JPH0142408B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a character input device that allows characters or symbols to be entered as a meaningful combination of two or more keys by pressing them simultaneously.

In order to input many characters with a small number of keys, in addition to inputting a certain character when each key is pressed alone, another character can be input by combining with other keys such as the shift key or the voiced sound key. When inputting characters using a combination of keys,
All keys must be pressed at the same time. Therefore, in such an input device, a group of characters to be input is divided into common constituent elements, common attribute elements are extracted, and the meaning of these elements is given to each key.
Characters are input using combinations of keys that have meanings for each element, so some keys have meaning only when pressed alone, and some keys have meaning only when pressed together with other keys (for example, the shift key, voiced sound key, etc. described later). , there is a key that has a meaning when pressed alone, and a different meaning when pressed at the same time as other keys.

Conventionally, when operating keys by pressing two keys at the same time, the order in which the keys are pressed has been defined. For example, the shift key to perform a shift always means the lower character of the next key to be pressed, and the dakuon key to indicate a voiced sound is always added to the kana character pressed before it, so it is always the order in which it is pressed. It was necessary to protect. Incidentally, as the number of keys on the input device keyboard decreases, and as the number of types of characters input without changing the number of keys increases, the need for inputting by combinations of keys increases. When entering characters by pressing many keys at the same time, if the order in which each key is pressed is specified, as the combinations become more complex, or as the user attempts to input many characters in a short period of time, the key operations will be This has the disadvantage that it is complicated and requires a lot of input, making it difficult to input characters at high speed.

The present invention aims to eliminate such conventional drawbacks, and the purpose is to input characters or symbols corresponding to the combination of two or more keys by simultaneously operating two or more keys. In the input device, monitor the time t1 from when the first key is pressed until the second key is pressed, and the time t2 from when the second key is pressed until the third key is pressed. time monitoring means, the time that is the output of the monitoring means
Comparison means for comparing t1 and t2, and simultaneous operation key detection means for detecting keys pressed at the same time, the first, second and third keys are temporally close to each other in this order. When operated, if t1<t2, the first
Achieved by inputting a character or symbol based on the combination of the key and the second key, or if t1>t2, a character or symbol based on the combination of the second key and the third key. be done.

This invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a keyboard diagram of a kana character input device,
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a character input device based on the present invention.

In FIG. 1, 1 is a key group for the right thumb, consisting of a shift key 12, a voiced sound key 11, etc., and 2 is a key group for the left thumb, which similarly includes a shift key 22, a voiced sound key 2, etc.
1, 3 is a group of keys for the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of the right hand, and two letters are marked on each key top, and 4 is a group of keys for the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger of the left hand, and the same Two letters are marked on the key top of each letter key.

The feature of this keyboard is that it is possible to input kana characters using 36 keys, and by pressing multiple fingers of one hand at the same time, characters can be entered according to the combination of the combinations. Keys 3 and 4 on the left and right are the upper and lower keys, respectively.
It is a column shift, and characters in the lower column are entered by pressing the shift key with your thumb at the same time. All characters with voiced sounds are arranged in the upper row, so that you do not have to press the shift key and the voiced sound key at the same time.

FIG. 2 shows an embodiment of the character input method based on the present invention. In FIG. 2, 30 is a character input keyboard, 31 is simultaneous operation key detection means, and 32a to 32n.
33a to 33n are time storage means; 41 is a detection control means; 61 is a timer; 71
81 is a key code combination table, 81 is a key combination determination means, and 91 is a character code output terminal. When a key on the keyboard 30 is pressed (hereinafter referred to as key-on), the detection control means 41 inputs the code of the key into the code storage means 32a, reads out the key-on time from the timer 61, and stores it in the time storage means 3.
Put it in 3a. Next, when the key that has been pressed is released (hereinafter referred to as key-off), the detection control means 41 sends the key code to the determination means 81. When the key code alone has meaning, the determining means 81 outputs the character code corresponding to the key code to the code output terminal 91.
Further, when the above key code alone has no meaning, reception of that key code is ignored.

Next, when the first key is turned on and a second key, for example, a shift key, is turned on before the first key is turned off, the detection means 41 stores the key code of the second key in the code storage means 32b, and at the same time The time is read from the timer 61 and stored in the time storage means 33b. Next, when the first key and the second key are turned off back and forth, the detection means 41 detects the first key code and the second key code that were turned on at the same time immediately before the time when the key was turned off for the first time.
send to The determining means 81 refers to the key code combination table 71 and determines the first key code and the second key code.
It is determined whether the combination of key codes is valid, and if it is valid, the character code represented by the combination of key codes is output to the character code output terminal 91. Also, if the combination of the above codes is not valid, the first
and the receipt of the second key code.

Further, when the first key and the second key are turned on as described above and the third key is turned on with only the first key turned off, the detection control means 41 detects the key of the third key. The code is stored in the code storage means 32c, and the key-on time is read from the timer 61 and stored in the time storage means 33c. Then the second
When the key is turned off, the detection means 41 sends the first to third key codes to the determination means 81. Judgment means 8
1 refers to the combination table 71 and finds that the combinations of the first key and the second key, the second key and the third key are possible, and the combination of the first key and the third key is impossible. Then, the detection and determination means 41 is notified of this again. Therefore, the detection and determination means 41 sends the key-on time t1s of the first key, the key-on time t2s of the second key, and the key-on time t3s of the third key to the time counting means 42. The time counting means 42 calculates the time t1=t2s
−t1s and time t2=t3s−t2s, and send the values to the time comparison means 51. The time comparison means 51 is the time t1
and time t2, and the magnitude thereof is returned to the detection means 41. When the time t2 is longer than the time t1, the detection control means 41 retransmits the signal to the determination means 81, assuming that the first key and the second key have been turned on at the same time. When the time t1 is greater than the time t2, it is assumed that the second and third keys have been pressed simultaneously, and the data is retransmitted to the determining means 82. The determining means 81 outputs a character code corresponding to the combination of key codes sent to the code output terminal 91.

In the above explanation, for two keys that were turned on at the same time, it is assumed that the keys that were turned on immediately before the key-off time were pressed at the same time, and characters or symbols based on the combination are input. and when the first key, second key (for example, shift key), and third key are operated in this order, close to each other and overlapping each other, the first key is operated and then the third key is operated. Time t1 until the second key (shift key) is operated and the second key (shift key)
Characters corresponding to the first key and second key or characters corresponding to the second key and third key, depending on the magnitude relationship with time t2 from when is operated to when the third key is operated. We have explained the case of inputting .

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and characters etc. can be input using a combination of a first key and a second key (for example, a shift key) and a combination of a third key and a second key (for example, a shift key). In this case, when the first, second, and third keys are operated in this order close to each other and overlapping each other, the time during which the first key and the second key are operated at the same time. Compare t12 with the time t23 during which the second and third keys are operated at the same time, and when t12 > t23, input a character based on the combination of the first and second keys, and when t12 < t23. Sometimes characters based on the third and second combination may be input.

As described above, in this invention, when two or more keys are pressed at the same time, characters can be entered according to the combination of those keys, so even if the order of the keys to be pressed at the same time is different, the human It is possible to input characters by accurately recognizing groups of keys that are pressed at the same time intuitively, and can input Japanese characters at high speed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a keyboard diagram of a kana character input device, and FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a character recognition system based on the present invention. In the figure, 30 is a character input keyboard, 31 is a simultaneous detection means, 41 is a detection control means, 42 is a time counting means, 51 is a time comparison means, 71 is a key code combination table, 81 is a key combination determination means, 91 is the character code output terminal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a character input device that inputs characters or symbols according to the combination of keys by simultaneously operating two or more keys, from when the first key is pressed until when the second key is pressed. time monitoring means for monitoring time t1 and time t2 from when the second key is pressed until when the third key is pressed, and comparison means for comparing the times t1 and t2 which are outputs of the monitoring means. , and simultaneous operation key detection means for detecting simultaneously operated keys, when each of the first, second and third keys is pressed temporally close to each other in this order,
If t1<t2, a character or symbol based on the combination of the first key and the second key, and if t1>t2, the character or symbol based on the combination of the second key and the third key. A character input method characterized by inputting symbols.