KR101465699B1 - The method and apparatus for input in portable terminal using touch screen - Google Patents

Abstract

A method of inputting characters using a touch screen in a portable terminal, the method comprising: displaying an input character group including at least one character string including at least one character when a touch signal for character input is detected; Changing a position of the input character group in a direction corresponding to the touch movement and changing a character to be input by changing the position of the input character group when the movement is detected, By using a character input method using a touch screen in a terminal, a screen of a keyboard used for inputting a character is reduced on a touch screen of a limited size, thereby allowing the user to confirm the contents of the character to be created on the relatively enlarged main screen can do.

Touch screen, handheld terminal, English input, scrolling, panning

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a character input apparatus and a method for inputting characters using a touch screen in a portable terminal,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for inputting characters using a touch screen in a portable terminal.

The portable terminal has a touch screen and is typically a personal digital assistant (PDA).

Generally, the PDA has a variety of software and peripherals based on a central processing unit (CPU), a memory, an operating system (OS), and an operating system, And has been developed as a multifunctional apparatus capable of carrying out voice communication and data communication (using the Internet) by mounting a mobile phone module in recent years.

The PDA is referred to in various terms. For example, Palm Computing's Palm and other similar types of personal portable digital devices are called PDAs, and those that use the Windows CE operating system on Microsoft are pen-free devices Products that use the same Windows CE operating system, such as PPC (Palm-Size PC), but use a keyboard, are called HPC (Handheld PC). At present, it is a tendency to use the term PDA as a concept covering all of these.

Generally, the PDA includes a touch screen, which is composed of a display panel (LCD) of the touch screen and a touch panel (touch panel) mounted thereon. Accordingly, the user can touch the icon displayed on the touch screen with the finger or the stylus pen to execute the corresponding application, or touch the keyboard displayed on the predetermined area to input characters or the like.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, the English input method in a portable terminal without a keypad and having only a touch screen displays a QWERTY keyboard on a touch screen so that a user selects and inputs the corresponding character have.

In a small device such as a PDA, a general QWERTY keyboard is displayed on a touch screen due to a limitation of a screen size when a character is input, and it is inconvenient to simultaneously press various keys when touching with a finger. That is, a touch error occurs due to limitation of the screen size, and the input character is often corrected, which causes inconvenience due to frequent correction and unnecessary time.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a character input device and a character input device capable of reducing an input error caused by simultaneously pressing a plurality of keys when a character is input in a portable terminal using a touch screen, Method.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a character input device and a method for inputting English characters or special characters in a portable terminal using a touch screen.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of inputting characters using a touch screen in a portable terminal, the method comprising the steps of: inputting at least one character string A step of displaying a character group, a step of changing a position of the input character group in a direction corresponding to the touch movement when detecting a touch movement for changing the character, and a step of changing the position of the input character group The method comprising the steps of: (a) inputting a character using a touch screen in a portable terminal;

As described above, by using the character input device and method using the touch screen in the portable terminal according to the present invention, it is possible to solve the problem of multiple selection that occurs when a finger is selected on a touch screen of a general QWERTY keyboard.

In addition, by narrowing down the screen of a keyboard used for inputting characters on a touch screen of a limited size, the user can input the content of characters to be created on the relatively enlarged main screen while confirming more.

Further, when alphabetical characters are input, the user can easily input the alphabet by arranging the alphabetical letters in the order of alphabetical order which is easy for a typical user to easily understand.

Hereinafter, the operation principle of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description of the present invention, a detailed description of known functions and configurations incorporated herein will be omitted when it may make the subject matter of the present invention rather unclear. The following terms are defined in consideration of the functions of the present invention, and may vary depending on the intention of the user, the intention or the custom of the operator. Therefore, the definition should be based on the contents throughout this specification.

FIG. 2 shows a configuration of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the controller 100 controls the overall operation of the portable terminal. For example, when a character is input by touching a keyboard displayed on the touch screen 102 according to the present invention in addition to a normal function in addition to performing control for data processing and communication, the keyboard is scrolled, Or a panning signal is received by a touch signal receiving unit 105 to be described later, and the keyboard is scrolled or panned in a direction corresponding to the scrolling or panning signal to be displayed. In addition, a character selected by the touch movement on the scrolling or panned keyboard is enlarged to be displayed and confirmed, and when the touch is completed, the recognized character is displayed on the main screen.

In the following description, the description of the processing and control of the controller 100 will be omitted.

The memory 101 includes a program memory, a data memory, a nonvolatile memory, and the like. The program memory stores a program for controlling overall operation of the portable terminal. The program memory may use a flash memory. The data memory temporarily stores data generated during the operation of the portable terminal. The data memory may use a random access memory. The nonvolatile memory stores telephone numbers and system parameters registered for performing functions such as speed dialing and the like. The nonvolatile memory may use an EEPROM.

The touch screen 102 includes a liquid crystal display (LCD) 103 and a touch panel 104 mounted on the liquid crystal display. The touch screen 102 displays status information, various moving pictures, still images, and the like generated during the operation of the portable terminal, and outputs an electrical analog signal corresponding to the touch to the touch signal receiving unit 105. The touch signal receiving unit 105 analyzes the electrical analog signal from the touch screen 102 and outputs the position data according to the touch screen position to the controller 100.

The button input unit 106 has a plurality of function buttons and outputs the button input data corresponding to the button pressed by the user to the control unit 100. [

The wireless communication module 107 is a module for communicating with a base station according to a predetermined communication standard and may include a radio frequency (RF) module, a baseband analog (BBA), and the like, as is well known.

A CODEC 108 connected to the control unit 100 and a speaker 110 and a microphone 109 connected to the CODEC 108 are voice input and output blocks used for telephone conversation and voice recording . The CODEC 108 converts the PCM data provided from the controller 100 into an analog voice signal and transmits the analog voice signal through the speaker 110 and converts the voice signal received through the microphone 109 into PCM data To the control unit (100).

FIG. 3 illustrates a procedure for inputting characters after scrolling or panning a keyboard displayed on a touch screen in a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, when entering the character input mode, the controller 100 displays a keyboard (or a keyboard) on a predetermined area (e.g., a lower portion) of the screen in step 301. FIG.

According to the present invention, the keyboard may be an input character group that can be scrolled or panned by a user, as shown in FIG. 4, which will be described later. c, etc.), alphabets (eg, A, B, C, etc.), special character sets (eg, *, / etc.), and numeric groups (eg 1, 2, 3, etc.). In particular, each of the lowercase letters, the uppercase letters, and the alphabetical letters of the alphabet, the letters of the alphabet, and the letters of the alphabet are written in the order that the typical user is familiar (e.g., "A", "B", "C", "D", "E" ..) so that the user can easily access.

The controller 100 proceeds to step 302 and checks whether a keyboard touch signal is received from the touch signal receiver 105. In step 302, When the keypad touch signal is received, the controller 100 analyzes the keypad touch signal received in step 303 and recognizes a character touched by the user. In step 304, the controller 100 may display the recognized character in a specific area on the screen.

After the touched character is magnified and displayed, the controller 100 checks the keyboard touch signal received from the touch signal receiver 105 in step 305 and determines whether the keyboard touch is terminated.

If the touch end is not detected, the controller 100 transmits a signal for scrolling or panning the keyboard displayed in step 301 to a specific direction (e.g., right, left, up, down) (105).

If the scrolling or panning signal is detected, the controller 100 scrolls or pans the keyboard output in step 301 in a direction corresponding to the scrolling or panning signal. Thereafter, the process returns to step 303 and re-executes the following steps. If the scrolling or panning signal is not detected, the control unit 100 returns to step 303 and executes the following steps again.

That is, the touch signal received from the touch signal receiver 105 is analyzed again to recognize a character touched by the user, and the recognized character is enlarged and displayed on a specific area of the screen.

If the touch termination is detected, the controller 100 proceeds to step 309 to display a character displayed in a specific area of the screen on the main screen, and then returns to step 302 to check the keyboard touch signal Goes. That is, a character displayed in a predetermined area of the touch screen is input at a position where the cursor of the main screen is located.

Thus, the present invention is characterized in that the keyboard of a specific input character group can be scrolled or panned.

Also, in the scrolling or panned keyboard, the touched character can be enlarged and displayed on a specific area of the screen in advance, and when a touch end is detected, the character is input to the main screen. That is, if touch termination is not detected, the touched character is not input to the main screen. In order to facilitate a better understanding of the present invention, an actual application example will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 5B.

FIG. 4 illustrates screens displayed when characters are input on the touch screen according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the screen displayed according to the present invention includes a main screen 401 on which letters to be input at the upper part are displayed, a screen 403 on which a keyboard is displayed at the lower end, and a screen 402 ).

According to the present invention, the keyboard can be an input character group which can be scrolled or panned by the user. The input character group includes a group of lower case letters (e.g., a, b, c, etc.) It can be any one of upper case (eg A, B, C), special character group (eg *, / etc) and numeric group (eg 1, 2, 3, etc.).

In particular, each of the lower case letters, the upper case letters, and the alphabet letters of the alphabetical letters are used in a sequence familiar to the user (e.g., "A", "B", "C", "D", "E", "F" ..) so that the user can easily access.

The user selects the type of keyboard in the touch area of the screen 402. [ In this case, I selected the lower case alphabet. When the selection is made, some small strings (j, k, l, m, n, o, p) of a group of lower-case English characters are displayed in the touch area of the screen 403 as shown.

As will be described later, the user can scroll or pan in the direction of the arrow shown. A character desired to be input by the scrolling or panning can be displayed on the screen 403.

) 또는 특정 영역에 디스플레이하여도 무방하겠다.Further, as shown in the figure, when the user touches to input the character "m ", the character" m " This will allow the user to check the characters to be input in a readable manner, thereby reducing the errors in inputting characters. Here, the enlarged character "m" is displayed on a cursor ("

) Or may be displayed in a specific area.

FIG. 5A is a view for explaining how a keyboard is scrolled or panned in a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

4, the user scrolls or pans in the direction to which the character desired to be input (in this case, the right side) is to be input in a state in which the character "O" is pressed (non-touch state). Then, a keyboard scrolled or panned to the right is displayed on the screen 403 of the keyboard touch area.

Here, the keyboard is scrolled or panned to the left and right in the horizontal direction. However, it is also possible to form the keyboard touch area in the vertical direction and scrolling or panning up and down.

In addition, a specific touch area may be formed on the touch screen in which a button for scrolling or panning is displayed.

5B is a diagram for explaining input of characters using a keyboard displayed on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Currently, the string "ABCD" is entered. In this state, if the user touches the character of the keyboard, the touched character "G" is magnified displayed in a specific area of the screen (in this example, the touched position area) as shown in Fig. At this time, since the user has not finished the touch, the touched character is not inputted to the main screen.

If the user desires to input the character "K " instead of the character" G ", the user moves the keyboard to the position of the letter "K" K "is enlarged and displayed when the character is moved to the position of the character" K "to be input. When the user finishes the keyboard touch, the enlarged display character" K " .

While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. For example, it is possible to enlarge the touched character directly to the cursor position of the main screen 401 or to display the touched character at the original size, and to input the touched character when the touch end is detected. In this case, if the touch is not terminated and a touch of another character is detected, the other character is enlarged at the cursor position or displayed at the original size. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined by the scope of the appended claims as well as the appended claims.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a state in which a keyboard for inputting characters is displayed on a touch screen of a conventional portable terminal;

2 is a block diagram of a portable terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention;

3 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for inputting characters after scrolling or panning a keyboard displayed on a touch screen in a portable terminal according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

4 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed when a character is input in a touch screen according to the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a diagram for explaining how a keyboard is scrolled or panned in a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. And

FIG. 5B is a diagram for explaining input of characters using a keyboard displayed on a touch screen according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

Claims (10)

A method for inputting characters using a touch screen in a portable terminal, Dividing a screen into a first screen and a second screen and displaying a part of the keyboard on the first screen; Detecting a release of the touch on the keyboard, and recognizing a character corresponding to the release position of the touch on the displayed keyboard; Displaying the recognized character on the second screen; And Detecting that the touch is not released in a specific direction of the keyboard, and displaying another portion of the keyboard corresponding to the specific direction on the first screen. The method according to claim 1, And displaying the character corresponding to the position of the touch on the first screen in a part of the displayed keyboard when the touch is not released. 3. The method of claim 2, And enlarging the character corresponding to the position of the touch on the first screen in a part of the displayed keyboard when the touch is not released, And the character is enlarged and displayed at the position of the touch. The method according to claim 1, The above- A method for entering characters that includes any one of lowercase, uppercase, numeric, or special characters. delete In an electronic device, screen; And And a control unit for controlling display of the screen, Wherein, Wherein the first screen and the second screen are divided into a first screen and a second screen, a part of the keyboard is displayed on the first screen, Detecting a release of the touch on the keyboard, recognizing a character corresponding to the release position of the touch on a part of the displayed keyboard, Displaying the recognized character on the second screen, Detects that the touch is not released in a specific direction of the keyboard, and displays another portion of the keyboard corresponding to the specific direction on the first screen. The method according to claim 6, Wherein, And displays the character corresponding to the release position of the touch on the first screen in a part of the displayed keyboard when the touch is not released. 8. The method of claim 7, Wherein, And enlarges and displays the character at the position of the touch. The method according to claim 6, The above- An alphabetic character, an English uppercase letter, a number, and a special character. delete

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