JP7056686B2 - Information input method and mobile terminal device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used in the electronic device, and a mobile terminal device, for example, a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital) in which characters are input from a touch panel to perform a predetermined operation. The present invention relates to an electronic device suitable for application to an assistant (personal digital assistant) or the like, an information input method and an information input control program used in the electronic device, and a mobile terminal device.

In electronic devices that are configured to input characters using a touch panel, it is common to have a configuration in which all the 50 sounds of hiragana are displayed on the same touch panel, but mobile phones and PDAs that display a touch panel for character input on the display unit, etc. Due to the nature of a portable electronic device, the size of the display unit is limited, and it is difficult to secure an area for displaying the touch panel. As a workaround, display the characters corresponding to the character line ("A line", "Ka line", etc.), and press the touch panel of "A line" a fixed number of times, for example, "A" → " The method of switching the input characters is taken like "i"-> "u"-> "e"-> "o". In addition to the method of switching the input character in the same way as above, when inputting characters by key, when the "A line" key is pressed once, "A", "I", "U", "E", There is also a method of displaying "O" as a selection candidate on the display unit and determining the character by the second selection operation.

As a related technique of this kind, for example, there is a kana character input device described in Patent Document 1.

In this kana character input device, five characters are defined for one of multiple keys on the touch panel or keyboard, and one character is defined by the key selection operation and the movement direction of the operation point or operation force after selection. Be selected. Specifically, one kana character is selected by associating five kana characters with one key in order and selecting a stage of the Japanese syllabary arrangement based on the key operated or pressed. Since five characters are defined for one key, the number of character keys can be significantly reduced, and therefore the area of the touch panel or keyboard can be reduced without reducing the size of the keys. Since the user can learn the input operation in association with the Japanese syllabary arrangement, it is easy to learn.

Further, in the kana input method using the liquid crystal touch panel described in Patent Document 2, the character string "Akasata nahamayarawa" is displayed in a horizontal row on the screen of the liquid crystal touch panel, and one character in the character string is touched. In response to the input, the remaining character string of any one of the "A" line or "Wa" line including the touch character is superimposed in one vertical column and horizontally. By touch-inputting one character in the display characters arranged in a vertical line including the above one character in one line, that character is input.

Further, in the character input device described in Patent Document 3, a hiragana input screen is displayed on the display unit, and the stylus pen is in contact with the display surface of the display unit via the touch panel and the touch panel by the CPU (central processing device). Is detected, and based on the detection result, when the stylus pen touches a predetermined area of the touch panel facing the hiragana input key on the hiragana input screen at one point, the predetermined character assigned to the hiragana input key is input and the hiragana input is performed. When the stylus pen moves while touching a predetermined area of the touch panel facing the key, by inputting a different character, a remarkably simple selection operation for the hiragana input key is executed and a large number of characters are easily input. To.

Further, in the character input method described in Patent Document 4, in the character input device for inputting kana characters by the ten keys to which the characters of the "a" line to the "wa" line are assigned respectively, the front of each ten key and the symbol key is used. It is equipped with a contact that detects pushing from, and a contact that detects pushing from up, down, left, and right. Signals corresponding to the five characters of "", "U", "E", and "O" are output.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-11236 (Abstract, FIG. 1) JP-A-2002-222053 (Abstract, Fig. 6) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-157144 (Abstract, FIG. 4, FIG. 14) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-178755 (Abstract, FIG. 4)

However, the above-mentioned techniques including the above-mentioned documents have the following problems.

That is, the method of switching the input character by pressing the touch panel has a problem that it is necessary to press the key many times when displaying the character intended by the user. Even if all the Japanese syllabary is displayed, it is difficult to instantly find the character that the user wants to input because of the large number of characters. Further, in the character input by the key, it is necessary to press the key many times when displaying the character intended by the user.

Further, in the kana character input device described in Patent Document 1, one character is selected depending on the key selection operation and the movement direction of the operation point or the operation force after selection. , The configuration and processing method are different.

In the kana input method described in Patent Document 2, that character is input by touch-inputting one of the display characters arranged in a vertical row including one character in a horizontal row. Has different configurations and processing methods.

In the character input device described in Patent Document 3, a selection operation for a hiragana input key is executed and a large number of characters are easily input, but the configuration and processing method are different from the present invention.

In the character input method described in Patent Document 4, the characters in the "A" column input from the front and the "I" column, "U" column, and "E" input from the four directions of up, down, left, and right by each ten key. A signal corresponding to the five characters of the column and the character of the "O" column is output, but the configuration and the processing method are different from the present invention.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and even when the size of the display unit is limited, such as a mobile device such as a mobile phone, characters and information can be input from the touch panel with a simple operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a mobile terminal device.

In order to solve the above problems, the first configuration of the present invention relates to an electronic device having a touch panel for information input, and the touch panel is partitioned by a predetermined number of information input frames, and a plurality of information is predetermined. When any of the information input frames on which the information is displayed is pressed, it is already displayed in the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame. Regardless of the presence or absence of the pressed information, the sub-information accompanying the information displayed in the pressed information input box is displayed, and when the pressed is released after being pressed, immediately before this release. It is characterized in that an input information confirmation means for confirming the information or sub information displayed in the pressed information input frame as input information is provided.

The second configuration of the present invention relates to an information input method used for an electronic device having a touch panel for inputting information, and the touch panel is partitioned by a predetermined number of information input frames, and the plurality of information is predetermined. It is assigned to each information input frame and displayed, and when any of the information input frames on which each information is displayed is pressed, it is already displayed in the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame. Regardless of the presence or absence of information, the sub-information accompanying the information displayed in the pressed information input box is displayed, and when the press is released after being pressed, it is pressed immediately before this release. It is characterized in that the information or sub-information displayed in the information input frame is fixed as input information.

According to the configuration of the present invention, when a plurality of information are assigned to each predetermined information input frame and displayed by the input information determination means, and any one of the information input frames on which the information is displayed is pressed, In the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame, sub-information accompanying the information displayed in the pressed information input frame is displayed regardless of the presence or absence of the information already displayed, and , When the same press is released after being pressed, the information or sub-information displayed in the information input frame that was pressed immediately before this release is confirmed as input information, so the information input frame that was pressed earlier and the information input frame that was pressed earlier Information can be input accurately only in a narrow area consisting of adjacent information input frames.

It is a block diagram which shows the electric structure of the main part of the electronic device which is an Example of this invention. It is a sequence diagram explaining the operation of the mobile phone 1 of FIG. It is a figure explaining the state which the character is selected by the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining another example of the state in which a character is selected by the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining another example of the state in which a character is selected by the touch panel 11 in FIG. It is a figure explaining another example of the state in which a character is selected by the touch panel 11 in FIG.

The electronic device has a touch panel for inputting characters, and the touch panel is partitioned by a predetermined number of character input frames. Then, each character in the "A" column of the Japanese syllabary was assigned to each predetermined character input frame and displayed, and one of the character input frames in which each character in the "A" column was displayed was pressed. When, the remaining characters in the character line that contain the characters displayed in the pressed character input box, regardless of whether or not there are already displayed characters in the character input frame adjacent to this pressed character input frame. Is displayed, and when the same press is released after being pressed, there is provided an input character confirmation means for confirming the character displayed in the character input frame that was pressed immediately before this release as an input character. Provided are an electronic device, an information input method and an information input control program used for the electronic device, and a portable terminal device.

Further, in the present invention, the input character confirmation means sets each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame as a vowel for the character displayed in the pressed character input frame. The relative positional relationship is fixed and displayed.

Further, in the present invention, the input character confirmation means is placed in the character input frame adjacent to the upper side, the lower side, the left side and the right side of the same character input frame with respect to the character displayed in the pressed character input frame. Each displayed character is configured to display the relative positional relationship of the vowels in a fixed manner.

Further, in the present invention, the input character confirmation means is adjacent to the upper left side, the lower left side, the upper right side, and the lower right side of the same character input frame with respect to the character displayed in the pressed character input frame. Each character displayed in the character input frame is configured to display the relative positional relationship of the vowels in a fixed manner.

Further, in the present invention, the input character confirmation means is a relative of a vowel between the character displayed in the pressed character input frame and each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame. It has a positional relationship setting unit for arbitrarily setting the positional relationship.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a main part of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the electronic device of this example is a mobile phone 1, which has a display unit 10, a processing device 20, and a character database 30. The display unit 10 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device and has a function as a touch panel 11 for inputting characters. The touch panel 11 is partitioned by a predetermined number of character input frames by the input frame setting signal fa of the processing device 20, and each character in the "a" column of the Japanese syllabary ("a, ka, sa, ta," Na, ha, ma, ya, ra, wa ") is assigned to each of the above-mentioned character input frames and displayed. Further, when any one of the character input frames is pressed, the touch panel 11 outputs the position information da corresponding to the position of the pressed character input frame. Further, the touch panel 11 outputs a database update signal cd when an operation for updating the character database 30 is performed.

The processing device 20 has a CPU (central processing unit) 20a as a computer that controls the entire mobile phone 1 and a ROM (read-only memory) 20b in which an information input control program for operating the CPU 20a is recorded. ing. In particular, in this embodiment, the processing device 20 outputs the input frame setting signal fa to the touch panel 11 to allocate each character in the “A” column of the Japanese syllabary to each predetermined character input frame. When any of the character input frames in which each character in the "A" column is displayed is pressed, it is adjacent to the pressed character input frame based on the position information da output from the touch panel 11. Regardless of whether or not there is a character already displayed in the character input frame to be pressed, the remaining characters in the character line containing the character displayed in the pressed character input frame are displayed, and the same is displayed after the button is pressed. When the press is released, the character displayed in the character input frame that was pressed immediately before this release is confirmed as the input character.

Further, the processing device 20 fixes the relative positional relationship of the vowels with respect to the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame for each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame. To display. For example, the characters to be displayed are fixed so that the vowel "i" is on the lower side, "u" is on the left side, "e" is on the upper side, and "o" is on the right side. The relative positional relationship of the vowels of these characters is preset and stored in the character database 30. Further, the character input frame adjacent to the pressed character input frame is, for example, adjacent to the upper side, the lower side, the left side and the right side of the pressed character input frame, or the upper left side, the lower left side, the upper right side and the right. Adjacent to the lower side. Further, the processing device 20 is provided with a positional relationship setting unit 21. The positional relationship setting unit 21 sends the positional relationship setting signal ce to the character database 30 based on the database update signal cd output from the touch panel 11, and arbitrarily sets the relative positional relationship.

2 is a sequence diagram illustrating the operation of the mobile phone 1 of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are diagrams illustrating a state in which characters are selected on the touch panel 11 in FIG. 1. ..

With reference to these figures, the processing contents of the information input method used for the mobile phone 1 of this example will be described.

In this mobile phone 1, each character ("Akasa / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa") in the "A" column of the Japanese syllabary is assigned to each preset character input frame and displayed. When any of the character input frames in which each character in the "A" column is displayed is pressed, regardless of whether or not there is a character already displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the pressed character input frame. However, when the remaining characters in the character line containing the characters displayed in the pressed character input box are displayed and the same press is released after being pressed, the character that was pressed immediately before this release. The characters displayed in the input box are confirmed as input characters.

That is, as shown in FIG. 2, when the user performs an operation using a function that requires character input, such as composing an e-mail, the processing device 20 is activated (step A1), and the touch panel is displayed from the processing device 20. The input frame setting signal fa is output to 11 and the character input frame is set (step A2). On the touch panel 1, as shown in FIG. 3A, a character input frame is displayed, and each character in the “A” column (“Akasa / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa”” is displayed in each preset character input frame. ) Is assigned and displayed (step A3). In this state, for example, when the character input frame displaying "A" is pressed (step A4), this position information da is detected and sent to the processing device 20 (step A5).

The processing device 20 makes an inquiry to the character database 30 based on the position information da (step A6), reads out the relative positional relationship of the characters (step A7), and obtains the character information cn corresponding to this relative positional relationship. It is sent to the touch panel 1 (step A8). On the touch panel 1, characters corresponding to the character information cn are displayed (step A9). In this case, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example, on the lower side, left side, upper side, and right side of the same character input frame with respect to the character (“A”) displayed in the pressed character input frame. The characters ("i, u, e, o") displayed in each adjacent character input frame are displayed in a state where the relative positional relationship of the vowels is preset. When the press is released in this state (step A10), "a" is confirmed as an input character (step A11). On the other hand, instead of releasing the press in step A10, for example, press the character input frame in which "O" is displayed (step A12), release the press in the character input frame of "A", and then "O". When the pressing of the character input frame of "" is released (step A13), "O" is confirmed as an input character as shown in FIG. 3 (c) (step A14).

Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, for example, when the character input frame displaying "sa" is pressed, each character input adjacent to the lower side, the left side, the upper side, and the right side of the same character input frame is input. The characters displayed in the frame (“shi, su, se, so”) are displayed in the same state as in FIG. 3 (b) in the relative positional relationship of the vowels. If you release the press in this state, "sa" will be confirmed as the input character, but without releasing the press, for example, press the character input frame displaying "" and press the character input frame of "sa". When the press of the character input frame of "" is released after the press of "" is released, "" is confirmed as the input character as shown in FIG. 4 (c).

Further, as shown in FIG. 5 (b), when the character input frame displaying "wa" is pressed, the character displayed in each character input frame adjacent to the right side of the same character input frame (". ”), The relative positional relationship of the vowels is displayed in the same state as in FIG. 3 (b). If you release the press in this state, "wa" is confirmed as the input character, but without releasing the press, press the character input frame displaying "o" and press the character input frame of "wa". When the press of the character input frame of "o" is released after the release of, "o" is confirmed as the input character as shown in FIG. 5 (c).

Further, when the operation of updating the character database 30 is performed on the touch panel 11 (step B1), the database update signal cd is output from the touch panel 11 to the positional relationship setting unit 21. The positional relationship setting unit 21 sends a positional relationship setting signal ce to the character database 30, and arbitrarily sets the relative positional relationship of the vowels of the stored characters. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), with respect to the character (“A”) displayed in the pressed character input frame, for example, the left side, the lower left side, the lower side and the lower side of the same character input frame. The characters ("i, u, e, o") displayed in each character input frame adjacent to the lower right side are displayed. If you release the press in this state, "A" will be confirmed as the input character. On the other hand, without releasing this press, for example, press the character input frame displaying "O", release the press of the character input frame of "A", and then press the character input frame of "O". When is released, "O" is confirmed as an input character as shown in FIG. 6 (c).

As described above, in this embodiment, each character in the "A" column ("Akasa / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa") is assigned to each preset character input frame and displayed. When any of the character input frames in which each character in the "A" column is displayed is pressed, regardless of whether or not there are already displayed characters in the character input frame adjacent to the pressed character input frame. When the remaining characters of the character line containing the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame are displayed and the same press is released after being pressed, the character input frame that was pressed immediately before this release. Since the characters displayed in are fixed as input characters, it is possible to accurately input characters only in a narrow area consisting of a 5 × 6 character input frame. Further, since it is not necessary to press the same character input frame multiple times when inputting one character, there is no possibility of an operation error such as pressing four times where the original character should be pressed three times. ..

Further, in FIG. 5, if the character input frame is not provided in the lower column of "wa", the character can be input only in the area consisting of the 5 × 5 character input frame. Further, in FIG. 6, if the character input frame is not provided in the upper column of "A" and the lower column of "Wa", the character is input only in the area consisting of the 5 × 4 character input frame. be able to. In addition, the character corresponding to the corresponding character line is displayed for each character in the "A" column ("Akasa / Tanaha / Mayara / Wa"), so the user can instantly search for the character he / she wants to enter. can. Also, for the characters displayed in the pressed character input frame, each character displayed in the character input frame adjacent to the same character input frame is displayed with the relative positional relationship of the vowels fixed. , Always accurately input characters with one or two routine actions. Further, basically, since the character input method of a general mobile phone is followed, the user does not need to learn a new input method. Further, since the relative positional relationship of the vowels is arbitrarily set by the positional relationship setting unit 21, the positional relationship according to the user's preference is set, and the operability is improved.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the same embodiments, and even if there is a design change within a range not deviating from the gist of the present invention, the present invention is not limited to the same embodiment. Included in the invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, characters are input by the touch panel 11, but an information input frame may be provided instead of the character input frame to select information such as a menu.

In this case, a plurality of information is assigned to each information input frame and displayed, and when any of the information input frames in which each information is displayed is pressed, the information input frame adjacent to the pressed information input frame is displayed. , Regardless of the presence or absence of the information already displayed, the sub-information accompanying the information displayed in the pressed information input box is displayed (corresponding to claim 1 or 7).

The present invention is applicable not only to mobile phones but also to all electronic devices having a touch panel for inputting information and characters, and is particularly effective for mobile devices having a limited size of the touch panel.

1 Mobile phones (electronic devices, mobile terminal devices)
10 Display unit (part of electronic device, part of input information confirmation means, part of input character confirmation means)
11 Touch panel 20 Processing device (part of input information confirmation means, part of input character confirmation means)
20a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (part of input information confirmation means, part of input character confirmation means)
20b ROM (read-only memory) (part of input information confirmation means, part of input character confirmation means)
21 Positional relationship setting unit (part of input character confirmation means)
30-character database (part of input character confirmation means)

Claims (5)

Detecting contact with the touch panel, the display unit having the touch panel and
Includes at least one processing unit and a control unit including computer-readable memory for holding program instructions executed by the at least one processing unit.
The control unit
A plurality of first characters and a plurality of second characters are displayed on the display unit, and a plurality of first characters and a plurality of second characters are displayed.
Each of the plurality of first characters is associated with two or more of the plurality of second characters.
Each of the two or more second letters associated with one of the plurality of first letters has a different type of vowel.
By assigning the plurality of first characters one by one, the plurality of first characters are displayed in the plurality of first areas.
The first character displayed in the first area when contact with one of the plurality of first areas in which one of the plurality of first characters is displayed is detected. Is displayed in bold letters by specifying, and all four areas of upper, lower, left, and right adjacent to the one first area where the contact is detected are associated with the first character. Each of the four second characters is displayed one by one , and the four second characters are all four areas of the upper, lower, left, and right depending on the type of vowel of the four second characters. Assigned to
When one of the four areas of upper, lower, left, and right on which the four second characters are displayed is one of the plurality of first areas other than the one that detected the contact, the first. One of the four second characters is displayed in the one of the four areas of upper, lower, left, and right without displaying the first character displayed in the area of.
To control the at least one processing unit as described above.
Mobile terminal device. The plurality of first characters are "a", "ka", "sa", "ta", "na", "ha", "ma", "ya", "ra", and "wa". Including letters
The characters "a", "ka", and "sa" are displayed side by side in a horizontal row.
The characters "ta", the "na", and the "ha" are displayed side by side in a horizontal row below the character sequence of the "a", the "ka", and the "sa".
The characters "ma", the "ya", and the "ra" are displayed side by side in a horizontal row below the character sequence of the "ta", the "na", and the "ha".
The character of "wa" is displayed below the sequence of characters of "ma", "ya", and "ra".
The mobile terminal device according to claim 1. The second character corresponding to the "i" column of the displayed first character is displayed in the A area of the upper, lower, left, and right areas.
The second character corresponding to the "U" column of the displayed first character is the second area of the upper, lower, left, and right areas, and is different from the first area. Display in area B,
The second character corresponding to the "e" column of the displayed first character is the third region of the upper, lower, left, and right regions, and the first region and the first region. Displayed in the third area, which is different from the area B,
The second character corresponding to the "O" column of the displayed first character is the Dth region of the upper, lower, left, and right regions, and the Ath region and the first region. Displayed in the area B and the area D different from the area C.
The mobile terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 2. The first character is a representative character of a group of characters having the same consonant.
The mobile terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. Detects contact with the touch panel of the display unit and detects
A plurality of first characters and a plurality of second characters are displayed on the display unit, and a plurality of first characters and a plurality of second characters are displayed.
Each of the plurality of first characters is associated with two or more of the plurality of second characters.
Each of the two or more second letters associated with the plurality of first letters of one has different types of vowels.
By assigning the plurality of first characters one by one, the plurality of first characters are displayed in the plurality of first areas.
When the contact of one of the plurality of first areas where one of the plurality of first characters is displayed is detected, the first character displayed in the first area is designated. By doing so, it is displayed in bold letters, and each of the four areas of upper, lower, left, and right adjacent to the one first area in which the contact is detected is associated with the first character . The second character is displayed one by one , and the four second characters are assigned to all four areas of the upper, lower, left, and right depending on the type of vowel of the four second characters. Be,
When one of the four areas of upper, lower, left, and right on which the four second characters are displayed is one of the plurality of first areas other than the one that detected the contact, the first. One of the four second characters is displayed in the one of the four areas of upper, lower, left, and right without displaying the first character displayed in the area of.
Information input method.

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