JP3085268B2 - Selective dialing device and portable device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a selective dial device and a portable device using the selective dial device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, portable devices such as portable radio telephones and portable game machines are widely used. These mobile devices are usually provided with a plurality of selection input buttons so that a predetermined number such as a telephone number can be input and a function can be selected. In such portable devices, miniaturization is always required, and from the viewpoint of miniaturization of the device, it is preferable that the number of selection input buttons be as small as possible.

A technique for reducing the number of selection input buttons for a portable radio telephone is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-2942.
No. 6 discloses this. FIG. 5 is a diagram described in the above-mentioned publication, and a telephone device main body 1 is provided with a receiver 2, a microphone 3, a button operation unit 4, and a display 5.

[0004] The button operation unit 4 includes a scroll button 6
a, 6b and determination buttons 7a, 7b, 7c. In this case, for example, to determine the input display 8a (display "1"), the scroll buttons 6a, 6b
Is pressed as appropriate to select and display the display "1", and the enter button 7a corresponding to the input display 8a is pressed. Thus, the display "1" is determined as the input display 8a. The input display 8b (display "2") and the input display 8c (display "3") are determined in the same manner. As a result, the function corresponding to the display “123” is executed.

[0005]

However, according to the technique described in the above publication, the scroll buttons 6a, 6b
And the confirmation buttons 7a, 7b, 7c are required, and the number of selection buttons is still large. Further, there is also a problem that the pressing operation of the button is complicated, and the moving range of the finger is large at the time of confirmation, and it is difficult to perform quick operation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to save space by using only a single required number of selection buttons, and to enable quick operation with a relatively small finger movement range. It is an object to provide a selection dial device. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a portable device using such a selection dial device.

[0007]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the selection dial device is rotatable around a dial axis, and the rotation around the dial axis causes a series of a plurality of predetermined items to be sequentially scrolled, thereby providing a single dial. A selection dial device configured to select an item, wherein both a push-in and a pull-out in a direction parallel to the dial axis are configured to be possible, and the push-in and the pull-out provide the selected item. Is characterized and determined and canceled. In the selection dial device according to the second aspect, it is rotatable around the dial axis, and by rotating around the dial axis, a series of a plurality of predetermined items are sequentially scrolled to select a single item. A selection dial device, characterized in that it is configured to be swingable around an axis orthogonal to the dial shaft, and the swinging movement is used to determine and cancel the selected item. According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a portable device comprising: the selection dial device according to the first or second aspect; and a display device for displaying an item selected by the selection dial device.

According to the first aspect of the invention, by rotating the selection dial device about the dial axis, a series of a plurality of predetermined items are sequentially scrolled to select a single item. The item selected in this way is fixed or canceled by pushing or pulling out the selection dial device. Therefore, the required number of selection buttons is configured as a single, space saving is achieved, and the movement range of the finger is relatively small, and quick operation is enabled. According to the second aspect of the present invention, by rotating the selection dial device about the dial axis, a series of a plurality of predetermined items are sequentially scrolled to select a single item. The item selected in this way is fixed or canceled by the swing movement of the selection dial device. Therefore, the required number of selection buttons is configured as a single, space saving is achieved, and the movement range of the finger is relatively small, and quick operation is enabled. According to the third aspect of the present invention, since the number of necessary selection buttons is made single and the selection dial device as described above which can save space is provided, the size of the device can be easily reduced. .

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of a selective dial device according to the present invention.
0 is formed by a dial portion 11 and a projection 12.

The dial section 11 is rotatable about a dial axis X. In addition, the dial portion 11 includes the projection 1
2 can be pushed in the direction A parallel to the dial axis X by pushing in, and can be pulled out in the direction B parallel to the dial axis X by pulling both sides of the dial portion 11.

In this case, the dial axis X of the dial section 11
Rotation around is assigned to a selection function of sequentially scrolling a series of a plurality of predetermined items to select a single item, and pressing of the dial unit 11 is assigned to a determination function of determining the selected item. Further, the drawer of the dial unit 11 is assigned to a cancel function for canceling the selected item.

Alternatively, the dial portion 11 can be pulled out by pinching the protrusion 12.
In that case, it is preferable that the protrusion 12 be formed slightly longer. Further, the protrusion 12 may be formed in an inverted L-shape as shown in FIG. 1B, and may be pulled out in the B direction by hooking with a finger.

FIG. 2 shows a selection dial device 1 as described above.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a portable device 20 in which a 0 is incorporated. In this case, the mobile device 20 includes a display device 21 for displaying an item selected by the selection dial device 10. Such a mobile device 20
For example, a portable wireless telephone, a portable game machine, a portable computer, and the like can be used.

Next, an operation example of the portable device 20 shown in FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIG.

In this case, the series of items to be selected is:
For example, it has a hierarchical menu structure as shown in FIG. First, when the dial unit 11 is rotated clockwise around the dial axis X, the items are sequentially scrolled in the forward direction, for example, in the order of menu 1 → menu 2 →... → menu m → menu 1 →. Thereby, a single item can be selected. Conversely, when the dial unit 11 is rotated in the counterclockwise direction, the items are sequentially scrolled in the reverse direction, for example, in the order of menu 1 → menu m →... → menu 2 → menu 1 →. This allows a single item to be quickly selected.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the display on this case.
This is illustrated in FIG. FIG. 3B shows a state in which a single item is sequentially selected with scrolling.

The upper menu is determined by pushing the dial section 11 in the direction of arrow A. As a result, the mode shifts to the selection mode in the lower hierarchy. When it is desired to cancel the determined item, the user can perform the canceling operation by pulling the dial unit 11 in the direction of arrow B. In this case, the selection mode returns to the original hierarchy.

Thus, an arbitrary function can be quickly selected from a menu structure having an arbitrary number of layers (two layers in the illustrated example).

Next, another embodiment of the selection dial device 10 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. This embodiment is different from the above-described embodiment in that the protrusion 12 is omitted and the selection dial device 10 is different from the dial shaft X in FIG.
The only configuration is that it is configured to be able to swing around an axis Y orthogonal to.

In this case, the dial axis X of the dial section 11
The rotation around is assigned to the selection function of sequentially scrolling a series of a plurality of predetermined items and selecting a single item, as in the above embodiment.

In this embodiment, the rotation of the dial portion 11 in the direction of arrow C around the axis Y is assigned to the determination function, and the rotation of the dial portion 11 in the direction of arrow D around the axis Y is canceled. Assigned to a function.

Instead of the above, the arrow C of the dial section 11,
The rotation in the direction D can be performed by pressing the corresponding portion, or can be performed by hooking the corresponding portion with a finger and pulling out the same.

The selection dial device 10 in the present embodiment
Also, the portable device 20 is similar to the above embodiment.
It can be used by being incorporated in.

[0025]

According to the selection dial device and the portable device of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. According to the selection dial device of claim 1 or 2, an item selection function,
The confirmation function and the cancellation function can be performed by a single selection dial device. Therefore, the number of necessary selection buttons can be reduced to one, and space can be saved. In this case, the movement range of the finger is relatively small, and a quick operation can be performed. According to the portable device according to the third aspect, since the number of necessary selection buttons can be reduced to one and the selection dial device as described above which can save space is provided, the size of the device can be easily reduced. Can be achieved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a selection dial device of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view showing a modification thereof.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of a portable device in which the selection dial device shown in FIG. 1 is incorporated.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation example of a selection dial device and a display example corresponding thereto.

FIG. 4A is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the selection dial device of the present invention, and FIG. 4B is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional portable wireless telephone.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 selection dial device 20 portable device 21 display device X dial axis Y axis

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A selection dial device which is rotatable around a dial axis, and sequentially rotates a series of a plurality of predetermined items by rotating around the dial axis to select a single item. A selection dial device characterized in that both push-in and pull-out in a direction parallel to the dial axis are possible, and the selected item is fixed and canceled by the push-in and the pull-out. . 2. A selection dial device which is rotatable around a dial axis, and sequentially rotates a series of a plurality of predetermined items by rotating around the dial axis to select a single item. A selection dial device characterized in that it is configured to be swingable about an axis perpendicular to the dial axis, and the swinging movement is used to determine and cancel the selected item. 3. A portable device comprising: the selection dial device according to claim 1; and a display device for displaying an item selected by the selection dial device.