JPH0628086A - Character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To select and input a specific character only by depressing a key. CONSTITUTION:When a telephone key 4a is depressed in the case of inputting a Japanese name 'IIDA' by 'kana' (Japanese syllabary) characters in a telephone book mode of an electronic memorandum, 'namae (name)?' is displayed on a display part 8 and 'kana' input state is set up in the telephone book mode. When an 'a, i, u, e, o' key 1a is depressed and 'a' is displayed, the key 1a is released. When the key 1a is depressed again, the succeeding character 'i' in the 'a' column is displayed. When the key 1a is continuously depressed for one second, 'i' is decided as an input character and a cursor is moved to set up in the input state of the succeeding character. Similarly, specific characters can be selected and inputted only by one key.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character input device, and more particularly to a character input device for grouping a plurality of characters and assigning one key to each character.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Character input devices of small electronic information processing devices conventionally called so-called electronic memos, electronic notebooks, electronic dictionaries, electronic translators, etc. have a large total number such as alphabets and kana. A method of inputting characters with relatively few keys and relatively easy operation is used. The method groups multiple characters into multiple groups so that each group contains two or more characters,
One key is assigned to each group. A specific character can be selected from the characters included in the group according to the number of times the key is operated.

As an example, when inputting the word "BOY" in the electronic dictionary, the ABC group key of the alphabet is pressed. As a result, the character "A" is displayed in the most significant digit of the display section. If the ABC key is pressed continuously, the displayed character changes to "B". If the input key is pressed here, "B" is confirmed as the first input character. In the same manner, the characters "O" and "Y" can be input. Such prior art is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
-52722 and the like.

[0004]

In the conventional character input device, when a character in a group is input, the key assigned to the character in the group is operated several times to select a specific character and then input. The input key for pressing is pressed. For this reason, it is necessary to operate two types of keys to input one character, which is cumbersome and operability is poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a character input device capable of selecting and inputting a specific character only by operating one type of key.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a plurality of characters are grouped into a plurality of groups, each group including two or more characters, one for each group.
In a character input device that assigns each key, a timer that responds to an input operation to any key and measures the elapsed time after the key input, and an input operation that responds to the input operation to the key and the timing output of the timer Control that selects characters in a predetermined order for each input operation in the group assigned to the specified key and fixes the selected character as the input character when the time measured by the timer is equal to or longer than the predetermined time. And a character input device.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a plurality of characters are grouped into two groups.
In a character input device that is divided into a plurality of groups containing the above characters and one key is assigned to each group, the elapsed time after key input in response to an input operation to any key A character input device is used which is characterized by including a timer for measuring the time and a control means. The control means responds to the input operation to the key and the timed output of the timer, selects a character in a predetermined order for each input operation in the group assigned to the operated key, and controls the timer. When the timed time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time, the selected character is confirmed as the input character. Therefore, it is possible to select and input a specific character simply by operating one type of key.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows the appearance of an electronic memo according to an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numeral 1 is an alphabet, kana, numeral, symbol key, etc., so that a large number of characters such as alphabet and kana can be operated with relatively few keys,
It is divided into multiple groups. Reference numeral 2 is a key for turning on the power supply, and also has a function of clearing data. Reference numeral 3 is a key for turning off the power supply. Reference numeral 4 is a key for setting the telephone, schedule, and calculation modes. The call key 5 is a key for searching data, and the input key 6 is for inputting data. Reference numeral 7 is a key for moving the cursor and the like, and the display unit 8 displays input data and the like.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the electronic memo shown in FIG. Central processing unit (hereinafter "C
"PU" is abbreviated. ) 10 outputs a key strobe signal KS to the key input device 11, reads the key input signal KI output from the key input device in response to the signal, and determines the operated key. The CPU 10 also reads from the timer 12 the time KT during which the key of the key input device 11 is pressed. The storage device 13 is a memory that stores information such as telephone directory data, and its contents are read by the CPU 10. The display control unit 14 is a kind of memory that stores lighting and non-lighting corresponding to each pixel of the display unit 15, and C
The PU 10 displays information corresponding to the display pattern in the display control unit 1
By writing in 4, it can be automatically displayed on the display unit 15. The address signal from the CPU 10 is
Input and output of data output from the address bus 16 and the peripheral portion of the CPU 10 is performed via the data bus 17.

FIG. 3 shows the electronic memo shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the key operation at the time of inputting the name "Iida" in the phonebook mode, and the display based on it.
In step 1, when the telephone key 4a is pressed, the display section 8 displays "Name?" As a result, the phonebook mode is set and the kana character input state is set. In step 2, "Iida"
In order to input the first character "a" of, the eye ukey 1a containing the character is pressed. When " A " is displayed on the display unit 8, the eye ukey 1a is released. The display position of the cursor in this case is below "A". In step 3, when the eye key 1a is pressed again, " i " is displayed, and in step 4, if the key is held down for 1 second or longer, it is confirmed as the input character and the display is displayed The cursor moves to the right and moves to the right. In step 5, press the AIUEO key that includes "i" to enter the second character "i" of "Iida", and display "8" on the display unit 8. When displayed with Lee a ", release the alphabetical key. In step 6, and press the alphabetical key again, "Yi Yi" is displayed, is confirm the key in step 7 as the input character continue pressing for more than 1 second, the display is "good "Changes to the cursor is moved to the right. In step 8, in order to enter the letter" other "third of" Iida ", press the Tachitsuteto key 1b that contains the" other "," good data Is displayed. If you press and hold the key for 1 second or longer in step 9, it will be confirmed as the input character and the display will show "I ", And the cursor moves to the right. Step 10
To enter the fourth character "", press "", °,
Press over "key 1c, is displayed as" Iita Bu ", Step 1
If you press and hold 1 for 1 second or longer, it is confirmed as the input character and the display shows ", And the cursor moves to the right. Now that the name" Iida "can be input in kana, the input key 6 is pressed in step 12 and the name data is confirmed. The display unit 8 finishes the kana character input state, displays "Bangou?", And enters the telephone number input state.

FIG. 4 shows the electronic memo shown in FIG.
6 is a flowchart showing an internal process in character input. At step a1, the power of the electronic memo is turned on to start the flowchart. At step a2, it is determined whether the input data is a character input. If the input data is a character, the process proceeds to step a3, and if it is not a character such as an alphabet or a number, the process proceeds to another process.
In step a3, it is determined which line the input character belongs to. When the character in line a is input here, the line a key is turned on and the process proceeds to step a4. At step a4, it is confirmed whether or not the flag F is set. The flag F is set when the character key is pressed and the first character of each line is first displayed, and is reset when the character input of that line is selected and confirmed. In this case, since the flag F has not been set, the process moves to step a5.
At step a5, the code of the first character "A" on the A line is stored in the input buffer IB, and " A " is displayed.
At step a6, the flag F is set. In step a7, it is determined whether or not the row key pressed in step a3 is continuously pressed. If the line key is continuously pressed, it is judged in step a8 whether or not the key is pressed for 1 second or longer. If there is, return to step a7. If the A key has not been entered in step a7,
The process returns to step a2 which is the initial state. At step a9, since the A key has been pressed for 1 second or longer, the input buffer I
The code of "A" stored in B is stored in the buffer B, and "A" is confirmed as the input character. Step a
At 10, the flag F is reset, and the process returns to step a2 which is the initial state.

Next, when the input character of line A is not determined in the previous process and the process of step a2 and subsequent steps is performed again to select and input the character of line A, after steps a2 to a4,
Move to step a11. At step a11, the character code stored in the input buffer IB in the previous process, that is, the content of the character currently displayed with the cursor is confirmed. If the character code of the input buffer IB in step a11 is the last character "o" in the line a, step a5
Then, the code of the first character "A" of the line "a" is stored in the input buffer IB for display, and the process from step a6 is performed. If the character code stored in the input buffer IB at step a11 is a character from "a" to "e", the process proceeds to step a12, where the character code is incremented by 1 and the next character code is added to the input buffer. The data is stored in the IB, displayed, and the processing from step a7 is performed. Further, if the character code stored in the input buffer IB in step a11 is other than A-line, the character code of another line stored in the input buffer IB is stored in buffer B in step a13, and the input character Confirm as. Then, in step a13, the flag F is reset, and the input processing of the row a4 and subsequent steps is performed. In this way, the processing from step a2 onward is repeated until the input character on line a is selected and confirmed.

Next, when the input character of the A line is confirmed and the input process is completed, for example, when the character input process of the T line is performed, the process proceeds to step a15, and the same as the process after step a4 in the A line input process. Performs various processing. In addition, "", ゜,
When inputting a character such as "-", the process proceeds to step a16.

[0014]

As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of characters are divided into a plurality of groups, each group including two or more characters, and one key is provided for each group. In the input device to be assigned, a specific character can be selected and input only by operating that one type of key. Therefore, the key operation is simplified and the operability can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an appearance of an electronic memo according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an outline of an electrical configuration of the electronic memo shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a key operation and a display based on the key operation when inputting a name “Iida” in kana in the phonebook mode in the electronic memo shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an internal process of character input in the electronic memo shown in FIG.

[Explanation of Codes] 1 Alphabet, Kana, Numeric, Symbol Keys 2 Power ON Key 3 Power OFF Key 4 Mode Setting Key 5 Call Key 6 Input Key 7 Cursor Move Key 8 Display 10 CPU 11 Key Input Device 12 Timer 13 Storage Device 14 display control unit 15 display unit 16 address bus 17 data bus

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A character input device in which a plurality of characters are divided into a plurality of groups, each group including two or more characters, and one key is assigned to each group. In response to an input operation to the key, the timer that measures the elapsed time after the key input and the input operation to the key and the time output of the timer are A character input device for selecting characters in a predetermined order for each time, and controlling means for fixing the selected character as an input character when the time measured by the timer is equal to or longer than a predetermined time.