JP4863211B2 - Character data input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a character data input device for inputting character data such as Japanese data, and in particular, can be applied to a portable terminal equipped with a touch panel, electronic paper, etc., and can be easily input by touching the touch panel with the fingertip of one hand. It is about technology.

  Conventionally, a touch panel is provided, buttons for data input are displayed on the touch panel, and various devices (for example, a notebook personal computer and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) are used to input data by touching those buttons with a finger or a pen. ) And the like are known. In these devices, when a user performs a predetermined operation for instructing the start of data input, a data input button is displayed at a predetermined arrangement position on the touch panel, and the user inputs data using the button. . Similarly, it is considered to input data by displaying buttons on electronic paper.

  On the other hand, in recent years, due to the miniaturization of portable terminals, a method of inputting characters and numbers by holding a terminal device with one hand and hitting a key with a thumb has become widespread.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a configuration of a conventionally known mobile terminal. The portable terminal includes an input unit 101 for inputting data, a data storage unit 102 for storing input candidate data, buttons corresponding to the data, and their arrangement and size, and a data processing unit 103 for controlling the entire data input. The display unit 104 displays buttons and input results. The input unit 101 and the display unit 104 are assumed to be realized by a touch panel.

  In the data input system having such a configuration, when data input processing is started, first, the data processing unit 103 reads input candidate data, buttons corresponding to the data, and their arrangement from the data storage unit 102, and displays them to the display unit 104. Buttons are displayed in a predetermined layout / size. Based on the information entered by clicking the place where the button is displayed from the input unit 101 on the touch panel, the data processing unit 103 responds to the input data, the next input candidate data and the data from the data storage unit 102. And a button based on the input data and the next input candidate data is displayed on the display unit 104.

The following patent documents 1-3 are mention | raise | lifted as a well-known technical document relevant to this invention. Patent Document 1 discloses a Japanese keyboard device used for a word processor or the like, which is provided with a vowel key operated with the left hand and a consonant key operated with the right hand so that even a beginner can input Japanese in a prepared manner. Patent Document 2 discloses a Japanese input device that automatically sets a mode suitable for a user among a flipping mode or a consonant + vowel input mode. Patent Document 3 discloses a method and apparatus for displaying a correspondence table showing a correspondence relationship between a finger and an input code on a display and inputting data according to a user's finger movement detected using an input glove.
JP-A-6-28075 JP 2001-356873 A JP-A-2002-202840

  The techniques of Patent Documents 1 to 3 cannot be applied to a portable terminal that hits a key with a thumb while holding a terminal device with one hand.

  In the related art as described in FIG. 1 above, when inputting characters and numbers simultaneously with a device with one hand on a portable terminal, electronic paper, etc., data input is possible regardless of the movable range of the finger of the input person. Since the buttons are arranged, there is a problem that it is difficult to input with one hand and erroneous input is likely to occur.

  Furthermore, it is mainly a click operation, and when the finger supporting the device is released, it becomes unstable, and there is a risk of dropping and breaking the device.

  Furthermore, even if the next input candidate button is arranged in the vicinity, it is necessary to visually check where the button is arranged, and it is difficult to perform a blind touch without performing an input button, There is a problem that it is difficult to perform input work while doing other work.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and to enable efficient data input with only the fingertip of one hand while holding the device.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to a first aspect of the present invention, in a data input device including a touch panel, an area for displaying an input button group is first specified on the touch panel, and the input button group is displayed in the specified area. Is displayed. The display position of the input button group to be displayed, the size of each button, and the number of buttons to be displayed are determined based on the position and size of the designated area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the data input device according to the first aspect, a first level input button group is displayed in the designated area on the touch panel, and the displayed first level input button group is displayed. The input button group of the second hierarchy is displayed according to the button selected from the above, and in the same manner, the button selection is sequentially accepted while the input button groups of at least two or more hierarchies are sequentially displayed, and finally input is performed. When one button is selected from the displayed upper level input button group, the lower level input button group corresponding to the selected button is changed to the selected button. The display is performed at a position determined based on the display position.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the data input device according to the first or second aspect, when displaying the input button group in the designated area, when all the buttons of the input button group cannot be displayed, Among these buttons, displayable buttons are displayed. For buttons that cannot be displayed, a button area indicating that there is a button that cannot be displayed is displayed adjacent to the displayed button, and there is a button that cannot be displayed. When the button area shown is operated, a button that could not be displayed is displayed and operated.

  In the invention according to each of the above claims, the buttons in the input button group are preferably arranged according to a predetermined rule. In particular, in the input button group in the same hierarchy, for example, hiragana or katakana characters corresponding to “consonant + a (vowel)” are arranged at the center, and the vicinity of the upper, upper right, right, and lower right when viewed from the center position. “Consonant + i”, “Consonant + u”, “Consonant + e”, and “Consonant + o” are placed at each position, and there are corresponding plosives and muddy or lowercase letters on the lower left side and lower side when viewed from the center position. In such a case, the character is arranged, and if there is no such character, the character is left blank (example in FIG. 3-3 described later). When the button is selected, the input person may be notified of the selection by a flashing sound or light, vibration, electrical stimulation, or other notification method. The input method of the present invention as described above can be applied to the overall operation of equipment including Japanese input.

According to the present invention, an input person can specify the display position of the input button group in a portable terminal or the like having a touch panel type input means. An input button group can be arranged in a range where the thumb can reach, thereby enabling efficient data input. That is, since an area for character input can be set freely, efficient data input is possible according to the length of the finger. Even if the designated area is small, the position of the input button group and the size and number of buttons are automatically changed and displayed, so that smooth data input is possible. In addition, when data is input while selecting buttons sequentially from a plurality of input button groups, the input button group in the lower hierarchy is displayed at a position corresponding to the position of the button selected in the upper hierarchy. It can be reduced and efficient data input becomes possible . If applied to the device, such as to enter a finger destination to slide, because the finger supporting the equipment may not be separated from the touch panel, it is possible to data input in a stable posture. In particular, if the arrangement of the buttons of the input button group is arranged based on a unified rule, there is an effect that it is possible to input without visually observing the input button group.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the data input device to which the present invention is applied. This device is a portable device such as a portable terminal or electronic paper, and includes an input unit 201, a notification unit 202, a data storage unit 203, a data processing unit 204, and a display unit 205. The display unit 205 and the input unit 201 are realized by a touch panel. The data processing unit 204 is a processing unit that controls the entire data input process, such as an initialization process 241 (FIG. 5), an input process 242 (FIG. 6), and a screen transition process 243 (FIG. 3-1), which will be described later. Execute. The data storage unit 203 is a storage unit that stores input candidate data, buttons corresponding to the data, and their arrangement and size. The notification unit 202 is configured to notify the input person that the input button displayed on the touch panel has been touched, the input button has been selected, or the input has been confirmed. A notification operation by vibration, electrical stimulation or other notification means is executed.

  The function of each block will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. First, the input person holds a portable device such as a portable terminal or electronic paper, and, for example, with one thumb, presses the input button group on the touch panel (display unit 205 and input unit 201) of the portable device. Specify the area you want to place. This initialization process will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5 and the like. To put it briefly, the area where the input buttons are to be arranged on the touch panel is traced on the diagonal line (from the upper left corner to the lower right corner or in the opposite direction, (Or trace with your finger from the upper right corner to the lower left corner or vice versa). The areas designated in this way are the input candidate button display area 252 and the input unit 201 in FIG.

  The data processing unit 204 detects the input operation of the input candidate button display area 252 by the input person, reads out the button arrangement and input candidate data from the data storage unit 203, and inputs the input candidate button display area 252 instructed by the input person. The position and the size of the button are adjusted and displayed so that the input candidate button group is appropriately arranged. For example, the length obtained by dividing the vertical length of a rectangular area by the number of buttons arranged vertically is the vertical length of one button, and the horizontal length of the rectangular area is divided by the number of buttons arranged horizontally. The length of the button is the horizontal length of one button, and the size of the button is adjusted and displayed. Note that what input candidate button group is displayed will be described in detail later.

The size of the input candidate button display area 252 indicated by the input person in the initialization process described above is small (for example, when the touch panel itself is small or when the touch panel is large but the input person specifies a narrow range) and is displayed. When the power button group (305 in FIG. 3-2 to be described later) is reduced and displayed, and the buttons become too small to be selected, the number of buttons to be displayed is reduced, and the display unit 205 displays input candidates. A group of buttons is displayed to facilitate selection of buttons and slide operation. The method for determining whether or not the size of the input candidate button display area 252 is small is, for example, that the input person previously sets a threshold value regarding the vertical length or horizontal length of the input candidate button display area , If the area is specified to be too small, it is determined that the area is narrow. Further, when the size of the input candidate button display area 252 is not narrow, the input person can also specify that the button group of input candidates to be displayed when it is explicitly narrow is displayed. This will be described later with reference to FIG.

  In such portable devices, there are many cases where the device itself is held with one hand. Therefore, the thumb of one hand is always touching the touch panel. This is because the device itself is dropped when the thumb is released. The present invention is suitable for application to such a portable device, that is, a portable device in which the thumb of one hand is always touching the touch panel and data is input while sliding the thumb on the touch panel. The following description will be given on the assumption of such a portable device. However, the present invention can be applied to devices other than such portable devices. For example, the device itself may be a device that is held with the left hand and that performs operations on the touch panel with the right hand. It may be operated with a stylus pen instead of a finger.

  Hereinafter, the basic operation of input by the input person in this embodiment will be described. Since an input button group is displayed on the touch panel, the input person touches a button of data to be input while sliding a finger on the touch panel. When the button is touched, the input person is notified that the button is touched by making a sound, flashing and flashing the button, or applying a weak vibration or electrical stimulus to the finger.

  In addition, when an input person moves by sliding his / her finger on the touch panel, the system moves the entire input button group displayed on the touch panel or the input candidate button in the direction opposite to the fingertip moving direction. To do. Thereby, input is supported so that input can be performed with a short stroke.

  Selecting data means selecting data as input candidates connected to data to be input (in short, selecting one of the displayed input button groups). The selected data does not necessarily become input data as it is (data for which input to be described later is confirmed). In order to select data, an operation (long press) of touching the data button to be selected is performed for a predetermined time or more. For convenience of explanation, the expression “select a button” is used instead of “select data” below.

  To confirm the data is to select the input data. The confirmed data immediately becomes input data and is displayed on the input data display screen 251. The confirmed data also has the properties of the selected data. To confirm the data, (1) Touch the button you want to confirm for a specified time or longer (press and hold), (2) Touch the confirm button for a specified time or longer (3), and (3) On the button you want to input, It is assumed that any operation of moving a finger at short intervals so as to draw a check point (referred to as a check point operation) is performed. For convenience of explanation, the expression “determine button” will be used instead of “determine data”. As will be described in detail later, when a button to be confirmed is pressed and held as in (1), the button is confirmed when the button is the end data, but when the button is not the end data, the button is Selected. When the confirm button (2) is pressed for a long time, the previously selected button is confirmed. In the case of the point operation (3), the button on which the point operation has been performed is confirmed.

  As another mode, the touch panel may be a pressure-sensitive type that can detect a change in pressing pressure, and may be selected / confirmed by pressing a button to be selected / confirmed on the touch panel. In addition, the device is provided with a spatial position detecting means for detecting a spatial position change of the device so that an operation of tilting or shaking the device is detected, and input data is selected / confirmed according to the detected position change. It may be.

  Next, screen transition rules in input processing will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3A is a flowchart illustrating screen transition of input processing. The input processing screen is displayed in the order of the first hierarchy 301, the second hierarchy 302, and the third hierarchy 303 in accordance with certain rules. In addition, when the input character is confirmed on the screen of the 1st hierarchy 301 or the 2nd hierarchy 302, the screen of the subsequent hierarchy is not displayed but it returns to the screen of the 1st hierarchy again.

  When an input person gives an instruction to start character input (assuming that the input candidate button display area 252 is specified by the initialization process described later with reference to FIG. 5), the input specified first In the candidate button display area 252, the input button group 305 of the first hierarchy screen is displayed. FIG. 3-2 shows the input button group 305 on the first layer screen. This input button group 305 is a consonant button for designating a line of fifty-sounds (consonant, ie, “a”, “ka”, “sa”,..., “Wa”), a blank character (space) “SP”. ”Button, punctuation mark“. ”Button, punctuation mark“, ”button, long-symbol“-”button, hiragana / katakata switch button, erase one character back (backspace)“ BS ”button, one character return button, line feed button, and It has an end button. Although it is not strictly correct to call the “A” button as a consonant button, it is referred to as such for convenience of explanation. The SP, halftone mark “.”, Punctuation mark “,”, long sound code “−”, hiragana / kata switch, BS, one character return, line feed, and end are end data. The term “end data” refers to data whose input is confirmed immediately upon selection.

  In the first layer screen 305 of FIG. 3B, four button areas that are meaningless even if touched are provided above the BS, “A”, “HA”, and SP buttons. ”,“ Wa ”, and the lower part of the Hiragana / Kana switching, there are four button areas that are meaningless even if they are touched. This is because the second layer screen (described later) displayed when “A”, “HA”, “NA”, or “WA” is selected has a size that extends to these meaningless button areas. It is.

  When the input person selects (long press) any one of the consonant buttons on the first hierarchy screen of FIG. 3-2, the process proceeds from step 301 to 302, and the second hierarchy screen corresponding to the selected consonant is displayed. An input button group 306 is displayed. FIG. 3C shows a basic form of the input screen format of the second hierarchy. In this basic form 306, in addition to the character buttons (“consonant + a” to “consonant + o”) of the Japanese syllabary corresponding to the selected consonant, the buttons of muddy or small letters, the plosive button, the enter button, and the cancel button Is displayed. Turbidity, lowercase letters, plosives, confirmation, and cancellation are terminal data. In addition, for consonants that do not have muddy sounds, lowercase letters, or plosive sounds, those buttons are not displayed, and blank buttons are displayed. Note that the “wa” line and “ya” line are exceptional lines, and are slightly modified from the format shown in FIG. 3-3, which will be described in detail later.

  When the input person selects (presses and holds) any one of the character buttons from “consonant + a” to “consonant + o” on the screen of the second layer, the process proceeds from step 302 to 303, and the selected character (in the first layer) The input button group 307 of the third layer screen corresponding to the consonant is selected and the vowel is selected in the second layer) is displayed. FIG. 3-4 shows a basic form of the input screen format of the third hierarchy. In this basic form 307, in addition to the selected character, a muffled or lower case button, a plosive button, a confirmation button, and a cancel button are displayed. Turbidity, lowercase letters, plosives, confirmation, and cancellation are terminal data. The character at the center of the third hierarchy screen is the character selected at this time, and the button for this character is also the end data. This is because there is no further hierarchy. For consonants that do not have muddy sounds, lowercase letters, or plosive sounds, those buttons are not displayed and blank buttons are displayed. Note that “tsu” is a character that has muddy and lowercase letters but no plosives, so exceptionally, “z” is displayed at the positions of muddy or lowercase buttons, and “t” is displayed at the positions of plosive buttons. Shall be displayed.

  Steps when a point operation is performed on the consonant buttons "A" to "WA" on the first level screen of FIG. 3-2, or when a point operation or long press is performed on the terminal data button From 301 to 304, the data is confirmed. When the character data (including SP, punctuation mark, punctuation mark, and long sound) is confirmed, the character is displayed on the input data display screen 251. If the determined data is control data (BS button, return button, line feed button, hiragana / kana switch button, end button), a control operation is performed according to the determined control data. In particular, when the end button is selected, the first hierarchy screen is erased from the screen and the data input is completed.

  When the check point operation is performed on the character buttons of “consonant + a” to “consonant + o”, or the check point operation or long press is performed on the terminal data button on the second layer screen of FIG. Then, the process proceeds from step 302 to 304 to determine the data. When the character data (including dakuten, lowercase letters, and plosives) is confirmed, the characters are displayed on the input data display screen 251. When it is determined that the cancel button is selected, the second layer screen is deleted and the process returns from step 302 to step 301. If the confirmed button is a confirmed button, the selected character data is confirmed. At this time, since the character selected on the first layer screen, that is, the character button at the center of the second layer screen is in the selected state, this character is determined. This is because if the character button of “consonant + a” to “consonant + o” is pressed and held, the data is not fixed and the screen proceeds to the third hierarchy screen.

  When a long press or a dot operation is performed on an arbitrary button in the third hierarchy screen of FIG. 3-4, the process proceeds from step 303 to 304 and the data is determined. When the character data (including dakuten, lowercase letters, and plosives) is confirmed, the characters are displayed on the input data display screen 251. If the cancel button is confirmed, the third layer screen is deleted and the process returns from step 303 to step 302. If the confirmed button is a confirmed button, the selected character data is confirmed. At this time, since the character selected on the second hierarchy screen, that is, the character button at the center of the third hierarchy screen is in the selected state, this character is confirmed.

  FIG. 4A shows a second hierarchy screen 401 that is displayed when the “A” button is pressed for a long time on the first hierarchy screen 305 of FIG. 3B. FIG. 4B shows the third hierarchy screen 402 displayed when the “Yes” button is pressed for a long time on the second hierarchy screen 401 of FIG. 4A. The same screen is displayed when any of the buttons “U”, “E”, and “O” on the second layer screen 401 is pressed for a long time. FIG. 4C shows the second hierarchy screen 403 displayed when the “ka” button is pressed for a long time on the first hierarchy screen 305 of FIG. The same screen is displayed when the “sa” or “ta” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305. FIG. 4-4 shows a third hierarchy screen 404 that is displayed when the “ki” button is pressed for a long time on the second hierarchy screen 403 of FIG. 4-3. When the “KU”, “KE”, “KO”, “SI”, “SU”, “SE”, “SO”, “CHI”, “TSU”, “TE” or “TO” buttons are pressed for a long time on the second layer screen. The screen displayed on is the same. FIG. 4-5 shows the second layer screen 405 displayed when the “NA” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305 of FIG. 3-2. The same screen is displayed when the “MA” or “RA” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305. FIG. 4-6 shows the second layer screen 406 displayed when the “ha” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305 of FIG. 3-2. FIG. 4-7 shows the third layer screen 407 displayed when the “Hi” button is pressed for a long time on the second layer screen 406 of FIG. 4-6. The same screen is displayed when any of the buttons “F”, “F”, and “H” is pressed for a long time on the second layer screen 406. FIG. 4-8 shows the third layer screen 408 displayed when the “t” button is pressed and held on the second layer screen. The same screen is displayed when the “c” button is pressed and held on the second layer screen. FIG. 4-9 shows the second layer screen 409 displayed when the “ya” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305 of FIG. 3-2. FIG. 4-10 shows the second layer screen 409 displayed when the “Wa” button is pressed for a long time on the first layer screen 305 of FIG. 3-2.

  In addition, when the input unit 201 detects that the finger or the like is momentarily released from the touch panel while the second layer screen or the third layer screen is displayed, the data processing unit 204 automatically cancels. Assuming that the button is confirmed, the screen of the current layer is deleted and the screen of input candidate buttons of the layer one layer before is displayed.

  In the screen examples of FIGS. 4-1 to 4-10, all hiragana are given except for “U” in FIG. 4-8. However, in the katakana screen examples, each hiragana is changed to katakana. . When the “Switch Hiragana / Kana” button is selected on the first layer screen 305 in FIG. 3-2, the first layer screen in which each character of the hiragana is katakana is displayed. Katakana can be entered in the same procedure.

  As can be seen from the second and third hierarchy screens illustrated in FIGS. 4-1 to 4-10, the currently selected characters (displayed in the center) of lowercase letters, muddy sounds, and plosive buttons. Is displayed adjacent to the lower left or lower side of the selected button. The confirmation button is displayed adjacent to the left side of the currently selected button, and the cancel button is displayed adjacent to the upper left side. In addition, on the second layer screen, the “I” stage button is the upper side, the “U” stage button is the upper right side, and the “E” stage button is compared to the currently selected center “A” stage button. The buttons on the right side and “O” level are displayed adjacent to each other on the lower right side. As described above, the button arrangement is unified based on a certain arrangement rule.

  The second layer screen that is displayed when one of the buttons “a” to “wa” is long-pressed on the first layer screen is the button at the center of the second layer at the position of the long-pressed button on the first layer. Are displayed in a positional relationship such that. For example, when the “A” button on the first layer screen 305 in FIG. 3-2 is pressed and held, the second layer screen 401 in FIG. 4A is displayed at the position of the “A” button on the first layer screen 305. The two “hierarchy” screens 401 are displayed in a positional relationship such that the “a” button in the center overlaps. The same applies when moving from the second layer to the third layer. For example, when the “I” button on the second hierarchy screen 401 in FIG. 4A is pressed and held down, the third hierarchy screen 402 in FIG. The three “hierarchy” screen 402 is displayed in a positional relationship such that the “I” button in the center overlaps.

  It should be noted that the button arrangement of each layer may be other arrangements as long as the arrangement is unified based on a certain arrangement rule.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the arrangement of the buttons on the screens of each hierarchy is unified based on a certain arrangement rule, and further, the transition from the first hierarchy to the second hierarchy, or the second hierarchy to the third hierarchy. The screen of the newly displayed layer is also displayed so that the button at the center of the new layer is placed at the position of the button selected by pressing and holding in the previous layer. If you understand these rules, you can input without looking at the screen. In addition, when the finger touching is slid on the screen, the screen of the button group of each layer or the input candidate button moves in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the finger, so that the moving distance of the finger is short and easy to input. .

  FIG. 3-5 illustrates a display example when the area indicated by the input person in the initialization process is narrow, and when the above-described button group is reduced and displayed, the buttons are too small to be selected. In order to display the first layer screen described in FIG. 3-2 in a narrow area, four buttons arranged in the upper and lower left corners that can be displayed on the first layer screen 305 are displayed in the area. If there is a button in the vertical and horizontal directions, a small button area is displayed to indicate that. For example, on the screen 308 in FIG. 3-5, “A”, “KA”, BS, and back buttons are displayed, and a vertically long shape indicating that there are “HA” and “MA” buttons on the right side. Button area 321 indicates that there is a “sa”, “ta”, and “na” button on the lower side, and a horizontal button area 322 indicates that there is a “ya” button on the lower right side. A small button area 323 is displayed. For example, if you touch the area 321 with your finger, the “A”, “KA”, “HA”, and “MA” buttons in FIG. 3-2 are displayed, and the SP and punctuation buttons are on the right side. The vertically long button area indicates that there is a BS or a button to return to the left side on the left side, and the horizontally long button area that indicates that there is a “sa” or “ya” button on the lower side. However, a small button area indicating that there is a reading button is displayed on the lower right side, and a small button area indicating that there is a line feed button is displayed on the lower left side. The same applies to the following, displaying four buttons that can be displayed. If there are buttons on the top, bottom, left, right, top right, bottom right, top left, and bottom left, an area indicating that is displayed, and pointing to the area indicating that there is a button. Touching the button causes the buttons in that direction to be slid and displayed one by one in the closest order. For example, when the button 322 in FIG. 3-5 is pressed and held, the button group in FIG. 3-6 is displayed, and the buttons are slid and displayed in the same manner. In addition, when it comes to the end of a button that can be displayed, a small button area is not displayed, and no further sliding is displayed.

  FIG. 3-7 shows a display example when the second hierarchy screen is displayed in a narrow area. The “consonant + a” button at the center of the second hierarchy screen described in FIG. 3-3 is displayed in large size, and the upper, lower, left, right, upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left buttons are displayed smaller. When a small button is touched, the button is displayed larger and the surrounding buttons are displayed smaller. For example, when the button 328 in FIG. 3-7 is pressed and held, the button group in FIG. 3-8 is displayed.

  In the case of the display as shown in FIGS. 3-5 to 3-8, the entire button group is moved in the direction opposite to the finger moving direction. The selection / confirmation operation method does not change.

  Next, a processing procedure in the input device of this embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart.

  FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing an initialization process when an input person starts an input operation, and mainly shows a processing procedure of the data processing unit 204 of FIG. This process is performed when a predetermined operation that explicitly instructs the user to input Japanese is performed (for example, when a button that instructs to start Japanese input that is displayed separately is turned on) ) Is started.

  First, it is determined whether or not an operation for designating the position of an area where an input button group is to be arranged (an operation for tracing the diagonal line of the area described in FIG. 2) has been performed (steps 501 to 503). FIG. 5B shows an example of the operation. The input person designates the area 513 by tracing the position 511 to 512 (or 512 to 511) on the screen with a finger held so as not to drop the apparatus. This area 513 is the input candidate button display area 252 of FIG. 2, and the button group of each layer described in FIGS. 3 and 4 is displayed here.

  In step 501, it is determined whether or not the input person has touched the initial position 511 or 512. If NO, the determination is repeated again. When the input person touches the initial position, the movement of the input person's finger is detected in step 502, and whether the input person's finger is moving and the direction in which the input person is moving is detected. In step 503, the input person's finger is detected. Is determined to be stopped. If NO, step 502 is repeated again. If YES, the position where the finger was last stopped is set as the end position, and the process proceeds to step 504. Next, in step 504, a rectangular area having an initial position and an end position specified by the input person on the diagonal is determined as the position and size of the input button display area, and in step 505, as described in FIG. The input button group 305 of the first hierarchy screen is displayed in the area.

  Note that the display in step 505 is the one in which the data processing unit 204 determines the display position of the input button group, the size of the button, and the number of buttons based on the position and size of the area determined in step 504. It is. For example, if the designated area 513 is a sufficiently large area, a predetermined size (a person's finger) is predetermined as the size of each button of the input button group 305 on the first layer screen in FIG. The button that is large enough to be touched with the button is applied, and the entire input button group 305 is displayed in the area. When a slightly smaller area is specified, the size of each button is adjusted so that the entire input button group 305 is displayed in the area, and if the size of each button is not smaller than a predetermined threshold (that is, If the size of each button is not too small for a person to touch with a finger), the size of each adjusted button is applied to display the entire input button group 305 in that area. If a smaller area is specified, the size of each button will be smaller than the predetermined threshold and the button will be too small for a person to touch when the entire input button group 305 is displayed in that area. Therefore, the number of buttons to be displayed is adjusted to display the input button group 308 on the first hierarchy screen of FIG. 3-5. The same applies to the case of displaying the second layer or the third layer button group. Based on the position and size of the designated area 513, the data processing unit 204 displays the input button group display position, the button size, and the button size. Determine the number and display it.

  FIG. 6 shows a process of reading input data of the input person. This process is started after the initialization process of FIG. First, input button group display processing is executed (step 601). Which hierarchy screen input button group is displayed is determined according to the flow described with reference to FIG. The first level screen 305 shown in FIG. 3-2 or the first level screen 308 shown in FIG. 3-5 is displayed first. Next, it is determined whether or not the input person has performed the point operation (step 602). When the point operation is executed, the process ends with the data of the point operation target button data as final data (step 610). If it is determined in step 602 that the input person has not performed the dot operation, it is determined whether the input person has performed a long button pressing operation (step 603). Specifically, if the stop time of the finger at the same position is equal to or greater than the threshold value initially defined, it is determined that the long press operation has been performed, and if the finger stop time is equal to or less than the threshold value, the long press operation has not been performed. judge. If the long press is not executed, it is determined whether or not the finger is stopped (step 604). Specifically, if the movement amount of the finger (difference between the current position and the previous position) is 0, it is determined that the finger is stopped, and if it is not 0, it is determined that the finger is not stopped. If it has stopped, the time elapsed until the previous determination is added to the finger stop time, and the process returns to step 602. If not stopped, the input button group is moved in the direction opposite to the direction of finger movement based on the amount of finger movement and redisplayed (step 606), and then returns to step 602. By moving the input button group in the direction opposite to the movement of the finger, the movement distance of the finger to the target button of the input person can be shortened, which contributes to the improvement of input efficiency.

  If a long press operation has been executed in step 603, it is determined whether the target button is a confirmation button (step 607). If it is a confirmation button, the data of the center button of the currently displayed input screen button group is confirmed data. And the process is terminated (step 610). For example, when the input person presses and holds the confirm button for a long time on the screen shown in FIG. If it is not the confirm button that has been pressed for a long time in step 607, it is determined whether the selection data (the data of the long press operation target button in step 603) is the end data (step 608). If it is end data, the process is terminated with the selected data as final data (step 610). If the selection data is not the termination data, a button group of the next input screen is acquired based on the selection data (step 609), and the process returns to step 601. Which level of input button group to display is determined according to the flow described in FIG.

  After step 610, the process returns to step 601 again and data input from the first hierarchy screen is continued. However, when the input of the end button is confirmed in step 610, the first layer screen is deleted and the data input is ended.

  As an example, an operation example in the case of inputting “soba” with reference to FIGS. 7-1 to 7-5 will be described. FIG. 7A is an example of a first layer input button group 701 (left figure) and an input data display screen 711 (upper right figure) displayed on the touch panel. Since the input has just started, no data is displayed on the input data display screen 711. First, in order to input “SO”, the input person selects by pressing and holding “SA” of the input button group 701. Then, a second layer input candidate button group 702 corresponding to “sa” is displayed. The display position of the input candidate button group 702 in the second layer is displayed in such a positional relationship that the “sa” button in the center of the button group 702 overlaps the “sa” of the input button group 701 in the first layer that is pressed and held long. Therefore, the input person is touching the “sa” button at the center of the input candidate button group 702 in the second hierarchy without moving the long-pressed finger. Next, the input person slides his / her finger toward “so” and moves it. In response to the movement of the fingertip, the entire input button group 702 moves in the opposite direction to the movement of the fingertip, making selection easier. FIG. 7-2 shows how the input button group 702 moves.

  When the input user selects and presses “So” with the input button group 702, a third-layer input candidate button group 703 corresponding to “So” is displayed. The display position of the input candidate button group 703 in the third hierarchy is displayed in a positional relationship such that the “So” button in the center of the button group 703 overlaps with “So” in the input button group 702 in the second hierarchy that is pressed and held long. Therefore, the input person is in a state of touching the “So” button at the center of the input candidate button group 703 in the third hierarchy without moving the long-pressed finger. Next, the input person slides his / her finger toward the confirmation button on the left side to confirm “So”. In accordance with the movement of the fingertip, the input button group 703 moves in the direction opposite to the movement of the fingertip to facilitate selection. FIG. 7C shows a state where the input button group 703 moves. When the confirm button is pressed and selected, “So” is confirmed as input data, and “So” is displayed on the input data display screen 731. Since the input of one character is confirmed, the screen returns to the first hierarchy screen.

  Next, in order to input “BA”, the input person selects by pressing and holding “HA” of the input button group 704. An input candidate button group 705 corresponding to “ha” is displayed adjacently around “ha”. The input person slides his / her finger toward “B”. In accordance with the movement of the fingertip, the input button group 705 moves in the opposite direction to the movement of the fingertip to facilitate selection. Since “BA” is the end data, when “BA” is selected, “BA” is immediately confirmed as input data, and “Soba” is displayed on the input data display screen 751.

  The long pressing time for selecting / determining data can be arbitrarily set by the user.

It is the block diagram which showed an example of the structure of the conventional data input system. It is the block diagram which showed an example of the structure of the data input device of embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a screen transition. It is a figure which shows the input screen format of a 1st hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the input screen format of a 3rd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the input screen format of the 1st hierarchy when the display area is narrow (the 1). It is a figure which shows the input screen format (the 2) of the 1st hierarchy when a display area is narrow. It is a figure which shows the input screen format of the 2nd hierarchy when the display area is narrow (the 1). It is a figure which shows the input screen format (the 2) of the 2nd hierarchy when a display area is narrow. It is a figure which shows the example of the button arrangement | positioning of the input screen format of the 2nd hierarchy (the 1). It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 2) of the input screen format of a 3rd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the example (the 2) of button arrangement | positioning of the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 2) of the input screen format of a 3rd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 3) of the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 4) of the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 3) of the input screen format of a 3rd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 4) of the input screen format of a 3rd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 5) of the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the button arrangement example (the 6) of the input screen format of a 2nd hierarchy. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of an initialization process, and the operation example of designation | designated of an area | region. It is a flowchart of a data input process. It is a figure which shows the example of operation in the case of inputting "Soba" (the 1). It is a figure which shows the operation example (the 2) when inputting "soba". It is a figure which shows the operation example (the 3) in the case of inputting "Soba". It is a figure which shows the operation example (the 4) when inputting "soba". It is a figure which shows the operation example (the 5) in the case of inputting "Soba".

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Input part, 102 ... Data storage part, 103 ... Data processing part, 104 ... Display part, 201 ... Input part, 202 ... Notification part, 203 ... Data storage part, 204 ... Data processing part, 205 ... Display part, 241 ... initialization process, 242 ... input process, 243 ... screen transition process, 251 ... input data display screen, 252 ... input candidate button display area.

Claims (3)

A data input device including a touch panel having a function as a data input means for inputting data by touching with a finger or a stylus and a function as a display means for displaying various data,
Means for detecting a movement of a finger or a stylus that designates an area for displaying an input button group on the touch panel, and acquiring a position and a size of the designated area;
Based on the position and size of the designated area on the touch panel, the position of the input button group to be displayed in the area, the size of each button, and the number of buttons to be displayed are determined. Means for displaying a corresponding input button group in the designated area;
A data input device comprising: means for inputting data by detecting an operation of the input button group. The data input device according to claim 1, further comprising:
A first layer input button group is displayed in the designated area on the touch panel, and a second layer input button group is displayed in accordance with a button selected from the displayed first layer input button group. In the same manner, input control means for sequentially accepting selection of buttons while sequentially displaying input button groups of at least two or more levels, and finally determining input data;
When one button is selected from the displayed upper level input button group, the lower level input button group corresponding to the selected button is determined based on the display position of the selected button. A data input device comprising: display position control means for displaying at a position. The data input device according to claim 1 or 2,
  When displaying the input button group in the designated area, if all the buttons of the input button group cannot be displayed, the displayable buttons are displayed and the buttons that cannot be displayed are displayed. A button area indicating that there is a button that cannot be displayed is displayed adjacent to the displayed button,
  When the button area indicating that there is a button that cannot be displayed is operated, the button that cannot be displayed is displayed so that the button can be operated.
  A data input device characterized by that.

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