KR100371869B1 - Character input method using character set extension buttons - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention configures a character extension button on one side of a device such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, etc. and displays a letter for each button of the keypad so that a user can easily enter a letter without having to operate a plurality of buttons. First, the user sets the input mode by executing a mode toggle to select a character set to be input. When the input mode is set, when a specific character expansion button and the digit button of the keypad are pressed together to input a desired letter or number, the character determined by the corresponding character expansion button and the corresponding digit button is input in the input mode.

In addition, the present invention can be applied to a touch screen device.

Description

Character input method using character set extension buttons}

The present invention relates to a character input method using a character extension button, and more particularly, to a method of effectively inputting a character by selecting a character extension button and a digit button of a keypad in a device having a limited number of buttons, such as a mobile phone or a PDA. will be.

As text messages can be created, stored, or sent in a mobile communication device, many methods for effectively entering text with a limited number of digit buttons have been developed. Representative embodiments of the character input method are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, to explain this, suppose that a user inputs a word "word". When the user presses the character expansion button 100, various character sets are shown on the display panel 100. Here, to input "ㅁ" to form the letter of "horse", press the digit button "▼" (140) of the keypad 130 several times (Press), the cursor (Cursor) is "ㅁ" (120) When the consonant is reached, pressing the "Select" button 150 selects the "ㅁ" character and the vowel "ㅏ" and the consonant "ㄹ" are repeated in this manner to form the complete word "word". .

In addition, a complicated input method as shown in FIG. 1 is used to input other characters. For example, suppose you want to enter an English word in uppercase and lowercase "Zoo".

That is, referring to FIG. 2, the "digit" button of the digit button of the keypad 200 is pressed, and the input letter "Z" is selected by selecting the "English input mode" displayed on the display panel 220. To press the " 1QZ " The first letter comes out of the uppercase letter "Q" and once more pressing the "1QZ" button 230, the uppercase letter "Z" is output to the display panel 220 and selected by pressing the "select" button 240. In this manner, a lowercase letter “o” is also input. In principle, when the “6MNO” button 260 is pressed, an uppercase letter “M” is displayed on the display panel 220. When the "6MNO" button 260 is repeatedly pressed several times, the letters of the display panel 220 change from M → N → O → m → n → o and when the lowercase letter “o” is output, press the “Select” button 240. Choose. If you want to enter one more letter "o", repeat the above process to complete the word "Zoo". As such, the conventional method has been inconvenient to select one of several letters assigned to the button and to repeat the corresponding button several times to find the desired letter and to select and enter it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to enable a user to input desired letters one at a time without pressing the corresponding button several times using the character expansion button.

1 is a screen example showing an embodiment of a conventional Hangul character input method.

2 is a screen example showing an embodiment of a conventional English character input method.

3 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul character input method using two character expansion buttons.

4 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective English character input method using two character expansion buttons.

5 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Japanese character input method using four character expansion buttons.

6 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Korean / English character input method using two character extension buttons.

7 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Japanese / English character input method using four character expansion buttons.

8 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul / Japanese character input method using four character expansion buttons.

9 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul / English / Japanese character input method using the four character expansion buttons.

10 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective symbol set (special character) character input method using two character extension buttons.

11 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective symbol set (special character) character input method using four character extension buttons.

The present invention configures a character extension button on one side of a device such as a mobile phone, personal digital assistant, etc. and displays a letter for each button of the keypad so that a user can easily enter a letter without having to operate a plurality of buttons. First, the user sets the input mode by executing a mode toggle to select a character set to be input. When the input mode is set, when a specific character expansion button and the digit button of the keypad are pressed together to input a desired letter or number, the character determined by the corresponding character expansion button and the corresponding digit button is input in the input mode.

In addition, the present invention can be applied to a touch screen device.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul character input method using two character expansion buttons. In FIG. 3, the text expansion button 330 is preferably provided on the left side of the device for convenience of input, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Hangul is composed of 19 consonants and 10 basic vowels. The 19 consonants consist of 14 basic consonants and 5 consonants, where again the 14 basic consonants contain 4 different consonants. Based on the Hangul composition, a method of inputting Hangul effectively using two character expansion buttons will be described.

Assuming that the letter "subtract" 300 is input, first, when the character expansion button 310 and the "0" digit button 320 are pressed together to convert to the Hangul mode, the character is converted to the Hangul mode. Alternatively, a separate mode switch button may be provided, and the mode switch button may be pressed to switch to the Hangul mode. Or, depending on the context, it can be automatically converted.

In the case of the Hangul input mode in Figure 3, the characters displayed in the middle of the keyboard can be input by pressing only the digit button, the characters displayed on the upper side of the keyboard with the character expansion button 310, and the characters displayed on the bottom of the character expansion button ( 370) can be pressed to enter.

That is, the character expansion button 330 is composed of a "▲" (310) button and "▼" (370) to arrange the keyboard as follows to facilitate the use.

1) Character to input by pressing the corresponding button (the character located on the left side of the keyboard): a, c, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅈ, ㅏ, TT, ㅗ, ㅓ, ㅇ

2) Characters input using the “▲” (310) buttons (characters located on the upper left of the keyboard): ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅃ, ㅆ, ㅉ, ㅑ, ㅠ, ㅛ, ㅕ

3) Characters input using the "▼" (370) buttons (characters located on the lower left of the keyboard): ㅋ, ㅌ, ッ, ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅡ, ㄹ, ㅁ, ㅣ, ㅎ

4) When the number is in number mode, simply press the corresponding button.

The character switching button ("▲" "◀" "▶" "▼") used in the present invention is displayed to match the position of the character arranged on the keyboard, so that users are easily familiar with the character input method. Hereinafter, the description of the keyboard layout will be described accordingly. And several consonants may be input in succession, but consecutive vowels are combined into one vowel. That is, for example, "ㅏ" + "ㅣ" = "ㅐ" and the like. If you type in this form, the combination proceeds quickly to the desired letter.

In the following description, the case of pressing the character expansion button and the digit button simultaneously is indicated by +. Then, pressing one button and pressing the next button are denoted by "→". That is, "3" → "1" means to press the "3" button and then to press the "1" button.

Therefore, "ㅃ" of "subtract" is made of "▲" 310 + "3" (340). The "ㅐ" character is completed using "6" (350) → "▼" (370) + "9" (360) and the final support "ㄹ" character "▼" (370) + "7" (380) Press to complete the "subtract" character. If you list them consecutively:

"Subtract" = "▲" (310) + "0" (320) → "▲" (310) + "3" (340) → "6" (350) → "▼" (370) + "9" ( 360) → "▼" (370) + "7" (380)

As described above, characters may be continuously input using the character expansion button. Here, "▲" 310 + "0" 320 is for Hangul / Numeric mode switching, but if it was already in Korean input mode, it can be omitted. Otherwise, execute "▲" (310) + "0" (320) to convert from numeric mode to Korean mode and if you want to switch back to Korean mode from Korean mode, change "▲" (310) + "0" (320). Just run it again.

4 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective English character input method using two character expansion buttons. While FIG. 3 was a Korean input method, FIG. 4 shows an English input method using two character expansion buttons.

In the English keyboard arrangement of the keypad of FIG. 4, when a simple number is input in a manner used in English, for example, only a corresponding digit button is pressed without having to toggle to input a number of "1-234-567-8901". .

In the English mode, the keyboard is arranged as follows to facilitate input of the English keyboard array as described in the keyboard layout of FIG. 3.

1) Character to input by pressing the corresponding button (the character located on the left side of the keyboard): A, E, I, L, O, P, U, V, Y, ※

2) Characters input using the “▲” (430) button (characters located on the upper left of the keyboard): B, D, G, J, M, Q, S, W, Z

3) Characters input using the “▼” (450) button (characters located on the lower left of the keyboard): C, F, H, K, N, R, T, X, ㆍ, @

4) When the number is in number mode, simply press the corresponding button.

And, a button such as "def" (400) is to support the existing method to press the phone number in the English alphabet.

In the following description, a case in which "▲" 430 + "0" 440 is used as the input mode selection button and "0" 440 is used as the case change mode button in the English input mode will be described as an example.

If it is assumed that the letter "Kalo" of the display panel is input, the user presses the letter expansion button 430 and simultaneously presses "0" 440 to select the English mode and inputs an uppercase letter in order to toggle to the English mode. Then, after pressing "0" 440 once more to input a lowercase letter, a desired lowercase letter is input. This is listed as a sequence of actions:

"Kalo" = "▲" (430) + "0" (440) → "▼" (450) + "4" (460) → "0" (440) → "1" (470) → "4" ( 460) → "5" (410)

Here, "▲" (430) + "0" (440) is for switching to alphanumeric mode, and using "0" (440) once more is for switching between upper and lower case in English input mode. .

5 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Japanese character input method using four character expansion buttons. The four character expansion buttons of FIG. 5 may be provided on one side of the device, or two on each side, and not on all of the keypads, but only three but four buttons by a combination of three buttons. It is also possible to make an effect. As described above, the number and position of the character expansion button can be variously configured, and the present invention is not limited to a specific position or combination.

In the Japanese mode as described above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the keyboard is arranged as follows in order to easily input characters using the four character expansion buttons.

1) Character to input by pressing the corresponding button (the character located at the center of the keyboard): あ, か, さ, た, な, は, ま, ら, や, わ

2) Characters input using the “▲” (510) button (characters located at the top of the keyboard): い, き, し, ち, に, ひ, み, り, ゆ,

3) Characters input using the “▼” (560) button (characters located at the bottom of the keyboard): う, く, す, つ, ぬ, ふ, む, る, よ, 〃

4) Characters input using the “◀” (540) button (characters located at the left end of the keyboard): え, け, せ, て, ね, へ, め, れ, √, °

5) Characters input using the “▶” (570) button (characters located at the right end of the keyboard): お, こ, そ, と, の, ほ, も, ろ,

6) When the number is in number mode, simply press the corresponding button.

According to the keyboard layout, a method of inputting Japanese sentences with four character expansion buttons will be described. For example, if a user wants to enter a word with a tactile sound and a consonant sound like "ち ょ っ と" (500), first press "▲" (510) + "0" (520) to toggle to Japanese mode. . Subsequently, "▲" 510 + "4" 530 are continuously pressed to input the "ち" character. Then, in order to input the letter "ょ" and the letter "っ" that is the sound note, "◀" 540 is pressed and the digit button 550 with "??" is pressed, and then the corresponding letter is input. That is, "ょ" = "◀" (540) + "9" (550) → "▼" (560) + "9" (550), "っ" = "◀" (540) + "9" (550 ) Is the same as "▼" (560) + "4" (530). The last letter "と" is completed by pressing "▶" (570) + "4" (530). Therefore, the above process is carried out continuously as follows.

"ち ょ っ と" = "▲" (510) + "0" (520) → "▲" (510) + "4" (530) → "◀" (540) + "9" (550) → "▼" ( 560) + "9" (550) → "◀" (540) + "9" (550) → "▼" (560) + "4" (530) → "▶" (570) + "4" (530 )

Here, "▲" 510 + "0" 520 means switching to Japanese input mode. If the user has already entered the Japanese input mode, the input mode switching can be omitted.

When entering Japanese, in addition to the rhythms and tactiles mentioned above, you need to hear the sound of the sound, the sound of the bass, the sound of the sound, and the katakana.

"√"

" "(Toggle Input Mode)

"˚"

"″"

Here 1), 3) and 4) converts the corresponding letter when pressed before or after the letter input. For example, は + "˚" = ぱ, or "˚" + は = 지정.

6 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Korean / English character input method using two character extension buttons. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a keyboard layout of a keypad for effectively entering characters using two character expansion buttons according to merging the Hangul input method of FIG. 3 and the English input method of FIG. Character input is performed in the same manner as the above-described process of FIGS. 3 and 4, and here, the respective modes are selected by toggling in the same manner to switch to the Hangul / English / numeric mode. That is, when the "▲" (610) + mode conversion button 600 is pressed, pressing the two buttons again in the Hangul mode, Hangul mode, the English mode, pressing the two buttons again in the English mode, press the two buttons as in the numeric mode To select the input mode. That is, Hangul input mode English input mode Numeric Entry Mode Hangul input mode In this case, it is preferable that the display indicating what the current input mode is is displayed on the display unit which is the display panel of the apparatus.

7 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Japanese / English character input method using four character expansion buttons. The text input is performed in the same manner as the above-described processes of FIGS. 4 and 5, and here, the respective modes are selected by toggling in the same manner as described above in order to switch to the Japanese / English / numeric mode.

8 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul / Japanese character input method using four character expansion buttons. FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a keyboard layout of a keypad for effectively inputting characters using four character expansion buttons by combining the Hangul input method of FIG. 3 and the Japanese input method of FIG. 5. Character input is performed in the same manner as the process of FIGS. 3 and 5 described above. Here, the respective modes are selected by toggling in the same manner as described above in order to switch to the Hangul / Japanese / numeric mode.

9 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective Hangul / English / Japanese character input method using the four character expansion buttons. FIG. 9 illustrates a keyboard layout of a keypad for effectively entering characters using four character expansion buttons by combining the Hangul input method of FIG. 3, the English input method of FIG. 4, and the Japanese input method of FIG. 5. Yes. Character input is performed in the same manner as described above with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, and 5, and here, the respective modes are selected by toggling in the same manner as described above in order to switch to the Hangul / Japanese / English / numeric modes.

10 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective symbol set (special character) character input method using two character extension buttons. (A), (b), and (c) of FIG. 10 respectively add special character input modes to a character input method such as Korean / numeric, English / numeric, Korean / English / numeric using two character extension buttons, respectively. This example shows how to input Korean / numeric / special characters, English / numeric / special characters, and Korean / English / numeric / special characters. The following is how to input special characters for each combination mode.

1) In the case of Korean / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the "7" (1010) button to input the "♥" 1010 as known in the above process.

2) For English / numeric / special character mode,

First of all, the above-mentioned special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the "7" 1040 button together with the "▲" 1060 to input the "+" 1020 as known in the above process.

3) In case of Korean / English / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the “8” 1070 button together with the “▼” 1030 to input the “©” 1050 as known in the above process.

11 is a screen example showing an embodiment of an effective symbol set (special character) character input method using four character extension buttons. (A), (b), (c), and (d) of FIG. 11 are Japanese / numeric characters, Japanese / English / numeric characters, Korean / Japanese / numeric characters, Korean / English / Japanese / numeric characters using four character expansion buttons, respectively. Add a special sentence input mode to the character input method to input Japanese / numeric / special characters, Japanese / English / numeric / special characters, Korean / Japanese / numeric / special characters, Korean / English / Japanese / numeric / special characters. This is an example. The following is how to input special characters for each combination mode.

1) In Japanese / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the "7" 1110 button to input the "♥" 1100 as known in the above process.

2) For Japanese / English / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above-mentioned special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the "7" 1170 button together with the "1" 1160 to input the "x" 1150 as well known in the above process.

3) In case of Korean / Japanese / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the "7" 1140 button together with the "▲" 1130 to input the "+" 1120 as is well known in the above process.

4) In case of Korean / English / Japanese / numeric / special character mode,

First, the above special characters are inputted by switching to the special character mode and then pressing the “8” 1119 button together with “▼” 1190 to input “©” 1150 as known in the above process.

3 to 11 are also possible on the touch screen of the device. That is, the text expansion button can be implemented by touching each of the corresponding buttons by arranging on one side of the device or on the screen and displaying the keyboard on the touch screen. In particular, the touch screen method is convenient because the contents displayed on the keyboard can be changed according to the current input mode. For example, even if Korean / English / numeric input is possible, it is convenient because only Korean characters can be displayed on the keyboard in Korean mode.

Although the present invention has been described in detail with the preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and should be interpreted by the appended claims. In addition, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that many modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

According to the present invention, a device having a limited number of buttons has an effect of convenient and quick input of many types of text inputs with a text expansion button.

Claims (9)

In an apparatus having one or more character expansion buttons, a number button of " 0 " to " 9 ", and a character mode switching means, The number button is a character that is input by pressing only the corresponding number button in a specific character mode, and one or more characters are displayed by pressing the corresponding number button and the character expansion button, When the character mode switching means is pressed, one of a number input mode including a number input mode and the specific character mode is selected, In number input mode, the number corresponding to the pressed number button is entered. In the specific character mode, a character input method using a character extension button characterized in that the corresponding character is input from among the characters displayed on the number button according to the number button and the character expansion button pressed. delete delete delete The method of claim 1, The text expansion button is composed of the first and second text expansion button, The number button is displayed by pressing only the number button, the character to be input, the character to be pressed by pressing the number button and the first character expansion button at the same time, the character to be pressed by pressing the number button and the second character expansion button at the same time is displayed Character input method using a character expansion button characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The character expansion button is composed of the first to fourth character expansion button, The number button includes a character to be input by pressing only a number button, a character to be pressed by pressing a number button and the first character expansion button at the same time, a character to be pressed by simultaneously pressing a number button and the second character extension button, and a number. And a character to be input by pressing a button and the third character extension button at the same time, and a character to be pressed by simultaneously pressing a numeric button and the fourth character extension button. delete The method of claim 1, The character expansion button is located on one side of the device and the character mode switching button characterized in that the character extension button is located on the keypad. delete