JPH07226789A - Key entry confirming light generating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To confirm input data by utilizing a light for a key board. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with a key entry detection section 2, a control section 3 adjusting lighting of a detected entry key, and a storage section 7 storing input data, and a lighting section 4 lighting individually each key repetitively controls the lightness and the color for the lighting of a key corresponding to the input data differently from the lightness and color of the lighting of other keys sequentially in the order of entry for each prescribed time to confirm the depressed key or data stored in the storage section 7. Since key entry is visually confirmed, mis-entry is solved immediately. Furthermore, the key board 1 and a display section are integrally configured and they are replaced with a display device such as an LCD especially, then the generator contributes to small size, light weight and low cost of a portable telephone set or the like.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a telephone, and more particularly to a key input confirmation light generating device for a portable telephone which visually confirms a key input or an input telephone number.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional key input confirmation function will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 shows an example in which a display device 42 having a key input display function is incorporated in a conventional mobile phone 41. In general telephones, the key input unit 43 can be arranged large enough that the display device 42 is not provided in many cases. On the other hand, all types of mobile telephones have a display device 42 such as an LCD.
It is equipped with. This is because it is necessary to call the telephone number registered in the memory, display the electric field strength, the remaining charge of the battery, and the like. In addition to this, the key input unit 43 is also small in the miniaturized mobile phone. Since it has been changed, it is also possible to prevent mistaken phone calls due to incorrect input by visually checking the entered number.

[0003]

However, among the components of mobile phones that are becoming smaller and smaller, a keyboard equivalent to a man-machine interface for maintaining reliable operability,
There have been the following problems in reducing the size and weight of LCDs. First, in the keyboard, the stroke of the button is required in order to obtain a reliable operation feeling, and it is necessary to secure the area of each key to the size of a finger. In addition, since the display unit such as an LCD also confirms the data stored in the input keys and the memory, it is necessary to secure a certain size of characters. To add an illumination unit to enable operation even in dark places, it is necessary to add an illumination unit to the keyboard and the display unit respectively, which results in an increase in current consumption and a factor in shortening the operating time of the device. Was becoming.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, a telephone stores a key input detecting means for detecting a key input, an illuminating means for individually illuminating each key, and a telephone number. Storage means, control means for controlling the lighting means so that only the key-inputted key can be distinguished from other keys, and time setting means for setting the time for driving the lighting means are provided.

[0005]

In the key input confirmation light generating device of the present invention, the input key can be confirmed by the afterglow of the keyboard. Further, after a series of telephone numbers is input, the keys corresponding to the telephone numbers are sequentially illuminated at the calling stage, so that a wrong telephone call due to an incorrect input can be prevented. Further, it is possible to replace the display function for confirming the key input of the LCD or the like with a keyboard, and it is possible to provide a low-cost mobile phone having a configuration in which a display device such as the LCD is omitted.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a keyboard 1, a key input detection unit 2, a control unit 3, a lighting unit 4, a time setting unit 5, and a storage unit 7 are provided. It consists of The keyboard 1 is the numeric keypad (0 to 0
(9, #, *, etc.) and is used for inputting telephone numbers and the like. An illumination unit 4 is arranged immediately below the keyboard 1 to illuminate each key of the keyboard 1. The control unit 3 controls the illumination unit 4 so that only the pressed key can be distinguished from other keys by the output of the key input detection unit 2 that detects which key has been input when there is input from the keyboard 1.
The control method of the control unit 3 is such that when the illumination unit 4 is not lit, such as when the ambient illuminance is sufficient for key operation, only the key detected by the key input detection unit 2 is lit or blinked, and When the illumination unit 4 is lit, such as when the surrounding illuminance is insufficient for key operation, only the key detected by the key input detection unit 2 is turned off or blinks, or is made brighter than other keys. Further, when the illumination unit 4 is configured to be able to illuminate each key in a plurality of colors, only the key detected by the key input detection unit 2 is different from the color that is illuminated to assist the operation in the illumination unit 4. Illuminate in color. Further, the time setting unit 5 is provided with a timer circuit to accept the next key input. This timer circuit may use a microcomputer or a discharge characteristic using a CR time constant of a resistor and a capacitor, so that a user who has a fast key input can shorten the set time until the next key input or The user who wants to reliably perform the function plays a role of making the set time variable so that the set time can be lengthened. Further, the numeric codes 0 to 9 detected by the key input detection unit 2 are stored in the storage unit 7 in the order of input, and the sequence of numbers stored in the storage unit 7 at the stage when the input of the outgoing key is detected by the key input detection unit 2. Is read in the order of input, and when it is determined that it is a telephone number, the operation of turning on the illumination unit 4 corresponding to each number in order from the first number in this row so that it can be distinguished from other keys for a certain period of time is repeated. Confirms that the entered phone number is correct. However, if the same number continues if the continuous operation is continued as it is, the same key may continue to light. In order to avoid this, after each key is lit for a certain period of time, a certain period of time during which the key is turned off until the next key starts to be lit is provided. Further, in the part corresponding to "-" of the telephone number, the turn-off period is changed to assist the telephone number confirmation operation. If this confirmation confirms that there is an error in the input, the call is canceled immediately and the correct telephone number is re-input to prevent the wrong call. At this time, the illumination time of the illumination unit 4 can be arbitrarily set by the timer circuit of the time setting unit 5 described above, so that the system configuration becomes more practical. further,
By these controls, it can be used as a method of calling and confirming the telephone numbers registered in the storage unit 7, and a mode in which a plurality of telephone numbers are registered in the storage unit 7 and used is also possible.

Next, the operation of the time setting section 5 of FIG. 1 when a timer circuit of a microcomputer is used will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. When the power is turned on, a key input waiting state is entered, and when there is an input from the keyboard 1, the key input detection circuit 2 operates and the timer circuit of the time setting unit 5 is activated. Until the operation of the timer circuit is completed, only the input key is kept illuminated by the illumination unit 4 by the control unit 3 described above. Since the timer circuit determines the time until returning to the next key input waiting state, that is, the key input confirmation time, this time is provided with the time setting unit 5 which can be arbitrarily set in consideration of individual differences.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a portable telephone equipped with a key input confirmation light generating device according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which a keyboard 1, a key illuminator 32, a battery level indicator 33, and an electric field. And an intensity indicator 34. The key illuminator 32 is a keyboard 1 for displaying input keys.
Each key is placed immediately below. This key illuminator 32
Is composed of LEDs, and if necessary, each key may be provided with LEDs of a plurality of colors. Further, the battery level indicator 33 and the electric field strength indicator 34 are also composed of LEDs,
A method of arranging LEDs of a plurality of colors and displaying a level by a combination of these, a method of arranging a plurality of LEDs for the number of levels and lighting an LED corresponding to each level, and the like are used.
With such a configuration, the L
It is shown that even when the display device 42 such as a CD is simplified, it functions sufficiently as a telephone.

The above structure can be applied not only to telephones but also to a wide range of products using keyboards, and it is possible to provide a device for the purpose of preventing input errors and checking stored data. Become.

[0011]

As described above, the control unit for illuminating the input keys detected by the key input detection unit so as to be different from other keys is provided, or the numbers on the keyboard corresponding to the numbers of the telephone number are sequentially arranged from the beginning. By providing a control unit that illuminates,
Key input and phone number confirmation are possible with the keyboard alone, and these confirmations can be visually grasped so that incorrect input can be immediately dealt with. Therefore, it is possible to substitute for a display such as an LCD used in a mobile device without impairing the reliability of the key operation, which contributes to downsizing, weight reduction and cost reduction of the mobile device. Further, by allocating the area of the display part such as LCD to the keyboard, the area of the keyboard itself can be expanded, and the operability is improved, which is practically convenient.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a key input confirmation light generation operation by a time setting unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a mobile phone showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a mobile phone for explaining a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyboard, 2 ... Key input detection part, 3 ... Control part, 4 ... Illumination part, 5 ... Time setting part, 6 ... Microcomputer, 7 ... Storage part, 32 ... Key illuminator, 33 ... Battery remaining amount indicator, 34 ... Electric field intensity indicator, 41 ... Conventional mobile phone, 42 ... Display device, 43 ... Key input section.

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A keyboard, a key input detection means having a means for detecting a key input of the keyboard, an illumination means for individually lighting each key of the keyboard, and an input key detected by the key input detection means. A key input confirmation light generating device, comprising: a control unit that adjusts the illumination of the corresponding illumination unit to a brightness different from that of other keys for a certain period of time. 2. The control means for illuminating only the entered keys for a certain period of time when the illumination means for individually illuminating each key of the keyboard are simultaneously extinguished. Key input confirmation light generator. 3. The key input confirmation light generating device according to claim 1, further comprising control means for blinking only a key input by a lighting means for individually lighting each key of the keyboard for a certain period of time. 4. The control means for turning off only the input keys for a certain period of time when the illumination means for individually turning on each key of the keyboard are turned on at the same time. Key input confirmation light generator. 5. An illumination means for illuminating each key of the keyboard with a plurality of colors, and a control means for illuminating with an illumination color different from other keys for a certain period of time.
4. The key input confirmation light generation device according to claim 3. 6. A control means for adjusting the illumination of a depressed key to a brightness and a color different from those of other keys, further comprising time setting means for arbitrarily setting a time for controlling the control means. The key input confirmation light generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. A keyboard, a key input detecting means having a means for detecting a key input of the keyboard, an illuminating means for individually turning on each key of the keyboard, and a storing means for storing data input from the keyboard. And reading the data held in the storage means when the key input detecting means detects a key input requesting data confirmation, and lighting the illuminating means corresponding to each key from the beginning to the end of the read data. A key input confirmation light generating device, comprising: a control means for sequentially adjusting the brightness of the other keys to a brightness different from that of the other keys. 8. The control means of the key input confirmation light generating device according to claim 7, further comprising the control means of the key input confirmation light generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Key input confirmation light generation device. 9. When the key input detection means detects a key input requesting data confirmation, the data held in the storage means is read out, and the illumination means corresponding to each key from the beginning to the end of the read out data are sequentially arranged. 8. The control means for controlling the brightness and color different from those of the other keys has a time setting means for arbitrarily setting a duration for illuminating each key and an interval until the next key is illuminated. Alternatively, the key input confirmation light generating device according to claim 8.