JP3072312U - One-handed operation keyboard for information equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a keyboard capable of efficiently inputting Japanese characters with one hand in a portable information terminal or a small information device. A vowel symbol key (2) and a consonant symbol key (3) (4) written in English on a keyboard (1) so that a vowel and a consonant can be simultaneously pressed with two fingers of one hand. It is arranged so that each of the kana characters of the Japanese syllabary can be input by one keystroke. Then, a lower function key (5) and an upper function key (6) are arranged on the keyboard in order to execute a specific operation mode such as voiced / semi-voiced voice input, katakana conversion, kanji conversion, various symbols, and English sentence input.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

[Technical field to which the invention belongs]

 This invention relates to a Japanese input keyboard that is easy to operate with one-handed keys for small information devices such as mobile phones, portable information terminals, and remote controllers for AV devices.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, as a compact Japanese input keyboard for portable information devices, there are many methods in which the kana characters at the beginning of each row of the Japanese syllabary are arranged in keys and kana in the same line are sequentially displayed and selected. There is also a device in which the kana consonant character at the beginning of each row of the Japanese syllabary is keyed and then a vowel symbol is keyed to specify the kana.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

 These have the following disadvantages. (A) In order to search for kana characters in each row of the Japanese syllabary, the same key must be repeatedly pressed. (B) Even with the method of specifying characters using a combination of kana consonants and vowel symbols, consonants, vowels and two strokes were required, and input was troublesome, and it was not easy to use for long character strings and text input. . The present invention has been made to eliminate these disadvantages.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 On the keyboard (1), five vowel symbol keys (2) of A, I, U, E, and O corresponding to "aiueo", and corresponding to "Katakana" and "Hayamaraya" The nine consonant symbol keys (3) and (4) of K, S, T, N and H, M, Y, R, and W are arranged so that they can be pressed with one hand, and the vowel symbol and the consonant symbol are designated by two fingers. By inputting keys at the same time, it is possible to specify and enter a kana. Then, various function keys for executing a specific operation mode, such as inputting voiced / semi-voiced voices, converting katakana, converting to kanji, various symbols, and inputting English, are provided in the lower part (5) and the upper part (6) of the keyboard. Deploy. The present invention is a compact and efficient one-handed keyboard for information equipment having the above configuration.

[0005]

[Embodiment of the invention]

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. (A) A, I, U, E, and O vowel symbol keys are arranged in the first line (2) of the character input key areas (2), (3), and (4) of the keyboard (1). When the key is pressed, it is automatically determined as a pseudonym of “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, and “O”. (B) In the second row (3), K, S, T, and N consonant symbol keys and a line feed key are arranged, and consonant symbols for "ka line", "sa line", "ta line", and "na line" are respectively provided. In the third line (4), the consonant symbol keys of H, M, Y, R, W are arranged, and the "ha line", "ma line", "ya line", "ra line" "Consonant symbol of" wa line ". (C) The input of the consonant kana is performed by simultaneously pressing the consonant symbol key and the vowel symbol key. For example, "ka" presses K and A simultaneously with two fingers. If this is expressed using K + A and a plus sign, the same “ka line” “ki” is K + I, “ku” is K + U, and so on. The character can be confirmed with. Note that "n" can be determined by single tapping of the N key. Since it corresponds to the arrangement of the Japanese syllabary, even a person who touches the keyboard for the first time can easily find the position of the target key and can enter a kana with a few keystrokes. (D) The method of simultaneously tapping two keys is based on the vowel symbol with the thumb and the consonant symbol with the index finger, but it is also possible to substitute other fingers. (E) For the voice sound such as “ga”, “gi” and “gu”, for example, in the case of “ga”, press the K + A key and then press the shift key at the bottom (5) of the keyboard (1). As a result, "ka" is converted back to "ga". Press "Shift" key after "K + I" for "Gi". Similarly, press "Shift" key after input of clear sound to fix the other sound. (F) For semi-voiced sounds such as "ぱ", "ぴ", "ぷ", etc., in the case of voiced sound, press the Shift key once pressed twice to confirm it as a semi-voiced sound. That is, in the case of "@", if the shift key is pressed following the key of P + A, "wa" is converted to "ba", and if the shift key is pressed again, "ba" is converted to "@". (G) For lowercase hiragana “ゃ”, “ゅ”, “tsu”, “ぁ”, etc. used for clogged sounds, etc., following the normal hiragana input, it is located on the function key (5) while pressing the shift key. Press the conversion keys simultaneously. For example, in the case of a lower case "@", "Y" is displayed with Y + A, and then the conversion key is reconverted to "@" by pressing the conversion key together with the shift key. (H) For the katakana and the half-width katakana, for example, one of the function keys arranged at the upper part (6) of the keyboard (1) is provided with a mode switching key of "kana ← → katakana" and "full-width ← → half-width". Allocate and switch by this key. (I) For alphanumeric characters, assign alphanumeric keys in combination with the 15 keys on the keyboard (1), and switch between the kana input mode and the alphanumeric input mode by switching the function keys. At this time, the keys of the alphabetic notation of vowels and consonants for inputting kana are assigned as they are as keys for inputting English letters. Then, an operation method such as "A" and "V" with the A + conversion key can be considered. (Nu) Regarding the conversion of input characters to kanji, after inputting a kana character string as in a normal word processor, use the conversion key (5) arranged on the keyboard (1) to convert or not convert the character string. I do. As described above, this keyboard is not only compact and compact, but also a full-fledged Japanese input function that is required for writing text in a word processor.

[0006]

[Effect of the invention]

 Since the present invention is a keyboard with the above structure and mechanism, full-fledged Japanese character input can be performed with only one hand without complicated operation, and characters are automatically input by simultaneous vowel and consonant character input. In order to avoid confusion between “Kan (consideration)” and “Kana (South China)”, for example, it is also possible to add a confirmation key operation to each character of “K”, “N”, “A”, “N”. It is unnecessary, and the "Kankan" is determined only by simultaneously performing the simultaneous keying of K and A and the single keying of each of N, A, and N. Not only does the number of keystrokes need to be extremely small, but it also has the advantage of reducing erroneous conversions. In addition, since it has few keys and is compact, it can sufficiently respond to input of characters and texts on a mobile terminal. The keyboard arrangement of the keyboard (1) may be such that vowel lines (AIUEO) and consonant lines (KSTN and HMYRW) are arranged vertically as shown in FIG. The key arrangement shown in Fig. 2 is convenient for devices that want to be kept vertically long and as narrow as possible, such as a vertical mobile phone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 keyboard 2 vowel symbol key 3 consonant symbol key 4 consonant symbol key 5 lower function key 6 upper function key

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] April 28, 2000 (200.4.2
8)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims for utility model registration

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Utility model registration claims]

Claims (1)

[Utility model registration claims] A compact key arrangement in which five vowel symbols and nine consonant symbols of Japanese are arranged in English characters allows simultaneous input of vowel keys and consonant keys, thereby enabling Japanese input of Roman character conversion. A one-handed keyboard for information devices that can be used efficiently.