JPH0756665A - Keyboard input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily discriminate inputable information by providing an inputable position display means which displays a position whose inputable state is obtained among positions decided on the surface of a key. CONSTITUTION:Different information 2 is described on positions A-D on the surface of a key 1, and a keyboard is equipped with an input guide key 4 as an inputable position display means which displays the inputable position among each position A-D of the key 1. The input guide key is formed in the same shape,as the key 1, and equipped with a lamp 6 at the position corresponding to each position A-D on the surface of the key 1. For example, when a position A of the key 1 is the inputable position, the lamp 6 at the position of A of the input guide key 4 is turned on, and the inputable position is displayed. Therefore, even when the inputable position of the key 1 corresponding to the kind of an input mode is not clear to an operator, the operator can know the inputable information among the information 2 marked on the surface of the key 1 by knowing the position of the lamp 6 which is being turned on of the guide key 4.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard input device such as a word processor keyboard input device in which a plurality of pieces of information such as characters and symbols are displayed on the surface of each key.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a word processor keyboard or the like,
Information such as characters and symbols is engraved on the surface of each key, and by changing the input mode of the device, one of the plural information engraved on the key can be keyed in. .

For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the letter "A" is placed at the position A and the letter "3" is placed at the position B on the surface of the key 1.
Number, the symbol “#” is engraved at the position C, and the small letter “A” is engraved at the position D. When the key 1 is pressed in the character input mode, the letter “A” is pressed. Is input, and when key 1 is pressed in the alphanumeric input mode, the number “3” is input, and when key 1 is pressed as the first shift state, the symbol “#” is input and the second shift state When key 1 is pressed as, a small "A" character is input.

According to the above-mentioned input device, when the "Hiragana" input mode is available, for example, the input mode is the "Hiragana" input mode, which is displayed in characters on the display screen. However, since a large amount of information is displayed on the key surface, it is very difficult to judge which part of the information on the key surface can be input from the display of the type of input mode.

When inputting information at the respective positions A to D of the key 1, for example, for the information A, the "hiragana" key is pressed to enter the character input mode, and for the information B, the "alphanumeric characters" are entered. Press the "" key to enter the alphanumeric input mode. For information on C, enter the "alphanumeric" key and "shift"
It was necessary to press the key to enter the first shift state, and for the information D, press the "Hiragana" key and "Shift" key to enter the second shift state. Therefore, not only the key input operation is complicated, but also the beginner may not know the type of the key that needs to be pressed in order to be able to input the information of the desired position of the key.

[0006]

As described above, in the conventional keyboard input device, it is difficult to judge which portion of the information on the key surface can be input from the display of the type of the input mode. Further, when inputting information on a desired position on the key surface, the key operation for switching to the corresponding input mode is difficult to understand and complicated.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks. Firstly, it is easy to discriminate the information that can be input from among a plurality of information imprinted on the key surface. Secondly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a keyboard input device that facilitates an operation to enter information on a desired position of a key.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, information is displayed at each position defined on the surface of a key, and when the key is pressed, the position in which input is possible is made in each of the positions. In the keyboard input device for inputting the information displayed on, the inputtable position display means for displaying the position in the inputtable state among the respective positions defined on the surface of the key is constructed. There is.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, information is displayed at respective positions defined on the surface of the key, and when the key is pressed, the information displayed at the position in which input is possible among the respective positions is displayed. In a keyboard input device for inputting, an enterable position display means for displaying an enterable position of the respective positions defined on the surface of the key, and an enterable position display means for displaying the enterable position display means. An inputtable position designating means for designating a position on the surface of the key and making the information displayed at this position enterable.

[0010]

In the first aspect of the present invention, the position of the respective positions determined on the surface of the key which is in the input enable state is displayed by the input enable position display means. In the second invention, when the position in the input enabled state displayed on the input possible position display means is designated by the input possible position designating means, the information on the key surface displayed at this position can be inputted.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a first embodiment of the inputtable position display means. Similar to the conventional example, different information 2 is described at the position A, the position B, the position C, and the position D on the surface of the key 1. In addition, in the key 1 shown in FIG. 1 (b), the position "A" is "Nu", the position B is "1",
Information "!" Is imprinted at the position C and nothing is displayed at the position D. However, depending on the type of the key 1, the information is imprinted at the position D as shown in FIG. Key 1
Information is also engraved on the front side of the.

On the other hand, an input guide key 4 is provided on a keyboard (not shown) as an inputtable position display means for displaying the inputtable position among the respective positions A to D of the key 1. The input guide key 4 has the same shape as the key 1, and a lamp 6 is provided on the surface of the key 1 at positions corresponding to the respective positions A to D. Then, when the position A of the key 1 is the input possible position, the input guide key 4
The lamp 6 at the position A is turned on to display the input possible position.

Therefore, even if the operator does not know the position where the key 1 corresponding to the type of the input mode can be input, the surface of the key 1 can be determined by knowing the position of the lamp 6 while the guide key 4 is lit. It is possible to know the information that can be input in the information 2 stamped on.

Next, the inputtable position designating means using the input guide key 4 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, by pressing a predetermined special key 8 and the cursor key 9, the position of the lamp 6 to light the input guide key 4 is designated,
The position on the surface of the key 1 corresponding to the position of the lit lamp 6 is made ready for input.

For example, "function 2" and cursor key "↓"
When is pressed, the lamp 6 at the position A of the guide key 4 is turned on, and the mode in which the information 2 at the position A of the key 1 can be input (for example, "character input mode") is set. With such a configuration, the inputtable position of the key 1 can be selected by selecting the direction of the arrow of the cursor key 9, so that the operation becomes very easy.

As the inputtable position designating means, the input guide key 4 itself has a switch function, and the position of the lamp 6 which is turned on each time the guide key 4 is pressed is changed.
The position on the surface of the key 1 corresponding to the position of the lighting lamp 6 may be in the enterable state. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the lamp 6 at the position A in FIG. 3 (a) is lit, by pressing the input guide key 4 once, the lamp at the position B is displayed as shown in FIG. 3 (b). 6 is turned on and further pressed to change the lighting position of the lamp 6 from C to D.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the inputtable position display means. The display means of this example is the LCD screen 1
A graphic 13 similar to key 1 is displayed in
The positions A to D corresponding to the respective positions A to D are displayed. Then, when the position A of the key 1 is the input possible position, the position A of the graphic 13 becomes a display indicating that the input is possible.

Further, as the inputtable position designating means using the figure 13, one of the positions A to D of the figure 13 is designated by a pen to set the inputtable position, and the corresponding position on the surface of the key 1 is set. There is a configuration in which the position can be entered.

FIG. 5 shows a block diagram of this apparatus.
When the input position of the information engraved on the key 1 is designated, the CPU 16 according to the program stored in the memory (MEM) 15 displays information about which position in the key 1 is in the input enabled state. Keyboard (K
B) From 17, the input guide key 4 lights up the lamp 6 at a position corresponding to the input possible position in the key 1.

When instructing from the display screen, LC
The graphic 13 is displayed on D11, and an instruction is given to the touch panel (TP) 19 with a pen or the like to set the inputtable position.
FIG. 6 shows a flow chart when the input guide key is used as the inputtable position display means.

When the input mode switching command is issued in step 1, the lamp 6 at the position corresponding to the input mode is selected in step 2.
Lights up. If there is no instruction to switch the input mode, the lamp 6 at the position corresponding to the current input mode continues to light in step 3.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the inputtable position designating means using the input guide key. When the input position designation command is issued in step 1, the lamp 6 at the position corresponding to the designated position is turned on in step 2, and the input mode corresponding to the designated position is switched in step 3. If there is no designated command, the current input mode continues in step 4,
The lamp 6 at the position corresponding to the current input mode continues to light.

[0023]

As described above, according to the first invention,
Since the input enabled position of the respective positions determined on the surface of the key is displayed by the input enable position display means, it is possible to input the plurality of information displayed on the key surface. The information can be easily discriminated.

Further, in the second invention, when the position in the input enabled state displayed on the input possible position display means is designated by the input possible position designating means, the information on the key surface displayed at this position can be inputted. Therefore, it becomes easy to operate the desired information displayed on the key so that the desired information can be input.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a first embodiment of an inputtable position display means according to the present invention, (a) is a plan view of an input guide key, and (b) is a plan view of a key.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an inputtable position designating means using the inputtable position display means.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of another inputtable position designating means using the inputtable position display means.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a second embodiment of the inputtable position display means according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram illustrating the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an inputable position display means.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an inputable position designating means.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of keys of the keyboard input device.

[Explanation of Codes] 2 Information 4,13 Possible input position display means 8,9 Possible input position designation means

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A keyboard in which information is displayed at respective positions defined on the surface of the key, and when the key is pressed, the information displayed at the position in which input is possible among the respective positions is input. The keyboard input device, wherein the input device further comprises inputtable position display means for displaying a position of each of the positions defined on the surface of the key which is in the inputtable state. 2. A keyboard in which information is displayed at respective positions defined on the surface of the key, and when the key is pressed, the information displayed at the position in which input is possible among the respective positions is input. In the input device, an inputtable position display means for displaying a position in the input enabled state of the respective positions defined on the surface of the key, and a surface of the key displayed on the inputtable position display means A keyboard input device, comprising: an inputtable position designating means for designating an upper position and making information displayed at this position ready for input.