KR100580066B1 - A character input method for a portable terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a character input method executable in a mobile terminal having a keypad. When a popup window call key input is performed in a character input mode of a first language, the character array information having the same arrangement structure as that of a key button is called from a memory. Display and output through a pop-up window, the character information arranged in the same position as the key button input through the keypad of the character array information as output characters, and if there is a character input switching key input to the first language It is characterized by displaying input characters by switching to 1 language character input mode.

Pop-up window, text input, special characters.

Description

Character input method of mobile terminal {A CHARACTER INPUT METHOD FOR A PORTABLE TERMINAL}

1 is a view for explaining a character input method of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating character array information displayed in a pop-up window according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a portable terminal including a keypad, and more particularly, to a method of inputting text using a pop-up window.

Mobile phones, the leaders of mobile devices, have long been popular. Through such a mobile phone, a user can basically perform a voice call, and can also transmit a wireless text by creating a predetermined text message.

Many mobile phone users write text messages to communicate with each other. In this case, it is common to write a series of messages by combining special characters (?, @,:, ..) with numbers, rather than simply using text. to be.

However, the text input method currently provided by the mobile phone manufacturers only has a lot of inconvenience in composing a series of messages using special characters and general text.

For example, the type of characters supported in the text input mode may be Korean (1), English case (2,3), numbers (4), special characters (5), and URL information of an e-mail. .kr, com, ..) (6) in that order. In character input mode, Korean characters are set to be input by default. Therefore, if you need to enter a lowercase English letter during Korean character input, press the designated key twice to switch to English lowercase mode, and then press the key button printed with the desired lowercase letter to enter the corresponding English letter. And in order to input Korean characters again, you can enter Korean characters only by pressing the designated key four times (number → special characters → email → Korean).

That is, in the general mobile phone, it is inconvenient to repeatedly input the designated key to input English upper / lowercase letters, numbers, special characters, etc., and again to input Korean characters. Follow. In particular, the discomfort is greater for young people who have a high frequency of using special characters.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention can be switched to a mode in which a character, a number, or a special character of the second language can be input by a simple key operation while inputting a character of the first language, and again a character of the first language by only a simple key operation. The present invention provides a character input method of a portable terminal capable of switching to an input mode.

Character input method according to an embodiment of the present invention for achieving the above object is an executable method in a portable terminal having a keypad,

In the text input mode of the first language, if a popup window call key input is made, calling the character array information having the same arrangement structure as that of the key button from a memory and displaying the same through a popup window;

Displaying and outputting, as input characters, character information arranged at the same position as a key button input through the keypad among the character array information;

And displaying the input text by switching to the first language text input mode when the text input change key input is input to the first language.

In the above-described embodiment, the character array information displayed on the pop-up window may be programmed to have a variable character array for each movement key button operation.

By associating character array information having different character arrays to each of the numeric keys, the character array information corresponding to the numeric key may be called from the memory and displayed in a pop-up window when the corresponding numeric key input continues for a predetermined time. .

In addition, one of the character array information displayed in the pop-up window is characterized in that the character for instructing the character input switching to the first language is assigned.

According to the features of the present invention as described above, the terminal user can input the second language's letters, numbers or special characters, etc., with a simple key input, while inputting Korean characters (characters of the first language), and again, one-time key operation. Since it is possible to switch to the character input mode of Hangul characters (first language) only by itself, as a result, it is convenient to write a predetermined message with fewer key inputs than the general character input method.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of related known functions or configurations may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. For example, since a mobile phone configuration as a mobile terminal capable of executing a text input method according to an embodiment of the present invention is well known in the art, illustration thereof is omitted.

1 is a view illustrating a text input method of a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a text arrangement displayed on a pop-up window according to an embodiment of the present invention. Information is an example.

Referring to FIG. 1, first of all, a mobile terminal generally has a character input mode set to a Hangul character input mode. As such, when the user who is writing the text message in the Hangul text input mode presses a popup window call key, the portable terminal controller detects this (step 100).

For reference, the "popup window call key" may be defined as a key for calling a popup window. In the first embodiment of the present invention, it is assumed that any one key of the plurality of key buttons is a popup window call key. In the second embodiment, it is assumed that each numeric key can be used as a popup window call key.

The popup window refers to a window for displaying character array information having the same arrangement as that of a key button of a mobile terminal. For example, assuming that a key button provided in the portable terminal has a 3 × 4 key matrix structure as shown in FIG. 2, the character array information displayed in the popup window is a 3 × 4 matrix as shown in FIG. 2. Has a structure.

Referring to FIG. 1 again, the control unit of the mobile terminal according to the first embodiment calls a character array information having the same arrangement structure as that of a key button on a keypad from a memory when a popup window call key input is input in the Hangul character input mode through a popup window. Display output (step 110).

An example of the character array displayed in the popup window by the popup window call key input is shown in FIG. 2. In FIG. 2, (a) may be defined as character array information displayed every time a designated popup window call key is input. The character array information may be sequentially changed as shown in (b), (c), .. (l) every time the movement key button provided in the keypad.

In another second embodiment, each numeric key provided on the keypad may be used as a popup window call key. That is, if the pressed state of the numeric key 1 lasts for a predetermined time or more, it is determined that the pop-up window is called, and the character array information as shown in (a) of FIG. 2 is displayed on the pop-up window, and if the pressed state of the numeric key 2 is constant If the character array information is displayed in a popup window as shown in FIG. Character array information can be displayed in a popup window.

Referring to each character array information shown in FIG. 2, one common fact may be found. That is, the letters "Hangul" are commonly arranged. This is to conveniently switch to Korean character input mode after inputting numbers, upper and lower case letters and special characters through pop-up window in Korean character input mode.

In addition, referring to each character array information shown in Figure 2 it can be seen that the English letter is capitalized. Therefore, English upper and lower case input method should be defined. In general, it is preferable to set the lowercase letters in English as the default and to set the uppercase letters when a long key is input.

Meanwhile, when the predetermined character arrangement information is displayed in the pop-up window (step 110) according to one of the two embodiments described above, the user of the portable terminal inputs a key button to display the character information of any one of the arranged character information. You can enter That is, if the controller of the portable terminal has a key button input (step 120), the characters arranged at the same position as the key button input through the keypad among the character array information of any one of (a) to (l) of FIG. Information is displayed and output as an input character (step 130). The controller of the portable terminal proceeds to step 140, and if there is no reception of the Hangul character input mode switching command, the controller displays and outputs the character information arranged at the same position as the key button input through the keypad as input characters (steps 120 and 130).

For example, if the user inputs the message "Hello! Good bye", the terminal user inputs the text "Hello" in the Korean character input mode, and then enters (a) of FIG. After displaying the character array information as shown in the pop-up window, press the numeric key 8 can complete the message "Hello!" In addition, after pressing the "#" button on the keypad to switch to the Hangul character input mode, the character "Well done" can be additionally inputted.

As shown in this example, when a predetermined text message needs to be completed by inserting a special character "!" Between Hangul and Hangul, the present invention simply presses a designated popup window call key or numeric key 1 to display predetermined character array information in a popup window. After inputting special characters, it is possible to switch to Korean character input mode by pressing the "#" button, which means that a much smaller number of key inputs are required than the conventional method of inputting special characters, numbers and English characters. have.

As described above, the present invention can switch to a mode in which letters, numbers, or special characters of the second language can be input by simple key manipulation while inputting Korean characters (characters of the first language), and again with only one key operation. It is convenient to switch to Korean character input mode.

This is expected to cause a great response to the demand class with a high frequency of use of special characters, since it requires fewer key inputs than general character input methods when creating a predetermined text message including special characters and numbers.

On the other hand, the present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings, which are merely exemplary, and those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications and equivalent other embodiments are possible therefrom. For example, although an embodiment of the present invention assumes a mobile phone, it can be commonly applied to all terminals that need to write a text message with a predetermined key button. Therefore, the true technical protection scope of the present invention should be defined only by the appended claims.

Claims (5)

In the character input method of a mobile terminal having a keypad, In the text input mode of the first language, if a popup window call key input is made, calling the character array information having the same arrangement structure as that of the key button from a memory and displaying the same through a popup window; Displaying and outputting, as input characters, character information arranged at the same position as a key button input through the keypad among the character array information; And converting to a first language character input mode and displaying and outputting an input character when there is a character input switch key input to the first language. The character input method of claim 1, wherein the character array information displayed on the popup window has a character array that is variable every time a movement key button is operated. The character input method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the character array information comprises a combination of numbers, second language characters, and special characters. The method of claim 3, wherein one of the character array information is assigned a character instructing to switch the character input to the first language. The method of claim 1, wherein the pop-up window call key is a numeric key, and when the input of the numeric key continues for a predetermined time, the character array information corresponding to the numeric key is called from the memory and displayed in the pop-up window. Character input method of a portable terminal characterized by having the same arrangement structure.

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