JPH11187102A - Dial device for miniaturized telephone set - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the size of a telephone set by decreasing the number of push-button switches required for dialing a telephone number on the telephone set. SOLUTION: When a numeral in one digit of the desired telephone number to be inputted is '0', '1', '2', '3' and '4', a 0-4 button 141 is used and when a numeral in one digit of the desired telephone number to be inputted is '5', '6', '7', '8' and '9', a 5-9 button 142 is used. A first ring counter is reset to '0' and a second ring counter is reset to '5'. Each time the 0-4 button 1.41. is pressed in such a state, the first ring counter is sequentially changed like 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 1.... Each time the 5-9 button 142 is pressed, the second ring counter is successively changed like 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5.... When it has become the desired value, a user presses a next digit button 142 while watching the display on a display part 13 or pressing the 0-4 button 141 or 5-9 button several times so that the contents of the first or second ring counter are outputted for one digit of the telephone number.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dial device for a small telephone such as a portable telephone or a wristwatch type telephone.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, portable telephones using wireless lines that can be carried around and used for telephone calls from anywhere are rapidly spreading. This kind of portable mini phone is as small as possible to keep it out of the way,
It is desired to reduce the weight. In the case of small ones, ultra-small ones that can be worn on the wrist like a wristwatch have also been realized.

[0003]

A conventional small telephone is
1, 2, 3,..., 8, 9,
Since a dial unit having at least 12 push button switches consisting of 10 push button switches for indicating 0 and two push button switches of * and # for indicating a function is missing for dialing, Equipped without exception as no parts. At least 12 on dial
Since the number of push button switches is required, if the area of the dial portion is to be reduced, the push button switches must be extremely small, which has made it difficult to operate the dial or caused an erroneous operation. When the push button switch is enlarged for easy operation, there is a problem that downsizing becomes difficult. Also, the large number of push-button switches limits the size of the switch.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art. That is, an object of the present invention is to reduce the number of push-button switches required for dialing a telephone number in a telephone and to reduce the size of the telephone.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention (claim 1) comprises a first push button switch for inputting a single digit number of 0 to 4 of a telephone number, and a single digit number of a telephone number. A second push button switch for inputting numerical values 5 to 9, a first ring counter connected to the first push button switch, and counting up each time the switch is pressed, and a first push button switch And a display device for displaying the contents of the first and second ring counters, and a second ring counter that counts up each time the switch is pressed and a display unit that displays the contents of the first and second ring counters. The single digit number of the phone number you want to enter is 0, 1, 2,
In the case of 3, 4 use the first push button switch,
The single digit number of the telephone number you want to enter is 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
In this case, the second push button switch is used. Initially, the first ring counter has been reset to zero and the second ring counter has been reset to five. In this state, each time the first push button switch is pressed, the first ring counter sequentially changes as 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 1,. Also, every time the second push button is pressed, the second
Of the ring counter sequentially changes as 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 5,.... At this time, the content of the ring counter corresponding to the button used for input is displayed on the display unit 13. The user presses the first push button switch or the second push button switch several times while watching the display on the display unit, and when a desired value is displayed, the telephone number 1 is displayed.
Input of digits is completed. The user repeats the above-described operation of inputting the telephone number one digit at a time, and after inputting all the digits, presses the next digit button 143 twice to end the dialing operation.

Further, the present invention (claim 2) provides a first push button switch for sequentially reducing a single digit number of a telephone number and a second push button switch for sequentially increasing a single digit number of a telephone number. Connected to the first push button switch and the second push button switch, and
Counts down each time the push button switch is pressed,
A dial device for a small telephone, comprising: a ring counter that counts up each time a second push button switch is pressed; and a display unit that displays the contents of the ring counter.
The user initially resets the ring counter to five. The value of the ring counter is displayed on the display unit 13. In this state, each time the first push button switch is pressed, the ring counter sequentially decreases its value from 5 to 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 9, 8,. Each time the second push button switch is pressed, the ring counter changes from 5 to 6,
7, 8, 9, 0, 1, 2,...
Therefore, the user presses the first push button switch or the second push button switch several times while watching the display on the display unit, and ends the input of one digit when a desired value is displayed. The user repeats the above input operation of the telephone number one digit at a time, and inputs all the digits.

Further, according to the present invention (claim 3), several push-button switches having different weights, an encoder having the push-button switch as an input, an accumulator for accumulating an output of the encoder, A dial device for a small telephone, comprising: a display unit for displaying the contents of the accumulator; and a dial output unit for outputting the contents of the accumulator as a one-digit telephone number each time one digit of the telephone number is inputted. It is. The user selects which one of the pushbutton switches for inputting numerical values is to be pressed according to the one-digit numerical value to be input. That is, how to combine and add the one-digit numerical value of the telephone number to be input to the numerical value assigned to the push button is considered. For example, when three push button switches to which numbers 1, 3, and 5 are assigned are used, in order to input a numerical value 6, a push button switch for one input and a push button switch for five inputs are selected. Press.
Pressing of a push button switch is converted into a numerical value by an encoder and added by an accumulator. In the above example, the numbers 1 and 5
Are added in an accumulator to generate one digit of the telephone number.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment FIGS. 1 (a), 2 and 3 show a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a portable telephone. FIG. 1 (a) shows a portable telephone. FIG. 2 is an example of the appearance of the telephone, FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram thereof, and FIG. 3 is an operation flow diagram for explaining the operation. As shown in FIG. 1, a speaker 12, a display unit 13, a dial unit 14, a microphone 15, and an antenna 16 are attached to a housing 11. In the conventional mobile phone, the dial unit has ten keys provided with at least ten push button switches (hereinafter, simply referred to as “push buttons”). In the present embodiment, the dial unit 14 is used to input numerical values of 0 to 4. 0-4
Button 141 and 0-4 for inputting numerical values of 5-9
A major feature is that the button 142 and the next digit button 143 for inputting one digit of the telephone number and preparing for inputting the next digit are provided. In addition, a power button, a hook button, a function button for setting abbreviated dial, and the like are provided as necessary.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically showing the functions of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment. This mobile phone has an antenna unit 21, a transmission / reception unit 22, a reception unit 23, a transmission unit 24,
Control unit 25, display unit 26, dial data processing unit 27,
A three-button dial section 28 is provided. Antenna unit 21
Has an antenna 16 shown in FIG. 1 and transmits and receives radio waves for carrying telephone contents. The transmitting / receiving unit 22
This is a processing unit that transmits and receives dial data and call contents via the antenna unit 21. The receiver 23 is a part that includes the speaker 12 of FIG. 1 and generates telephone voice, and the receiver 24 is a part that includes the microphone 15 of FIG. 1 and detects the voice of the speaker. The display unit 26 is a unit that displays a dial value input from the dial unit 28, an operation instruction, and other information. The three-button dial unit 26 is a dial unit that replaces the conventional 10-key dial with three buttons as shown in FIG. The dial data processing unit 27 is a processing unit that generates dial data from the operation output of the three-button dial unit 26. The control unit 28 controls each unit of the telephone such as the transmission / reception unit 22, the display unit 25, and the dial data processing unit 27.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment configured as described above. When dialing to make a call, if the user performs an operation according to a predetermined reset method such as turning off the power once and then immediately turning it on or pressing the next digit button 143 twice, the dial data processing unit 27 Is detected. Then, the first ring counter is set to 0, and the second ring counter is set to 5
(Step S31). The first ring counter counts up every time there is a pulse input indicating that the 0-4 button has been pressed, and when it reaches 4, returns to 0 at the next pulse input. It is configured to change cyclically. The second ring counter, like the first ring counter, has 5
Every time a pulse input indicating that the -9 button is pressed is performed, the count is incremented, and when the count reaches 9, the count returns to 5. These ring counters may be configured by a combination of logic circuits, or may be configured by a program that performs the functions described above.

Next, it is determined whether or not the 0-4 button 141 has been pressed (step S32).
Is pressed, the first ring counter is counted up by one (step S33). When the 0-4 button 141 is not pressed, the 5-9 button 14
It is checked whether or not 2 is pressed (step S34), 5
When the -9 button 142 is pressed, the second ring counter is incremented by one (step S3).
5). If the 5-9 button 142 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S32 to continue the operation.

It is determined whether or not the next digit button 143 has been pressed (step S36). If it has not been pressed, the flow returns to step S32 to continue the dial input operation. When the next digit button 143 is pressed, the telephone number 1
Since the digit input is completed, the input value of the first or second ring counter is passed to the transmitting / receiving unit 22 as a one-digit dial value (step S37). Transmitting / receiving unit 22
Is converted into a tone signal or a digital signal indicating a numerical value, and transmitted via an antenna unit. Then, it is determined whether or not dialing of all digits of the telephone number has been completed (step S38). When dialing of all digits is completed, for example, if it is decided to press the next digit button twice, it is possible to detect that the next digit button has been pressed twice and detect the end. Alternatively, it may be determined that dialing has ended when there is no dial operation after a certain period of time. If it is determined in step S8 that the dial has not ended, the process returns to step S31,
The flow of FIG. 3 is continued to detect the next digit dial. If it is determined that dialing has been completed, the process is terminated.

Here, a method of dialing a mobile phone according to this embodiment will be described. When dialing, the user first turns on the hook button. Next, enter the phone number you want to enter.
If the digit value is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, the 0-4 button 141 is used. When the single digit number of the telephone number to be input is 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9, the 5-9 button 142 is used. The first ring counter is reset to 0 and the second ring counter is reset to 5 by turning on and off the power. In this state, every time the 0-4 button 141 is pressed, the first ring counter is set to 1, 2, 3, 4, 0, 1
... and so on. 5-9 button 14
Every time 2 is pressed, the second ring counter is 5, 6, 7,
8, 9, 5,... At this time, the content of the ring counter corresponding to the button used for input is displayed on the display unit 13. Therefore, the user looks at the display on the display unit 13 and presses the 0-4 button 141 or 5-
When the desired value is obtained while pressing the 9 button several times, the next digit button 143 can be pressed to input one digit of the telephone number. The user repeats the above-described operation of inputting the telephone number one digit at a time, and after inputting all the digits, presses the next digit button 143 twice to end the dialing operation.

Conventionally, at least ten buttons are required for dialing a telephone number. According to this embodiment, only three buttons are required, and the number of parts is reduced. , Can be lightweight. In addition, since the number of buttons is small, the size and arrangement of each button can be afforded, and an easy-to-use design can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the next digit button 143 is depressed at the end of each digit. However, the interval at which the same button 141 or 142 is depressed takes a predetermined time (eg, 1.2 seconds). By providing a function for determining that digit input has been completed when the number exceeds the number, the next digit button can be omitted, and the number of parts can be further reduced. In addition, the button to be pressed changes from 141 to 142 or 1
When a change is made to a different button, such as from 42 to 141, by providing a function of determining that the display has shifted to the next digit, the number of times the next digit button 143 is pressed can be reduced, and operability can be improved. .

Second Embodiment FIG. 1B shows an example of the appearance of a portable telephone according to a second embodiment, and FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart for explaining the operation. In the drawings, the same functional portions as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 1B, in the mobile phone according to the second embodiment, a housing 11, a speaker 12, a display unit 13, a dial unit 14,
The configuration in which the microphone 15 and the antenna 16 are attached is the same as in the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the dial unit 14 changes the numerical value to a lower value by one-button 1
45 and + button 14 to change the numerical value by one
6 and a next digit button 147 for inputting one digit of the telephone number and preparing for inputting the next digit. It is to be noted that a power button, a hook button, a function button for setting abbreviated dial, and the like are additionally provided as necessary in the same manner as the first embodiment.

The functional block diagram of the mobile phone of the second embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
Button dial section 26 and dial data processing section 27
Is different from that of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart for explaining the operation of the second embodiment. When dialing to make a call, when a hook button (not shown) is operated, the dial data processing unit 27 detects the operation and resets a built-in bidirectional ring counter (not shown) to a numerical value 5. (Step S41). The ring counter counts down every time there is a pulse input indicating that the-button 145 has been pressed. When the count reaches 0, the ring counter shifts to 9 at the next pulse input. , And on the contrary, + button 146
Is incremented each time there is a pulse input indicating that the key has been pressed, and when it reaches 9, the value shifts to 0 with the next pulse input, and the pulse is cyclically incremented with a numerical value for each pulse input from the + button 146. It is configured to change. This ring counter may be constituted by a combination of logic circuits, or may be constituted by a program that performs the above-described functions.

Next, it is determined whether or not the + button 146 is pressed (step S42). When the + button 146 is pressed, the ring counter is counted up by one (step S43). When the + button 146 is not pressed, it is determined whether or not the − button 145 is pressed (step S44). When the − button 145 is pressed, the ring counter is counted down by 1 (step S45). If the-button 145 has not been pressed, the process returns to step S42 to continue the operation.

It is determined whether or not the next digit button 147 has been pressed (step S46). If the next button 147 has not been pressed, the flow returns to step S42 to continue the dial input operation. When the next digit button 147 is pressed, the telephone number 1
Since the input of the digits is completed, the input value of the ring counter is passed to the transmission / reception unit 22 as a one-digit dial value (step S47). The transmission / reception unit 22 converts the signal into a tone signal or a digital signal indicating a numerical value, and transmits the converted signal via the antenna unit. Then, it is determined whether or not dialing of all digits of the telephone number has been completed (step S38).
When all digits have been dialed, for example, if it is decided to press the next digit button twice, then the next digit button becomes 2
The end can be detected by detecting that it has been stopped. Alternatively, it may be determined that dialing has ended when there is no dial operation after a certain period of time. If it is determined in step S48 that dialing has not been completed, the process returns to step S41, and the flow of FIG. 4 is continued to detect the next digit. If it is determined that dialing has been completed, the process is terminated.

Here, a method of dialing a mobile phone according to the second embodiment will be described. When dialing, the user first presses the hook button, so that the ring counter is 5
Is reset to The value of the ring counter is displayed on the display unit 13. In this state, each time the-button 145 is pressed, the ring counter changes from 5 to 4, 3, 2, 1, 0, 9, 8,.
And so on. Each time the + button 146 is pressed, the ring counter changes from 5 to 6, 7, 8, 9, 0,
It changes sequentially like 1, 2,. Therefore, the user presses the-button 145 or the + button 146 several times while watching the display on the display unit 13 and when the desired value is obtained, presses the next digit button 143 to input one digit of the telephone number. Can be. The user repeats the above-described input operation of the telephone number one digit at a time, and after inputting all the digits, the user waits for a predetermined time to complete the dialing operation.

Conventionally, at least ten buttons are required for dialing a telephone number. According to this embodiment, only three buttons are required, and the number of parts is reduced. , Can be lightweight. In addition, since the number of buttons is small, the size and arrangement of each button can be afforded, and an easy-to-use design can be realized.

In the above embodiment, the next digit button 147 is depressed at the end of each digit.
Pressing 45 or 146 every predetermined time (for example,
By providing a function of judging that digit input has been completed when the time exceeds 1.2 seconds), the next digit button can be omitted, and the number of parts can be further reduced.

Third Embodiment FIGS. 5A and 5B show a third embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a mobile phone.
3 shows the appearance of the embodiment and its modification. The mobile phone of FIG. 1 is different from the mobile phone of FIG. 1 in the number, arrangement and functions of the push buttons for dialing, and the other parts are the same. FIG.
The dial section 54 shown in FIG. 5A includes push buttons 541, 542, and 443 for numerical values having weights of 1, 3, and 5, and a next digit button 544 for instructing termination of one digit input.
FIG. 3B shows a configuration in which the number of push buttons for numerical values is increased to five, so that a numerical value of each digit can be input by pressing the button within two times.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of the portable telephone of FIG. The encoder 62 encodes the output of the numeric push buttons 541, 542, 543 of the dial section 61. The encoded output is supplied to an accumulator 63 and accumulated. The accumulation result is given to the dial output unit 65 by the next digit button 544, and is converted into a dial signal. The dial output is transmitted via the transmission / reception unit 66 and the antenna 68. The display unit 64 displays the value of the accumulation result of the accumulator 63.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the third embodiment configured as described above. The content of the accumulator is reset according to a signal indicating the start of dialing, such as pressing a hook button (S61). Next, it is monitored that the numeric push buttons 541, 542, 543 on the dial section are pressed (step S62). When the numeric push button is pressed, the encoder 62 encodes the numeric value to generate a numeric value corresponding to the pressed button, and the encoded result is accumulated by the accumulator 63 (step S63).
Wait for the next input. The operator presses the push buttons 541 and 54
A one-digit numerical value to be dialed by adding numerical values (weights) assigned to 2,543 is input. When there are push buttons with values of 1, 3 and 5, dial number 2 is 1 + 1, number 4 is 2 + 2 or 1 + 3, number 6 is 3 + 3, ... can do. For example, when dialing 7, since 7 = 5 + 1 + 1, push buttons 543, 541, and 541 are sequentially pressed. The input of 0 is performed by 5 + 5. When the pressed button is the next digit button 544 (step S64), it indicates that the input of one digit has been completed, so that the content of the accumulator 63 is transferred to the dial output unit 65 as a one-digit dial value ( Step S65), the transmission / reception unit 22 converts the signal into a tone signal or a digital signal indicating a numerical value, and transmits the signal via the antenna unit. Then, it is determined whether or not dialing of all digits of the telephone number has been completed (step S67). If the dial operation has not been performed after a certain period of time, it is determined that dialing has ended. If it is determined in step S67 that dialing has not been completed, the process returns to step S61, and the flow of FIG. 6 is continued to detect the next digit. If it is determined that dialing has been completed, the process is terminated.

The modification shown in FIG. 5B is basically the same as the above-described third embodiment except that the number of push buttons for numerical values is different. In the case of FIG. 5 (b), there are six buttons on the dial section, one for the numerical values 1 to 5 and the next digit button. "0" is for inputting one digit of the dial twice. Dial 6 is 5 and 1, 7 is 5 and 2, 8 is 5 and 3, 9 is 5 and 4,
0 is entered by pressing 5 and 5, respectively. Although the number of buttons is slightly larger than the other embodiments,
Compared to key input, the number is reduced by half and one combination of numerical values is kept within 2 so that the operation is simple and easy to understand.

According to the third embodiment and its modification,
Conventionally, at least ten buttons required for dialing a telephone number are required, but the number of parts is reduced by half, so that the size and weight of the mobile phone can be reduced. In addition, since the number of buttons is small, the size and arrangement of each button can be afforded, and an easy-to-use design can be realized.

[0029]

According to the present invention, the number of push-button switches required for dialing a telephone number can be reduced to 5 or less, compared with the conventional case where at least 10 push-button switches are required, and the number of parts is reduced. Therefore, the size and weight of the mobile phone can be reduced. Further, since the number of push-button switches can be reduced, the size and arrangement of each button can be afforded, and an easy-to-use design can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an appearance of a first embodiment, and FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an appearance of a second embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the first and second embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an operation flowchart of the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation flowchart of a second embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a third embodiment, and FIG. 5B is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a modification of the third embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of a third embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an operation flowchart of the third embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11: housing, 12: speaker, 13: display unit, 14: dial unit, 15: microphone, 16: antenna.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A first push button switch for inputting a single digit number of a telephone number from 0 to 4 and a second push button switch for inputting a single digit number of a telephone number from 5 to 9 A switch, a first ring counter connected to the first push button switch and counting up each time the switch is pressed, and a second ring counter connected to the first push button switch and counting up each time the switch is pressed And a display unit for displaying the contents of the first and second ring counters. 2. A first push button switch for sequentially decreasing a single digit number of a telephone number, a second push button switch for sequentially increasing a single digit number of a telephone number, and a first push button switch. A ring counter that is connected to the push button switch and the second push button switch, counts down each time the first push button switch is pressed, and counts up each time the second push button switch is pressed, and displays the contents of the ring counter. Dialing device for a small telephone, comprising: 3. A plurality of pushbutton switches each having a different weight, an encoder receiving the pushbutton switch as an input, an accumulator for accumulating the output of the encoder, and displaying the contents of the accumulator. And a dial output unit for outputting the contents of the accumulator as a one-digit telephone number each time one-digit telephone number input is completed. 4. The dial device for a small telephone according to claim 1, further comprising a next digit button switch for instructing termination of input of each digit of the telephone number.