JP2012113685A - Input device and input method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device which is easy to operate as an input device for numbers and characters of mobile equipment, and allows a user to speedily select and determine Chinese input characters.SOLUTION: The input device includes a dictionary storage part 13 which stores word data of words consisting of combinations of characters in a consonant group and characters in a vowel group; a touch panel type input display part 11 which displays keys, to each of which a plurality of characters are allocated, by discriminating the consonant group from the vowel group for an array, and inputs character data of a character allocated to selected one of keys once the key is selected; and a control part 12 which performs retrieval from the dictionary storage part 13 when character data is input from a key of the consonant group and character data is input from the vowel group, and acquires and inputs word data corresponding to a combination of the input character data of the consonant group and the input character data of the vowel group.

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device and an input method for inputting data such as Pinyin Chinese characters and symbols to a portable device such as a touch panel type mobile phone and a portable terminal.

  Conventionally, a push button keyboard from 0 to 9 is used as an input device for inputting a telephone number to a mobile phone. In addition, in order to perform character communication using a mobile phone, a character symbol is assigned to the push button for inputting a telephone number to enable character input. In the first place, from the history of development of mobile phones from fixed phones, pushbuttons that enter numbers 0 to 9 and letters and symbols etc. in the form of 3 columns and 4 rows are widely used worldwide. The combinations of numbers 0 to 9 and letters such as A to Z are generally composed of the same numbers and character groups. Regarding the alphabet character arrangement, there are many mobile phones that employ a keyboard having an arrangement shown in FIG. 25 in which numbers and character groups are combined.

  In a keyboard of a conventional mobile phone, a so-called “key repeated typing method” (or multi-tap) is a mainstream as a character input method. In this key continuous hitting method, a plurality of character symbols are assigned to one push button (hereinafter, synonymous with “key”). Therefore, in order to determine a single character symbol, the alphabet character is used once to four times. You have to press a key. Also, in order to continuously input characters assigned to the same key, you must move forward one character with the direction key, which is the same as when inputting Chinese characters with Pinyin, which requires both complexity and time. Is often pointed out as a drawback.

  Pinyin Chinese characters are a character system that expresses Chinese characters, which are originally Chinese characters, by reading, and are composed of alphabetic characters. Originally, as the method of inputting Chinese characters, the ABC method Pinyin method using alphabetic alphabetical arrangement, the five-stroke method using strokes, and the note-moji method used mainly in Taiwan are currently used. In both cases, cumbersome fingering is required, and the appearance of a more advanced input method is desired.

  As an invention that compensates for the shortcomings of the “key continuous hitting method”, for example, as described in Patent Document 2, there is a method of selecting characters by dragging up and down, left and right from a key position on a touch panel keyboard. The method of selecting characters by dragging up, down, left and right is to set 3 to 5 characters for one of a plurality of keys displayed and arranged on the touch panel, and to select a key and an operation point after selection. One character can be selected according to the direction of movement of the operating force in the front / rear / left / right direction, which is also called a flick method. FIG. 26 shows an example of a key arrangement of a mobile phone having a conventional touch panel keyboard.

JP 2003-140814 A JP 2000-112636 A

  In the above-described flick method, the character in the moving direction must be determined and determined each time, and there is a problem in learning the operation. Further, in the above-described ABC layout pinyin method, the keyboard display is arranged in the order of ABC of the English alphabet, so that it is impossible to search for input characters and move the finger on the keyboard, in line with the Chinese pronunciation system.

  If the keyboard key is fixed as a mechanical switch as in the past, changing the key top display during use requires complex technology, but in recent years the touch panel type key has been increasing. If it is a panel, it is easy to change the key top display. The touch panel system has a circuit composed of transparent position sensor elements on the surface of the display. If the position of any key on the display screen is touched with a finger or a pen, the position sensor Is a composite of a display and a sensor that can be operated by determining the same position of any key on the synchronized display screen. The application of this method to mobile phones and small terminals is already widespread.

  Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to be used for portable devices such as touch panel type mobile phones and portable terminals, and is already widely used as an input device for numbers and alphabet characters. Even without changing the three-column, four-row key top arrangement, the operation is simple, and pinyin Chinese characters can be selected and entered much more intuitively and quickly compared to conventional input devices. It is to provide an input device.

  The input device according to the present invention includes character data of a consonant group character, character data of a vowel group character, and word data of a word formed by a combination of a consonant group character and a vowel group character. A dictionary storage unit to be stored and a plurality of keys for inputting character data, each of which is assigned a plurality of characters, are divided into at least a consonant group and a vowel group, respectively. Are arranged and displayed for each group, and any one of the keys is selected and touched and released, moved left and right while touched, or moved up and down while touched. Then, the touch panel type input display unit to which character data of the character assigned to the selected key is input and the input display unit When character data is input from the key of the group and character data is input from the key of the vowel group, the dictionary storage unit is searched, and the character data of the input consonant group and character data of the vowel group are searched. And a control unit that acquires and inputs word data corresponding to the combination.

  Further, the input method of the present invention is formed in the dictionary storage unit by combining character data of consonant group characters, character data of vowel group characters, and characters of consonant groups and vowel groups. At least a consonant key, which is a plurality of keys for inputting character data, each of which is assigned with a plurality of characters. Or one of the consonant group keys displayed on the input display section is selected, touched and released, When touched and moved left or right, or touched and moved up and down, the character assigned to the selected key Entering character data, selecting one of the vowel group keys displayed on the input display, touched and released, moved left and right while touching, or touched If it is moved vertically, the character data of the character assigned to the selected key is input, the character data input from the consonant group key and the key of the vowel group are input. The dictionary storage unit is searched based on the input character data, and word data corresponding to the combination of the character data of the input consonant group and the character data of the vowel group is acquired and input.

  According to these inventions, when character data is input from a consonant group key displayed on the touch panel type input display unit and character data is input from a vowel group key, the dictionary storage unit is searched and input. The word data corresponding to the combination of the character data of the consonant group and the character data of the vowel group is acquired and input.

  According to the present invention, an input device that is already widely used as an input device for numbers and alphabet characters can be displayed on a touch panel type input display unit without changing the key top arrangement of 3 columns and 4 rows. By inputting character data from the key of the consonant group and inputting character data from the key of the vowel group, a word corresponding to the combination of the character data of the input consonant group and the character data of the vowel group is obtained. It can be input, is easy to operate, and selection and input of Pinyin Chinese characters can be performed much more intuitively and quickly than a conventional input device.

1 is a front view of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention. It is a side view of the mobile phone of FIG. It is a block diagram of the mobile phone of FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the keyboard for input displayed on a touchscreen display. It is explanatory drawing of the keyboard for input of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the relationship between a phonetic alphabet arrangement | sequence and an alphabet pinyin. It is explanatory drawing which shows the definition of horizontal drag and vertical drag. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of input by the key of a consonant part. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the relationship between a basic arrangement | sequence and an expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence of the key of a vowel part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence of the key of a vowel part. It is an operation | movement flowchart of the input device in the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the character input process by the key of the consonant part of FIG. It is a flowchart of the character input process by the key of the vowel part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the basic arrangement | sequence of the keyboard for input by the phonetic alphabet arrangement | sequence in 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence of the key of the vowel part of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of arrangement | positioning of the keyboard for input by a phonetic alphabet arrangement. It is explanatory drawing which shows another example of arrangement | positioning of the keyboard for input by a phonetic alphabet arrangement. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the expansion | deployment arrangement | sequence example in 3rd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the keyboard arrangement | sequence of the conventional mobile telephone. It is a figure which shows the keyboard layout of the mobile telephone which has the conventional touch panel keyboard.

(Embodiment 1)
1 is a front view of a mobile phone according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of the mobile phone of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the mobile phone of FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an input keyboard displayed, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a basic layout of the input keyboard of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mobile phone as the mobile device in the first embodiment of the present invention includes a mobile phone main body 1, a touch panel display 2, a touch panel sensor circuit 3, an operation key 4, a CPU 5, and a memory. The input device 10 (refer FIG. 3) comprised from 6 grade | etc., Is provided. The touch panel display 2 and the touch panel sensor circuit 3 constitute a touch panel type input display unit 11 shown in FIG. The CPU 5 constitutes the control unit 12 shown in FIG. The memory 6 constitutes the dictionary storage unit 13 and the temporary storage unit 14 shown in FIG.

  In the mobile phone according to the present embodiment, when the power is turned on and the input screen mode is set, a plurality of characters for inputting character data on the touch panel display 2 as the input display unit 11 by the control unit 12 as shown in FIG. An input keyboard 7 consisting of keys is displayed. As shown in FIG. 5, the input keyboard 7 is the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, except for the * key 32 having a key top arrangement with three columns and four rows. Pinyin Basic in which a plurality of character data is assigned to each of the No. 8, No. 9, No. 0 and # keys 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31 Has an array. It should be noted that the character data of only the character “*” is assigned to the * key 32.

  In this Pinyin basic arrangement, 10 numbers, an alphabet of at least 28 characters, and symbols are assigned as follows. That is, “1 bp m f” is assigned to the first key 21, “2 d t n l” is assigned to the second key 22, “3 g k h” is assigned to the third key 23, and the fourth key. 24 “4 j q xy”, No. 5 key 25 “5 zh ch sh r”, No. 6 key 26 “6 z c sw”, No. 7 key 27 “7 a ”,“ 8 e ”for the No. 8 key 28,“ 9 i ”for the No. 9 key 29,“ o (zero) o (O) ”for the No. 0 key 30, and the # key 31 “#U” is assigned in combination. However, the numbers of the keys 21 to 30 and the symbols of the keys 31 may not be displayed.

  This Pinyin basic arrangement is based on the diacritic character arrangement that is primarily used in Taiwan. FIG. 6 shows the relationship between the phonetic alphabet array using a part of Kanji as a symbol and the alphabet Pinyin. In FIG. 6, the six keys in the upper two rows are arranged as consonant parts, and the six keys in the lower two rows are arranged as vowel parts. In order to eliminate the discomfort of the conventional user, in the Pinyin basic arrangement in the present embodiment, the consonant parts in the upper two rows as shown in FIG. 5 are generally the same as the consonant parts in the phonetic character arrangement shown in FIG. It is different in that it is written in alphabet.

  As described above, in the Pinyin basic arrangement, the keys 21 to 26 in the upper two rows are arranged as consonant parts, and characters of a consonant group obtained by classifying an alphabet character string of consonants according to a Chinese pronunciation system are arranged. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, in the vowel part of the lower two rows, characters of a group of vowels obtained by classifying an alphabet character string by a Chinese phonetic system are arranged, but “aeiu” which is a basic vowel character of the alphabet. Is different from the vowel part of the vowel character vowel array shown in FIG.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, 23 letters of the alphabet are written on the first to sixth keys 21 to 26 of the input keyboard 7 in the present embodiment. Similar to the arrangement, it is based on the bopomof classification in which Chinese pronunciation is classified by the shape of the tongue and lips. Bopomofo classification is classified into lip sound (b p m f), tongue tip sound (d t n l), tongue root sound (g k h), curled tongue sound (zh ch sh r) and tongue tooth sound (z c s). It is a phonetic system and is an array that most accurately classifies Chinese consonants. In addition, although the alphabets from the 7th to 0th and # 27 to 31 are written with 5 letters, they are representative characters of the vowel group starting with “a ei ou”.

  As described above, the touch panel display 2 serving as the input display unit 11 functions as the touch panel type input keyboard 7 on which a plurality of keys for inputting character data are displayed. The input display unit 11 has at least three types of input methods as input methods. The first input method is a one-touch method in which a target key on the input keyboard 7 is touched and released. The second input method is a horizontal drag method in which the target key is moved in either the left or right direction while touching the target key. The third input method is a vertical drag method in which the target key is moved upward or downward while touching the target key.

  The control unit 12 stores the input signals from the input display unit 11 by the first, second, and third input methods in the temporary storage unit 14 and also displays character data of characters corresponding to these input signals. 11 is displayed on the touch panel display 2. For the definition of the horizontal drag and the vertical drag, as shown by the black arrows in FIG. 7, the left and right directions are the left drag and the right drag, and the upward and downward directions are respectively directed toward the front of the input keyboard 7. Are referred to as up drag and down drag, respectively.

  When an input signal by the first input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any key among the first to sixth keys 21 to 26 of the consonant part in the upper two rows of the input keyboard 7, the selected one is selected. Character data of only one character assigned to each key as a primary key is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Specifically, for the keys 21 to 26 from No. 1 to No. 6, as shown in FIG. 5, “b”, “d”, “g”, “j”, “zh” “ “z” is a main key of each of the keys 21 to 26 and is a character input by the first input method. If any of these keys 21 to 26 is touched and released without moving, “b” is used for the first key 21, “d” is used for the second key 22, “g” is used for the third key 23, 4 The number key 24 can input the character data of “j”, the number 25 key “zh” and the number 6 key 26 “z” with one touch.

  On the other hand, when an input signal according to the first input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any key among the 7th to 0th and # keys 27 to 31 of the vowel part of the lower two rows of the input keyboard 7, Character data of only one character assigned as the main key to the selected key is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Specifically, for the keys 27 to 31 of No. 7 to No. 0 and “#”, as shown in FIG. Are the main keys of the respective keys 27 to 31 and are characters input by the first input method. If any of the keys 27 to 31 is touched and released without moving, “a” is used for the 7th key 27, “e” is used for the 8th key 28, “i” is used for the 9th key 29, 0 “O” can be input with one touch with the key 30 and “u” with the # key 31.

  Also, when an input signal by the second input method or the third input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any key among the consonant keys 21 to 26 in the upper two rows of the input keyboard 7, it is selected. Character data of characters assigned to the keys and their input methods, ie, the second input method or the third input method, are stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 8, if the first key 21 is touched and left dragged, the character “p” appears. If right dragged, the character “m” appears, and if dragged up, the character “m” appears. , The character “f” is input. Similarly, if the second key 22 is left dragged, right dragged or up dragged, “t”, “n”, and “l” respectively, and if the third key 23 is left dragged or right dragged, “k”, respectively. If “h” is left dragged, right dragged or up dragged with the 4th key 24, “q”, “x”, “y” respectively left dragged, right dragged or up dragged with the 5th key 25. If “ch”, “sh”, and “r” are respectively left dragged, right dragged, or dragged upward, “c”, “s”, and “w” are respectively input. The character array used for input in the first, second, and third input methods is a basic array.

  On the other hand, the characters “a”, “e”, “i”, “#” that can be input by the first input method are applied to the 7th to 0th and # keys 27 to 31 in the vowel part of the lower two rows of the input keyboard 7. Character expansion arrays that can be input by the second input method or the third input method are assigned to the basic arrays of “o” and “u”, respectively. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing the relationship between the basic arrangement and the development arrangement, and FIGS. 10 and 11 are explanatory diagrams showing examples of the arrangement of keys of the vowel part.

  For example, as shown by the black arrow in FIG. 10, when the seventh key 27 is touched and left dragged, the expanded array (a-1) appears, and when dragged down, the expanded array (a-2) appears. ) Appears and right dragging, the expanded arrangement (a-3) is displayed on the touch panel display 2. Similarly, if the eighth key 28 is left dragged, down dragged or right dragged, the expanded array (e-1) (e-2) or (e-3) is left dragged the ninth key 29, respectively. When dragging down or right, the expanded sequence (i-1) (i-2) or (i-3) is respectively expanded. When the key 30 is dragged left, down, or dragged right, the expanded sequence ( o-1) If (o-2) or (o-3) is left dragged, down dragged or right dragged with the # key 31, the expanded sequences (u-1) (u-2) or (u- 3) is displayed on the touch panel display 2 respectively. A target vowel can be input by selecting a desired vowel from these expanded arrangements and touching it. Note that (a-1), (a-2), (a-3), and the like shown in FIG. 11 are expanded arrangements such as (a-1), (a-2), and (a-3) in FIG. Show. As shown in FIG. 11, in each expansion array, a character string having a vowel character assigned to the selected key as the first character is expanded. For example, in the case of the vowel “a”, as shown in (a-1), (a-2), and (a-3) of FIG. 11, the character strings “ai” “ao” with the vowel “a” as the first character are displayed. “A”, “ang”, and “an” are expanded and displayed.

  In this way, the input signal by the second input method or the third input method is sent to the control unit 12 by the key selected from the 7th to 0th and # keys 27 to 32 in the lower two rows of the input keyboard 7. , The character string having the vowel character assigned to the selected key as the first character is expanded and displayed on the input keyboard 7 as shown in FIG. By touching the key, only character data corresponding to the touched key is stored in the temporary storage unit 14.

  It should be noted that when the character data has an order in which it is easy to memorize, it is desirable to arrange the developed array according to a rule that is visually recognized and easy to memorize. In addition, when character data has a priority order such as appearance frequency and usage frequency, the character data may be arranged in a different order. The reason is to reduce the fingering range and increase the input speed in selecting frequently used character data. In addition, the second, third, and nth basic arrays can be set using a key different from the key group arranged in the basic array. A development array can be set for each of the basic arrays, and character data of secondary selection candidates can be arranged for each of the development arrays.

  Next, the operation of the input device according to this embodiment will be described based on the flowcharts of FIGS. FIG. 12 is an operation flow diagram of the input device according to the present embodiment, FIG. 13 is a flowchart of character input processing using the consonant key of FIG. 12, and FIG. 14 is a flowchart of character input processing using the vowel key of FIG. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 12, in the input device according to the present embodiment, first, character input processing (S100) is performed using the first to sixth keys 21 to 26 of the consonant part of the input keyboard 7. As shown in FIG. 13, in the character input process (S100), the control unit 12 determines whether or not there is a key touch (S101) on the touch panel display 2, and if there is a touch, identifies the selected key and coordinates it. Is stored in the temporary storage unit 14 as the first input signal (S102). After that, if the key is released from the touch surface at that position (S103), the control unit 12 determines that the target character is the character of the primary key assigned to the selected key (S104), and corresponds. The character data of the primary key character L1 is stored in the temporary storage unit 14 as consonant group character data (S105).

  On the other hand, if the key is not released and is dragged horizontally or vertically from the key coordinates stored in the temporary storage unit 14 in S102 (S106), the control unit 12 assigns the target character to the selected key and drag direction. The character data of the corresponding character L2 is selected as the character data of the consonant group (S108) and stored in the temporary storage unit 14 (S109).

  Returning to FIG. 12, next, character input processing (S200) is performed using the 7th to 0th and # keys 27 to 31 of the vowel part of the input keyboard 7. As shown in FIG. 14, in the character input process (S200), the control unit 12 determines whether or not there is a key touch (S201) on the touch panel display 2. If there is a touch, the selected key is identified and its coordinates are set. Is stored in the temporary storage unit 14 as the first input signal (S202). Thereafter, when the key is released from the touch surface at that position (S203), the control unit 12 determines that the target character is the character of the primary key assigned to the key assigned to the selected key (S204). The character data of the corresponding primary key character L1 is stored in the temporary storage unit 14 as character data of the vowel group (S205).

  On the other hand, if the key is not released and is dragged horizontally or vertically from the coordinates of the main key stored in the temporary storage unit 14 in S202 (S206), the control unit 12 indicates that the target character data is a character other than the main key. And the corresponding expanded arrangement is displayed as described above (S207). Then, when the secondary selection is performed by touching the position of the character to be selected from the expanded arrangement (S208), the character L2 selected in the expanded arrangement at that position is received using this key touch as the second input signal. Is stored in the temporary storage unit 14 as character data of the vowel group (S209).

  Returning to FIG. 12, next, the control unit 12 searches the dictionary storage unit 13 (S300), and corresponds to a combination of consonant group character data and consonant group character data stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Word data is acquired and confirmed as an input word (S400). The dictionary storage unit 13 stores Chinese Pinyin words previously formed by combining character data of consonant groups, character data of vowel groups, and characters of these consonant groups and vowel groups. Is stored.

  For example, in Chinese, “vote” is expressed as “piao” in Pinyin. However, when synthesizing and inputting consonant “p” and vowel “ioo”, first, 1 of the consonant part of the input keyboard 7 is input. The number key 21 is left-dragged to determine the character “p”. Next, by dragging down the number 9 key 29, an expanded sequence (i-2) appears in FIG. 11. By selecting “ioo” from among them, the Chinese formed by the combination of these characters is displayed. The word “piao” can be entered.

  As described above, in the input device according to the present embodiment, the Pinyin array is classified into a consonant group and a vowel group as a basic Chinese array, the consonant groups are arranged according to Chinese-specific pronunciation classification, and the vowel groups are classified alphabetically. By sorting, it is possible to select characters intuitively, and it is possible to easily input all Chinese Pinyin words.

  It is desirable that the character data of the vowel characters be arranged so that characters with high appearance frequency can be easily pressed. Table 1 shows the number of consonant occurrences and Table 2 shows the number of vowel appearances as reference data based on statistics investigated from about 20,000 characters.

  In accordance with Table 1 and Table 2, the expanded arrangement is related to rules that are easy to visually recognize and memorize related characters or phrases that can be associated with primary key characters or important characters, or priority such as frequency of use. If character groups are arranged in consideration of the order, character data can be selected and input more efficiently.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a description will be given of an input device using a diacritic character arrangement as a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing a basic arrangement of an input keyboard based on a phonetic letter arrangement according to the second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 16 is an explanatory view showing an example of a key arrangement of the vowel part in FIG. 15 corresponds to FIG. 5 described above, and FIG. 16 corresponds to FIG. 11 described above.

  The input keyboard 40 shown in FIG. 15 has the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, Each of the keys No. 9, No. 0 and No. # 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51 has a phonogram base array in which a plurality of character data is assigned. ing. Similar to the above, this phonetic alphabet arrangement configuration is based on the phonetic alphabet arrangement originally used mainly in Taiwan (see FIG. 6). Also, the character data of only the character “?” Is assigned to the key 52 of *. The numbers of the keys 41 to 50 and the symbols of the keys 51 and 52 are not displayed.

  In the input keyboard 40 shown in FIG. 15, the six keys 41 to 46 in the upper two rows are arranged as consonant parts in which alphabetical strings of consonants are classified by a Chinese phonetic system and replaced with phonograms. Two rows of five keys 47 to 51 are arranged as a vowel part obtained by classifying an alphabet character string by a Chinese phonetic system and replacing it with a phonogram. For the consonant keys 41 to 46, when an input signal according to the first input method described above is sent to the control unit 12, the character data of only one character assigned as the main key to the selected key is temporarily stored. Stored in the unit 14. As shown in FIG. 15, the main key is a character that is depicted slightly larger at the lower center of each of the keys 41 to 46.

  Further, when an input signal by the second input method or the third input method is sent to the control unit 12 by an arbitrary key among the consonant keys 41 to 46, the selected key and its input method, that is, the first input method. Character data of characters respectively assigned to the second input method or the third input method is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Characters input by left drag, right drag, and up drag are characters written slightly smaller on the left, right, and upper portions of the keys 41 to 46, respectively.

  On the other hand, when an input signal according to the first input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any of the vowel keys 47 to 51 in the lower two rows of the input keyboard 40, the selected key is assigned to the main key. Is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. As shown in FIG. 15, the main key is a character that is largely indicated on each of the keys 41 to 46.

  In addition, for these keys 47 to 51, there are expanded character arrangements that can be input by the second input method or the third input method with respect to the characters of the primary key that can be input by the first input method. Assigned. If the key 47 is touched and left dragged, the expanded array (aa-1) shown in FIG. 16 appears. If dragged down, the expanded array (aa-2) appears, and if dragged right, the expanded array (aa-1) appears. -3) appears. Similarly, if the key 48 is left dragged, down dragged, or right dragged, the expanded sequence (ee-1) (ee-2) or (ee-3) is respectively dragged, and the key 49 is dragged left, down, or right dragged. For example, if the expansion sequence (ii-1) (ii-2) or (ii-3) is dragged left, down, or right, respectively, the expansion sequence (oo-1) (oo-2) Alternatively, if (oo-3) drags the key 51 left, down, or right, the expanded sequences (uu-1), (uu-2), and (uu-3) appear, respectively. Select a desired vowel from these expanded arrays and touch it to input the vowel.

  FIG. 17 and FIG. 18 show another arrangement example of the input keyboard based on the diacritic character arrangement. The input keyboard 60 shown in FIG. 17 has a key top arrangement of 3 columns and 4 rows, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, *, 0 Each of the keys 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 100, 200, and 300 of the number and # has a diacritic character arrangement in which a plurality of character data is allocated. . Similar to the above, this phonetic alphabet arrangement configuration is based on the phonetic alphabet arrangement originally used mainly in Taiwan (see FIG. 6). Note that the numbers and symbols of the keys 61 to 69, 100, 200, and 300 are not displayed.

  In the input keyboard 60 shown in FIG. 17, six keys 61 to 66 in the upper two rows are arranged as consonant parts, and five keys 67 to 72 in the lower two rows are arranged as vowel parts. For the consonant keys 61-66 and vowel keys 67-69 in the upper three rows of the input keyboard 60, when the input signal by the first input method is sent to the control unit 12, the selected key is selected. Character data of only one character assigned as the primary key is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. As shown in FIG. 17, the main key is a character that is shown slightly larger at the lower center of each of the keys 61 to 69.

  In addition, when an input signal by the second input method or the third input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any key among the consonant keys 61 to 66 and the vowel keys 67 to 69, the selected key is selected. The key and its input method, that is, character data of characters assigned to the second input method or the third input method are stored in the temporary storage unit 14. Characters input by left drag, right drag, and up drag are characters written slightly smaller on the left, right, and upper portions of the keys 61 to 69, respectively.

  On the other hand, when an input signal according to the first input method is sent to the control unit 12 by any key in the vowel keys 100, 200, 300 in the lower row of the input keyboard 40, the selected key is assigned to each of the selected keys. Character data of only one character assigned as the primary key is stored in the temporary storage unit 14. As shown in FIG. 17, the main key is a character that is largely indicated on each of the keys 100, 200, and 300.

  Further, in these keys 100, 200, and 300, character expansion arrays that can be input by the second input method or the third input method with respect to characters of the primary key that can be input by the first input method described above. Are assigned to each. If the key 100 is touched and left dragged, the expanded array 101 shown in FIG. 18 appears, if dragged down, the expanded array 102 appears, and if right dragged, the expanded array 103 appears. Similarly, if the key 200 is left dragged, down dragged, or right dragged, the expanded arrays 201, 202, and 203 are respectively displayed. If the key 300 is left dragged, down dragged, or right dragged, the expanded arrays 301, 302, 303 are respectively displayed. Each appears. A target vowel can be input by selecting a desired vowel from these expanded arrangements and touching it.

  Note that the pinyin input keyboard 7 in the first embodiment and the input keyboard keyboard 40 in the second embodiment touch a mode switching button (not shown) displayed on the touch panel display 2. By doing so, it can be switched.

(Embodiment 3)
In the first and second embodiments, Pinyin is divided into consonants and vowels. First, consonants are input, then vowels are input and synthesized to form one word. In this embodiment, the input device classifies words having the same first character of the word into groups, calls the group by inputting the first character, and selects and inputs a target word from the group.

  In the third embodiment, the key arrangement is the same as in the first embodiment, but by touching a mode switching button (not shown) displayed on the touch panel display 2, the pinyin arrangement in the first embodiment is input. The keyboard 7 can be switched. FIG. 19 to FIG. 24 show examples of expansion arrangements in the third embodiment of the present invention.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 19, if the first key 21 is touched and dragged down, an expanded arrangement of word groups starting with the letter “b” appears, and if dragged left, the letter “p” is changed. An expanded arrangement of word groups having the head appears, and if right dragged, an expanded array of word groups having the letter “m” at the top appears, and if dragged upward, an expanded array of word groups having the letter “f” at the beginning. Is set to appear on the touch panel display 2. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 20, if the second key 22 is dragged down, left dragged, right dragged, and dragged up, the word groups having “t”, “t”, “n”, and “l” at the head respectively. As shown in FIG. 21, if the third key 23 is dragged down, left dragged, right dragged, and up dragged, the word groups having “g”, “k”, and “h” at the head are respectively displayed. As shown in FIG. 22, when the fourth key 24 is down dragged, left dragged, right dragged, and up dragged, the word with “j”, “q”, “x”, and “y” at the beginning is displayed. As shown in FIG. 23, when the group No. 5 key 25 is dragged down, left dragged, right dragged, and dragged up, “zh”, “ch”, “sh”, and “r” are set at the head, respectively. Expanded distribution of word groups However, as shown in FIG. 24, if the sixth key 26 is dragged down, left dragged, right dragged, and dragged up, the word groups having “z”, “c”, “s”, and “w” at the head are respectively displayed. The expanded arrangement is set to appear on the touch panel display 2.

  In this manner, the target word can be directly selected and input from the expanded arrangement displayed on the touch panel display 2. For example, in the case of “piao”, if the first key 21 is left-dragged, an expanded arrangement of word groups having “p” at the head as shown in FIG. 19 appears, and “piao” can be directly selected from this. it can. According to the method of the second embodiment, at least 288 Pinyin words can be directly input.

  Table 3 shows Chinese “Guangzhou de qichechang” according to the conventional multi-tap input method, the input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and the conventional full keyboard (qwerty) input method. A comparison table is shown when the input is in pinyin. As can be seen from Table 3, in the input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the number of strokes can be input with 18 strokes, which is 43% compared with the conventional multi-tap 42 strokes. In addition, it can be seen that the input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention is faster than the fastest 21 hits of a full keyboard.

  The input device of the present invention is useful as a device for inputting character data such as characters and symbols to a mobile device such as a mobile phone or a mobile terminal. In particular, even in languages that are difficult to input in the order of arrangement of Roman alphabets, such as in non-Latin languages such as Chinese, classify them into consonants and vowels, and apply them by combining basic and expanded sequences. Is possible.

1 Mobile phone body 2 Touch panel display 3 Touch panel sensor circuit 4 Operation keys 5 CPU
6 Memory 7, 40, 60 Input keyboard 10 Input device 11 Input display unit 12 Control unit 13 Dictionary storage unit 14 Temporary storage unit 21-32, 41-52, 61-62, 100, 200, 300 key

Claims (5)

Dictionary storage for storing character data of characters of consonant groups, character data of characters of vowel groups, and word data of words formed by combinations of characters of the consonant groups and characters of the vowel groups And
A plurality of keys for inputting character data, each of which is assigned a plurality of characters, is divided into at least the consonant group and the vowel group, and arranged for each group. When one of the keys is selected and touched and released, moved left and right while touched, or moved up and down while touched, the selected key is selected. A touch panel type input display unit for inputting character data of a character assigned to the assigned key;
When the character data is input from the key of the consonant group and the character data is input from the key of the vowel group by the input display unit, the dictionary storage unit is searched, and the input consonant And a control unit that acquires and inputs word data corresponding to a combination of character data of the group and character data of the vowel group.   The input display unit is selected from any one of the keys of the vowel group, and is touched and released, moved and moved in the horizontal direction while being touched, or moved and moved in the vertical direction while being touched. Then, a character string starting from the vowel character assigned to the selected key is expanded and displayed, and when any one of the expanded character strings is selected, the selection is performed. The input device according to claim 1, wherein character data of a character string is input. The character data of the consonant group is character data of a consonant group obtained by classifying an alphabet string by a Chinese phonetic system,
The character data of the vowel group is character data of a vowel group obtained by classifying an alphabet string into a Chinese phonetic system,
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the word data is Pinyin word data. The character data of the consonant group is character data of a consonant group obtained by classifying an alphabet character string with a Chinese phonetic system and replacing it with a phonogram.
The character data of the vowel group is character data of a vowel group obtained by classifying an alphabet string with a Chinese phonetic system and replacing it with a phonogram.
The input device according to claim 1, wherein the word data is Pinyin word data replaced with a phonogram. Character data of consonant group characters, character data of vowel group characters, and word data of words formed by a combination of the consonant group characters and the vowel group characters are stored in the dictionary storage unit. Being remembered,
A plurality of keys for inputting character data and a plurality of characters assigned to each key are divided into at least the consonant group and the vowel group on the touch panel type input display unit. To arrange and display for each group,
Any one of the keys of the consonant group displayed on the input display unit is selected and touched and released, moved left and right while touched, or moved up and down while touched. Enter the character data of the character assigned to the selected key when moved,
Any one of the keys of the vowel group displayed on the input display unit is selected and touched and released, left touched and moved left or right, or touched up and down. Enter the character data of the character assigned to the selected key when moved,
The dictionary storage unit is searched based on the character data input from the key of the consonant group and the character data input from the key of the vowel group, and the character data of the consonant group and the input of the vowel An input method including acquiring and inputting word data corresponding to a combination of character data of groups.

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