JPH09218856A - Portable input/output device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable input/output device capable of using many more kinds of special functions in the same size as a conventional portable input/output device. SOLUTION: This device is provided with a keyboard part 8 for inputting information, a CPU 11 for performing a processing corresponding to the inputted information, a memory part 12 for storing the information and display parts 6 and 7 for displaying the information. In this case, function keys 3 and 4 are equipped in a part of the keyboard part 8 and the CPU 11 is provided with a key information display function for displaying key information corresponding to the function keys 3 and 4 on the display parts 6 and 7 and is provided with a key information variable display function for variably displaying the key information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable input / output device, and more particularly to a keyboard unit having a plurality of keys,
The present invention relates to a portable input / output device including a display unit that displays predetermined information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been the following as a portable input / output device provided with an information input / output means and a display section. That is, as shown in FIG.
A display unit 56 for displaying information and a keyboard unit for inputting information are arranged on the surface of 1. And
On the keyboard, there are ten keys 55 for inputting numerical values,
Function key groups 53 and 54 for instructing various special functions, and these function key groups 53 and 5
Nomination strip 52 with the name of the special function corresponding to 4
Etc. are provided.

Here, each designated strip 52 is formed by printing the name of the special function on a predetermined piece of paper, and the correspondence between each function key and the designated strip has a one-to-one fixed relationship. . In this conventional example, the first function key group 5 has five keys and the second function key group 6
Also has five keys. A designating strip 52 is arranged between the function key groups 5 and 6.

The operator operates the numeric keypad 55 according to the work.
Operate and enter the required data. Then, in order to use various special functions as necessary, the function key corresponding to the special function described in the nomination strip 52 is pressed. For example, to search for data, press the function key F3.

[0005]

However, the above conventional example has the following disadvantages. That is, each function key and each designated strip are one body as described above.
Therefore, when the number of special functions is increased, the number of function keys and the number of designated strips must be increased accordingly.

Further, since the designating strip is printed on a piece of paper or is composed by handwriting, it is inconvenient to change the name of the special function or change the place. It was

[0007]

It is an object of the present invention to improve the disadvantages of the above-mentioned conventional example, and more particularly, to a portable input / output which has the same size as the conventional portable input / output device and which can use more kinds of special functions. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, in the invention according to claim 1, a keyboard unit for inputting information, a CPU for processing corresponding to the input information, and information are provided. In a portable input / output device provided with a memory unit for storing information and a display unit for displaying information, a CPU is equipped with a function key in a part of a keyboard unit.
The display unit has a key information display function for displaying key information corresponding to a function key and a key information variable display function for variably displaying this key information.

In the portable input / output device of the present invention, the first
The name of the special function of the function key group (reference numeral 3 in FIG. 1) is displayed on the first display portion (reference numeral 6 in FIG. 1) in accordance with an instruction from the CPU. Specifically, it is in the vicinity of the second function key group 3 at one end of the first display portion 6. The name of the special function of the second function key group 4 (reference numeral 4 in FIG. 1) is displayed on the second display section (reference numeral 7 in FIG. 1).
In particular, the display unit is mainly composed of liquid crystal and displays a predetermined name in accordance with an instruction from the CPU.

The names of the special functions displayed on the display units 6 and 7 change according to the work. This is to increase the types of special functions without increasing the number of function keys, and the CPU appropriately controls and displays. Therefore, for example, even a portable input / output device provided with 10 function keys can set 20 special functions by having two different functions.

Further, in the invention according to claim 2, the function keys are divided into at least two function key groups, and at least two sets of display units are provided corresponding to the respective function key groups. Is the same as the invention described in claim 1. Even with the above configuration, the same operation and function as the invention according to claim 1 is achieved.

Further, in the invention according to claim 3, at least two function keys are provided, and a part of the function keys is arranged on the display portion, and the other structure is the same as the invention according to claim 1. It is the same.

With the above configuration, it is possible to display the key information corresponding to a large number of function keys on one display unit, and the display can be changed flexibly in accordance with a command from the CPU. .

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, the portable input / output device 1 corresponds to a keyboard portion (reference numerals 3, 4 and 5 in the figure) for inputting predetermined information, and this input information. A CPU (not shown) that performs the above processing, a memory unit (not shown) that stores information, and display units 6 and 7 that display information are provided.

The function key groups 3 and 4 are provided in a part of the keyboard section, and the CPU displays the key information corresponding to each key on the display sections 6 and 7 near the function key groups 3 and 4. In addition to having a key information display function, it also has a key information variable display function for variably displaying this key information.

To explain the above in detail, the portable input / output device 1 is portable and small in size so that a person can carry it and input predetermined data. Then, on the surface, a numeric keypad 5 for inputting numerical data etc.
It has.

On the surface of the portable input / output device 1, a predetermined function key group 3 is provided adjacent to the numeric keypad 5.
4 are provided. Specifically, the second function key group 4 in which five keys are arranged in a line adjacent to the numeric keypad 5 and the first function in which five keys are also arranged in a line with a second display section described later being separated from each other And key group 3.
These function key groups 3 and 4 are for instructing various special data processing based on the input data. Then, these are assigned special functions corresponding to the respective keys.

A second display section 7 is arranged between the first function key group 3 and the second function key group 4 described above. The second display section 7 is for displaying the names of special functions corresponding to the respective keys of the second function key group 4 described above, and is composed of a liquid crystal display plate. The second display section 7 is divided into five parts corresponding to the keys. For example, F6 is a key for displaying sales data, and F10
Is a key to aggregate data. However, the special function corresponding to each key is not one type, but is variably displayed by a command from the CPU as described later.

A predetermined first display portion 6 is provided near the first function key group 3 described above.
The second display unit 6 is for displaying input data and data stored therein, and is composed of a liquid crystal display plate. Here, on the surface of the first display unit 6, especially near the first function key group 3, the first
A special function display area 6a for displaying the name of the special function corresponding to each key of the function key group 3 is formed. This special function display area 6a is arranged adjacent to each key as with the second display section 7, and guides the operation of the operator. Further, the special function display area 6a is also adapted to variably display its contents in response to a command from the CPU, similarly to the second display section.

Next, a specific structure of the portable input / output device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, in the present embodiment, the numeric keypad 5 is installed on the numeric keypad base 9b. At the same time, the second function key group 4 is also installed at one end of the ten-key board 9b. And the 2nd display part 7 is arrange | positioned adjacent to this ten-key board 9b. Further, the first function key group 3 is installed and fixed on the function key board 9a adjacent to the second display portion 7. Adjacent to the function key board 9a, the first display section 6 described above is provided.
Are arranged. That is, two substrates each carrying each key and two display units for displaying information are provided.

Next, the operation of the portable input / output device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the names of the special functions of the first function key group are displayed on the second display unit 7 in accordance with the program stored in the memory 12 and the instruction of the CPU 11. Therefore, by appropriately setting the program in the memory 12, more special functions can be assigned to the function keys, which are physically five in number.
For example, in the present embodiment, since two types of display screens are provided and displayed, the function is substantially the same as having ten function keys.

Here, the portable input / output device 1 is provided with a predetermined power supply section 15 and battery 14. A necessary current is supplied to the CPU 11 and the display units 6 and 7 by the power supply unit 15 and the like. However, in FIG. 3, for convenience of explanation, only the current supply lines to the respective parts are shown for the CPU, and the other parts are omitted.

The portable input / output device 1 is also equipped with a predetermined interface (I / F) 13. The interface 13 is used to transmit the data stored in the memory 12 to a host machine (not shown) via the CPU 11 and, conversely, to transmit the data from the host machine to the memory. Therefore, for example, when it is desired to change the display contents of the display units 6 and 7, this interface 13
You may make it transmit a program to the memory 12 using.

Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The portable input / output device 21 shown in FIG. 4 has a basic configuration in common with the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, the first function key group 3 is displayed on the display unit 2.
It is arranged on the 6 above. That is, only one display unit 26 is used, and the feature is that the display area is divided into two by the first function key group 3.

With the above configuration, the display unit 26
Since it suffices to have one, the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
In addition, unlike the first embodiment, the display unit 2 from the CPU
Since the signal line 6 has only one system, the manufacturing cost can be reduced also in this respect.

Further, the second display portion 7 corresponding to the second function key group 4 shown in FIG. 2 is a special liquid crystal display plate because of its shape and size, and thus there is a possibility that the price will be high. However, this embodiment has an advantage that a general-purpose liquid crystal can be adopted as the display unit 26 and the manufacturing cost can be suppressed.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The special function display of the function keys can be variably displayed. Therefore, each display unit 6, 7
It is possible to easily change the display of, and it is possible to freely exchange the contents of the display of the special function for each key with each other as needed.

Further, since the display of the display unit can be changed as necessary, the number of special functions which can be directly executed by operating the keys can be substantially increased without increasing the number of keys. It has an excellent effect that it can.

Further, the display section is composed of one member,
Function keys are installed on the display. For this reason,
A general-purpose liquid crystal plate or the like can be used as the display unit, and the excellent effect that the manufacturing cost can be suppressed is produced. In particular, in the portable input / output device, the display of the function key and its corresponding special function needs to be close to each other, so that the present invention is effective.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line XX of the portable input / output device disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the portable input / output device disclosed in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Portable Input / Output Device 3 First Function Key Group 4 Second Function Key Group 5 Numeric Keypad 6 First Display Section 7 Second Display Section 11 CPU 12 Memory

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A portable input / output device including a keyboard unit for inputting information, a CPU for processing corresponding to the input information, a memory unit for storing information, and a display unit for displaying information. In, a part of the keyboard portion is equipped with a function key, and the CPU has a key information display function of displaying key information corresponding to the function key on the display portion, and variably displays the key information. A portable input / output device having a variable key information display function. 2. The portable type according to claim 1, wherein the function keys are divided into at least two sets of function keys, and at least two sets of the display units are provided so as to correspond to the respective function key groups. I / O device. 3. The portable input / output device according to claim 1, wherein at least two function keys are provided, and some of the function keys are arranged on the display unit.