JP5351439B2 - Input device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device, and more particularly to an input device having a touch panel.

  For example, in a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone, various input devices have been developed depending on the function and / or application of each terminal when a user operates the terminal. In many cases, an input operation is performed when a user directly presses a mechanical key or button disposed on the surface of the mobile terminal body with a finger or the like.

  The key of the input device in such a terminal is usually arranged according to the main use of the terminal, and in general, the physical arrangement of the key defined first can be changed later. It's not like that.

  By the way, recently, a variety of functions have been incorporated into small portable terminals, as some mobile phones have digital cameras and music playback functions. In addition to the main applications of each terminal, there are many auxiliary functions, PDA (Personal Digital Assistance: Personal Digital Assistant), etc. Some have multiple uses. In such a terminal, if the key arrangement is fixed, it may be inconvenient during an input operation depending on the function used.

  To eliminate this inconvenience of operation, a touch panel is placed in front of the liquid crystal display screen so that when an operation key or button displayed as an image on the display screen is pressed, it corresponds to that position. A terminal having an input device configured to accept an input from a touch panel has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In the information communication terminal device described in Patent Document 1, since it is possible to arbitrarily display a key arrangement on the display screen, a free key arrangement can be configured, and each function of the terminal can be configured. Each time it is switched, the key arrangement can be freely changed according to the function, and extremely good operability can be obtained. If such a terminal is used, the arrangement of keys can be arbitrarily changed according to each function installed in the terminal. Therefore, the user can perform an input operation by optimizing the input device of one terminal to each of a plurality of functions. It can be carried out.

  However, since a terminal using a touch panel as an input device realizes a flexible key arrangement, the entire surface of the touch panel is flat, and the input device operates using mechanical keys and buttons arranged in advance. In comparison, it is difficult to determine the shape of the keys and the boundaries between the keys by sensing the physical unevenness of the surface with the touch of the fingertips, so touch typing (blind touch) is performed without looking at the key display. ) Is difficult to perform, and therefore there is a drawback that key operation mistakes are likely to occur.

  In order to deal with such problems, a vibration generating device composed of a piezoelectric element or the like is arranged on the back side of the touch panel, and the finger tracing the touch panel follows the path that should be traced when operating the terminal. If it is, the first vibration that tells that it is the correct course is generated, and if the finger tracing the touch panel deviates from the course that should be traced, a second vibration different from the first vibration is generated. Thus, there has been proposed an input device that notifies the user that the finger to be operated is out of the course (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  According to the input device disclosed in Patent Document 2, the user can determine whether or not the tracing (tracing operation) of the finger performing the input is correctly performed based on the touch of the fingertip. It is also possible to operate without much watching the screen to be operated when inputting.

JP-A-11-69214 JP 2003-316519 A

  However, in the input device disclosed in Patent Document 2, as shown in FIG. 15, a large number of touch switches 160 are arranged in a matrix on the touch panel 140, and a finger is pointed in the correct direction, for example, the X direction or the Y direction. Is moved by causing the vibration generating device 200 to generate vibration by the first drive signal, and when the finger is moved in an error direction, for example, in an oblique direction, it is different from the first drive signal. The controller 180 is configured to control the vibration generator 200 to generate vibrations based on the second drive signal. That is, it is determined whether or not the movement is correct only when the finger moves from one touch switch 160 to the next touch switch adjacent thereto.

  Therefore, such an input device is correct in the case of an operation in which a finger is pressed point by point without sliding, as in an input operation using a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone. The user cannot be informed whether it is a thing or not.

  Further, in a mobile terminal, a user often performs input while paying attention to a display screen on which information on a result of inputting characters or the like is displayed. For this reason, when an input operation is performed without paying close attention to the touch panel on which the operation keys are displayed, for example, when the keys are repeatedly input, the position of the finger to be input gradually increases from the input effective range of the touch panel. It is possible that it will shift. In such a case, the user may not be recognized as an appropriate input operation as intended.

  Thus, if the input operation cannot be performed as intended by the user, it is necessary to redo the input operation after correcting the input operation as an input error. While such an operation is being performed, thinking about the input operation that the user originally desires is interrupted, and if such an interruption occurs frequently, it causes significant stress for the user.

  Therefore, the objective of this invention made | formed in view of this point is to provide the input device which can improve the operativity at the time of inputting information by press operation using a touch panel.

The invention of the input device according to claim 1 that achieves the above object is as follows:
A plurality of keys, each of which is assigned a plurality of characters, are displayed, detected when the key is displayed on the valid area and the invalid area outside the valid area is detected. An input unit to accept;
A display unit for displaying characters based on the input received by the input unit;
When there is repeated input to the key to the input unit, a plurality of characters assigned to the key are displayed on the display unit in order according to the repeated input, and input to the input unit A character input control unit that determines a character displayed on the display unit as an input character based on an input to the predetermined key when moving from a predetermined key to an area other than the predetermined key. Have
The character input control unit, when there is no press to the effective area and no press to the invalid area after the key is pressed in the input unit, Hold the displayed characters as input characters for the first predetermined time,
and,
The character input control unit is configured to input a character displayed on the display unit based on the press on the key when the invalid region is pressed after the key is pressed on the input unit. Character confirmation is suspended for a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time.
Further, the invention according to claim 2 is the input device according to claim 1 ,
The character input control unit, when the key corresponding to the character for which confirmation as the input character is suspended in the input unit is pressed again, the character displayed on the display unit is displayed next to the character. The characters assigned to the key are updated and displayed.

  According to the present invention, information indicating whether the pressed position is an input valid area such as each key or an input invalid area is provided based on the pressed position when the user inputs using the touch panel. Even if the input invalid area is pressed once during the input, the repeated input to the original input valid area can be taken over. Therefore, as long as the user has an overview of the layout of the keys displayed on the touch panel, the user can accurately perform the input operation of the keys without gazing at the touch panel every time the key is pressed. The operability is remarkably improved. Furthermore, even if the input position deviates from a predetermined key during the user's continuous input, it is not necessary to redo the previous input by returning to the original key position and taking over the input operation.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In each of the following embodiments, a foldable mobile phone will be described as an example of a terminal provided with an input device, but the application of the input device of the present invention is limited to a foldable terminal or a mobile phone. Any terminal can be used as long as the terminal has an input unit including a touch panel.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a mobile phone 1 having an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The cellular phone 1 is a foldable terminal that can be opened and closed by a hinge at the center of the main body, and FIG. 1 shows an open state. On one of the two surfaces that appear when the mobile phone 1 is in the open state, an information display unit 2 constituted by a liquid crystal screen or the like for displaying various information, and a voice output unit for outputting voice of a call, music playback sound, etc. 5 are arranged. On the other surface, as shown partially cut away, a key display unit 3 for drawing the shapes of keys and buttons on a liquid crystal screen or the like to display these arrangements, and a front surface of the key display unit 3 are arranged. Then, a touch panel 4 constituted by a matrix switch or the like that directly accepts an input by a user's finger or the like is arranged. In addition, the mobile phone 1 may include a voice input unit such as a microphone, a digital camera, a one-segment tuner antenna, various interfaces, and the like, depending on the function, but a description of these details is omitted.

  The mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment displays the shape and arrangement of keys on the key display unit 3 as images instead of arranging various keys and buttons as mechanical switches on the main body of the mobile phone 1. . When the user presses the image portion on which the key is displayed, the touch panel 4 corresponding to the position is pressed, and a signal corresponding to the input is output from the matrix switch or the like at the pressed position of the touch panel 4. .

  In FIG. 2, the schematic front view of the open state at the time of use of the mobile telephone 1 is shown. Here, as an example, the display of each display unit at the time of creating an e-mail is illustrated. The information display unit 2 displays an e-mail text creation / editing screen, and the key display unit 3 displays an operation key group necessary for e-mail text creation / editing selected from a template according to the application. To do. The user presses a key of the operation key group displayed on the key display unit 3 (actually presses the touch panel 4), and inputs characters constituting the e-mail. In the information display part 2 of FIG. 2, the character of the electronic mail inputted by the user is displayed at the top of the screen, and the current input point is indicated by a square cursor. The cellular phone 1 according to the present embodiment employs a so-called multi-tap method (described later) that is well-known as a normal character input method. At the time shown in FIG. 2, the user has pressed the “1 / A line” key in the key display section 3 five times in succession, and has input “O”, the fifth character of that line. Is shown. In response to the input of the character “O”, various selection candidates for the word starting with “O” are displayed at the bottom of the information display unit 2, and the user selects a candidate from these and confirms the input character To do.

  In FIG. 2, the e-mail creation function has been described as an example, but the information display unit 2 and the key display unit 3 are suitable for using the function according to various templates according to the functions of the mobile phone 1. Display and easy-to-use key layout. For example, although not shown, when using the call function, the information display unit 2 displays the input telephone number and name of the other party, or when using the music playback function, the information display unit 2 Name, volume, and the like can be displayed, and the key display unit 3 can display function buttons for playback and stop, a volume adjustment key, and the like. Further, when using the digital camera function, the information display unit 2 can display the currently captured image, and the key display unit 3 can display various function buttons such as a shutter and an effect. Thus, in this Embodiment, since the touch panel 4 is employ | adopted as an input part, it can respond to the operation part of various structures according to desired operation.

  FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment. The mobile phone 1 includes the information display unit 2, the key display unit 3, the touch panel 4, and the voice output unit 5 described above, and also displays key shapes and layouts of input keys and buttons according to each application. A storage unit 6 for storing various information such as a plurality of templates to be displayed on the unit 3, a calculation unit 7 for calculating a positional relationship between a pressed position of the touch panel 4 and an image displayed on the key display unit 3, A determination unit 8 that determines an input position based on a calculation result of the calculation unit 7 and a vibration generation unit 9 that is a first sensing information generation unit that informs the user that the touch panel 4 has been pressed and a predetermined input has been made. And a control unit 10 that controls and manages each of these blocks. Therefore, in this Embodiment, the information display part 2 comprises a display part, the key display part 3 and the touchscreen 4 are comprised, and an input part is comprised, and the control part 10 comprises a character input control part.

  Further, the control unit 10 not only controls the vibration generating unit 9 to generate vibration as the first sensing information, but also controls the audio output unit 5 to generate sound as the second sensing information. In addition, the information display unit 2 can be controlled so that a predetermined image is changed and displayed as the third sensing information.

  The vibration generating unit 9 is configured by, for example, a piezoelectric element that is disposed on the back side of the touch panel 4 and vibrates the touch panel 4. When the touch panel 4 is pressed and a predetermined input is received, the vibration generating unit 9 operates to apply vibration as the first sensing information to the user's fingertip pressing the touch panel 1 to input the vibration. Inform the user that the request has been accepted. By making the generation period of this vibration a short time (for example, for a moment), when the user presses a key on the touch panel 4, it resembles a click feeling obtained when a key or button configured with a mechanical switch is pressed. A feeling can be provided to the user. Further, when the touch panel 4 is pressed and a predetermined input is received, instead of notifying the user that the input has been received by vibration by the vibration generation unit 9, the voice generated from the voice output unit 5 or information The user can be informed that the input has been accepted by an image displayed on the display unit 2 or the like.

  Next, a multi-tap method, which is a Japanese kana character input method used in this embodiment, will be described. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a correspondence between a user input to the input unit when inputting kana characters by the multi-tap method and a character to be output according to the input, stored in the storage unit 6. .

  As can be seen from FIG. 4, when the number “1” key corresponding to “A” is continuously pressed once, twice, three times, four times, and five times, it is output accordingly. The characters that change will change to “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O”, followed by the sixth, seventh, etc., followed by “A”, “I”, When the eleventh and subsequent successive presses are performed, the first “a” character is returned, and thereafter the repetition is repeated. Since there are no small kana characters in “ka line”, when the number “2” key corresponding to “ka line” is continuously pressed, “ka” to “ko” are displayed from the first time to the fifth time. Although it is output, pressing after the sixth time is the same as repeating from the first time. Kana characters “A line” to “Ra line” are assigned to the numbers “1” to “9”, respectively, and “Wa line” is assigned to the key “0”. Keys of symbols other than numbers are associated with various symbols and line feeds as shown in the figure.

  Since the input based on such a table by the multi-tap method is a method widely used as a method based on a Japanese input application built in a general mobile phone terminal, detailed description thereof is omitted. In the present embodiment, the vertical arrangement of the table shown in FIG. 4, that is, the arrangement of the characters “A, I, U, E, O…” is called a “line” such as “A”. The horizontal arrangement, that is, the arrangement of the characters “A, K, S, T, etc.” is called “dan” like “Adan”. Furthermore, in this embodiment, an input operation in which the same key is continuously pressed a plurality of times as in the case of performing input by the multi-tap method is referred to as “repetitive input”.

  Next, with reference to FIG. 5, the key display unit 3 and the touch panel 4 of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically illustrating a state in which the user's fingertip 11 is about to touch a key displayed on the key display unit 3 of the mobile terminal 1. In this embodiment, as an example, the description will be made based on the arrangement of keys when creating an e-mail. However, keys and buttons suitable for input and operation corresponding to the application of each function to be used are displayed on the key display unit. 3 can be displayed. Note that only a part of the entire keys displayed on the key display unit 3 is illustrated, and the other parts are omitted. Further, when the user presses the touch panel 4 with the skin of the fingertip 11, the pressed portion is not a single point but has a certain area, and the portion is indicated by a broken line as the pressed portion 12.

  For the “1 / A row” key displayed on the key display unit 3, the inside defined by the displayed key image is defined as a key display range 20. In correspondence with the position of the key display range 20, a portion that actually receives an input of a user's finger or the like on the touch panel 4 is defined as an effective area 21. In this example, the effective area 21 is defined slightly inside the key display range 20 in consideration of the fact that the user's fingertip 11 has a certain area of the pressing area 12, but depending on various key arrangements For example, the key display range 20 and the effective area 21 may be congruent, or the effective area 21 may be defined outside the key display range 20. The same applies to the keys such as “2 / ka line” and “3 / sa line” in addition to the “1 / A line” key, and the key display range for all keys displayed on the key display unit 3 20 and effective area 21 are set. By making each contact area (XY coordinate) of a large number of touch switches on the touch panel 4 correspond to each effective area 21 correlated with each key displayed in each key display range 20 of the key display unit 3, the touch panel 4. Outputs a signal corresponding to the position pressed and input by the user.

  A signal generated by pressing the touch panel 4 in this way is transmitted to the calculation unit 7 under the control of the control unit 10. The calculation unit 7 calculates the XY coordinates pressed on the touch panel 4. Based on the calculation result, the determination unit 8 determines the pressed position and transmits the determination result to the control unit 10. The control unit 10 reads out processing to be executed when there is an input of the position from the storage unit 6 and controls the vibration generation unit 9 to generate vibration as first sensing information as necessary. In addition, when performing sound or image display instead of vibration as the second or third sensing information, the control unit 10 controls the sound output unit 5 or the information display unit 2, respectively.

  As described above, when the vibration is generated by the vibration generating unit 9 as the first sensing information when the effective area 21 is pressed, the generated vibration is transmitted to the user's fingertip via the touch panel 4. Accordingly, the user can recognize that the key has been appropriately pressed and the input process has been appropriately performed. Further, when the voice output unit 5 generates a predetermined voice as the second sensing information when the effective area 21 is pressed, the user has appropriately pressed the key and the input process has been appropriately performed. Can be recognized through hearing. Furthermore, when a predetermined display is displayed on the information display unit 2 as the third sensing information when the effective area 21 is pressed, the user has appropriately pressed the key and the input process has been appropriately performed. Can be recognized through vision.

  Next, sensing information generation processing of the mobile phone 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 6 and conceptual diagrams of FIGS.

  First, the control unit 10 reads a key layout template corresponding to an application from the storage unit 6, displays the template on the key display unit 3, and waits for input (step S11). When the touch panel 4 detects an input by pressing, the calculation unit 7 calculates a position where the input is detected (step S12), and the determination unit 8 determines the result of the calculation and the current key arrangement stored in the storage unit 6. The pressed position is determined by comparing with the template (step S13).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the position determined to have been pressed is in the effective area 21 of the specific key (step S14). For example, as shown in FIG. 7, when there is an input to the touch panel 4 but the input pressing position (pressing portion 12) is not on the effective area 21 (No in step S14), this input is a key input. The process returns to step S11 without performing the process according to the input as pressing the invalid area that does not accept. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, when there is an input to the touch panel 4 but the input pressing position (pressing portion 12) extends over the effective area 21 of a plurality of keys, this input is effective area 21. Since it cannot be specified (No in step S14), the processing based on the input is not performed, and the process returns to step S11. That is, when a plurality of keys are pressed simultaneously, processing corresponding to this input is not performed. Therefore, in these cases, since the vibration generating unit 9 does not generate sensing information such as vibration, the user can recognize that the input is not properly received.

  In step S14, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the input pressing position (pressing portion 12) on the touch panel 4 is on a specific effective area 21, the control unit 10 responds to the input with the first The vibration generating unit 9 is controlled so as to generate the vibration which is the perception information (step S15). Next, the control unit 10 performs an input process corresponding to the key (step S16). As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 9, when the pressing portion 12 of the user's fingertip 11 presses the effective area 21 of the key, the vibration indicating that the effective area of the key has been pressed in response thereto Given to the fingertip 11. Therefore, the user can grasp that the position pressed on the touch panel 4 was the correct position even when the key display unit 3 was not always watched.

  In step S14, when the specific effective area 21 is pressed, the control unit 10 does not control the vibration generating unit 9 so as to generate the vibration that is the first sensing information. For example, the audio output unit 5 may be controlled so as to generate a beep sound. By doing in this way, even if the user is not always gazing at the key display unit 3, the position pressed on the touch panel 4 is the position within the effective area 21 of each key or is not recognized as the key input. The position can be identified by sound.

  In step S14, when the specific effective area 21 is pressed, the control unit 10 displays, for example, a cursor as normal third detection information instead of the first or second detection information. The information display unit 2 may be controlled to change to a different one. That is, as shown in FIG. 10A, when an input is detected in the effective area 21 of the touch panel 4 while performing a character input operation using the e-mail creation function of the mobile phone 1, the control is performed. The unit 10 controls the display of the information display unit 2 so as to darken the color of the cursor for a moment or increase the brightness of the cursor for a moment as shown in FIG. 10B, for example.

  Furthermore, as the third sensing information, the size and shape of the cursor can be changed for a moment. That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 10A, when an input operation is detected in the effective area 21 of the touch panel 4 while performing a character input operation using the e-mail creation function of the mobile phone 1, The control unit 10 momentarily changes the shape of the cursor to a round shape as shown in FIG. When the position where the input press is detected is not the valid area 21, that is, the invalid area where key input is not accepted, the control unit 10 changes the cursor shape momentarily as shown in FIG. Even if it is changed to a cross shape, the position where the pressure is input can be identified very easily.

  In this way, even if the user performs an input operation on the touch panel 4 while looking at the information display unit 2 without gazing at the key display unit 3, the position pressed on the touch panel 4 is the position of each key. Whether or not it is within the effective area 21 can be identified from the change in the cursor of the currently input character.

  Next, the process which handles the press part 12 of a user's fingertip 11 as one press position is demonstrated.

  In the input operation according to the above-described embodiment, the pressing portion 12 of the user's fingertip 11 has a certain area, and all the area of the area is input to the touch panel 4, but one point in the pressing portion 12 is It can also be handled as a pressing position.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining an example of the position determination of the pressing portion 12 according to the present embodiment. When the pressing part 12 of the user's fingertip 11 has a certain predetermined area, a rectangle surrounding the pressing part 12 is defined in a virtual XY plane on the touch panel 4. By connecting the midpoints of the opposing sides of the rectangle, the center of gravity of the rectangle is obtained, and this center of gravity is set as the center point 13. In this way, even when the pressing portion 12 has an area, the input can be processed as one point input.

  In particular, a mobile terminal such as the mobile phone 1 is not only used to hold a terminal body with one hand and press a key from directly above the touch panel with the other hand, but also with the hand held with one hand. Key operations are often performed using the thumb of the user. In this case, it is assumed that the key will be pressed with the thumb lying down considerably, or that the shape of the pressing portion 12 will be an extremely elliptical shape. For example, the area of the pressing portion 12 may become extremely small. Even in such a case, by performing the above-described processing for obtaining the center point 13 by the calculation unit 7, the input of the pressing portion 12 can be easily processed as one point input.

  Further, for example, when a large number of keys are displayed and arranged on the key display unit 3, the area of each key is reduced, so that the area of the pressed portion 12 is larger than the area of the key display range 20. Such a case is also conceivable. Even in such a case, by performing the position determination according to the present embodiment, it is possible to effectively use the key display unit 3 and provide good operability.

  Next, the continuous strike input takeover process according to the present embodiment will be described.

  In the continuous hit input takeover process according to the present embodiment, while the key is repeatedly input by the multi-tap method described above, the finger that performs the input operation for the continuous hit is deviated from the effective area and presses the invalid area. Also, by following a predetermined condition, the original repeated input can be taken over and resumed.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining continuous hitting input takeover processing according to this embodiment. In this continuous hitting input takeover process, it is assumed that the input to any valid area 21 of any key has been stored in the storage unit 6 as a past input history before the start of the process. Further, the time point when any input is detected on the touch panel 4 will be described as the start time point of the continuous input handing process.

  First, in step S <b> 21, the control unit 10 determines whether an input to the touch panel 4 detected at the start time is an input to an effective area 21 of a certain key. When the input to the touch panel 4 is not input to the effective area 21 of the key (No in Step S21), that is, when the input is to the invalid area, the control unit 10 stores time information regarding the input in the storage unit 6 ( Step S22). Thereafter, the process ends without performing a process in response to an input such as displaying a character. In other words, even if an input is made to the invalid area, no processing that changes in appearance is performed when viewed from the user side. As described above, even when an input is made to the invalid area, for example, by recording time information at the time of input, it is determined whether or not the input and the next input are repeated input.

  As described above, as a situation where an input to the invalid area is detected, a misplaced position may be pressed by mistake due to a user's operation error. The position to be moved gradually shifts during continuous hitting input, and as a result, the invalid area may be pushed out of the valid area.

  When the input to the touch panel 4 is an input to the key effective area 21 in step S21, the control unit 10 compares the time information of the input with the time information of the immediately previous input, and the time of both inputs It is determined whether or not the interval is within a predetermined time (step S23). When the time interval between the current input and the previous input is within a predetermined time (Yes in step S23), the control unit 10 regards the current input following the previous input as a continuous input, and then selects the current ( It is determined whether or not the input to the key effective area 21 is an input to the effective area 21 of the same key as the previous input (step S24). Hereinafter, “input to key effective area 21” is simply abbreviated as “input to key”.

  In step S24, when the current input is a repeated input to the same key as the previous input, the control unit 10 performs the same processing as when the same key is repeatedly applied in the multi-tap method described above (step S25). The process ends. That is, in step S25, in the input method using the multi-tap method described in FIG. 4, the kana characters are sequentially changed in the row direction and displayed on the information display unit 2 by repeatedly pressing the same key. As long as the operations from step S21 to S25 are repeated by repeatedly inputting the same key within a predetermined time, the kana characters displayed on the information display unit 2 are changed in order according to the number of repeated hits of the repeated input. To display.

  In step S23, if the time interval between the current input and the previous input is not within the predetermined time, the control unit 10 regards the current input following the previous input as not a continuous input, and the information input up to that time is information. The character displayed on the display unit 2 is confirmed (step S26). When the already input character is confirmed, the control unit 10 displays the character corresponding to the current input on the information display unit 2 (step S27), and ends the process by the current input.

  In addition, when the input to the current key is performed by the continuous hit input from the previous input (Yes in Step S21 and Yes in Step S23), the current input is not input to the same key as the previous input. In the case (No in step S24), the control unit 10 determines whether or not the previous input is an input for the invalid area (step S28). In step S28, if the previous input is an input to any key and the current input is an input to a key different from the previous input, the process proceeds to No. In this case, for repeated input to different keys, the control unit 10 proceeds to step S26 to determine the character displayed on the information display unit 2, and sets the character corresponding to the current input to the information display unit 2. Display (step S27), and the process by the current input is terminated.

  In step S28, the previous input is an input to an invalid area that is not a key, and if the current input is an input to any key, the process proceeds to Yes. In this case, the control unit 10 determines whether or not the key that has been input this time is a key in a line that includes a kana character already displayed in the information display unit 2 (step S29).

  For example, when a character (or line) that has not been finalized as a character displayed in the information display unit 2 by the input so far is a character (or line), “1” is a key of a line that does not include the kana character. When the input to the “/ A line” key is detected as the current input, the process proceeds to step S26. In this case, the control unit 10 finalizes the already displayed character (step S26), displays the character corresponding to the current input on the information display unit 2 (step S27), and ends the process by the current input. To do.

  On the other hand, in step S29, for example, if the character displayed on the information display unit 2 by the input so far is an unfixed end character “U” (that line), the line including the kana character When the input to the “1 / A line” key, which is the key of, is detected as the current input, the process proceeds to step S25. In this case, the control unit 10 continues the input by the multi-tap method. That is, even if an invalid area has been entered once, the original multi-tap input can be taken over by resuming consecutive hits with the key of the kana line that was originally entered. For example, in the case where a character whose end is “U” that has not been finalized is displayed on the information display unit 2 by the input so far, the key of the line including the kana character after the input to the invalid area is performed. When the input to the “1 / A line” key is detected again, “e”, which is the next character after the “u” character, is displayed, and repeated input is detected for the key. In this case, “o”, which is the next character after “e”, is displayed.

  That is, for example, while the repeated input is performed at the finger position shown in FIG. 9 and the kana characters of “A line” are displayed in order by the multi-tap method, the position of the finger to be repeatedly hit is gradually shifted. In other words, when the input is performed at the finger position shown in FIG. 7, the sensing information described above indicates that the user has pushed the invalid area because the position of his / her finger has deviated from the valid area. In such a case, by returning the position of the finger to the position shown in FIG. 9 (the effective area 21) while continuing to input continuously, the character input before the finger is displaced and the invalid area is pressed is changed. Thus, the input operation can be continued by taking over the multi-tap input.

  Generally, in an input device that performs an input operation using a touch panel, the edge of a key displayed on the touch panel cannot be identified by the touch of a fingertip. Therefore, if an input operation is performed without gazing at the touch panel, It is assumed that the fingertips gradually shift. In such a case, it is possible that the user unintentionally presses the effective area of the key adjacent to a certain key, so the input to the key is not accepted between the effective areas of adjacent keys. It is preferable to set the area. When there is an input to this invalid area, the input related to the current input is confirmed and the characters related to the current input are displayed in the same way as when input is performed on a key other than the key that was input immediately before. Setting to do is also considered. However, with this setting, if an invalid area is entered by mistake, characters in the middle of entry due to the previous entry will be confirmed, so that part must be erased and then re-entered with the correct operation. I must.

  According to the continuous hit input takeover process of the present embodiment, even if the input position deviates from the effective area 21 during the continuous hit input, the input character is not determined accordingly. For this reason, since the position outside the effective area of a key is entered, the input up to that point is confirmed, and the time and effort of deleting the already entered characters and then re-entering them are saved. be able to.

  In addition, in this continuous hitting input takeover process, after an input to the invalid area is detected, the user has left the effective area with a time interval slightly longer than the time determined to be normal continuous hitting input. At this time, it may be possible to increase the time for correcting the position of the repeated hitting input.

  In addition, this invention is not limited only to the said embodiment, Many deformation | transformation or a change is possible. For example, each of the first to third sensing information in the sensing information generation process described above does not necessarily need to be output separately and can be implemented by appropriately combining some of the sensing information.

  Further, when the above-described sensing information is combined and performed, for example, when the input device is initially set, the pressing portion 12 according to the method of holding the terminal body and the key pressing mode according to each user. If the setting of the position calculation method is registered in advance for each application, and the calculation method of the position of the pressing portion 12 is switched every time the application is switched, the operability is further improved. By doing so, even if there are individual differences in the key operation method depending on the user, it is possible to obtain extremely good operability even if the pressing method varies from application to application.

  Furthermore, although the mobile phone according to the above-described embodiment has been described as a configuration in which the information display unit 2 and the key display unit 3 are separated, it is not essential that the two display units are separated. A touch panel may be provided on the entire front surface of the unit, and a key input area and an information display area may be provided on one screen to perform an input operation. In addition, the present invention can naturally be applied to a configuration in which two or more touch panels are provided on the front surface of the display unit in a terminal having two or more display units.

  The present invention can also be applied to a configuration in which the display unit itself detects an input by providing a sensor for each pixel of the display unit.

It is a schematic perspective view which shows the structure of the mobile telephone which has the input device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic front view of the open state of the mobile phone shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of the mobile phone shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the output corresponding to the input of the key by a multi-touch system. It is a figure explaining the key display part and touch panel of a mobile telephone which are shown in FIG. It is a flowchart explaining the sensing information generation process by this Embodiment. It is a conceptual diagram explaining operation | movement of the input device of the mobile telephone shown in FIG. Similarly, it is a conceptual diagram explaining operation | movement of the input device of the mobile telephone shown in FIG. Similarly, it is a conceptual diagram explaining operation | movement of the input device of the mobile telephone shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the information display part by the sensing information generation process of this Embodiment. Similarly, it is a figure which shows the example of a display of the information display part by the sensing information generation process of this Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example of the position determination of the press part by embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart explaining the continuous strike input taking over process by this Embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional input device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Mobile phone 2 Information display part 3 Key display part 4 Touch panel 5 Audio | voice output part 6 Memory | storage part 7 Calculation part 8 Judgment part 9 Vibration generation part 10 Control part 11 User's fingertip 12 Press part 13 Center point 20 Key display range 21 Effective area

Claims (2)

A plurality of keys, each of which is assigned a plurality of characters, are displayed, detected when the key is displayed on the valid area and the invalid area outside the valid area is detected. An input unit to accept;
A display unit for displaying characters based on the input received by the input unit;
When there is repeated input to the key to the input unit, a plurality of characters assigned to the key are displayed on the display unit in order according to the repeated input, and input to the input unit A character input control unit that determines a character displayed on the display unit as an input character based on an input to the predetermined key when moving from a predetermined key to an area other than the predetermined key. Have
The character input control unit, when there is no press to the effective area and no press to the invalid area after the key is pressed in the input unit, Hold the displayed characters as input characters for the first predetermined time,
and,
The character input control unit is configured to input a character displayed on the display unit based on the press on the key when the invalid region is pressed after the key is pressed on the input unit. An input device characterized in that the confirmation as a character is held for a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time. The character input control unit, when the key corresponding to the character for which confirmation as the input character is suspended in the input unit is pressed again, the character displayed on the display unit is displayed next to the character. The input device according to claim 1 , wherein the input device updates and displays characters assigned to the key.

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