JPH0644214A - Character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily select a target character string and to facilitate character input operation by providing a display device for word descriptions in a dictionary part and switching the time for displaying one candidate with the angle of rotation of a shuttle CONSTITUTION:One shuttle dial 3a and a determination key 3b are arranged as an input device 6 below the display device 50. The shuttle dial 3a is rotated clockwise and counterclockwise to change in state within a range of (-5)-0-(+5), and then automatically returns to the 0 position when freed from the hand. The direction of a read of words from a ROM can be set according to the direction of the rotating operation and the time for which one word is displayed A on the display device 50 can be set according to the quantity of the rotating operation. Thus, the character input device takes character strings out of a table containing the character strings, displays them on the display device in order, and varies the time for displaying the individual character strings; when the character string displayed on the display device is determined with the determination key, the character string is stored in a memory.

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.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of character input device, a character or symbol written on the keyboard is input from an input device such as a keyboard. For reading Japanese, romaji or "a" is input. There is a method of inputting by pressing the key corresponding to "n", and for kanji input, the reading is converted into a kana-kanji mixed character string using a technique such as kana-kanji conversion, and some characters are input.

According to this technique, a dictionary for storing readings and notations of Chinese characters is provided, and the Chinese characters whose readings in the dictionary match the reading character string input by the user are selected for character input.

Further, instead of using an input device such as a keyboard, a dial is used to determine a position corresponding to a character on the dial, and the user rotates the dial to change the position to match the position of the desired character. There was something to input characters.

[0005]

However, in the above method, for a character input device using an input device such as a keyboard, the user needs to remember the keyboard layout, which is particularly inconvenient for beginners. .

[0006] Further, for a character input on the dial using a dial, the size can be reduced as compared with a keyboard, but there is a problem that the dial becomes large and only limited character input is directly performed. I could not enter.

Therefore, no matter which method is used, only the reading character string can be input. Therefore, when inputting a kanji, it is necessary to perform an operation such as kana-kanji conversion after inputting the reading.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and avoids the problem of kana-kanji conversion and the like, and is a small character input device that enables beginners to easily input characters regardless of the character type such as hiragana kanji. The purpose is to provide.

[0009]

In order to solve this problem, a document input device of the present invention is a table storing a plurality of character strings, display means for sequentially displaying the character strings in the table, and its display. Display time changing means for changing the time when one character string is displayed by the means, confirming means for confirming the character string displayed on the display means, and storage for storing the character string confirmed by the confirming means And means.

[0010]

The character input device of the present invention having the above structure is
The character strings are taken out from a table storing a plurality of character strings, sequentially displayed on the display means, the time for displaying each character string is changed by the display time changing means, and displayed on the display means by the confirming means. When the character string is confirmed, the confirmed character string is stored in the storage means.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

First, the overall configuration of the document input device will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The document input device 6 of this embodiment is a display device 50 including an LCD for displaying an input sentence.
Is equipped with. The display device 50 has a cursor 50a, and the cursor 50a portion has an R
The undetermined word read from the OM 30 is displayed, and the confirmed word is displayed on the left side of the cursor 50a.

Below the display device 50, the input device 1 is provided.
One shuttle dial 3a as 0 and one enter key 3b are arranged. Shuttle dial 3a-
5, -4, -3, -2, -1, 0, +1, +2, +3
There are +4 and +5 states, and twisting to the left gives -1, -2 ...-
It changes to 5, and when it is twisted to the right, it changes to +1, +2 ... +5. It has a mechanism to automatically return to the 0 position when the hand is released, and the direction of reading a word from the ROM 30 can be set by the rotation operation direction, and one word is displayed on the display device 50 by the rotation operation amount. You can set the time. Furthermore, the enter key 3d is used for the cursor 50a.
This is a key to confirm the undetermined word displayed in.

In such a document input device 6 of this embodiment, the shuttle dial 3a is rotated leftward or rightward to set the reading direction of words from the ROM 30, and one word is displayed according to the amount of rotation operation. When the time displayed on the device 50 is set, words are sequentially read from the ROM 30 and displayed on the cursor 50a of the display device 50. If the word displayed on the cursor 50a is a word desired to be input, the enter key 3d is operated to fix the word displayed on the cursor 50a, and the confirmed word moves the cursor 50a to the right. Is displayed on the left side of the cursor 50a of the display device 50.

Next, the electrical configuration of the character input device will be described with reference to FIG. 2. The input device 3 for giving an instruction to select a candidate, the RAM 20, and the ROM 30.
And a display device 50 that displays candidates and the like.

The RAM 20 is a text area 21 as a storage means of the present invention for storing a character string to be created, and a display buffer 22 for storing a portion to be displayed on the display device 50.
And a dictionary reference pointer 2 that points to a displayed word in the dictionary
3 and a verb usage pointer 24.

The ROM 30 comprises a dictionary section 31 and a program area 32, and the dictionary section 31 comprises a dictionary body 4a and a vocabulary utilization table 4b as shown in FIG. All words are stored in the dictionary body 4a, and reading and notation are stored in pairs for one word. Also,
A pointer that points to the verb usage table 4b is stored for words to be utilized such as verbs among the words, and when the conjugation ending of the word is utilized in the verb usage table 4b, as shown in FIG. The readings are stored in dictionary order.

The program area 32 has a dictionary section 31 and RA.
CPU 40 for controlling data stored in M20 or the like
The program for is stored.

Next, the operation of the character input device will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, referring to FIG. 5, the operation of the entire character input device will be described. In step S11 (hereinafter abbreviated as S11, other steps are the same), the dictionary reference pointer 23 is set to 0. Next, in S12, it is determined whether or not there is a key input from the input device 10, and if there is, a Yes determination is made and the process proceeds to S15. N if there is no key input
When it is determined to be o, the process proceeds to S13.

When there is no key input in S12, S
13, the dictionary body 3b indicated by the dictionary reference pointer 23
Is stored in the display buffer 22. The method of storing in the display buffer 22 in S13 will be described later with reference to FIG. In this case, if the shuttle dial 3a is in the 0 position (described later in FIG. 6), the dictionary reference pointer 23
Is 0, the written portion of the word “a” in the dictionary body 3b is stored in the display buffer 22. Next, in S14, the content "A" of the display buffer 22 is displayed on the display device 50, and it is again checked in S12 whether or not there is a key input. Therefore, until there is a key input from the input device 3 in S12, the contents of the dictionary body 3b indicated by the dictionary reference pointer 23 are displayed on the display device 50 in S12 to S14.

When there is a key input in S12, it is determined to be Yes and the process proceeds to S15. In S15, it is checked whether the entered key is the confirm key 3b. If the confirm key 3b, the determination is Yes and the process proceeds to S16. In S16, the content of the word stored in the display buffer 22 is formally fetched as text and stored in the text area 21. Then, the process proceeds to S12 again, and in the processing from S12 to S14, the words in the display buffer are displayed on the display device 5 until a key is input.
It is output to 0.

At this time, since the character string "A" is stored in the display buffer, the character string "A" is stored in the text area 21.
Stored in. The value of the dictionary reference pointer 23 remains 0, and the display buffer 22 stores the notation portion of the word "a" in the dictionary body 3b corresponding to the value of the dictionary reference pointer 23 as a character string. So S12 to S
“A” is displayed on the display device 50 again by the processes up to 14.

If it is determined in S15 that the input key is not the enter key 3b but No, the process proceeds to S17 and the process corresponding to the input key is performed. The process here is
Since it is not related to this case in particular, it is omitted.

A method of moving the dictionary reference pointer 23 and storing the word of the dictionary body 3b indicated by the dictionary reference pointer 23 in the display buffer 22 in S13 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in S21, the shuttle dial 3
The rotation operation position of a is detected. The shuttle dial 3a is constructed as shown in FIG.
There are states of 2, -1,0, + 1, + 2, + 3, + 4, + 5, and whether the direction is positive or negative, the level is 1
Which level from 5 to 5 is detected. Next, in S22, it is checked whether or not the shuttle dial is in the 0 position, and if it is in the 0 position, the process proceeds to S26, and if not, the process proceeds to S23 to move the dictionary reference pointer and the phrase utilization pointer.

In S23, the rotation direction of the shuttle dial is checked to check whether it is the positive (right rotation) direction (+1 to +5) or the negative (left rotation) direction (-1 to -5). The determination is made and the process proceeds to S24, in which the dictionary reference pointer 23 and the verb usage pointer 24 are moved by 1 in the forward direction.

The moving method at this time is as follows.

When the word pointed to by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is not a conjugation word.

The dictionary reference pointer 23 is moved backward by one.

When the word pointed by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is a noun word.

The verb utilization pointer 24 is moved backward by one.

However, if the verb usage pointer 24 is already at the end position of the conjugation ending (“ke” in case of using 5 lines in a row), the dictionary reference pointer 23 is moved backward by one.

After the dictionary reference pointer 23 moves,
When the idiom conjugation word is pointed to, the idiom conjugation pointer 24 is set at the position of the conjugation head at the beginning of the conjugation type.

For example, if the dictionary reference pointer 23 is 0 and points to "a" of the dictionary body 4a, the dictionary reference pointer 23 becomes 1 and points to "a" of the next item. At this time, the verb utilization pointer 24 does not change. Further, the dictionary reference pointer 23 points to “call” and the verb usage pointer 2
If 4 points to "void" in the verb usage table 4b, the verb usage pointer 24 moves to the position "ku" and the dictionary reference pointer 23 does not move. Also at this time,
If the utterance utilization pointer 24 is the end "ke" of the use of 5 lines, the dictionary reference pointer 23 moves to "drawing" next to "writing". Here, since "drawing" is a verb usage word, the verb usage pointer 24 is set to the usage ending "te" in the 5th row of the usage line, which is the usage type.

In this way, when the movements of the dictionary reference pointer 23 and the affix utilization pointer 24 are completed in S24, S
Proceed to 26.

In S23, the shuttle dial 3
If the rotation direction of a is the negative direction, it is determined as No and the process proceeds to S25. In S25, the dictionary reference pointer 23 and the adjective inflection pointer are moved in the opposite direction to that in S24.

The moving method at this time is as follows.

When the word pointed to by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is not a conjugation word.

The dictionary reference pointer 23 is moved forward by one.

When the word pointed by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is a noun word.

The verb usage pointer 24 is moved forward by one.

However, the verb usage pointer 24 is already at the beginning position of the conjugation ending (if there is 5 lines in a row, "use").
If so, the dictionary reference pointer 23 is moved forward by one.

After the dictionary reference pointer 23 moves,
When the idiom conjugation word is pointed to, the idiom conjugation pointer 24 is set to the position of the conjugation ending at the end of the conjugation type.

For example, if the dictionary reference pointer 23 is 1 and points to "A" in the dictionary body 4a, the dictionary reference pointer 23 becomes 0 and points to the immediately preceding item "A".
At this time, the verb utilization pointer 24 does not change. Further, if the dictionary reference pointer 23 points to "draw" and the verb usage pointer 24 points to "void" in the verb usage table 4b, the verb usage pointer 24 indicates "yes". Move to position, dictionary reference pointer does not move. Further, at this time, if the verb usage pointer 24 is “start” at the 5th row usage, the dictionary reference pointer 23 moves to “call”, which is immediately before “draw”. Here, "call"
Is a verb usage word, the verb usage pointer 24 is set to the usage ending "ke" at the end of the 5th row, which is the usage type.

Thus, in S25, the dictionary reference pointer 23
When the verb usage pointer 24 is set, the process proceeds to S26, and the word indicated by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is displayed in the display buffer 2
2 and the process proceeds to S27. For example, the dictionary reference pointer 23
Indicates that the character string “call” is stored in the display buffer 22.

In S27, it is determined whether the word pointed to by the dictionary reference pointer 23 is a noun inflection word (whether the word pointed by the dictionary reference pointer 23 has a pointer in the noun word utilization table 4b), and the noun word is utilized. If it is a word, Yes is determined and the process proceeds to S28. In S28, the inflection ending shown by the verb inflection pointer 24 is stored in the display buffer 22. For example, if the verb usage pointer 24 points to "a", the character string "call" stored in the display buffer 22 is linked to "write" in S26, and the process ends.

In S27, if the word pointed by the dictionary reference pointer is not a noun word, it is determined to be No and the process ends.

Then, S13 of FIG. 5 is terminated, and the process proceeds to S14 in order to display the contents of the display buffer set here on the display device 50.

Next, the contents of the display buffer output in S14 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, in S31, the contents of the display buffer set in S13 of FIG. 5 are displayed on the display device 50. Next, in steps S32 to S36, it is determined which position 1 to 5 the shuttle dial position indicates.
If +1 or -1, it is determined as Yes in S32,
If it is +2 or -2, it is determined as Yes in S33,
If +3 or -3, Yes is determined in S34,
If +4 and -4, Yes is determined in S35, if +5 and -5, Yes in S36, and if 0, S
It is determined No at 36, and the process ends without doing anything.

Therefore, the position of the shuttle dial 3a is +1.
If it is −1, a wait of 910 milliseconds is taken from S37 to S41, so the word displayed in S31 is about 1
It is displayed on the display device 50 for a second. If it is +2 or -2, a wait of 410 milliseconds is applied from S38 to S41, and the word is displayed during that time. If +3 or -3, S
A wait time of 110 msec is applied from 39 to S41, and if it is +4 or -4, it is 10 msec in S40 and S41.
If the wait of c is applied and it is +5 or -5, it is 0 ms.
The wait of c is applied, and the word is displayed in the meantime.

Therefore, depending on the position of the shuttle dial 3a in the input device 3, S12 to S14 in FIG.
The display time of the word set in 13 (FIG. 6) can be changed in S14 (FIG. 7).

As described above, since the time for displaying one candidate can be changed depending on the state of the shuttle dial, it is possible to efficiently search for a target word and input characters as if turning the page of the Japanese dictionary. You can

Further, the word can be selected by operating one shuttle dial, the operation of the user can be simplified, and the entire apparatus can be downsized.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described in detail above, and various changes can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in this embodiment, the shuttle dial 3a is used as means for changing the display time.
Alternatively, a lever such as a joystick may be used instead, and the display time may be changed depending on the degree of inclination, or the display time may be changed by pressing some keys.

In this embodiment, the word dictionary arranged in the dictionary order is used as a table for storing character strings. However, when inputting a kanji, the total number of strokes of the kanji, the number of vertical lines, the number of horizontal lines, It is also possible to input the desired Kanji for each stroke number in order for those that cannot be divided into edges and straws, those that do and do not have a crown, and words that have edges and straws. . This method is convenient because it is possible to input Chinese characters even if you do not know how to read them.

[0058]

As is clear from the above description, since the character input device of the present invention can change the time for displaying one character string, the target character string can be easily found and input.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a claim correspondence diagram.

FIG. 2 is an electrical configuration diagram of the character input device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram conceptually showing a dictionary part of the apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the device.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of a display buffer storage unit in the same device.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of a display buffer output section in the same device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 3 input device 21 text area 22 display buffer 31 dictionary section 32 program area

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A table storing a plurality of character strings, a display means for sequentially displaying the character strings in the table, and a display time changing means for changing the time when one character string is displayed by the display means. A character input device comprising: a confirmation unit that confirms the character string displayed on the display unit; and a storage unit that stores the character string confirmed by the confirmation unit.