JPS6049925B2 - character input device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a character input device capable of inputting characters including kanji although it is a small scale device.

Since there are thousands to 10,000 kanji character types, kanji display or printing devices are usually equipped with a character generator (hereinafter referred to as CG) with a capacity of several thousand or more, which makes them extremely expensive. Furthermore, since a desired character must be sequentially selected from over several thousand characters to form a phrase, the operator must be an expert. On the other hand, in some jobs that use kanji, it is often enough to have 100 or several hundred kanji for one job, and it would be wasteful to prepare several thousand or more types of characters. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention collected characters that are frequently used in each field from a large number of characters to create industry-specific character groups, and made it possible to select one of them and display it in the character input area. We have developed a character input device that can select desired characters from a group of kanji, alphabets, kana, and symbols, form a lexical structure, and input this into a computer.

Since this device has a small number of characters, it can use the same 1-byte, 8-bit signal system as the conventional Alphanumeric character input device, making it possible to make the device smaller and cheaper. Also, since characters are selected from a small number of characters,
Character selection operations become easier and faster. The present invention relates in particular to the CG section and the keyboard section of such a character input device, and its features include a device for storing character patterns of industry-specific character groups including kanji and their codes, a selection key, and a selection key. a keyboard that includes a display that displays the character pattern of the character group of the industry selected by the key, a character selector that specifies the character displayed on the display and outputs an address signal; and a display section; The character generator has a character generator consisting of a rewritable memory that stores the character pattern of the character group of the industry selected by the selection key, a code buffer that stores the character code of the character group, and a control unit, and has a character generator that is input from the keyboard. and a terminal control device for displaying the character on the display section using the code buffer and character generator, and for sending the code of the character to a computer or the like. With this character input device, the operator can easily rewrite the contents of the CG, so the Bunjinriki device can be a general-purpose model, and the operator can use it as a character input device containing a group of characters suitable for the job at any time. can. Next, this will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, where HCPU is a host computer, CF is its center file, MC is a multi-controller, and LF is its local file.

Several to ten or more terminals are connected to the multi-controller MC, and in this example, the terminals are terminal control devices (hereinafter referred to as devices) DVl to DVn (1 to n are subscripts to distinguish each one, and will be omitted as appropriate below) ), a keyboard B1 and a cathode ray tube display CRT, and a device D is a code buffer CBl character generator CGl controller C
Consists of NT. The CG is fixed in a device that only displays normal alphanumeric characters, and in the case of a kanji input device, for example, it is placed in a local file location and is not provided in the device. However, in the present invention, this CG is stored in RAM (random access memory). ) in a device as rewritable memory. The center file CF of the host computer HCPU stores industry-specific character groups for all industries. This character group consists of a character pattern made up of one byte (8 bits) system and its character code, the same as in the case of alphanumeric characters. The number of characters in one character group is 2
Since there are about 50 types, 8 bits, or 1 byte, is sufficient for the character code.

For character patterns, 5 x 7 dots is sufficient for alphanumeric characters, but for kanji characters, the resolution is insufficient, so it is even more difficult. This requires a large number of dots, and in this example, one character consists of 16×16 dots, or 32 bytes. These are character codes, character patterns, character codes, character patterns...
File in the order of ・. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the keyboard (input device) KB. PDP is a plasma display panel, and DP is a position detection panel, which is placed over the PDP as shown in Fig. 3, and when a desired character displayed on the PDP is indicated with a pen PN, the coordinate information of the character is displayed. Output. That is, this position detection panel has a large number of vertical and horizontal conductors arranged in a matrix, each conductor is connected to a power source via a resistor, and a PDP is connected to each intersection of these conductors.
Since the upper character is visible, when a grounded pen is applied to the desired character and thus the intersection, the conductor at the intersection is grounded, thereby obtaining the X, Y coordinate information of the character. ENC is an encode circuit that receives this signal and outputs a specified address signal, CC is a control circuit, and IF'C is an interface circuit that connects device D.
V and read and write lines R. Connected via W. DV
is a driver, and SK is a selection key which is provided with a plurality of keys PFl to PFn for selecting the industry type of a character group. Next, the operation of this device will be explained.

When attempting to use this character input device, the operator presses, for example, a key corresponding to a desired industry type of the selection key SK of the device DVl, for example, PFl. In addition, before operating PFl, please check the code data in the host computer HCPU.
- The character group of multiple industries written on the bull is read from the center file CF, and the HCPU. ．． Written to local file LF through MC. When the key PFl is operated, a character group of the industry corresponding to PFl is sent from the local file LF to the device DVl, the character code is written to the code buffer CB, and the character pattern is written to the CG and PDP. The HCPU manages the character arrangement in this PDP. That is, the encode circuit ENC
The HCCPU manages the correspondence between address signals from the PDP and characters displayed on the PDP. This eliminates the need for code conversion on the keyboard (input device), making it possible to reduce the price of the input device. Since the PDP has a memory function, once written characters are displayed until they are erased. Although any display device other than a PDP can be used to display characters, it is preferable to use one with a memory function because refreshing is not required and the attached circuitry is simplified. This completes loading and allows you to enter the next character. When inputting characters, the operator looks at the characters on the PDP and enters what he wants, for example, 1 current account if he wants to input 1 current account.

Apply the pen PN to each character in sequence: zayo, 1yo, 1kyo. At this time, the position detection panel DP outputs coordinate information of each character, and the encode circuit ENC generates an address signal based on this information. This address signal is passed through the control circuit CCl interface circuit 1FC to the device DV.
1 and is stored in a memory (not shown). This memory is repeatedly read out, and the readout output causes the code buffer CB to output the code of the character,
This output searches the CG and outputs the character pattern, which is added to the CRT. Therefore, the CRT is refreshed at the repeating period and displays a still image of the character. When characters are designated one after another by the pen PN, the characters are displayed one after another on the CRT. In this way, the required character blocks, such as a slip, are created. When the creation is completed, the operator presses the button 5 (not shown) on the keyboard. Press the button. As a result, the code of the selected character block displayed on the CRT is sent to the multi-controller MC, etc.
Sent to a printer, other display, or computer. As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the PDP, that is, the dial, is small, and the number of font types is limited to those necessary for each job, making it easy to select and replace. It has advantages such as being able to respond easily and quickly to different industries, and even if there are missing characters, they can be searched for from other industries.

Furthermore, if the character arrangement, phrases, items, etc. are programmed as desired at the stage of creating industry-specific character groups, there are various advantages such as improved input speed and ease of input operations.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an input section, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the main structural parts of the input panel.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A device for storing character patterns of industry-specific character groups including kanji and their codes, a selection key, a display device for displaying character patterns of the character group for the industry selected by the selection key, and a character generator comprising a keyboard comprising a character selector for specifying a character and outputting an address signal thereof; a display section; and a rewritable memory for storing a character pattern of the character group of the industry selected by the selection key. , has a code buffer for storing character codes of the character group, and a control unit, displays characters input from the keyboard on the display unit using the code buffer and a character generator, and displays the code of the characters. A character input device comprising a terminal control device for sending data to a computer or the like.