JPH113159A - Keyboard structure for small-sized electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable smooth key input irrespectively of a place where equipment is used by enabling key input with both hands as clamping an equipment main body with both hands even when character data is inputted by a key by arranging each of a keyboard for a left hand and a keyboard for a right hand at a rear side of the equipment main body. SOLUTION: Both sides of the equipment main body 1 are clamped by palms of both hands like pushing by placing thumbs of both hands at a front side of the equipment main body 1 and remaining four fingers of both hands at the rear side of the thumbs when the equipment main body is clamped. A display part 2, a power switch 3 and an operation part 4, etc., are provided in almost all areas of the front of the equipment main body 1. In this case, the power switch 3 is installed at a position which is operated by the thumbs at a state in which the equipment main body 1 is clamped. On the other hand, each of the keyboard 5 for the left hand, the keyboard 6 for the right hand is arranged at the rear side of the equipment main body 1. The keyboard 5 for the left hand, the keyboard 6 for the right hand are operated by the remaining four fingers except the thumbs at the state in which the equipment main body 1 is clamped by both hands.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a keyboard structure for a small electronic device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there are roughly two types of input methods in a portable small electronic device, one of which is a keyboard input method and the other is a touch panel input method. Also, the space is minimized. By the way, when inputting character data,
The touch panel input method takes a long time to determine the coordinate value of the touch point, so it is not suitable for continuous character input like the keyboard input method. The user can input more smoothly.

[0003]

However, a portable device adopting a keyboard input system has a structure in which a liquid crystal display unit and a keyboard are arranged side by side on the surface thereof. Causes an increase in size. In addition, while the portable device is placed on a desk, key input can be performed with both hands, but when going out,
Although the user holds the device body with one hand and performs key input with the other hand, key input with one hand has been extremely difficult due to lack of stability. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to enable a key input with both hands while holding a device main body with both hands even when key input of character data is performed.

[0004]

The means of the present invention are as follows. According to the first aspect of the present invention, a left-hand keyboard operated by a left hand and a right-hand keyboard operated by a right hand are respectively disposed on the back side of the device main body, and the thumbs of both hands are positioned on the front side of the device main body. In a state where both sides of the device main body are gripped by both hands by positioning the remaining fingers on the back side thereof, the left-hand keyboard and the right-hand keyboard are within a range operable with the remaining fingers except the thumbs of both hands. And various character keys arranged in a predetermined order. In addition, the standardized standard keyboard is vertically divided into two parts, and both sides of the device main body are gripped with both hands, so that each divided line is located on the index finger side of both hands. The left-handed keyboard and the right-handed keyboard may be configured by arranging each of the two divided keyboards in a predetermined area. Also, a first lid covering the left surface area of the device main body and a second lid covering the right surface area of the device body are rotatably attached to the device main body, and are attached to the inner surface side of the first lid body. The left-hand keyboard is provided, and the right-hand keyboard is provided on the inner surface side of the second lid.
The left-hand keyboard and the right-hand keyboard may be arranged on the back side of the device main body by rotating the lid and the second cover from the front side to the back side of the device main body.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a left-hand keyboard and a right-hand keyboard are respectively provided on the back side of the device main body, and both sides of the device main body are gripped by both hands.
The character data is input by operating the right-hand keyboard and the left-hand keyboard with the remaining fingers except the thumbs of both hands. Therefore, even when character data is key-inputted, key input can be performed with both hands while holding the device main body with both hands.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B show a state in which a portable device is gripped with both hands. FIG. 1A is a diagram of the device main body 1 viewed from the front side, and FIG. The device main body 1 is of a portable size formed entirely in a horizontally long flat plate shape. When the device main body 1 is gripped, the thumbs of both hands are positioned on the front side of the device main body 1 and the remaining four hands are held. The user places his / her finger on the back side and grips both sides of the device body 1 so as to press it with the palms of both hands.
A display unit 2 is provided on substantially the entire surface of the device main body 1, and a power switch 3 and an operation unit 4 are provided at predetermined positions.
Etc. are provided. Here, the power switch 3 is provided at a position where the power switch 3 can be operated with the thumb while holding the device main body 1. On the other hand, a keyboard 5 for a left hand and a keyboard 6 for a right hand are provided on the back side of the device body 1. This left-hand keyboard 5 and right-hand keyboard 6
Is operated with the remaining four fingers except for the thumb while holding the device body 1 with both hands, and the key arrangement is as follows.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining the key arrangement of the left-hand keyboard 5 and the right-hand keyboard 6. FIG. 2A shows the key arrangement of a basic 86 keyboard widely used in portable equipment called a notebook personal computer. Is shown. This basic 86 keyboard is vertically divided into two parts at the approximate center. The line shown by the thick line in the figure shows the division line in this case. In the figure, "J",
“F” indicates the key position of the home position of the basic 86 keyboard. Each of the two keyboards (left keyboard, right keyboard) is shown in FIG.
As shown in (B), each is rotated 90 degrees outward. That is, the keyboard on the left side in the figure is turned clockwise 90 degrees.
Rotate the keyboard on the right 90 degrees counterclockwise.
Rotate degrees. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 2B is obtained. When the left and right keyboards are further rotated by 180 degrees about the horizontal axis parallel to the paper surface from this state, the key arrangement as shown in FIG. Left hand keyboard 5,
The right-hand keyboard 6 can be obtained. Here, FIG.
(C) is a key layout diagram in a state where the back side is seen through from the front side of the device main body 1, and the keys “J” for the left and right home positions,
“F” is arranged in a horizontal state on the upper side of the device main body 1. In other words, the left-hand keyboard 5 and the right-hand keyboard 6 are obtained by separating and deforming the basic 86 keyboard so that the dividing line shown in FIG. .

FIG. 3 shows a left lid 7 covering the left half of the display unit 2 and a right lid 8 covering the right half of the display unit 2 when not in use.
A left-hand keyboard 5 and a right-hand keyboard 6 corresponding to the inner surface of the device are provided, and the left-hand cover 7 and the right-hand cover 8 are folded on the back side of the device body 1 during use, so that the left-hand keyboard 5
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration in which a right-hand keyboard 6 is arranged on the back side of the device main body 1. Here, (A1), (B)
1), (C1), (D1), and (E1) are perspective views showing a process of opening the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 so that they can be used when not in use. In the figure, (A
2), (B2), (C2), (D2), and (E2) are rear views corresponding to the perspective views. Here, FIG. 3 (A1)
Shows a state where the entire area of the display unit 2 is covered with the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 when not in use. From this state, (B1) shows the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 turned 180 degrees forward. (C1) shows a state in which it is rotated horizontally by 45 degrees outward, and (D1) shows a state in which it is further rotated outward by 4 degrees.
(E1) shows a state in which the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 are rotated 180 degrees toward the back side of the device body 1 to rotate the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 by 180 degrees. Is shown in a folded state. The mounting structure is configured as follows so that the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 operate as described above. That is, the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 are attached to the arms 9 and 10 rotatably supported on the upper surface thereof. The arms 9 and 10 are connected to hinge portions 11 and 12 provided on the front side of the device main body 1, and the hinge portions 11 and 12 are rotatably supported on the back surface of the device main body 1. 14. Arms 13 and 14 are provided at the corners on the back side of the main body 1.
Notches 1a, 1b so that can be rotated in the horizontal direction.
Are formed.

In the portable device constructed as described above, the keyboard 5 for the left hand and the keyboard 6 for the right hand are respectively arranged on the back side of the device main body 1, and both hands are held with both sides of the device main body 1 held by both hands. By operating the left-hand keyboard 5 and the right-hand keyboard 6 with the remaining four fingers except for the thumb, character data can be input. In other words, it is possible to input characters using both hands while holding the device body 1 with both hands, and it is possible to input characters smoothly regardless of the place of use. Also, basic 86
By dividing the keyboard into two and changing its orientation,
Since the left-hand keyboard 5 and the right-hand keyboard 6 are configured, the key arrangement enables a blind touch input. Further, the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 are shown in FIG.
Can be rotated 180 degrees forward from the state described above, so that the device main body 1 can be placed on a desk and normal key input can be performed from the surface.

In the above-described embodiment, the mounting structure of the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 is shown in FIG. 3, but the mounting structure is not limited to this, and is shown in FIG. It may be a configuration. That is, FIG. 4 shows that the left cover 21 and the right cover 22
4 and is attached so as to be able to rotate through 360 degrees.
(A), (B), and (C) show a process of opening the left lid 21 and the right lid 22 from the unused state to the used state. Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the left-hand keyboard 5 and the right-hand keyboard 6 may not be disposed inside the lids 21 and 22, but may be directly disposed on the back surface of the device body 1. .

[0011]

According to the present invention, the keyboard for the left hand and the keyboard for the right hand are respectively arranged on the back side of the device main body.
Key input can be performed with both hands while holding the device main body with both hands, enabling smooth key input regardless of the place of use.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a state in which a portable device is held by both hands, and FIG.
FIG. 2 is a view of the device main body viewed from the front side, and FIG.

FIGS. 2A to 2C are diagrams for explaining a key layout of a left-hand keyboard 5 and a right-hand keyboard 6. FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a process of opening the left lid 7 and the right lid 8 from the unused state to the used state, (A1),
(B1), (C1), (D1), (E1) are perspective views,
(A2), (B2), (C2), (D2), (E2) are rear views.

FIG. 4 shows another mounting structure of the lid body, wherein (A), (B),
(C) is a diagram showing a process of opening the left-hand keyboard 21 and the right-hand keyboard 22 from the unused state to the used state.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Device main body 5 Keyboard for left hand 6 Keyboard for right hand 7,21 Left lid 8,22 Right lid

Claims (3)

[Claims] A left-hand keyboard operated by a left hand and a right-hand keyboard operated by a right hand are respectively provided on the back side of the equipment main body, and the thumbs of both hands are positioned on the front side of the equipment main body, and the remaining of both hands is provided. In a state where both sides of the device main body are gripped with both hands by positioning the fingers on the back side, the left-hand keyboard and the right-hand keyboard are variously movable within a range operable with the remaining fingers except the thumbs of both hands. A keyboard structure for a small electronic device, wherein character keys are arranged in a predetermined order. 2. A standard keyboard which is standardized is vertically divided into two parts, and both sides of the main body are gripped by both hands, and each divided line is positioned on the index finger side of both hands. 2. The keyboard for a small electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the keyboard for the left hand and the keyboard for the right hand are configured by arranging each of the two divided keyboards in a predetermined area on the back side of the keyboard. Construction. 3. A first cover for covering a left side area of the front surface of the device body and a second cover for covering a right side area of the front surface are rotatably attached to the device body. The left-hand keyboard is disposed on the inner surface side, the right-hand keyboard is disposed on the inner surface side of the second lid, and the first lid and the second lid are disposed from the front side to the back side of the device main body. The keyboard structure for a small electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the left-hand keyboard and the right-hand keyboard are arranged on the back side of the device main body by rotating the keyboard toward the side.