JPH047626A - Liquid crystal touch keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a liquid crystal touch keyboard device capable of taking quickly a countermeasure at the time of the occurrence of abnormal data by providing a means to abnormality-display a key on a liquid crystal panel corresponding to receive data on the decision of the abnormality of display data. CONSTITUTION:A keyboard main body 15 is provided with a data deciding means to decide whether the display data received from a control device is normal or abnormal, and a key abnormality display control means to abnormality-display the key on the liquid crystal panel corresponding to the receive data when the abnormality of the display data is decided. Namely, the keyboard main body 15 is provided with an abnormality informing means to inform the control device of the purport that the receive data is abnormal when the abnormality of the receive data is decided by a data deciding means, and the control device is provided with an abnormal data control means to control the display data when it can not receive a normality report from the keyboard main body 15 in return for the transmission of the display data. Thus, the countermeasure at the time of the occurrence of the abnormal data can be quickly taken.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal touch keyboard device useful as a keyboard for, for example, a PO3 (point of sale) terminal.

[Prior Art] In recent years, some POS terminals have been developed that use a liquid crystal touch keyboard device as a product registration keyboard. This liquid crystal touch keyboard device has a liquid crystal touch keyboard body in which keys are formed in a matrix on a liquid crystal panel, and is capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from this keyboard body.Display data corresponding to each key on the liquid crystal panel (the key The control device includes a control device having a function of transmitting a character code indicating a function name (character code indicating a function name) and a function of receiving and processing key input data generated in response to key input operations on the liquid crystal panel. When the keyboard main body receives display data from the control device side, it develops it in a RAM (random access memory) and displays it on the liquid crystal panel as necessary. Further, when any key on the liquid crystal panel is inputted, the corresponding key input data is transmitted to the control device.

By the way, the monitor displayed corresponding to each key on the liquid crystal panel is set using the control device or the upper host computer. Therefore, the display data sent from the control device may contain data that cannot be displayed on the LCD panel of the LCD touch keyboard (for example, control codes), and such abnormal data is stored in the RAM. It will be abandoned without being done.

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the conventional liquid crystal touch keyboard device of this type, even if abnormal data is mixed in the display data received from the control device, it is ignored and only the normal data is stored in the RAM. Since the data is being expanded, you can check whether abnormal data is mixed in the display data by checking the display content on the LCD panel, or by connecting a monitor to the line between the control device and the keyboard body and monitoring the communication data. It was necessary and complicated.

Therefore, the present invention can easily and clearly monitor whether or not abnormal data is mixed in the display data corresponding to each key formed on the LCD panel of the keyboard body, and can take measures when abnormal data occurs. The present invention aims to provide a liquid crystal touch keyboard device that can be quickly accessed.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention includes a liquid crystal touch keyboard body in which keys are formed on a liquid crystal panel, data can be transmitted and received with the keyboard body, and display data corresponding to each key on the liquid crystal panel can be transmitted and received. In a liquid crystal touch keyboard device that is equipped with a control device that has a function of transmitting data and a function of receiving and processing key input data generated in response to key input operations on the liquid crystal panel, the keyboard body is configured to display information received from the control device. A data judgment means for judging whether the data is normal or abnormal, and when the judgment means judges that the displayed data is abnormal;
The apparatus also includes key abnormality display control means for displaying an abnormality on a key corresponding to the received data on the liquid crystal panel.

The keyboard body is provided with an abnormality notification means for notifying the control device when the data judgment means determines that the received data is abnormal, and the control device notifies the keyboard body of normality in response to the transmission of display data. It is desirable to provide abnormal data management means for managing the display data when the display data cannot be received.

[Operation] By taking such measures, if the display data sent from the control device to the keyboard body is abnormal data that cannot be displayed on the LCD panel of the keyboard body, the display data will be displayed on the LCD panel. The key corresponding to the abnormal data is displayed abnormally.

Therefore, it is possible to easily and clearly confirm on the keyboard body side which display data corresponding to which key is abnormal data, and to take prompt action.

By managing the display data for which the keyboard body has not notified normality on the control device side, abnormal data can be confirmed on the control device side as well, and a faster response can be expected.

[Embodiment] Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a POS terminal will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the POS terminal. The POS terminal body 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2 constituting a control section, and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 4 that stores program data and the like for the CPU 2 to control each section via a pass line 3. , a RAM (random access memory) 5 in which various memories for registering product sales data are formed, a clock circuit 6 for measuring the current date and time, and a transmission line 8 between the host computer 7 which is a host model MODEM (network control device) 9, FDD that controls data transmission and reception via
FDC (floppy disk controller) 11 that drives and controls the (floppy disk driver) 10, an output port 14 that outputs drive signals for the drawer 12 and buzzer 13, a liquid crystal touch keyboard 15. The configuration is such that communication 1/Fs (interfaces) 18, 19, 20, etc., which transmit and receive data between the CRT display 16 and the receipt/journal printer 17, are connected.

The liquid crystal touch keyboard 15 is provided with liquid crystal touch keys 21 and normal keys 22, as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal touch key 21 has 80 product keys per page (10×8) arranged in a matrix on the liquid crystal panel, and each page has 16 pages consisting of a group of 80 product keys. It can be switched over. For all of these 16×80 product keys, characters (product names) indicating the key function names can be displayed on the liquid crystal display. On the other hand, the normal keyboard 22 includes a number key, a subtotal key, and a subtotal key for inputting numerical data.
In addition to the close key and the like, a page key for selecting the product key ridge of the liquid crystal touch key 21 is provided.

As shown in FIG.
A memory section of OM25 and RAM26, a communication interface 27 for transmitting and receiving data with the POS terminal main body 1 side, the liquid crystal touch key 21 and the normal key 2.
2 key input signal is captured and the LCD touch key 2
A key 1/F 28 for outputting display data to the key 1/F 28 and an output boat 30 for outputting a drive signal to the buzzer 29 are connected.

The ROM 25 stores fixed data such as program data and character generator data. The RAM 26 also includes a key input buffer for temporarily storing key input data from the liquid crystal touch keys 21 and normal keys 22, a transmission/reception buffer used for transmitting and receiving data to and from the terminal main body 1, etc. A display data management table 31 having the configuration shown in FIG. 4 is provided. This display data management table 31 stores display data displayed corresponding to 80 (10×8) product keys on one page provided on the LCD touch keys 21 in character codes (
For example, it is for managing each page in the form of ASCII I).

On the other hand, in the POS terminal main body 1 in Fig. 3, R
AM5 is provided with a menu table 32 and a preset product management table 33 shown in FIG. 5, in addition to the various memories for registering product sales data described above. In the menu table 32, character codes for the display/print name and liquid crystal touch keyboard name of each product are set in correspondence with the menu code attached to each product, and a numerical code corresponding to the price (amount of money). be done. Further, in the preset product management table 33, menu codes of products respectively assigned to the product keys of 16 pages (80 items per page) provided on the liquid crystal touch keys 21 are set. Furthermore, various counters, transmission/reception buffers, etc. are also formed in the RAM 5.

Therefore, when the power is turned on, the POS terminal body I CPU 2 initializes the RAM 5 and clears the keyboard 15.
．． CRT display16. After initialization processing such as diagnosis of the printer 17 is performed, the table setting data received from the host computer 7 is expanded into the menu table 32 and the preset product management table 33. Then, C.P.
U2 executes data setting processing for the liquid crystal touch keyboard 15 based on the setting data of these tables 32 and 33.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing data setting processing for this liquid crystal touch keyboard 15. When the processing is started, first, the page counter PC and key counter KC of the RAM 5 are initialized to 1°, and the retry counter RC is set to 1°. 0”
Initialize to . Next, the menu code corresponding to the page number corresponding to the page counter PC and the key number corresponding to the key counter KC is selected from the preset product table 33.
Select a menu code, read out the liquid crystal touch key name (character code) corresponding to the menu code from the menu table 32, and input it to the keyboard 15 in the format shown in FIG.
Create a DLL (down line loading) text message for.

That is, following the header information (STX), incorporate the corresponding page number, key number, and name (character code) for the LCD touch keys as display data, and then add footer information (FTX) and checkmark (BCC). do. After setting this text message to the transmission buffer of the RAM 5, the text message is transmitted to the liquid crystal touch keyboard 15 via the keyboard communication 1/F 18 according to a predetermined transmission procedure.

In response, if a normal (ACK) response is received from the keyboard 15 side, the retry counter RC is initialized to "0°" and the above transmission buffer is cleared. After that, the key counter KC is updated by "+1". do. If the key counter KC does not exceed the number of product keys for one page of liquid crystal touch keys, that is, '80', the process returns to the above-described DLL text message creation process for the keyboard 15.

On the other hand, if the key counter KC exceeds "80", the key counter KC is initialized to "1" and the page counter PC is updated by "+1". If this page counter PC does not exceed the page number "16" on the LCD touch key 21, the keyboard 15
Returning to the DLL text message creation process for.

On the other hand, in response to the transmission of the DLL text message, keyboard 1
If an abnormality (NAK) response is received from the 5 side or if no response is received within a certain period of time, the retry counter R is
After updating C by “+1”, the DLL in the sending buffer
The text message is sent to the keyboard 15 again. Then, the same message is repeatedly retransmitted until the retry counter RC exceeds the retry setting number "3", and the retry setting number "3" is exceeded.
If it exceeds 3 degrees, predetermined error processing is executed.

As shown in FIG. 10, this error processing involves displaying the product key ridge 15a of the LCD touch key 21 on the CRT display 16 along with the page number and key number of the error message.
It is conceivable that the key position of the corresponding key number may be displayed blinking. Further, as shown in FIG. 11, the printer 17 is driven to print a predetermined error message 34a, the page number and key number 34b of the error message, and display data (character code) 34c on the receipt 34 or the like. can also be considered. Furthermore, create an error file 35 as shown in Figure 12 on the floppy disk,
The page number in the error message is stored in the error file 35 via FDDIO.

It is also possible to write the key number and display data (character code) respectively. (Abnormal data management means) After the error processing, the retry counter RA is initialized to 0' and the transmission buffer is cleared. Thereafter, the key counter KC is updated by "+1" and the process returns to the next DLL text message creation process as described above.

Then, when the page counter PC exceeds "16", a termination text message is created, set in the transmission buffer, and transmitted to the keyboard 15 side according to a predetermined transmission procedure, and this process is completed.

On the other hand, when the CPU 23 on the liquid crystal touch keyboard 15 side receives the text message from the POS terminal main body 1 side via the communication 1/F 27, it executes the process shown in FIG. That is, when the received message is a DLL text message, the display data in the message is analyzed (data determining means). If this display data is normal data that can be expanded to memory, a normal (ACK) is sent to the transmission buffer.
At the same time as setting the response message, the development position of the display data is calculated from the page number and key number in the received message, and the display data is set at the corresponding position in the display data management table 31. At this time, if the product key corresponding to the corresponding position on the liquid crystal touch key 21 is being controlled to blink, the blinking operation is stopped. After that, once the response message in the sending buffer is sent to the POS terminal main body side via the communication I/F 27 according to the predetermined transmission procedure, the sending buffer is cleared and the process returns to the waiting state for the next message. .

On the other hand, as a result of analyzing the display data of the received text message,
If the display data is abnormal data that cannot be stored in the memory (for example, data mixed with control codes), an abnormality (NAK) response message is set in the transmission buffer, and
The development position of the display data is calculated from the page number and key number in the received message, and predetermined abnormal data is set at the corresponding position in the display data management table 31. At this time,
As shown in FIG. 9, the product key 21a corresponding to the corresponding position of the liquid crystal touch key 21 is controlled to blink (key abnormality display control means). Thereafter, the response message in the transmission buffer is transmitted to the POS terminal main body 1 side via the communication 1/F 27 according to a predetermined transmission procedure (abnormality notification means). Then, it clears its transmission buffer and returns to the waiting state for the next message.

In this embodiment configured as described above, when the power of the POS terminal main body 1, which functions as a control device for the liquid crystal touch keyboard 15, is turned on and the setting data of each table is transmitted from the host computer 7, a menu is stored in the RAM 5. Table 32 and preset product management table 3
3 is formed. Then, a DLL message (see FIG. 8) of display data corresponding to each product key of the LCD touch key 21 is sequentially created from the setting contents of both tables 32 and 33, and is sent to the LCD touch keyboard 15 according to a predetermined transmission procedure. Ru.

On the other hand, on the keyboard 15 side, the DLL for each product key
Every time a message is received, the deployment position of the display data in the memory is calculated from the page number and key number in the message, and the received display data is set at the corresponding position in the display data management table 31. In this case, if the display data in the message contains data that cannot be stored in memory, such as control codes, abnormal data is set in the corresponding position of the display data management table 31 instead of the display data. . Then, the corresponding product key 21a of the liquid crystal touch key 21 blinks (see FIG. 9).

In this way, 1 provided on the liquid crystal touch keyboard 15
Display data (product names) corresponding to 6 x 80 product keys are downloaded from the POS terminal body 1.
Keyboard 15 RAM by line loading
However, in this case, display data containing codes that cannot be expanded into the RAM 26 is discarded as in the conventional case. However, in this embodiment, the product key corresponding to the key position where this abnormal data should be developed blinks to notify that the data could not be set, so the operator can can be easily checked in real time. Since the blinking operation continues until normal data is set, even if abnormal data occurs while the operator is absent, it will not be overlooked. As a result, a response to abnormal data can be taken quickly and reliably, eliminating the problem of starting operation as a POS terminal with a product key whose display data has not yet been set.

Incidentally, the effect can be enhanced by making an abnormal sound by the buzzer 29 when abnormal data is generated.

Furthermore, if the display data in the DLL message is abnormal and cannot be set on the keyboard 15, an abnormality response is returned from the keyboard 15 side to the POS terminal main body 1 side. On the other hand, on the POS terminal main body 1 side, the transmission of the DLL message is repeated for a preset number of tries (3 times), and if an abnormal response is still returned, a predetermined error process is executed. That is, C
The LCD touch key 21 is displayed on the RT display 16, and the key corresponding to the corresponding key number is displayed blinking on the screen along with the page number and key number in the error message (10th
(see figure). Further, the printer 17 prints a predetermined error message 34a, the page number and key number 34b of the error message, and display data 34c on the receipt 34 or the like (see FIG. 11). Furthermore, the page number, key number, and display data (character code) in the error message are written into the error file 35 created on the floppy disk (see FIG. 12).

Therefore, it is also possible to confirm in real time from the display contents of the CRT display 16 that the display data for the product key is abnormal and could not be set. Moreover, when down line loading of display data for all product keys is completed, the contents of all data that were not set as abnormal data are recorded on the receipt.
It becomes possible to easily check later where the abnormality is occurring without using a line monitor as in the past. Furthermore, since all data that has not been expanded as abnormal data is filed on the floppy disk, by sending the file data to the host computer 7, it is also possible for the host computer 7 to analyze the contents of the abnormality.

It goes without saying that the liquid crystal touch keyboard device of the present invention can be applied not only to the keyboard 15 of a POS terminal but also to keyboards of various electronic devices.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, as error processing for an abnormal response from the keyboard side, display processing on a display, printing processing by a printer, and data collection processing into a file formed on a floppy disk were shown, but among these processings, It is only necessary to have at least one of the following.

Further, the configuration may be such that any of the three processes can be selected as options.

It goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily determine whether or not abnormal data is mixed in the display data corresponding to each key formed on the liquid crystal panel of the keyboard body. It becomes possible to provide a liquid crystal touch keyboard device that can be clearly monitored and can quickly take action when abnormal data occurs.

According to the second aspect of the invention, there is also an advantage that abnormal data can be easily analyzed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The figures show an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a POS terminal, in which Fig. 1 is an external view of the liquid crystal touch keyboard, Fig. 2 is a control block diagram of the liquid crystal touch keyboard, and Fig. 3 is the entire POS terminal. 4 is a diagram showing a display data management table formed in the RAM of the liquid crystal touch keyboard, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a menu table and a preset product management table formed in the CPU of the POS terminal body, Figure 6 is a flowchart showing the data setting process for the LCD touch keyboard of the POS terminal body, Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the text message reception process of the LCD touch keyboard, and Figure 8 is a flowchart showing the data setting process for the LCD touch keyboard of the POS terminal.
A diagram showing the format of the LL text message, Figure 9 is a diagram showing an example of key blinking display when abnormal data is received on the LCD touch keyboard, and Figures 10 to 12 are errors when abnormal data occurs on the POS terminal main body side. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining processing. 1... POS terminal body (control device), 7...
Host computer, 10...FDD (floppy disk)
disk driver), 15...LCD touch keyboard (keyboard body), 16...CRT display, 17...Receipt/journal printer, 21...
・LCD touch key 22...Normal key 31...
Display data management table, 32... Menu table, 33... Preset product management table, 35...
error file. Applicant's agent Patent attorney Takehiko Suzue Figure 7 Figure 7 Figure 7

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A liquid crystal touch keyboard body with keys formed on the liquid crystal panel, a function that can transmit and receive data with this keyboard body, and a function to transmit display data corresponding to each key on the liquid crystal panel, and a key on the liquid crystal panel. In a liquid crystal touch keyboard device comprising a control device having a function of receiving and processing key input data generated in response to an input operation, the keyboard body is configured to determine whether display data received from the control device is normal or abnormal. and a key abnormality display control means for displaying an abnormality on a key corresponding to the received data on the liquid crystal panel when the judgment means determines that the display data is abnormal. Features a liquid crystal touch keyboard device. (2) The keyboard body is provided with an abnormality notification means for notifying the control device of the abnormality of the received data when the data judgment means determines that the received data is abnormal; 2. The liquid crystal touch keyboard device according to claim 1, further comprising abnormal data management means for managing display data when a normal notification cannot be received from the keyboard body.