JPH0431624Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Technical Field of the Invention] This invention relates to a data input device, and particularly to a key input type data input device.

[Background of the invention] In a typical keyboard-type data input device used as an input device for microprocessors, etc., the shift key is used as a conversion key for each key's function or mode, and each key has a shift key. The name of the function that operates under each specified mode is printed on the key top. In this type of data input device, each key has multiple functions, so while it has the advantage of saving keyboard space, the size of the function names printed on the same key top becomes small and difficult to see. The inconvenience is that it is difficult to recognize multiple function names and their arrangement patterns at a glance. moreover,
This type of data input device does not have a function to display the mode specified by the shift key, so it is difficult for users, especially beginners, to determine which mode the key is currently operating in, making it easy to make operational errors. There are some inconveniences. To solve this problem, a separate means for displaying the current mode is required, which complicates the configuration.

[Purpose of the invention] This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and its purpose is to provide a data input device that can input relatively many types of data without any operational errors.

[Main points of the invention] In order to achieve the above purpose, this invention has multiple switches that can be pressed from either the front side or the back side. A keyboard that can be attached in any state, a detection means that detects whether the side of the keyboard used with respect to the main body of the device is the front or back side, and that generates different data depending on the detection result of the detection means when the keyboard switch is pressed. The gist of this is to have the means.

[Example] Hereinafter, an example of this invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Configuration of Input Device (FIGS. 1 to 3) FIG. 1 shows an external view of an embodiment in which this invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch, where 1 represents an electronic wristwatch and 5 represents a keyboard.

The electronic wristwatch 1 has a mode changeover switch Sm on the side of the wristwatch main body 2 as an input key of the main input device for switching between time mode and data bank mode.
A read/write switch Sw for switching between data read and write modes, a cursor movement switch Sc for moving the cursor on the clock display surface 3, and a page switch Sp for specifying a page of the data bank memory are provided. Furthermore, a slot 4 is formed at one end of the wristwatch main body 2 to receive a keyboard 5 as an auxiliary input device.
More specifically, the keyboard 5 is attached to the electronic wristwatch 1 by inserting the keyboard 5 into the slot 4 with its surface 6 facing up and its connector 8 in the direction indicated by arrow A, as shown in FIG. 1A. Not only is it possible to do this, but as shown in Figure 1B,
The connector 8 can be inserted into the slot 4 with its back side 7 facing up.

This keyboard 5 has mainly hiragana characters printed on its front side 6 and mainly alpha alphabets on its back side 7, and these characters and symbols are printed when the location is pressed (more precisely, With the connector 8 inserted into the slot 4 and the keyboard 5 attached to the electronic wristwatch 1, when you press a character or symbol on the keyboard surface facing the same direction as the clock display surface 3), input to the electronic wristwatch side. represents the data that will be processed.

The keyboard 5 as shown in the exploded perspective view of FIG.
is composed of three main elements: an upper key sheet 9, a spacer 10, and a lower key sheet 11. First, the top key sheet 9 has a substrate made of a flexible material, on the surface of which hiragana etc. are printed, and on the back surface thereof a conductor pattern 9-a which becomes the electrode of the switch is formed. Further, a spacer 10 inserted between the upper key sheet 9 and the lower key sheet 11 has through holes 10-a formed at positions corresponding to each switch and printed characters. The lower key sheet 11 has a substrate made of the same flexible material as the upper key sheet 9,
The above-mentioned alpha alphabet and the like are printed on the front surface (the back surface 7 of the keyboard, which cannot be seen in FIG. 2), and the conductor pattern 11-a, which becomes the electrode of the switch, is printed on the back surface. Therefore, the keyboard 5 can be operated from both the front and back sides,
The same switch will close if you press the corresponding position on both sides, for example, if you press the "0" part on the back side 7 and the "A" part on the front side 6, the same switch will close. Become.

Therefore, in response to this same switch input, there is a means for detecting the orientation of the keyboard 5 attached to the wristwatch body 2 with respect to the wristwatch body 2.
By using means for identifying whether the operation surface of the keyboard 5 facing the same side as the clock display surface 3 is the front or back side, two types of data input can be generated from the same switch input (continuity information). FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of a means for performing such detection. FIG. 3A shows a cutout 12 formed at one end of the connector 8, and a switch ( (not shown), and when the operating surface of the keyboard 5 is on the front side, the operating surface of the keyboard 5 is opened by a notch, and when the operating surface of the keyboard 5 is on the back side, it is closed because there is no notch, thereby determining the operating surface of the keyboard 5. In FIG. 3B, a short-circuit conductor 13 is formed at one end of the connector 8, and the other end is left open.A circuit ( (not shown) to identify the operation surface of the keyboard 5.

In the case of FIGS. 3A and 3B, an interface (not shown) including an encoder is provided on the wristwatch body 2 side, and the encoder switches the switch to a different code depending on the detection result of the front/back side. Convert to

Clock circuit (Figures 4 to 6) Electronic wristwatch 1 that uses the input device described above (auxiliary input via keyboard 5 and main input via mode switch Sm to page switch Sp)
The circuit configuration and overall operation will be explained below with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6 (the input section 27 in FIG. 4 corresponds to the input device described above).

For example, the oscillation circuit 21 always outputs
The 32768KHz reference clock signal is passed through the frequency divider circuit 22.
The frequency is divided to 512 Hz and given to the clock timing signal generation circuit 23. This clock timing signal generation circuit 23 generates a clock timing signal a every 1/16 seconds.
This clock timing signal a is input to the timing generator 24 as an operation start signal, and the timing generator 24 operates accordingly and outputs various timing pulses based on the output of the oscillation circuit 21. to operate each circuit. The signal a is also input to the address section 25,
Specify a predetermined address of the ROM (read only memory) 26 and perform time measurement processing (step 41, Fig. 5)
is started according to the clock timing signal a. Further, when a key is operated from the input section 27, a key operation signal b is outputted and inputted to the timing generator 24 as an operation start signal, and simultaneously inputted to the address section 25.
The start address for executing the key processing program corresponding to the operation key of the ROM 26 is specified, and key processing (step 41, FIG. 5) is performed. When the time measurement processing or key input processing is completed, an operation stop signal is output from the operation decoder to the timing generator to stop the timing signal and enter the HALT state (step 40, FIG. 5).

The ROM 26 stores a microprogram that controls all operations of this electronic wristwatch, and outputs microinstructions ADDR, DO, NA, and OP in parallel.
The microinstruction ADDR is input to the RAM (random access memory) 28 and specifies the address of the RAM 28, as well as the clock timing signal generation circuit 2.
3. The information is input to the input section 27 and the display section 29 to operate them. Microinstruction DO is input to multiplexer 30 as a numerical code. The multiplexer 30 has an input section 27 and a RAM2.
8 is also input, and the operands and operands are switched and outputted at various processing timings, and are provided to the arithmetic unit 31 and the temporary register 32.
In this case, the data held in the temporary register 32 is provided to the arithmetic unit 31 in synchronization with the output data of the multiplexer 30. In addition, the microinstruction NA is input to the address section 25 as next address data for reading out various microinstructions necessary for the next process, and
OP is operation data input to the operation decoder 33.

The calculation unit 31 executes key input processing, time measurement processing, display processing, etc., and the calculation results are input to the address unit 25 and RAM 28. here,
The address section 25 changes the address of the ROM 26 by executing a change operation in the arithmetic section 21.
In addition, the data taken into the RAM 18 is read out at each processing timing, and is sent to the multiplexer 30.
In addition to being input to the display section 29, the information is input to the display section 29. Note that the display section 29 is provided with a latch 29AS that holds display data.

The operation decoder 33 is a microinstruction
It decodes the OP and outputs various control signals and provides them to each circuit.

Note that Figure 6 shows a part of the RAM 28.
The area 28A stores time data obtained by the above-described time measurement process, and the area 28B constitutes a data bank memory, and each page register stores input data obtained by key input from the keyboard 5.

Operation () Key Processing and Display Processing (FIG. 7) Next, key processing and display processing of the electronic wristwatch 1 in response to key input from the input unit 17 will be explained with reference mainly to FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart when the input unit 17 is used as a data bank input device.

First, the CPU determines in step 50 whether or not the mode changeover switch Sm is pressed. If it is pressed, the CPU switches the mode (step 51) and determines whether the current mode is time mode or data bank mode. (Step 52), if the data bank mode is selected, executes the P page data display command, that is, reads the P page of the data bank area 28B of the RAM 28 (FIG. 4);
This is displayed on the display section 29 (step 53).
If it is in the clock mode, the time display is executed, that is, the time data area 28A is accessed and the time is displayed on the display section 29 (step 54).

If mode select switch Sm is not pressed, it is determined in step 54 whether or not the current mode is data bank mode, and if it is not data bank mode, no processing is performed, and if it is data bank mode, reading is performed. It is determined whether the /write changeover switch Sw is pressed (step 55). If the read/write switch Sw is pressed, the read/write mode is switched in step 56. If the read/write switch Sw is not pressed, it is determined in step 57 whether the page switch Sp is pressed, and if it is pressed, the page address for the data bank area 28B is incremented by one in step 58. Then, in step 59, the data specified by the incremented page address is read out and displayed on the display section 29.
to be displayed.

If the read/write switch Sw is not pressed, the CPU program jumps to step 60 and determines whether the cursor movement switch Sc is pressed. cursor movement switch
If Sc is pressed, it is determined in step 61 whether or not it is in write mode. If it is not in write mode, no processing is performed, and if it is in write mode, a cursor movement command is executed in step 62, and the moved cursor is is displayed on the display section 29.

If the cursor movement switch Sc is not pressed, it is determined in step 63 whether or not the writing mode is set.
If it is not the write mode, no processing is performed, and if it is the write mode, it is determined in step 64 whether the operating surface of the keyboard 5 is the front or back side. That is, in this example, the front side is the kana mode and the back side is the alphabetic mode (see FIG. 1). If it is in Alphabet mode,
In step 65, if there is a key pressed on the operating surface of the keyboard 5, the encoded data of that key, that is, the corresponding one-character code such as alphanumeric characters, is
The code is transferred to a specified location in the data bank area of the RAM 28, and the same one-character code is output to the display unit 29, so that the same character is displayed at the position specified by the cursor. In the Kana mode where the operation surface is the front side, in step 66, the key (switch) is pressed from the keyboard 5.
If there is an input, the encoded data, that is, the corresponding one-letter code such as kana, is transferred to the specified location in the data bank area of the RAM 28, and the same one-letter code is output to the display section 29 and specified with the cursor. The same character will be displayed at the specified position.

() Data input display (Figure 8) From the above explanation, it has become clear how the CPU processes the input data from the input section 27, but the data input from the keyboard 5 is displayed on the display section 29. How the image is displayed on the display screen 3 will be explained in more detail with reference to FIG. 8A shows the display progress when the operating surface of the keyboard 5 is the back 7, and FIG. 8B shows the display progress when the operating surface is the front 6. In either case, the data bank mode is specified by the mode change switch Sm, the write mode is specified by the read/write change switch Sw, and the page switch Sp specifies the data bank mode in the data bank area of the RAM 28. It is assumed that a page has been specified. First, to explain the case where the operation surface of the keyboard 5 is the back side 7 as shown in FIG. Indicates the position, that is, the display position of the next input data. Here, the user presses the C key on the surface of the external keyboard 5 facing in the same direction as the display surface 3 (FIG. 1), here the back surface 7. In response to this key input, the CPU executes the process shown in step 65 in FIG. 7, and as a result, the letter C is displayed at the cursor position as shown at 71.
Next, the user presses the cursor movement switch Sc,
The CPU is caused to execute the process shown in step 62 (FIG. 7). As a result, the cursor position is shifted by one position, and the display surface becomes as shown by 72. Next, the user presses the A key on the back surface 7 of the keyboard 5.
As a result, the letter A is displayed at the cursor position, and the display surface 3 becomes as shown by 73.

Continuing the above operations, the display screen will finally be on the 7th floor.
The content shown in is displayed, and the process of registering data to the specified page is completed. FIG. 8B shows the display progress of the display screen when registering data to the designated page of the data bank when the operation surface of the keyboard 5 is Table 6, which mainly uses kana characters. The process is similar to that described with respect to FIG. 8A, except that the determination at step 64 is NO and the key input is processed at step 66. To put it simply, the initial state of the display screen is 80
Then, by pressing the "Ka" key, the display becomes 81,
By operating the cursor movement switch Sc, the display moves to 82, and by operating the "S" key, the display changes to 82.
In the same manner, the final display becomes 8F, and data registration to the specified page is completed.

Modifications This invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible.

For example, by preparing multiple keyboards as shown in the figure and providing identification means for each keyboard, it is possible to generate multiple types of codes for the same switch input, that is, the number of keyboards x 2 (front and back). It is possible to do so.

In addition, in the above embodiment, when attached to the wrist watch body 2, both sides of the keyboard 5 are exposed, but this is not limited to this. When attached to a device body, only one side of the keyboard 5 is exposed and it cannot be seen from that side. It may also be possible to enable key operations only for the user.

[Effects of the device] As detailed above, this device has multiple switches that can be pressed from either the front side or the back side. A keyboard that can be attached to any device, a detection means for detecting whether the side of the keyboard to be used with respect to the main body of the device is the front or back side, and a means for generating different data depending on the detection result of the detection means when the keyboard switch is pressed. Since it has a single side, it is possible to input twice as much data as on one side, and if the number of data is the same, it is half the size of a single side. Furthermore, when a keyboard is attached to a device and used, each switch (key) is assigned to a corresponding code. There will be no operational mistakes made by the user due to not knowing the mode. Furthermore, the same switch
Since the keyboard is structured to be operated from both sides, it has great practical effects, such as being able to configure the keyboard with a simple structure as exemplified in FIG.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an external view of an embodiment in which this invention is applied to an electronic wristwatch, Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the keyboard shown in Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a keyboard attached to the main body of the electronic wristwatch shown in Fig. 1. FIG. 4 is a circuit configuration block diagram of an electronic wristwatch; FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the device shown in FIG. 4; FIG.
The figure shows the data allocation of part of the RAM 28 in Fig. 4, and Fig. 7 shows the key processing and display processing of the device in Fig. 4 when the input device of the embodiment is used as an input device for a data bank. The flowchart, FIG. 8, is a diagram showing the progress of the contents displayed on the display screen of FIG. 1 and key operations during data bank registration. 5...Keyboard, 2...Watch body, 6...
Front surface, 7... Back surface, 8... Connector, 4... Connector insertion slot, 12... Notch, 13... Short circuit conductor, 15... Front code transmission conductor, 16... Back code transmission conductor, 17 ...Serial data communication conductor (watch side).

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] Switch electrodes are formed on opposing surfaces arranged with a spacer member in between, different switch functions are printed on the surfaces opposite to the surfaces on which the switch electrodes are formed, and further, A keyboard consisting of a pair of sheet members each having a connector portion formed at the end, and each switch can be operated from both sides of the pair of sheet members; and the keyboard is attached via the connector portion regardless of which of the two sides is up. a detecting means for detecting which of the two sides of the keyboard is attached to the attaching section in a state in which the keyboard is attached to the attaching section, based on a difference in the connector sections; A data input device comprising: means for generating input data for a switch function printed on the surface that becomes the top surface when operated.