KR19990034365A - PC's foothold key input method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a key input processing technology that operates by pressing a foot in a key input system of an IBM compatible personal computer, and includes a plurality of foot buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR. In order to use the functions of the scaffolding buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR in various forms by using the function button BF for setting these functions, the scaffolding button BU A first step of examining whether a key input is generated by operations of (BD), (BL), and (BR), and in parallel, whether a key input is generated by the main keyboard and generating a corresponding scan code; Investigate whether the key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR and the key input by the main keyboard are generated at the same time to generate the combined key output or the key output by the main keyboard only. A second process of generating a; Investigate whether a key input by the function button BF occurs and generate only a key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, or BR, or the scaffold buttons BU, BD. The input key is processed through the third process of setting the use mode of (BL) and (BR).

Description

PC's foothold key input method and device

The present invention relates to a key input processing technology that operates by pressing a foot in a key input system of an IBM-compatible personal computer. In particular, the main keyboard includes a plurality of buttons operated by pressing a foot separately from the existing main keyboard device. A method and apparatus for inputting a footrest key of a PC, which is adapted to be used as a substitute for a specific key or as a mouse or a joystick substitute.

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of a computer keyboard device according to the prior art, and as shown therein, the footrest buttons B1 and B2 operated by the pressing operation of the foot are provided, and the backspace keys on the main keyboard 11 ( It is configured to input backspace key and shift key by circuit connection in parallel with back space) and shift key. The operation of this is as follows.

Scaffold buttons B11 and B12 are elastically supported around the rotational axis of the scaffold, respectively, so that the electronic switch installed at the bottom of the scaffold is normally kept open and the front lower part of the scaffold when the user tilts the foot forward. The electronic switches installed on each side are pressed and turned on.

Each footrest button B11, B12 operating as described above is connected in parallel with the backspace and shift buttons on the main keyboard 11 so that the user By using the footstep buttons B11 and B12 instead of the back space and shift buttons, keys can be entered more conveniently and quickly.

On the other hand, Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing another example of a computer keyboard device according to the prior art will be described as follows.

The operation principle of the foothold buttons B21 and B22 operated by the foot pressing operation is the same as the foothold buttons B11 and B12 of FIG.

The output signals of the scaffolding buttons B21 and B22 are transmitted to the input signal processing module 21 and are orally calculated so that the operation result is supplied to the interrupt terminal INT of the central processing unit 22, on the other hand. The output signals of the scaffolding buttons B21 and B22 are decoded and supplied to the central processing unit 22 via the data bus DB.

However, in the keyboard system such as the former, only two key inputs are possible, and the functions that can be used are extremely limited, and in the latter keyboard system, the number of combinations that can be input is limited to four, There was a limited use defect. Moreover, implementing these devices had a flaw that required disassembling the keyboard or motherboard and then connecting another wire or requiring separate interface hardware.

Therefore, the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide a plurality of buttons and one function button operated by the pressing of the foot separately from the existing main keyboard device, using them as a plurality of specific keys on the main keyboard, or disabled or special use The present invention provides a method and apparatus for inputting a footrest key of a PC which can be used.

1 is a schematic diagram of a computer keyboard device according to the prior art;

Figure 2 is a block diagram showing another example of a computer keyboard device according to the prior art.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of the footrest button applied to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a foothold key input device of the PC according to the present invention.

5 is a signal flow diagram of the foothold key input method of the PC according to the present invention.

*** Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings ***

41: shift register 42: comfort

43: PC 43A: Monitor

BU, BD, BL, BR: Scaffold button BF: Function button

The footrest key input method of PC for achieving the object of the present invention is a plurality of footstep buttons BU, (BD), (BL), (BR) and a function button for setting the functions of these operations by pressing the foot (BF), a first step (S1-S6) for investigating whether a key input is generated by these operations, and in parallel, whether a key input is generated by the main keyboard and generating a corresponding scan code; Investigate whether the key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR and the key input by the main keyboard are generated at the same time to generate the combined key output or the key output by the main keyboard only. A second process of generating (S7-S10); Investigate whether a key input by the function button BF is generated and generate only a key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, or BR or the scaffold buttons BU, BD. The third step (S11-S13) of setting the use mode of (BL) and (BR) is performed.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a footrest key device according to the present invention, Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the foothold key input device of the PC according to the present invention, as shown therein, a plurality of footrest buttons that operate by pressing the foot (BL), (BR), (BU), (BD) and function buttons BF for setting their functions; Shift register 41 for transferring data D0-D4 generated by the pressing operation of the scaffold buttons BL, BR, BU, BD and the function button BF to the PC 43 side. ) And comfort 42; After setting the mouse mode, the function key mode, the character mode, etc. according to the combination of the function button BF and the scaffold buttons BL, BR, BU, BD, the scaffold button BL, When the key input by (BR), (BU), (BD) occurs, it is composed of PC 43 which recognizes and processes the key as described above, and will be described with reference to FIG. Is as follows.

The operation principle of the foothold buttons BU, BD, BL, BR, and the function button BF applied to the present invention is the same as the operation principle of the foothold buttons proposed in the prior art. That is, the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, BR, and the function button BF are elastically supported about the rotational axis of the scaffold, respectively, so that an electronic switch installed at the bottom of the scaffold is normally opened. The state is maintained, and when the user tilts the foot forward, the electronic switches respectively installed at the front lower end of the footrest are pressed and turned on.

First, as the use of the foothold buttons (BU), (BD), (BL), (BR) and the function button (BF) according to the present invention, a mouse and keyboard for the handicapped, various games (e.g., automobile, motorcycle, airplane simulation) Games, etc.), speed control of mouse movement, auxiliary functions such as double-click and triple-click of mouse, substitution of Ctrl, Shift, alt, hot key (copy & paste function, etc.), substitution key of Korean / English / Chinese , Ctrl_tap, alt-tap keys, task switch, window switch function, user-defined information change of existing input devices.

In addition, the basic usage of the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR and the function buttons BF will be described below.

In addition to the above-described function button BF, if any step key is pressed among the general-purpose buttons, namely, the step buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR, the corresponding data D0-D4 are shift registers 41, The signal line SL and the comfort 42 are sequentially transmitted to the PC 43. At this time, the PC 43 sets the input mode according to the data input at that time. Of course, you can use the same method as double-click to further expand the selectable modes.

In this way, when the modes of the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR are set, the user can use the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR. Information can be entered by the device alone or in combination with the primary keyboard or mouse. To change the preset mode, press the desired footing button together with the function button BF as described above.

For example, when the function button BF and the foothold button BU are pressed together, the character input mode is set, and in this character input mode, characters can be input like the main keyboard according to a predetermined rule (morse code, etc.).

Pressing the function button BF and the scaffolding button BL together sets the mouse mode. In this mouse mode, the scaffolding button BR functions as the right arrow key (→), and the scaffolding button BU is the up arrow key (↑). The footrest button BL serves as the left direction key ←, and the foothold button BD serves as the downward direction key ↓.

Pressing the function button (BF) and the scaffold button (BR) together sets the function key mode. In this function key mode, the scaffold button (BR) acts as a task switch key, and the scaffold button (BD) acts as a window switch key. do.

On the other hand, the use example of the footrest button (BU), (BD), (BL), (BR) applied to the present invention will be described.

The key input device using the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR has a predetermined code (e.g., Morse) in place of the main keyboard as described above for the handicapped person who is inconvenient to use the hand. Characters, numbers, etc. can be entered. In addition, the main keyboard through each of the four universal keys, that is, the key input and double-click input method by the step buttons BU, BD, BL, BR, simultaneous input with other switches, etc. Can be substituted for In this case, the key recognition method must be set in advance, and when the device is commercialized, it can be made as a standard for keyboard input using four buttons (keys).

In addition, as described above, the mode can be switched to use the foot buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR as four direction keys.

In addition, by using the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR, input information of an existing input device, that is, a switching key such as Ctrl, Shift, alt, hot key, Korean / English / Chinese, You can change the input information such as the task switch key.

When using only the existing keyboard, the user presses the Ctrl-tap key to switch between applications. For applications that support multiple windows, the user presses the alt-tap key to switch between child windows or is familiar with hotkeys. Most users who do not have their hands off the keyboard and move the mouse switch between tasks on the taskbar or menu. However, when using the scaffolding buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR according to the present invention, it is possible to switch quickly and simply by using one button. For example, switching between applications can be achieved using the footrest button BU, and switching between child windows can be achieved.

In the case of writing a document, in the case of English, a desired alphabetic key is pressed together with a shift key to input an uppercase letter. In the case of a Korean language, a shift key is pressed together with a character key to input a consonant. Typing shift keys, control keys, etc. with other keys increases the probability of typos, and slows down the typing speed. In this case, it will be very convenient to use one of the footrest buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR according to the present invention as a shift key. In other words, the shift key required for the uppercase letter is entered with the foot.

When writing a document that frequently changes Korean and English, typos frequently occur when the Korean / English conversion key is pressed, thereby slowing down the typing speed. However, the use of one of the footrest buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR (eg, BR) solves the problem.

All of the above functions can be customized to allow the user to enter in any way desired. In addition, information that can be input by a main keyboard or a mouse can be input using the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR. For example, the scaffold button BL is doubled. You can click F10 to enter it.

The scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR replace functions such as a double click or a triple click of the mouse. When the triple click captures a paragraph in an MS word, use. In addition, when fine movement is required, the precision, speed, and the like of the mouse movement may be changed by using the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR.

In various driving games (cars, airplanes, etc.), simulation games, and the like, the foothold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR can exhibit brake and accelerator functions. In addition, the foothold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR can be used together with the joystick to enjoy various games. For example, a martial art game is used as an input tool for foot motion.

On the other hand, a description of the step key input method of the PC according to the present invention with reference to the signal flow diagram of FIG.

When the corresponding key is input by pressing the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR, the interrupt handler generates a scan code (S1-S3).

In parallel, a scan code is generated in the interrupt handler when a key is input by scanning whether an existing key is input from an input device, that is, a main keyboard or a mouse (S4-S6).

Investigate whether the key input by the press of the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR and the key input by the main keyboard or the mouse are generated at the same time. Generate a combined key output (S7, S8).

However, if it is determined that the above investigation does not occur at the same time, it is checked whether there is only a key input of the existing device, that is, the main keyboard or the mouse, and when the condition is established, the key output of the main keyboard or the mouse is generated (S9, S10). ).

As a result of the above investigation, if only the key input of the main keyboard or the mouse is found to be absent, it is determined whether the function keys for the foothold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR are generated. If this is established, the usage modes of the RM scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR are set (S11, S12).

However, if it is determined that the function keys for the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR have not been input, the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL are determined. Only key output of (BR) is generated (S13).

As described in detail above, the present invention includes a plurality of buttons and one function button operated by pressing of the foot separately from the existing main keyboard device, and use them as a plurality of specific keys on the main keyboard or substitute a mouse or a joystick. By making it possible to use it, there is an effect that can provide a more improved key input function to the normal person, there is an effect that allows the handicapped person who can not use the hand to input various keys without any difficulty.

Claims (2)

A plurality of scaffolding buttons BU, BD, BL, BR, and a function button BF for setting their functions are provided so that the key input by these operations is performed. A first step of generating a corresponding scan code by examining whether a key input by the main keyboard occurs in parallel with the same; Investigate whether the key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, and BR and the key input by the main keyboard are generated at the same time to generate the combined key output or the key output by the main keyboard only. A second process of generating a; Investigate whether a key input by the function button BF occurs and generate only a key input by the scaffold buttons BU, BD, BL, or BR, or the scaffold buttons BU, BD. And (BL) and (BR) the step of setting the use mode of the PC. A plurality of scaffolding buttons BL, BR, BU, BD, which operate by pressing the foot, and a function button BF for setting their functions; Shift register 41 for transferring data D0-D4 generated by the pressing operation of the scaffold buttons BL, BR, BU, BD and the function button BF to the PC 43 side. ) And comfort 42; After setting the mouse mode, function key mode, character mode, etc. according to the combination of the function button BF and the scaffold buttons BL, BR, BU, BD, the scaffold button BL, A foothold key input device of a PC comprising a PC 43 for recognizing and processing as a key when a key input by (BR), (BU), or (BD) occurs.