JPH0387913A - Keyboard with locking function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To satisfactorily keep the secrecy with the keyboard by controlling the actuation and its cancel of a data input inhibiting function with input of a prescribed password performed after the operation of a key switch. CONSTITUTION:A means is provided to set a password input mode via the push of a specific key, and a prescribed password is inputted in the password input mode. Thus the actuation and its cancel of a locking function are controlled. Then the input of a password is possible. Hereafter the locking function is actuated and canceled only with input of a proper password. As a result, the outsiders can never cancel the locking function unless they know the due password. Then the satisfactory secrecy is kept and at the same time the password itself can have the meaning so as to prevent the malfunctions.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a keyboard for a data processing device such as a personal computer (PC), and particularly to a keyboard equipped with a lock function that prohibits input from a key switch. Regarding.

[Conventional technology]

In data processing devices such as personal computers, keyboards are widely used as data input devices, and the keyboards are used all the time while the data processing device is in use, and for this reason, they are generally used for a long time. Even if the device is operated continuously for a long period of time and the operation is interrupted for a short period of time, it is often left in that state.

Therefore, since there is a risk of unauthorized operation of the keyboard by a third party, it is known that the keyboard is equipped with a so-called lock function that prohibits data input using the keyboard as necessary. Kaisho 62-14
This can be seen in Publication No. 218.

By the way, in this prior art, the lock function is controlled by repeating the operation of a specific key switch on the keyboard a predetermined number of times within a predetermined time.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Since the above-mentioned conventional technology simply activates and releases the lock by pressing the same key multiple times, no consideration is given to maintaining sufficient confidentiality or suppressing the occurrence of erroneous operations, and the lock may be easily released by a third party. , there was a problem of time loss due to excessive or insufficient number of key presses.

An object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard with a lock that is relatively easy to operate, has little risk of erroneous operation, and can maintain sufficient confidentiality.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides means for setting a password input mode by pressing a specific key, and by inputting a predetermined password under this mode, activation and release of the lock function are controlled. It was designed so that

[Effect]

Said means operate in such a way as to enable the entry of a password and then to obtain activation and release of the locking function only when the correct password is entered.

Therefore, a third party cannot unlock the lock function unless they know the password used when the lock function was activated (this means that sufficient confidentiality can be maintained, and the password itself has no meaning. Therefore, it is possible to create a configuration that sufficiently eliminates erroneous operations.

〔Example〕

Below, regarding the keyboard with a lock function according to the present invention,
This will be explained in detail with reference to the illustrated embodiment.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the keyboard used in the present invention, where A represents the keyboard, B represents the password input mode key, C represents special keys such as function keys, and the rest is the same as the conventional keyboard. .

This keyboard A has a lock function, so the data input process in its normal state is as shown in FIG. Since the judgment result is Yes, proceed to processing step 2, check the input prohibited flag here, and if this flag is set, exit the process without doing anything, and set the input prohibited flag in processing step 2. When it is determined that the key has not been entered, processing step 3 is executed to enable data input by operating that key, and the result of the judgment in processing step 2 is that the processing of processing step 3 is skipped. , a lock function will be obtained.

Note that this input prohibition flag is set in the embodiment of the present invention, and its details will be described later.

Password input mode key B is configured so that when it is operated, the process shown in FIG. 1 starts. In addition, in this example, as shown in FIG.
It is a normal keyboard with a special password input mode key B as an extra key.

Instead of providing such a special key, one of the function keys C may be assigned and set as this password input mode key.
Input by the password input mode key may be performed by simultaneously pressing two or more function keys instead of a single key.

By the way, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, when the password input mode key B is pressed for the first time, the password input mode is set at this time, and after this, when the password input mode key B is pressed again, the password input mode is set. The key data entered before the mode is released is stored as a password in a predetermined buffer, and at the same time the above-mentioned key input prohibition flag is set. The result of processing step 2 in the figure is Y
es, key input is prohibited, making it impossible for a third party to input data, and when the same password is entered by the same operation, the key input prohibited flag is reset, and here The device is configured to allow key input again, and the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to FIG.

First, when password input mode key B is pressed, the process shown in FIG. 1 starts here, and first, process step 1
0, a predetermined timer serving as a timeout counter is started, and in the next processing step 20 a message to input a password is displayed, and furthermore, in processing step 30, the password input flag is cleared.

In processing step 40, a timeout counter is checked to see if a predetermined period of time has already elapsed, and the result is Yes.
When this happens, the process ends here.

When the result of the determination at step 40 is NO, the process proceeds to step 50, where it is determined whether or not the password input mode is to be released. If the judgment result is Yes here, first press the password input mode key B.
is pressed, and this password input mode key B is operated again until the retimeout counter times out, so the result is now N.
.

Therefore, the process proceeds to step 60 and waits for the key to be pressed.

When a key is input, first, in processing step 7, it is confirmed that it is not a deletion key input, and then, in processing step 80, a predetermined character string is input by a predetermined key operation, and then it is sequentially input as a predetermined key. It is stored in the buffer BUF1, displayed in processing step 90, and processed in processing step 1.
After setting the password input flag at 00, the process returns to step 40.

When the process returns to step 40, if it has already timed out, the process will end here, but if not, the process will proceed to process step 50 again, and if password input mode key B is pressed at this time. Then,
This time, we proceed to processing step 110 and first check the setting of the password input flag, but at this time, since we have already passed through processing step 100, the processing does not end here, and we proceed to the following processing step. 12
Proceed to 0, this time check the key input prohibited flag, and now,
It is determined whether key input is prohibited or not, but since the key input prohibited flag has not yet been set, the result is No, and the process proceeds to step 150 where the data is stored in buffer BUF1. Set the character string data in buffer BUF2, register it as a password,
In the subsequent processing step 160, a key input inhibition flag is set, and then, in processing step 170, the message display is cleared, and then this processing is exited.

It should be noted that this process step 170 is configured to pass through even if the process is immediately terminated at an intermediate process step, thereby terminating the message displayed in process step 20.

As a result, according to this embodiment, the character string that is entered from the time when the password input mode key B is first pressed until the predetermined time set by the timeout counter has elapsed is registered as a password. At the same time, key input is prohibited.

Next, when this key input is prohibited, the password input mode key B is pressed again, a predetermined character string is input in the same way until the timeout expires, and the second password input mode key B is pressed again. However, if this operation is also performed before the timeout, the result in processing step 120 will be Yes, so in the following processing step 130, it is checked whether the data in buffer BUFI and the data in buffer BUF2 match. If the result is determined to be Yes, processing step 14 follows.
0 is executed, the key input prohibition flag is cleared, and the process ends. On the other hand, if the result in process step 130 is NO, the password that has already been registered is different from the character string input this time. Therefore, the key input prohibition flag reset process in step 140 is skipped, and the key input prohibition is not canceled.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when the key input is prohibited, if the same character string as the password that has already been registered is entered, the key input prohibited condition is canceled, but a person who does not know this password can It can be made so that it cannot be canceled, and it is possible to sufficiently prevent data destruction or constitutional amendment due to mischief or the like.

Therefore, according to this embodiment, when searching for an arbitrary character string, the page number where the character string exists and the number of character strings existing on that page are displayed as a list, and the number of character strings existing on that page is displayed as a list. The location of a necessary character string can be easily searched for in a short amount of time, and document editing processing can be performed efficiently.

Next, the features of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 will be explained in more detail.

First, in this embodiment, a process step 10.40 is provided, whereby if the password input is not completed within a predetermined time determined by a timeout counter, the process ends. , it becomes easier to correct errors in case of erroneous input, excluding illegal operations.

Next, in this embodiment, a processing step 70 is provided, which allows the processing to be arbitrarily abandoned.

Further, in this embodiment, processing steps 20, 90, and 170 are provided, which provide guidance in the password input mode and facilitate confirmation of input when inputting a character string as a password. It is possible to obtain good operability.

By the way, in the above embodiment, the processes shown in Figs. 1 and 2 are executed on the keyboard side, but these processes can be executed on the data processing device side such as a personal computer to which this keyboard is connected. According to embodiments such as the structure, the present invention can be applied to any data input device other than a keyboard, such as a mouse.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, it is possible to prohibit data input on the keyboard using a password that can be set arbitrarily, so that the computer, etc. It is possible to easily and reliably prohibit data input from the keyboard by anyone other than the authorized operator of the data processing device, and it is possible to easily obtain highly secure data retention and reliable confidentiality. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating the processing operation of an embodiment of the keyboard with a lock function according to the present invention, FIG. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of a keyboard according to the invention. 1-3.10-170...processing step, A.
...Keyboard, B...Password input mode key C...Function keys No. 1O~/70: Time j! Ste Noah

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a keyboard with a lock function that has a function of prohibiting data input to the data processing device side by operating a key switch on the keyboard, a specific key switch set in advance among the key switches on the keyboard The data input inhibiting function is characterized in that the data input inhibiting function is configured to be activated and canceled by providing means for setting a password input mode in response to an input from the key switch, and inputting a predetermined password following the operation of the key switch. A keyboard with a lock function. 2. In the invention of claim 1, the data input prohibition function is activated and canceled within a preset predetermined time after the end of the password input following the password input mode setting by the specific key switch. A keyboard with a lock, characterized in that it is configured to be activated on the condition that an input is made from the above-mentioned specific key switch again.