JP2013114511A - Character input device and character input program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable large display of an image for a character input operation that is displayed in a display part when inputting kana characters, and make operator's operability better than ever before.SOLUTION: In an image-forming apparatus 1 equipped with a character input device, a vowel display control part 1031 sequentially switches a vowel image displayed in a display part 473 to other vowel images in accordance with a contact operation by an operator, and a consonant display control part 1032 sequentially switches a consonant image displayed in the display part 473 to other consonant images in accordance with the contact operation by the operator and displays the images. A designation receiving part 105 receives input of an instruction to designate a vowel shown in the vowel image displayed in the display part 473 and a consonant shown in the consonant image, and a character input receiving part 106 receives input of kana characters consisting of the vowel and the consonant for which the input is received.

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device and a character input program.

  Conventionally, when a character input is accepted in an image forming apparatus or the like, an image of a character that is an input candidate is displayed on the display unit, and the operator can display the image by a touch panel function provided in the display unit. A character input technique that detects a touch on a part and receives an input of a character indicated by the image is employed. As an apparatus adopting such a character input technique, for example, a key for assigning a plurality of kana characters to one key and designating and inputting a kana character according to the number of times the key is pressed is disclosed in Patent Document 1 below. The input device is shown. Patent Document 2 below discloses a key input device that displays a character button indicating each inputable kana character on a display screen of a display unit and receives input of a kana character corresponding to the character button pressed by an operator. It is shown.

JP-A-10-207608 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-158604

  However, the key input device disclosed in Patent Document 1 requires many key operations in order to designate and input one kana character. Moreover, since the key input device shown in Patent Document 2 displays many character buttons corresponding to each inputable kana character in a narrow display screen having a limited area, the size of each character button is small. There is a problem that it becomes smaller and it is difficult for the operator to operate the character buttons.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and can display a large image for character input operation displayed on the display unit when inputting kana characters. The purpose is to improve.

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a display unit for displaying an image,
An image storage unit that stores a vowel image provided for each vowel and a consonant image provided for each consonant;
A contact detection unit for detecting contact by an operator on the display screen of the display unit;
Switching display for displaying the vowel image by vowel on the display unit and sequentially switching the displayed vowel image to another vowel image when contact in the display area of the vowel image is detected by the contact detection unit A vowel display control unit for performing
Switching display for displaying the consonant images on the display unit according to consonants and sequentially switching the displayed consonant images to other consonant images when contact in the display area of the consonant images is detected by the contact detection unit A consonant display control unit,
An instruction to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed on the display unit by the consonant display control unit. A designated reception unit for receiving input from the operator;
A character input device including a character input receiving unit that receives input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants received by the instruction receiving unit.

The invention according to claim 4 provides a computer,
An image storage unit that stores a vowel image provided for each vowel and a consonant image provided for each consonant;
A contact detection unit for detecting contact by an operator on a display screen of a display unit included in the computer;
Switching display for displaying the vowel image by vowel on the display unit and sequentially switching the displayed vowel image to another vowel image when contact in the display area of the vowel image is detected by the contact detection unit A vowel display control unit for performing
Switching display for displaying the consonant images on the display unit according to consonants and sequentially switching the displayed consonant images to other consonant images when contact in the display area of the consonant images is detected by the contact detection unit A consonant display control unit,
An instruction to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed on the display unit by the consonant display control unit. A designated reception unit for receiving input from the operator;
It is a character input program that functions as a character input receiving unit that receives input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants received by the instruction receiving unit.

  In these inventions, the vowel display control unit and the consonant display control unit display the vowel image and the consonant image on the display unit, and when contact in the display area of the vowel image or the consonant image is detected by the contact detection unit, The contacted vowel image or consonant image is sequentially switched and displayed, and the designation receiving unit receives an instruction from the operator to specify each vowel and consonant corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit and the consonant image. The character input accepting unit accepts input of kana characters composed of the designated accepted vowels and consonants.

  For this reason, the operator visually recognizes both the vowel vowel image and the consonant consonant image constituting the character to be input on the display unit, and switches the display between the vowel image and the consonant image. When each vowel image corresponding to the desired vowel and the consonant image corresponding to the consonant are displayed, if an instruction for specifying the vowel and the consonant is input to the specification receiving unit, the pseudonym to be input You can specify characters.

  Thus, for example, by assigning a plurality of kana characters to one key and designating the kana characters according to the number of times the key is pressed, the kana characters to be input are designated. Therefore, since the number of operations required by the operator is reduced, the operation necessary for designating the kana character desired to be input is simplified.

  In the present invention, when the designation of the kana character to be input is accepted, the operator inputs the vowel image and the consonant image for specifying the kana character on the display screen of the display unit. A kana character can be specified. For this reason, many character buttons indicating each inputable kana character are displayed on the display screen of the display unit, and compared with the conventional key input that accepts the input of the kana character corresponding to the character button pressed by the operator. Since the number of images or keys that need to be arranged on the display screen of the display unit can be reduced and each image or key to be displayed can be displayed in a large size, the operator can easily operate the image or key.

Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the character input device according to claim 1, wherein the received characters that are received by the character input receiving unit are displayed on the display unit in the order of input reception. A display control unit;
An edit character accepting unit that accepts an instruction for designating a kana character to be edited among the kana characters displayed on the display unit by the accept character display control unit;
The vowel display control unit displays the vowel image indicating the vowels constituting the kana characters whose designation is received by the edited character receiving unit on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The consonant display control unit displays the consonant image indicating the consonant constituting the kana character whose designation is accepted by the edit character accepting unit on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The designation receiving unit receives an instruction from an operator to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed by the consonant display control unit. ,
The character input accepting unit accepts input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants accepted by the instruction accepting unit.

  In this invention, the vowel display control unit and the consonant display control unit display the respective vowel images and consonant images corresponding to the vowels and the consonants constituting the kana characters for the kana characters for which the designation is received by the edited character receiving unit. And the designation receiving unit receives instructions from the operator for designating each vowel and consonant corresponding to the displayed vowel image and consonant image. The operator can reduce the number of operations required for the operator to correct or change the kana character even when the kana character is once corrected or changed. Further, for example, when the erroneously input kana character “ra” is changed to the kana character “ta”, an operation of changing the consonant from “R” to “T” is sufficient. Conventionally, an operation for correcting a kana character once input is an operation of erasing the input kana character itself and re-inputting, but in the present invention, of the vowels or consonants constituting the kana character. It is possible to correct only those who need correction. For this reason, it is possible to further improve the operability of the operator by reducing the number of operations compared with the conventional operation.

Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the character input device according to claim 1, wherein an edit instruction for accepting an edit instruction for editing the kana character whose input is accepted by the character input accepting unit is received from an operator. Further comprising
The vowel display control unit, when the editing instruction is received by the editing receiving unit, the vowel image corresponding to the vowels constituting each kana character for which the input has been received by the predetermined number of characters. The display is switched and displayed in order,
The consonant display control unit displays the consonant image corresponding to the consonant constituting the kana character to which the vowel indicated by the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit belongs is displayed on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The designation receiving unit receives an instruction from the operator to specify a vowel indicated by the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit and a consonant indicated by the consonant image displayed by the consonant display control unit,
The character input accepting unit accepts input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants accepted by the instruction accepting unit.

  In this invention, when the editing reception unit receives an instruction to edit a kana character that has already been input from the operator, each of the vowel display control unit and the consonant display control unit that has received the input at this time Each of the vowel images and consonant images corresponding to the vowels and consonants constituting the kana characters is displayed on the display unit in order by a predetermined number of kana characters, and the above-described switching display is performed. The operator accepts an instruction for designating each vowel and consonant corresponding to the displayed vowel image and consonant image from the operator, so that the operator corrects the kana character even when the inputted kana character is corrected. Therefore, the number of operations required for the operator can be reduced.

  Further, for example, when the erroneously input kana character “ra” is changed to the kana character “ta”, an operation of changing the consonant from “R” to “T” is sufficient. Conventionally, an operation for correcting a kana character once input is an operation of erasing the input kana character itself and re-inputting, but in the present invention, of the vowels and consonants constituting the kana character It is possible to correct only those who need correction. For this reason, it is possible to further improve the operability of the operator by reducing the number of operations compared with the conventional operation.

  Further, in the case of the present invention, each vowel image and consonant image corresponding to the vowel and consonant of each kana character can be displayed on the display screen without the operator performing an operation of designating the character to be edited. Therefore, the operator can easily access the vowel image and the consonant image indicating the kana character to be corrected.

  According to the present invention, when inputting a kana character, an image for character input operation displayed on the display unit can be displayed in a large size, and the operability for the operator can be improved compared to the conventional case.

It is a front sectional view showing the structure of an image forming apparatus provided with a character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing a main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of character input processing by the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display part. (A)-(D) are figures which show an example of the display screen of a display part. It is a figure which shows the flow of operation when inputting the phrase "kiyoseramita" which consists of kana characters. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows the flow of operation in the case of editing the phrase "kiyoseramita" which consists of kana characters. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display part. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a first embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display part. It is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display part. (A) (B) is a figure which shows an example of the display screen of a display part. (A)-(D) are figures which show an example of the display screen of a display part.

  Hereinafter, a character input program, a character input device, and an image forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a front sectional view showing a structure of an image forming apparatus including a character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 is a multifunction machine having a plurality of functions such as a copy function, a printer function, a scanner function, and a facsimile function, and includes a character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The image forming apparatus 1 includes an apparatus main body 11 including an image forming unit 12, a fixing device 13, a paper feeding unit 14, a paper discharging unit 15, a document feeding unit 6, a document reading unit 5, and the like.

  The apparatus main body 11 includes a lower main body 111, an upper main body 112 disposed so as to face the lower main body 111, and a connecting portion 113 provided between the upper main body 112 and the lower main body 111. The connecting portion 113 is a structure for connecting the paper discharge portion 15 between the lower main body 111 and the upper main body 112 to each other. In FIG. And is L-shaped in a plan view. The upper body 112 is supported on the upper end portion of the connecting portion 113. The upper body 112 is provided with a document reading unit 5 and a document feeding unit 6.

  An operation unit 47 for inputting an operation instruction from an operator is provided on the front surface of the image forming apparatus 1. The operation unit 47 includes a display unit 473 formed of an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or the like.

  The document reading unit 5 includes a contact glass (document table) 161 mounted on the upper surface opening of the upper main body 112 and an openable / closable document presser for pressing the document placed on the contact glass 161. A cover 162 and a reading mechanism 163 that reads an image of a document placed on the contact glass 161 are provided. The reading mechanism 163 optically reads an image of a document using an image sensor such as a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), and generates image data.

  The document feeding unit 6 includes a document placing table 61 on which a document is placed, a document discharge unit 66 from which an image-read document is discharged, and a document transport mechanism 65. The document transport mechanism 65 includes a paper feed roller, a transport roller, and a paper reversing mechanism (not shown). The document transport mechanism 65 drives the paper feed roller and the transport roller to feed the document placed on the document placing table 61 one by one to a position facing the document reading slit 53, and passes the document reading slit 53 through the document reading slit 53. Then, after reading by the reading mechanism 163 is possible, the document is discharged to the document discharge unit 66. Further, the document transport mechanism 65 causes the paper reversing mechanism to reverse the document and to transport it again to a position facing the document reading slit 53, so that images on both sides of the document are read through the document reading slit 53. 163 enables reading.

  Further, the document feeding unit 6 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the upper body 112 so that the front side thereof can move upward. By moving the front side of the document feeder 6 upward to open the upper surface of the contact glass 161 as a document table, the user places a read document, for example, a book in a spread state, on the upper surface of the contact glass 161. It can be done.

  The lower main body 111 includes an image forming unit 12, a fixing device 13, and a paper feeding unit 14. The upper body 112 is provided with a document reading unit 5. The paper feed unit 14 has paper feed cassettes 142, 143, and 144 that can be inserted into and removed from the apparatus main body 11. Each of the paper feed cassettes 142, 143, and 144 contains a sheet bundle in which recording sheets (an example of a recording medium) are stacked.

  The image forming unit 12 performs an image forming operation for forming a toner image on the recording paper fed from the paper feeding unit 14. The image forming unit 12 is arranged in order from the upstream side to the downstream side in the traveling direction of the intermediate transfer belt 125, the magenta image forming unit 12M using magenta toner, and the cyan toner using cyan toner. The image forming unit 12C of yellow, the image forming unit 12Y for yellow using yellow toner, and the image forming unit 12Bk for black using black toner (hereinafter, when each image forming unit is described without distinction, Each of which is referred to as an “image forming unit 120”, and an intermediate transfer belt 125 stretched between a plurality of rollers such as a driving roller 125a (secondary transfer opposing roller) so as to be capable of running endlessly in the sub-scanning direction in image formation, The intermediate transfer belt 125 is a portion where the intermediate transfer belt 125 is stretched around the driving roller 125a. And a contact with the secondary transfer roller 210 on the outer peripheral surface 125.

  Each image forming unit 120 includes a photosensitive drum 121, a developing device 122 that supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 121, a toner cartridge (not shown) that contains toner, a charging device 123, an exposure device 124, a primary device. A transfer roller 126 and a drum cleaning device 127 are integrally provided.

  The photosensitive drum 121 forms an electrostatic latent image and a toner image along the electrostatic latent image on the peripheral surface thereof. The developing device 122 supplies toner to the photosensitive drum 121. Each developing device 122 is appropriately supplied with toner from the toner cartridge.

  The charging device 123 is provided immediately below the photosensitive drum 121. The charging device 123 uniformly charges the peripheral surface of each photosensitive drum 121.

  The exposure device 124 is provided below the photosensitive drum 121 and further below the charging device 123. The exposure device 124 irradiates the peripheral surface of the charged photosensitive drum 121 with laser light corresponding to each color based on image data input from a computer or the like or image data acquired by the document reading unit 5, and each photosensitive member. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the peripheral surface of the drum 121.

  The developing device 122 supplies toner to the electrostatic latent image on the peripheral surface of the photoconductive drum 121 rotating in the direction of the arrow and stacks the toner, and the toner corresponding to the image data is formed on the peripheral surface of the photoconductive drum 121. Form an image.

  The intermediate transfer belt 125 is disposed above the photosensitive drums 121. The intermediate transfer belt 125 is stretched between the driving roller 125a on the left side in FIG. 1 and the driven roller 125b on the right side in FIG. It is in contact.

  A primary transfer roller 126 is provided at a position facing each photosensitive drum 121 with the intermediate transfer belt 125 interposed therebetween. A transfer bias is applied to the primary transfer roller 126 by a transfer bias applying mechanism (not shown), and the primary transfer roller 126 transfers the toner image formed on the outer peripheral surface of each photosensitive drum 121 to the intermediate transfer belt 125. Transfer to the surface.

  The control unit 100 (FIG. 2) drives and controls the primary transfer roller 126 and the image forming unit 120 for each color, and the magenta toner formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 by the magenta image forming unit 12M. The image transfer, the transfer of the cyan toner image formed by the cyan image forming unit 12C at the same position of the intermediate transfer belt 125, and the yellow image forming unit 12Y at the same position of the intermediate transfer belt 125 are then performed. The transfer of the formed yellow toner image and the transfer of the black toner image formed by the final black image forming unit 12Bk are performed so that the toner images of the respective colors overlap each other. Are formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 (intermediate transfer (primary transfer)).

  A transfer bias is applied to the secondary transfer roller 210 by a transfer bias applying mechanism (not shown). The secondary transfer roller 210 transfers the color toner image formed on the surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 onto the recording paper conveyed from the paper supply unit 14. The secondary transfer roller 210 is provided in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 in the sheet conveyance path 190 where the intermediate transfer belt 125 is stretched around the drive roller 125a. The secondary transfer roller 210 forms a nip portion N where the toner image is secondarily transferred onto the recording paper, with the intermediate transfer belt 125 and the drive roller 125a. The recording sheet conveyed through the sheet conveying path 190 is pressed and sandwiched between the intermediate transfer belt 125 and the secondary transfer roller 210 at the nip portion N, where the toner image on the intermediate transfer belt 125 is secondarily transferred to the recording sheet. The Note that a registration roller 630 is disposed on the upstream side of the nip portion N between the secondary transfer roller 210 and the driving roller 125a in the conveyance direction of the recording paper by the conveyance roller 192.

  The drum cleaning device 127 is provided on the left side of each photoconductive drum 121 in FIG. 1, and removes residual toner on the peripheral surface of the photoconductive drum 121 for cleaning. The peripheral surface of the photosensitive drum 121 cleaned by the drum cleaning device 127 goes to the charging device 123 again for a new charging process.

  A sheet conveyance path 190 extending in the vertical direction is formed at the left position in FIG. 1 with respect to the image forming unit 12. A conveyance roller 192 is provided at an appropriate position on the sheet conveyance path 190. The conveyance roller 192 conveys the recording paper fed from the paper supply unit 14 toward the nip N and the fixing device 13. That is, the recording paper is transported by a transport mechanism including transport rollers 192 disposed at the appropriate place.

  The fixing device 13 includes a heating roller 132 provided with an energization heating element as a heating source therein, and a pressure roller 134 disposed to face the heating roller 132. The fixing device 13 applies heat from the heating roller 132 to the toner image on the recording paper transferred by the image forming unit 12 while the recording paper passes through the fixing nip portion between the heating roller 132 and the pressure roller 134. To give a fixing process. The recording sheet on which the color image has been formed after the fixing process is completed is discharged toward a discharge tray 151 provided on the top of the lower main body 111 through a discharge conveyance path 194 extending from the upper part of the fixing device 13. The

  A cleaning unit 22 is provided at a position facing the outer peripheral surface of the intermediate transfer belt 125 stretched around the driven roller 125b.

  The sheet feeding unit 14 includes a manual feed tray 141 that can be freely opened and closed on the right side wall in FIG. 1 of the apparatus main body 11, and a sheet feeding cassette 142 that is detachably mounted at a position below the exposure apparatus 124 in the lower body 111. , 143, 144.

  The manual feed tray 141 is a tray that is provided at a lower position on the right surface of the lower main body 111 and feeds recording paper toward the image forming unit 12 by a manual feed operation. The paper feed cassettes 142, 143, and 144 store a sheet bundle in which a plurality of recording sheets are stacked. A pick-up roller 145 is provided above the paper feed cassette 142, and the pick-up roller 145 feeds the uppermost recording paper in the paper bundle stored in the paper feed cassettes 142, 143, and 144 toward the paper transport path 190. .

  The paper discharge unit 15 is formed between the lower main body 111 and the upper main body 112. The paper discharge unit 15 includes a discharge tray 151 formed on the upper surface of the lower main body 111. The discharge tray 151 is a tray in which the recording paper on which the toner image is formed by the image forming unit 12 is discharged after the fixing process is performed by the fixing device 13.

  Next, the electrical configuration of the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the main internal configuration of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The image forming apparatus 1 includes a control unit 10. The control unit 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM, a ROM, a dedicated hardware circuit, and the like, and controls overall operation of the image forming apparatus 1.

  The control unit 10 includes a document reading unit 5, an image processing unit 31, an image memory 32, a paper transport unit 411, an image forming unit 12, an operation unit 47, a facsimile communication unit 71, a network interface unit 91, an HDD (hard disk drive) 81, and the like. Connected with. The control unit 10 performs operation control of each of the connected mechanisms and transmits / receives a signal or data to / from each mechanism.

  The control unit 10 includes a control unit 100 that controls overall operation of the image forming apparatus 1 described above. The control unit 100 executes operation control for each function of the scanner function, the printer function, the copy function, and the printer function in accordance with a job execution instruction input from the user through the operation unit 47 or a personal computer connected via a network. It controls the drive and processing of each mechanism necessary for the operation.

  The document reading unit 5 includes a scanner unit 51 including the reading mechanism 163 having an image irradiation lamp 511 and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor 512. The document reading unit 5 irradiates the document with the image irradiation lamp 511 and receives the reflected light with the CCD sensor 512 to read the image from the document.

  The image processing unit 31 performs image processing on the image data of the image read by the document reading unit 5 as necessary. For example, the image processing unit 31 performs predetermined image processing in order to improve the quality after the image read by the document reading unit 5 is formed by the image forming unit 12.

  The image memory 32 stores image data read by the document reading unit 5.

  The paper transport unit 411 includes the pickup roller 145 and the transport roller 192 shown in FIG. 1, and records the recording paper stored in the manual feed tray 141 and the paper feed cassettes 142 and 143 to the image forming unit 12 and the discharge tray 151. Transport.

  As described above, the image forming unit 12 includes the image forming units 12M, 12C, 12Y, and 12Bk, the intermediate transfer belt 125 stretched around the driving roller 125a, and the secondary transfer roller 210. Image data to be output by the image forming unit 12 is transmitted from image data read by the document reading unit 5, image data transmitted from a client computer or the like in the local area via the network interface unit 91, and the like. Image data. Note that the image forming unit 12 illustrated in FIG. 2 also includes the fixing device 13.

  The operation unit 47 includes a touch panel unit and operation key units that receive instructions from the user regarding various operations and processes that can be executed by the image forming apparatus 1. The touch panel unit is provided as a contact detection unit 102 in a display portion of the display unit 473 provided in the operation unit 47, and detects contact by the operator on the display screen of the display unit 473 together with the contact position. When the touch panel unit detects contact by the operator, the touch panel unit outputs a detection signal indicating the contact to the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 described later.

  The facsimile communication unit 71 includes an unillustrated encoding / decoding unit, modulation / demodulation unit, and NCU (Network Control Unit), and performs facsimile transmission using a public telephone network. For example, the facsimile communication unit 71 transmits image data of a document read by the document reading unit 5 to a facsimile device or the like via a telephone line, or receives image data transmitted from the facsimile device or the like.

  The HDD 81 stores image data read by the document reading unit 5 and the like. The image data stored in the HDD 81 is used for image formation by the image forming unit 12 and can be transmitted to a client computer connected to the image forming apparatus 1 via a network.

  The network interface unit 91 includes a communication module such as a LAN board, and transmits / receives various data to / from a device (such as a personal computer) in the local area via the LAN connected to the network interface unit 91.

  The control unit 10 further includes a display control unit 103, a designation receiving unit 105, a character input receiving unit 106, an edited character receiving unit 108, and an editing receiving unit 109. The CPU operates in accordance with a character input program according to an embodiment of the present invention stored in the memory or ROM in the control unit 10 or the HDD 81 or the like, and functions as these units. Alternatively, the control unit 10 may function as each unit by including a dedicated hardware circuit corresponding to each unit. However, the vowel display control unit 1031, the consonant display control unit 1032, and the received character display control unit 1033, which will be described later, may be configured by one display control unit that also serves as each of these display control units. It is good also as the structure which the control part 100 serves as.

  The display control unit 103 manages display control of the display unit 473. The display control unit 103 includes a vowel display control unit 1031, a consonant display control unit 1032, and an acceptance character display control unit 1033.

  The vowel display control unit 1031 causes the display unit 473 to display a vowel image indicating a vowel among vowels and consonants that form a kana character. That is, each kana character is composed of a combination of vowels and consonants (for example, the kana character “ka” is composed of consonant “K” and vowel “a”), but the vowel is “a”. , “I”, “u”, “e”, “o”, and the vowel display control unit 1031 selectively causes the display unit 473 to display a vowel image indicating each of the vowels. The vowel display control unit 1031 switches the vowel image being displayed to a vowel image indicating another vowel of the next candidate when receiving a detection signal indicating contact in the display region of the vowel image by the display unit 473 from the touch panel unit. By displaying the vowel images, the vowel images prepared for each vowel are sequentially switched and displayed on the display unit 473.

  The consonant display control unit 1032 causes the display unit 473 to display a consonant image indicating a consonant among the vowels and consonants that form the kana character. As described above, each kana character is composed of a combination of vowels and consonants, and the consonants are K (consonant of "ka" line), S (consonant of "sa" line), T ("ta" line). ), N (consonant of “Na” row), H (consonant of “ha” row), M (consonant of “ma” row), Y (consonant of “ya” row), R (“ra” row) ), W (consonant of “Wa” row), G (consonant of “ga” row), Z (consonant of “za” row), D (consonant of “de” row), B (“b” row) Consonant), NN (corresponding to “n”), and the like, and the consonant display control unit 1032 selectively causes the display unit 473 to display consonant images indicating the respective consonant. When the consonant display control unit 1032 receives a detection signal indicating contact in the display region of the consonant image on the display unit 473 from the touch panel unit, the consonant display control unit 1032 switches the displayed consonant image to a consonant image indicating another consonant of the next candidate. By displaying, consonant images prepared for each consonant are sequentially switched and displayed on the display unit 473.

  The designation receiving unit 105 receives a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit 473 by the vowel display control unit 1031 and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed on the display unit 473 by the consonant display control unit 1032. An instruction to be specified is received from the operator. By an operation of the operation unit 47 by the operator, an instruction to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image being displayed and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image is input to the operation unit 47, and the designation receiving unit 105 receives the instruction.

  The character input receiving unit 106 receives input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants received by the designation receiving unit 105. That is, the character input receiving unit 106 specifies a kana character composed of a vowel and a consonant received by the designation receiving unit 105, and receives an input of the specified kana character.

  The received character display control unit 1033 displays the kana characters received by the character input receiving unit 106 on the display unit 473 in the order of reception. That is, the received character display control unit 1033 displays the received kana characters on the display unit 473 in the order of reception, thereby causing the display unit 473 to display a phrase composed of a kana character or a kana character group input by the operator.

  The edit character accepting unit 108 accepts an instruction for designating a kana character to be edited from among the kana characters displayed on the display unit 473 by the accepted character display control unit 1033 from the operator. For example, when the received character display control unit 1033 is displaying the phrase composed of each kana character received by the character input receiving unit 106 on the display unit 473, each of the operations can be performed by operating the operation unit 47 by the operator. When an instruction to specify a specific character from a kana character is input, the edited character receiving unit 108 receives the character specified by the instruction as an editing target.

  The edit receiving unit 109 receives an instruction to edit each kana character received by the character input receiving unit 106 from the operator. For example, when the received character display control unit 1033 is displaying the phrase composed of the kana character or the kana character group received by the character input receiving unit 106 on the display unit 473, the operator can operate the operation unit 47 to When an editing instruction for editing a kana character or a kana character group is input, the edit receiving unit 109 receives the editing instruction. The vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032, when the editing reception unit 109 receives the editing instruction, convert each kana character forming the word into a vowel and consonant of each character for each predetermined number of characters. A vowel image and a consonant image corresponding to are displayed on the display unit 473.

  Each image data of the vowel image and the consonant image is included in the character input program, and is stored in the HDD 81 when the character input program is stored in the HDD 81. The vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 read image data of the vowel image or the consonant image that the vowel display control unit 1031 displays from the HDD 81 as necessary. For this reason, when the character input program is installed in the HDD 81, a partial storage area of the HDD 81 functions as an image storage unit that stores vowel images and consonant images.

  A character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a touch detection unit (touch panel unit) 102, a vowel display control unit 1031, a consonant display control unit 1032, a designation reception unit 105, a character input reception unit 106, and an image storage unit. It is equipped with. The character input device further includes any one of (1) an accepted character display control unit 1033 and an edited character accepting unit 108 or (2) an edit accepting unit 109 as long as necessary in each embodiment described later.

  Next, a first embodiment of character input processing by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of character input processing by the image forming apparatus 1. 4 and 5A to 5D are diagrams illustrating examples of display screens of the display unit 473. FIG.

  When the image forming apparatus 1 waits for an instruction from the operator after the power switch is turned on, the display control unit 103 causes the display unit 473 to display a start screen D1 as shown in FIG. (S1). In the start screen D1, when the operator presses the character input button d11, an instruction to input characters (an instruction to switch display to the character input screen) from the operator is displayed on the operation unit 47 by the touch panel unit of the display unit 473. (YES in S2), the display control unit 103 displays a character input screen D2 (FIG. 5A) that accepts character input from the operator (S3). This character input is performed, for example, in order to give a file name to a file made up of the image data when the document image data obtained by reading by the document reading unit 5 is stored in a storage unit of a personal computer on the network. Is called. However, it is not intended to limit the character input in the present invention to this example.

  The character input screen D2 is a screen for accepting input of kana characters one character at a time and guiding an operation for the input to the operator. The character input screen D2 includes a vowel image d21, a consonant image d22, an arrow key d23, an arrow key d24, a Back Space key d25, and a character type display image d26.

  The vowel image d21 is an image that displays vowels that are input candidates to the operator in order to receive an instruction to display a desired vowel from the operator among the vowels and consonants that constitute the input kana character. . The vowel image d21 is read from the HDD 81 by the vowel display control unit 1031 and displayed on the display unit 473 as described above.

  The consonant image d22 is an image that displays consonants that are input candidates to the operator in order to receive an instruction to display a desired consonant from the operator among the vowels and consonants that form the input kana character. . The consonant image d22 is read from the HDD 81 by the consonant display control unit 1032 and displayed on the display unit 473 as described above.

  The arrow key d23 is for receiving an instruction to specify the vowel indicated by the vowel image d21 and the consonant indicated by the consonant image d22 displayed on the character input screen D2 when the operator performs a touch operation on the arrow key d23. It is an image. When the touch panel unit detects the contact by the contact operation of the arrow key d23 by the operator and the designation receiving unit 105 receives the detection signal indicating the contact from the touch panel unit, the touch panel unit displays the detection signal at this time on the display unit 473. The designation receiving unit 105 receives an instruction to specify the vowel indicated by the vowel image d21 and the consonant indicated by the consonant image d22.

  The arrow key d24 is an image for accepting an instruction for designating a character to be edited by the operator among kana characters already determined. When the touch panel unit detects the touch operation of the arrow key d24 by the operator and the edit character receiving unit 108 receives the detection signal from the touch panel unit, the edit character receiving unit 108 determines whether or not the edit character receiving unit 108 receives the detection signal. Of the kana characters arranged in the order received by the designation receiving unit 105, it is determined which character is to be edited. The arrow key d24 is used in the first and second embodiments of the editing process described later.

  The Back Space key d25 is an image for receiving an instruction to delete the kana characters arranged in the order received by the designation receiving unit 105 in order from the last character. When the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the Back Space key d25, and this touch operation is detected by the touch panel unit and a detection signal is output to the character input reception unit 106, the character input reception unit 106 Cancel the input acceptance of the character specified by the operation.

  The character type display image d26 is an image indicating the character type to be input.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, the character input screen D2 configured as described above is displayed over the entire display screen 4730 on the display of the display unit 473. As a result, a large display area is secured for each of the images d21 to d25 constituting the character input screen D2.

  When the touch panel unit detects contact by the operator in the display area of the consonant image d22 while the character input screen D2 is displayed (YES in S4), the consonant display control unit 1032 displays another consonant as a next candidate. Is displayed (S5). Alternatively, when the touch panel unit detects contact by the operator in the display area of the vowel image d21 while the character input screen D2 is displayed (YES in S4), the vowel display control unit 1031 is set as another candidate. A vowel image d21 indicating the vowel is displayed (S5).

  For example, in the character input screen D2, as shown in FIG. 5A, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 show “−” which does not indicate any vowel and consonant as a default screen by default. The displayed vowel image d21 and consonant image d22 are displayed on the display unit 473. Here, when the operator performs an operation of touching the display region of the consonant image d22 once on the display screen of the display unit 473, the touch is detected by the touch panel unit, and based on the detection signal from the touch panel unit, As shown in FIG. 5B, the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image d22K indicating the consonant “K” as the first consonant candidate.

  Further, each time the touch panel unit detects contact by the operator in the display area of the displayed consonant image d22K, the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image “S” that is the next candidate consonant image, “ A consonant image indicating “T”, a consonant image indicating “N”, a consonant image indicating “H”,... Are sequentially switched and displayed on the display unit 473. By interrupting the operation when the operator displays the desired consonant, the desired consonant can be displayed on the display unit 473. Note that the consonant display control unit 1032 starts displaying the consonant image d22K indicating the consonant “K” again after displaying the consonant image indicating the last candidate “NN”.

  Similarly, when the operator performs an operation of touching the display area of the vowel image d21 in which “-” not showing a consonant shown in FIG. 5B is shown by default, the touch is performed by the touch panel unit. Based on the detected signal from the touch panel unit, the vowel display control unit 1031 displays a vowel image d21a indicating the vowel “a” as the first vowel candidate as shown in FIG. 5C. To display.

  Furthermore, each time a touch by an operator in the display area of the displayed vowel image d21a is detected by the touch panel unit, the vowel display control unit 1031 displays a vowel image indicating “i” as the next candidate vowel, “u” , A vowel image indicating “e”, and a vowel image indicating “o” are sequentially switched and displayed on the display unit 473. Note that the vowel display control unit 1031 starts displaying the vowel image d21a indicating “a” again after displaying the vowel image indicating “o”. By interrupting the contact operation when the operator displays the desired vowel, the desired vowel can be displayed on the display unit 473.

  When the contact operation in the display area of the vowel image and the consonant image is repeated by the operator and the vowel image indicating the desired vowel and the consonant image indicating the consonant are displayed on the display unit 473 (NO in S6, and further in S4) YES, S5), when the operator touches the arrow key d23, and the designation accepting unit 105 accepts an instruction for designating the vowel indicated by the vowel image displayed on the display unit 473 and the consonant indicated by the consonant image at this time. (YES in S6), the character input receiving unit 106 specifies a kana character composed of the specified vowel and consonant, and receives an input of the specified kana character (S7). The received character display control unit 1033 displays the received character in the display area a1 on the character input screen D2 (S8).

  Although not shown in the figure, the display on the display unit 473 is left in the initial state of the vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22, and the vowel image and the consonant image indicating the vowel and the consonant as input candidates are displayed. If not (NO in S4, skip S5), the designation accepting unit 105 does not accept an instruction to designate a vowel and a consonant even if the operator touches the arrow key d23.

  For example, an operation when the operator inputs the kana character “ki” will be described. As shown in FIG. 5A, in the state where the vowel image d21 and consonant image d22 indicating the above “−” are displayed as the default character input screen D2, the operator sets the display area of the consonant image d22 to 1. When the contact operation is performed once, the consonant display control unit 1032 switches the consonant image d22 indicating “−” to the consonant image d22K indicating “K” as shown in FIG.

  Then, in the state shown in FIG. 5B, when the operator touches the display area of the vowel image d21 indicating “−” once, the vowel display control unit 1031 is as shown in FIG. 5C. The vowel image d21 indicating "-" is switched to the vowel image d21a indicating "a" and displayed. The display control unit 103 displays the kana character “ka” specified by the vowel image d21a and the consonant image d22K displayed at this time in the display area a1 together with the underline image indicating the uninput state. For example, the character input receiving unit 106 specifies the kana characters from the vowel image d21a and the consonant image d22K at this time.

  Further, when the operator performs another touch operation on the display area of the vowel image d21a, the vowel display control unit 1031 converts the vowel image d21a into the next candidate vowel “i” as shown in FIG. Is displayed by switching to a vowel image d21i. The display control unit 103 displays the kana character “ki” specified by the vowel image d21i and the consonant image d22K displayed at this time, together with the underline image indicating the uninput state, in the display area a1.

  In the state shown in FIG. 5D, when the operator touches the arrow key d23 and designates the vowel indicated by the vowel image d21i displayed on the display unit 473 and the consonant indicated by the consonant image d22K at this time (S6). ), The input of the kana character “ki” composed of the designated vowel and consonant is received by the character input receiving unit 106 (S7). At this time, as shown in FIG. 5 (E), the received character display control unit 1033 displays the kana character “ki” for which the input has been accepted without an underscore, and the input of the kana character “ki” is displayed. Shows completion. That is, the received character display control unit 1033 displays the kana characters whose input has been received by the character input receiving unit 106 in the display area a1 by the display without the underline (S8). At this time, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 display the vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22 indicating the above "-" as in the default character input screen D2.

  Here, when the operator performs an operation such as touching the display area of the arrow key d23 twice in succession, and the touch operation is detected by the touch panel unit, it is displayed in the display area a1 at this time. When an end instruction to end character input is entered (YES in S9), the character input process ends.

  On the other hand, if the end instruction is not input (NO in S9), the process returns to S4, and the processes after S4 are repeated for the next character input.

  Subsequently, for example, an operation for inputting the phrase “kiyoseramita” composed of kana characters will be described. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a flow of operations when inputting the phrase “kiyoseramita” composed of kana characters. This will be described with reference to FIG. 6 and FIG.

  First, the operator touches the vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22 shown in FIG. 5A as many times as necessary to input (1) the first kana character “ki”. The consonant “K” and the vowel “i” composing “ki” are displayed on the character input screen D2 of the display unit 473. (2) The arrow key d23 is touched in the displayed state and the consonant “K” is displayed. "And the vowel" i "are designated and the kana character" ki "is input.

  Similarly, the operator needs a vowel image d21 and a consonant image d22 for each of the other kana characters “yo”, “u”, “se”, “ra”, “mi”, and “ta” of the phrase “kiyoseramita”. The contact operation is performed the number of times, and the respective vowel images and consonant images indicating the consonants and vowels constituting the desired kana character are displayed on the character input screen D2 of the display unit 473, and the arrow key d23 is displayed in the displayed state. Is touched to input kana characters composed of the displayed vowel image and the consonant and vowel indicated by the consonant image ((3) to (14)).

  Thereafter, when the above-described termination instruction is input by the operator, the character input of the phrase “kiyoseramita” made up of the kana characters is completed.

  As described above, the operator visually recognizes both the vowel vowel image and the consonant consonant image constituting the character to be input on the display unit 473, and switches the display of the vowel image and the consonant image separately. When a vowel image and a consonant image corresponding to the desired vowel and consonant are displayed, an instruction for designating the vowel and the consonant is input to the designation receiving unit 105 to designate a desired kana character. Can be entered.

  Thus, for example, by assigning a plurality of kana characters to one key and designating the kana characters according to the number of times the key is pressed, the kana characters to be input are designated. Therefore, since the number of operations required by the operator is reduced, the operation necessary for designating the kana character desired to be input is simplified.

  Further, in the above input process, when accepting designation of a kana character as an input target, the operator only needs to display a vowel image and a consonant image for specifying the kana character on the display screen 4730 of the display unit 473. Can perform an operation for specifying the kana character. For this reason, many character buttons indicating each inputable kana character are displayed on the display screen of the display unit, and compared with the conventional key input that accepts the input of the kana character corresponding to the character button pressed by the operator, The number of images or keys that need to be arranged on the display screen 4730 of the display portion 473 can be reduced, and each image or key to be displayed can be displayed in a large size, so that the operator can easily operate the image or key. For example, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5E, the character input screen D2 includes a vowel image d21, a consonant image d22, an arrow key d23, an arrow key d24, a Back Space key d25, and a character type display image d26. In particular, it is sufficient to have a vowel image d21, a consonant image d22, and an arrow key d23 in order to specify a kana character. Therefore, these images are displayed on the display screen of the display unit 473. Large display is possible.

  Next, a first embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a first embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a flow of operations when editing a phrase “kiyoseramita” composed of kana characters. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the display unit 473.

  When a kana character is input by the character input process and each kana character for which the input is accepted is displayed in the display area a1 of the display unit 473 (S8 in FIG. 3, FIG. 9), for example, by the operator When the touch operation is detected by the arrow key d24 and the touch operation is detected by the touch panel unit, and the edit character receiving unit 108 receives the detection signal as an instruction to specify the character to be edited (YES in S12), the vowel display control is performed. The unit 1031 causes the display unit 473 to display a vowel image indicating the vowels constituting the designated kana character, and the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image indicating the consonant constituting the designated kana character. It is displayed on 473 (S13). Thereafter, the processes of S4 to S9 in the character input process shown in FIG. 4 are performed. In this editing process, however, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 receive input after the edited character after the input of the edited kana character. The input characters that are already entered are set as edit target characters, and the respective vowel images and consonant images indicating the vowels and consonants are displayed.

  An example of an operation performed by the operator during the editing process will be described with reference to FIG. For example, in a state where (i) each kana character of the phrase “kiyoseramita” is input and the character input screen D3 shown in FIG. 9 is displayed, (ii) the operator performs the touch operation once with the arrow key d24. Then, an instruction for designating the first kana character “ta” from the last character among the kana characters as an editing target is accepted by the edited character accepting unit 108. At this time, as shown in FIG. 8 (1), the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image indicating the consonant “T”, and the vowel display control unit 1031 displays a vowel image indicating the vowel “a”. . At this time, the display control unit 103 causes the display area a1 to display an underline at the portion of “TA” that is the editing target of the phrase “Kyosera mirama”, and the character of “TA” becomes the editing target. Is displayed (FIG. 8 (2)). In this state, the process proceeds to S4 to S9 shown in FIG. 4 to perform a character input process for changing the kana character “TA” to another character.

  Also, from the state (ii) above where the character “ta” is the object of editing, (iii) when the operator touches the arrow key d24 once more, the second kana character “ The edit character accepting unit 108 accepts an instruction for designating the character “”. At this time, the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image indicating the consonant “M”, and the vowel display control unit 1031 displays a vowel image indicating the vowel “i”. At this time, the display control unit 103 causes the display area a1 to display an underline in the portion of “mi” that is the editing target of the phrase “Kyosera mirama”, and the character of “mi” becomes the editing target. (FIG. 8 (3)). In this state, the process proceeds to S4 to S9 shown in FIG. 4 to perform a character input process for changing the kana character “mi” to another character.

  Similarly, each time the operator touches the arrow key d24, an instruction is given to move the character from the last character of the phrase “Kyoseramita” to the first character one by one to specify the kana character to be edited. Is received by the edited character receiving unit 108 ((iv)).

  Here, when the kana character “ra” of the phrase “Kyoseramita” is accepted for editing (FIG. 8 (4)), (v) the operator changes the kana character “ra” to the kana character “ In order to input the corrected character “ta”, the display area of the consonant image “R” indicating the consonant constituting the kana character “ra” is touched as many times as necessary, and the consonant “T” constituting the kana character “ta” is touched. ”Is displayed on the consonant display control unit 1032, and (vi) when the operator performs a touch operation on the arrow key d <b> 23, an instruction to specify the consonant“ T ”and the vowel“ a ”displayed at this time is displayed on the designation receiving unit 105, and the character input receiving unit 106 receives the input of the kana character “ta”. After receiving the input, the display control unit 103 moves the character to be edited by one character in the direction from the first character toward the last character, and changes the character to the newly edited kana character “mi”. Display the underline image.

  According to this editing process, when an operator performs editing to correct or change a kana character that has been input once, for example, of the vowel image and the consonant image, only the one that requires correction is contacted for correction. There may be cases where operation is sufficient. As described above, when correcting the erroneously input kana character “ra” to the kana character “ta”, it is sufficient to change the consonant from “R” to “T”, and no operation on the vowel is required. is there. Thus, conventionally, the operation for correcting a kana character once input has been an operation of deleting the input kana character and re-entering it. Of the vowels and consonants that make up, it is possible to correct or change only those that need correction. For this reason, it is possible to further improve the operability of the operator by reducing the number of operations compared with the conventional operation.

  In the above embodiment, the kana character to be edited is specified retroactively in the order from the last character that has been accepted to the first character among the input kana characters. The characters to be edited may be specified in the order from the first character to the last character.

  Next, a second embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus 1 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a second embodiment of character editing processing by the image forming apparatus 1. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the display unit 473.

  When a kana character is input by the character input process shown in FIG. 3 and each kana character for which the input has been accepted is displayed in the display area a1 of the display unit 473 (S8 in FIG. 3, FIG. 9), For example, when the arrow key d24 is touched by the operator, the touch operation is detected by the touch panel unit, and the detection signal is received by the edit receiving unit 109 as an editing instruction (YES in S32), the input is received. For a phrase consisting of a kana character, for example, “Kiyoseramita”, for each kana character for a predetermined number of characters in the order from the first character accepted to the last accepted character, The vowel display control unit 1031 displays the vowel image corresponding to each vowel constituting each kana character on the display unit 473, and the consonant image corresponding to each consonant is displayed. The consonant display control unit 1032 displays on the display unit 473 (S33).

  For example, when an edit instruction is accepted by the edit accepting unit 109, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 set the predetermined number of characters as two characters, as shown in FIG. Display the vowel image d21 corresponding to each vowel constituting each kana character of “ki” and “yo” for two characters from the first input of “Kiyoseramita”, and correspond to each consonant A character input screen D31 having a consonant image d22 to be displayed is displayed. In the character input screen D31, the display control unit 103 displays an image “KI” indicating each kana character to be edited in the display area a31, and displays an image “YO” in the display area a32. In addition, the display control unit 103 causes the character input screen D31 to display an arrow button d33 for accepting a display switching instruction for switching the display to the next kana character to be edited from the operator.

  When the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the arrow button d33 while the character input screen D31 is displayed, and the touch panel unit detects the contact operation, the detection signal from the touch panel unit is displayed and controlled. The part 103 accepts it as a display switching instruction (YES in S34), and the display control part 103 determines whether or not there is a kana character to be edited next (S42), and next kana to be edited. If there is a character (YES in S42), the display control unit 103 switches the display to a character input screen that displays vowels and consonants of a predetermined number of characters to be edited (S43). . Thereafter, the process proceeds to S35.

  If there is no kana character to be displayed next for editing (NO in S42), the process returns to S33, and the display control unit 103 preliminarily starts from the first character of the input phrase. A character input screen D31 for displaying vowel images d21 and consonant images d22 indicating vowels and consonants for a predetermined number of characters is displayed.

  In addition, when the character input screen D31 is displayed and the display switching instruction is not received by the display control unit 103 (NO in S34), the touch panel unit is operated by the operator in the display area of the consonant image d22. When contact is detected (YES in S35), the consonant display control unit 1032 displays a consonant image d22 indicating another consonant that is the next candidate (S36). Alternatively, when the touch panel unit detects contact by the operator in the display area of the vowel image with the character input screen D31 being displayed (YES in S35), the vowel display control unit 1031 is another candidate for the next candidate. A vowel image d21 indicating a vowel is displayed (S36). The processing of S35 and S36 is performed for each vowel image d21 and consonant image d22 of each kana character “ki” “yo” displayed as an editing target on the character input screen D31, for example. Note that S35 and S36 are the same processes as S4 and S5 shown in FIG.

  In this display state, the contact operation in the display area of the vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22 is repeated by the operator, and the vowel image d21 indicating the desired vowel and the consonant image d22 indicating the consonant are displayed on the display unit 473. (NO in S37, YES in S35, S36), the operator touches the arrow key d33, and the vowel indicated by the vowel image d21 and the consonant indicated by the consonant image d22 displayed on the display unit 473 at this time are displayed. When the designation accepting unit 105 accepts the designation instruction (YES in S37), the character input accepting unit 106 displays the kana characters composed of the designated vowels and consonants (in the present embodiment, two displayed characters). ) Is specified, and input of the specified kana character is accepted (S38). The received character display control unit 1033 sequentially displays each kana character shown in the process of S35 in the display areas a31 and a32 in the character input screen D31 (S39).

  After accepting the input of kana characters in S38, the display control unit 103 displays the character input screen D32 shown in FIG. 11B on the display unit 473, and the vowel display control unit 131 next displays it as an editing target. Are displayed as vowel images d21 corresponding to the vowels constituting “U” and “SE” following the already displayed “K” and “Y” kana characters, and the consonant display control unit 1032 The character input screen D31 having the consonant image d22 corresponding to the consonant is displayed (S40). In the character input screen D32, the display control unit 103 displays an image “U” indicating each kana character to be edited in the display area a31, and displays the image “SE” in the display area a32. The display control unit 103 also displays an arrow button d33 for accepting from the operator a display switching instruction for switching the display to the next kana character to be edited on the character input screen D32. However, in this case, if there is no next character to be displayed for editing, two characters (predetermined in the order from the first input accepted to the last accepted input) The vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22 for the kana characters (for the number of characters) are displayed on the display unit 473 by the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032.

  Here, the operator performs an operation such as touching the display area of the arrow key d23 twice in succession, and the touch panel unit detects the touch operation, and is displayed in the display areas a31 and a32 at this time. When an end instruction to end character input is entered (YES in S41), the character input process ends.

  On the other hand, if the end instruction is not input (NO in S41), the process returns to S34, and the processes after S34 are repeated to correct or change the kana character to be edited next.

  In the above processing, the character input screen is changed to a character input screen for editing another character by the display screen switching instruction in S34 and the display of the character input screen for the new character to be edited in S40. In this way, the display screen of the display unit 473 is changed to a character input screen for editing another character, and the processes of S35 to S40 are performed to correct or correct each character of the already input kana characters. It is possible to change. For example, in the above process, first, as shown in FIG. 11A, for the first two kana characters “ki” and “yo” of the phrase “kiyosera mirama” made up of input kana characters, A character input screen D31 having a vowel image d21 indicating a vowel and a consonant and a consonant image d22 is displayed. Thereafter, in accordance with an operation by the operator, the next two kana characters “Urayo” The character input screen D32 (FIG. 11B) having the respective vowel images d21 and consonant images d22 for “se” and the next two kana characters “ra” “mi” A vowel image d21 for the next two kana characters “ta” of the character input screen D33 (FIG. 11C) having each vowel image d21 and consonant image d22 for “”, and the phrase “kiyosera mirama”. And consonant image d22 Character input screen D34 with (FIG. 11 (D)) are sequentially displayed. When each character input screen is displayed, the operator performs an operation corresponding to the processing of S35 to S40, so that each kana character of the inputted phrase “Kiyoseramita” can be edited.

  In each of the character input screens D31 to D34, the display control unit 103 further displays an arrow key d34 for receiving from the operator a display switching instruction for switching the display to the previous kana character that was to be edited. When the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the arrow button d34 and the touch panel unit detects the contact operation, the display switching instruction is received by the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 and the vowel display is performed. The control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 determine whether or not there is a kana character that has been subject to editing prior to the reception of the display switching instruction, and the kana character that is to be edited before If present, the vowels and consonants of the kana characters corresponding to the predetermined number of characters to be edited (in this embodiment, two characters) are displayed respectively. Vowel image d21 and consonants image d22 of may be displayed on the display unit 473.

  In this case, if there is no previous kana character that has been the object of editing, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 use the final character of the word composed of the kana characters for which input is accepted, For the kana characters corresponding to the predetermined number of characters, the vowel images and d31 and consonant images d22 indicating the vowels and consonants constituting the kana characters are displayed on the display unit 473.

  In each of the character input screens D31 to D34, the display control unit 103 further includes an add button d35 for receiving an instruction to additionally input a kana character, and a delete button for receiving an instruction to delete the input kana character For example, when the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the add button d35 on the character input screen D31 illustrated in FIG. 11A and the touch panel unit detects the contact operation, the display control unit 103 is displayed. The character addition instruction is accepted, and the display control unit 103 displays a character input screen D35 for adding and inputting one character before the kana character on which the addition button d35 is arranged (FIG. 12). . When the character input screen D35 is displayed, a process of S35 to S39 is performed in accordance with an operation by the operator, so that a new phrase can be newly created before or after the word “kiyoseramita” composed of the input kana characters. Enables character input by adding characters.

  When the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the delete button d36 and the touch panel unit detects the contact operation, the character input reception unit 106 receives a deletion instruction to delete the character, and the character input reception unit 106 Deletes the kana character on which the delete button d36 is arranged. This makes it possible to delete unnecessary characters from the phrase “Kiyoseramami” made up of input kana characters with a simple operation.

  According to the second embodiment of the editing process, in addition to the same effects as those of the first embodiment described above, the operator does not perform an operation of designating characters to be edited in character units. However, since each vowel image and consonant image corresponding to the vowel and consonant of each kana character are sequentially switched and displayed on the display screen 4730 of the display unit 473, the operator can change the kana to be corrected or changed. It is possible to easily access vowel images and consonant images indicating characters.

  The present invention is not limited to the configuration of the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, in the above embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, the vowel display control unit 1031 and the consonant display control unit 1032 are displayed as default screens in S3 shown in FIG. The vowel image d21 and the consonant image d22 in which “-” not indicating any vowel and consonant is shown by default are displayed on the display unit 473, and the operator displays the vowel image d21 on the display screen of the display unit 473. When the operation of touching the region is performed once, the vowel display control unit 1031 displays the vowel image d21a indicating the vowel “a” as the first vowel candidate as shown in FIG. The operator first performs an operation of touching the display area of the consonant image d22, and the consonant display control unit 1032 as the first consonant candidate as shown in FIG. 13A as the character input screen D36. When displaying the consonant image d22K indicating the sound “K”, the vowel display control unit 1031 displays the vowel image d21a indicating the vowel “a” as the first vowel candidate without depending on the contact operation by the operator. It may be. In this character input screen D36, when the operator performs a contact operation in the display area of the vowel image d21a, for example, as shown as a character input screen D37 in FIG. When displaying the vowel image d21i of the vowel “i” that is a vowel candidate, the operation required to display the vowel image d21i is reduced. That is, when a consonant is specified, an operation for specifying a vowel is always required, and thus the vowel display control unit 1031 displays in advance a vowel image indicating a vowel as the first vowel candidate, The operation on the vowel image by the operator is reduced.

  In the above character input process, it is also possible to input lowercase kana characters, alphabetic characters, numbers, and symbols. For example, when accepting input of lowercase kana characters, the display control unit 103 displays “small hiragana” as the character type image d50 on the character input screen D5 shown in FIG. When the lowercase image d51 is displayed and the operation of touching the display area of the lowercase image d51 is performed once, the display control unit 103 sequentially switches the lowercase letter as the next input candidate and causes the lowercase image d51 to be displayed. When the operator performs a touch operation on the arrow key d23 when a desired lowercase letter is displayed, the character input accepting unit 106 accepts the input of the designated lowercase letter according to the contact operation detection signal from the touch panel part.

  Further, for example, when receiving input of alphabetic characters, the display control unit 103 displays “alphabetic characters” as the character type image d60 on the character input screen D6 shown in FIG. A switching acceptance image d61 for acceptance and an alphabetic image d62 for accepting input of alphabetic characters are displayed. When the operator performs an operation of touching the display area of the alphabetic image d62 once, the display control unit 103 sequentially switches the alphabetic character as the next input candidate in accordance with the detection signal of the touching operation from the touch panel unit. It is displayed on the English character image d62. In addition, when the operator performs an operation of touching the display area of the switching reception image d61 once, the character input reception unit 106 receives a switching instruction for uppercase and lowercase letters. When the operator touches the arrow key d23 when a desired alphabet is displayed and a desired character format (uppercase or lowercase) is displayed, the character input receiving unit 106 inputs an alphabetic character in the character format. Accept.

  Further, for example, when accepting the input of numbers, the display control unit 103 displays “number” as the character type image d70 on the character input screen D7 shown in FIG. When the number image d71 is displayed and the operator performs an operation of touching the display area of the number image d71 once, the display control unit 103 sequentially switches the number as the next input candidate to the number image d71. Display. When the operator performs a touch operation on the arrow key d23 when a desired number is displayed, the character input receiving unit 106 receives the input of the displayed number.

  Further, for example, when receiving an input of a symbol, the display control unit 103 displays “symbol” as the character type image d80 on the character input screen D8 shown in FIG. When the symbol image d81 is displayed and the operator performs an operation of touching the display area of the symbol image d81 once, the display control unit 103 sequentially switches the symbols as the next input candidates and displays the symbol image d81. Display. When the operator touches the arrow key d23 when a desired symbol is displayed, the character input accepting unit 106 accepts input of the displayed symbol.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is described as a multifunction peripheral, but the image forming apparatus according to the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the image forming apparatus according to the present invention may be a copier, a facsimile apparatus, a scanner apparatus, or the like.

  The configurations and processes shown in the above embodiments using FIGS. 1 to 14 are only one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations and processes.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image forming apparatus 10 Control unit 100 Control part 102 Contact detection part 103 Display control part 1031 Vowel display control part 1032 Consonant display control part 1033 Accepted character display control part 105 Specification reception part 106 Character input reception part 107 Acceptance character display control part 108 Edit Character Accepting Unit 109 Edit Accepting Unit 47 Operation Unit 473 Display Unit 4730 Display Screen

Claims (4)

A display for displaying an image;
An image storage unit that stores a vowel image provided for each vowel and a consonant image provided for each consonant;
A contact detection unit for detecting contact by an operator on the display screen of the display unit;
Switching display for displaying the vowel image by vowel on the display unit and sequentially switching the displayed vowel image to another vowel image when contact in the display area of the vowel image is detected by the contact detection unit A vowel display control unit for performing
Switching display for displaying the consonant images on the display unit according to consonants and sequentially switching the displayed consonant images to other consonant images when contact in the display area of the consonant images is detected by the contact detection unit A consonant display control unit,
An instruction to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed on the display unit by the consonant display control unit. A designated reception unit for receiving input from the operator;
A character input device comprising: a character input receiving unit that receives an input of a kana character composed of a vowel and a consonant received by the instruction receiving unit. An acceptance character display control unit that displays the kana characters whose input has been accepted by the character input acceptance unit on the display unit in the order of input acceptance;
An edit character accepting unit that accepts an instruction for designating a kana character to be edited among the kana characters displayed on the display unit by the accept character display control unit;
The vowel display control unit displays the vowel image indicating the vowels constituting the kana characters whose designation is received by the edited character receiving unit on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The consonant display control unit displays the consonant image indicating the consonant constituting the kana character whose designation is accepted by the edit character accepting unit on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The designation receiving unit receives an instruction from an operator to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed by the consonant display control unit. ,
The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the character input receiving unit receives an input of a kana character composed of a vowel and a consonant received by the instruction receiving unit. An edit accepting unit that accepts an edit instruction to edit the kana character whose input has been accepted by the character input accepting unit;
The vowel display control unit, when the editing instruction is received by the editing receiving unit, the vowel image corresponding to the vowels constituting each kana character for which the input has been received by the predetermined number of characters. The display is switched and displayed in order,
The consonant display control unit displays the consonant image corresponding to the consonant constituting the kana character to which the vowel indicated by the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit belongs is displayed on the display unit, and performs the switching display.
The designation receiving unit receives an instruction from the operator to specify a vowel indicated by the vowel image displayed by the vowel display control unit and a consonant indicated by the consonant image displayed by the consonant display control unit,
The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the character input receiving unit receives an input of a kana character composed of a vowel and a consonant received by the instruction receiving unit. Computer
An image storage unit that stores a vowel image provided for each vowel and a consonant image provided for each consonant;
A contact detection unit for detecting contact by an operator on a display screen of a display unit included in the computer;
Switching display for displaying the vowel image by vowel on the display unit and sequentially switching the displayed vowel image to another vowel image when contact in the display area of the vowel image is detected by the contact detection unit A vowel display control unit for performing
Switching display for displaying the consonant images on the display unit according to consonants and sequentially switching the displayed consonant images to other consonant images when contact in the display area of the consonant images is detected by the contact detection unit A consonant display control unit,
An instruction to specify a vowel corresponding to the vowel image displayed on the display unit by the vowel display control unit and a consonant corresponding to the consonant image displayed on the display unit by the consonant display control unit. A designated reception unit for receiving input from the operator;
A character input program that functions as a character input receiving unit that receives input of kana characters composed of vowels and consonants received by the instruction receiving unit.