of the present invention. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the character group which concerns on embodiment of this invention (for hiragana character input). The figure which shows an example of a structure of the music content which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart of the character input operation | movement of the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of "ha" line. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of "B" line. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "Pa" line. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of "A" line. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "ma" line. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "ya" line (1st example). The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "ya" line (2nd example). The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "wa" line. The figure which divides a hiragana character into 9 groups when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs a hiragana character, and shows the character of the "A" level of each group displayed on a display part. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs the hiragana character of a "ra" line and a "wa" line. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the character group which concerns on embodiment of this invention (for numerical and alphabetic character input). The figure which divides those characters into 9 groups when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs a number and an alphabetic character, and shows the character representing each group displayed on a display part. The figure which shows an example of a structure of the character group which concerns on embodiment of this invention (for symbol character input). The figure which divides a symbol character into 10 groups when the character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention inputs a symbol character, and shows the character contained in each group displayed on a display part. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when inputting the symbol character contained in the symbol character group with a character input part which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The external view at the time of the display part and touchpad which concern on embodiment of this invention being applied as a music reproduction remote control. The figure which shows the character displayed on a display part, when the display part and touchpad which concern on embodiment of this invention are applied as a music reproduction remote control, and inputs the music name of the music content reproduced | regenerated.

Explanation of symbols

15 Display part 15-j jth display position 16 touch pad 16-j jth touchpad position 17 Character input part 17a Character group 17b Input character 17c Group first character 17d Music playback unit 22a Speaker 22b Cable 22c Music playback remote control 23 Content storage unit 23a Music content 23b Music content identifier 23c Music name 23d Music name reading 23e Encoded data

Claims (6)

Display means for displaying representative characters at a plurality of character display positions;
Contact position detection means for detecting contact with a position corresponding to the character display position of the display means;
When a contact is detected by the contact position detecting means while the representative character is displayed at the character display position, a character group represented by the representative character displayed at the character display position corresponding to the contact position Is displayed in place of a part of the representative character, and when it is detected that the character is separated by the contact position detecting means, the character is displayed at a character display position corresponding to the contact position where the character is detected to be separated. And a character input control means for inputting the received character. The representative character is a character included in a character group represented by the representative character,
When the character input control means displays characters included in the character group represented by the representative character at the character display position, the representative character is displayed when the list of representative characters is displayed at the character display position. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the character input device is displayed at a character display position displayed on the screen. The characters included in the character group are ordered with the representative character as the first,
The character input device according to claim 2, wherein the character input control means displays characters included in the character group according to the order. Display means for displaying representative characters at a plurality of character display positions;
Contact position detection means for detecting contact with a position corresponding to the character display position of the display means;
When contact is detected by the contact position detection means when the list of representative characters is displayed at the character display position, the character represented by the representative character displayed at the character display position corresponding to the contact position Characters included in the first subgroup of the group and information for identifying the second subgroup are displayed at the character display position, and then the second subgroup is detected by the contact position detection unit over a predetermined time. When the contact at the character display position corresponding to the information for identifying is detected, the character included in the second subgroup is displayed at the character display position instead of the character included in the first subgroup. Further, when it is detected that the contact position is detected by the contact position detection means, the character display position corresponding to the contact position where the separation is detected is displayed. Character input device characterized by having a character input control means for inputting the characters in the second subgroup. The representative character is a character included in a first subgroup of a character group represented by the representative character;
When a character included in the first subgroup of the character group represented by the representative character is displayed at the character display position, the representative character is displayed when the representative character list is displayed at the character display position. The character input device according to claim 4, wherein the character input device is continuously displayed at the character display position displayed on the screen. The characters included in the first character group are ordered with the representative character being first,
The character input device according to claim 5, wherein characters included in the first character group are displayed according to the order.

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