KR20050079121A - One-hand keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a one-handed keyboard that can greatly reduce its size and easily operate with one hand while maintaining all the functions of the existing keyboard. A plurality of keys are installed on the case in a plurality of columns and rows. Each of the plurality of keys consists of a plurality of contact switches, and outputs a signal determined according to the connection of each contact of the plurality of contact switches. The multi-contact switch is composed of a 2-contact sliding switch, and the contacts of the 2-contact switch are located in the front-back direction of the case. Therefore, by assigning characters to each contact of the multi-contact switch one by one, the characters can be input in a one-touch manner by key movement in the contact direction, thereby reducing the error rate and improving the input speed.

Description

One-Hand Keyboard

The present invention relates to a keyboard. More particularly, the present invention relates to a one-handed keyboard that can be greatly reduced in size and easily operated by one hand while maintaining all functions of an existing keyboard.

In general, as a keyboard used as an input means such as a computer, as shown in FIG. 1, a user inputs letters or numbers in a method of typing (pressing) a button 2 on the keyboard 1 with both hands. As a disadvantage, there is a disadvantage in that both hands must be used, there is a limit to miniaturization, and even when the miniaturization is performed, the buttons are small and the intervals between the buttons are narrowed, so that the buttons are frequently pressed incorrectly. In addition, in order to input a double consonant such as "ㄲ" and "ㅆ", input is possible only by pressing a corresponding character input key while pressing a shift key, which causes a troublesome input operation.

In addition, in the case of the keypad 5 applied to a portable small information communication device such as a mobile phone or a portable personal digital assistant (PDA), as shown in FIG. In order to input "," it is configured to press the "a" button (6) more than two times, and when pressing the vowel, the buttons "ㅣ", "·", "ㅡ" must be pressed several times in the vowel combination order. Since the input operation is cumbersome, the input speed is lowered, and there was a problem of a high error rate.

The present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, the object of the present invention is to provide a switch having a plurality of contacts in each key and to assign all the characters to each contact one by one to move all the characters in the direction of the contact One-touch type input allows miniaturization, easy operation with one hand, and a one-handed keyboard to improve input speed.

The one-handed keyboard according to the present invention for achieving the above object includes a case and a plurality of keys installed in a plurality of rows and rows on the case, and the plurality of keys are each composed of a plurality of contact switches, and the plurality of contact switches It includes a plurality of contacts, and outputs a signal determined according to the connection of each contact of the plurality of contact switches.

Preferably, the multi-contact switch consists of a 2-contact sliding switch in which the contacts are located in the front-back direction of the case.

The multi-contact switch corresponds to a wiring board installed inside the case, a plurality of fixed contacts mounted on the wiring board and assigned to each key and arranged in pairs, and a pair of fixed contacts for each key, respectively. And a pair of movable contacts positioned therein, pressing means for selectively pressing the movable contact to the stationary contact side, and a separation means for separating the movable contact from the stationary contact.

The separation means has a predetermined elastic force and consists of a thin film sheet covering the wiring board. The thin film sheet has a hollow protrusion formed at a position corresponding to the fixed contact point, and a movable contact is attached to the inner surface of the protrusion. A fixed block coupled to the thin film sheet, a pair of elastic rods rotatably coupled to both sides of the fixed block, a sliding member slidably installed in the front and rear directions of the case on the fixed block, and both sides of the sliding member. And a pair of pressing protrusions for protruding to press one end of the elastic rod toward the protrusion side of the thin film sheet by the sliding motion of the sliding member, and an operation body coupled to the sliding member and exposed to the upper portion of the case.

The elastic rod includes a fixed end coupled to the fixed block, a first horizontal portion extending horizontally from the fixed end, an inclined portion extending inclined upward from the end of the first horizontal portion, and a second extending horizontally from the end of the inclined portion. And a pressing protrusion protruding from the end of the horizontal portion and the second horizontal portion toward the protrusion of the thin film sheet.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a plan view showing a one-handed keyboard according to the present invention.

As shown, the one-handed keyboard 10 according to the present invention includes a case 12 forming an appearance and a plurality of keys 14 mounted in a plurality of rows and rows on the case 12. 3, function keys F1 to F12 and numeric input keys 1 to 0 are disposed on the uppermost row and the second row below, respectively, for the consonants and vowels of Korean characters or the alphabet input of English. The keys, the escape key Esc, the control key Crtl, the alt key, the number lock key NumLk, the enter key, the space key Spc, and the like are arranged.

Shift, Enter, Space, Spc, and Del / Backspc, which are relatively frequently used, are arranged in the far right column and are larger in size than other keys. In addition, the escape key Esc, the control key Crtl, the alt key, the Hangul switching key (Korean / English) and the Hanja switching key (Chinese character) are arranged in the leftmost column.

The upper portion of the case 12 is provided with light emitting diodes 16 (LEDs) for displaying on / off states of the number lock NumLk, the cap lock, and the scroll lock ScrLk, respectively.

In FIG. 3, 47 keys 14 are arranged in an array of 6 columns and 8 rows. The number or arrangement of keys 14 may be variously modified as necessary. In addition, each key 14 is configured to perform the same function as each button of the computer keyboard currently used, a detailed description of the function of each key 14 will be omitted.

Each key 14 is composed of a switch having a plurality of contacts, preferably two contacts, and outputs a predetermined signal according to the connection of each contact. Similar to the method using a known abacus, such a switch can perform input operations mainly by the forward and backward operations of the thumb and the index finger, which will be described in detail later.

In the following, in the two switch contacts of each key 14, a contact located on the lower side with respect to FIG. 3 is defined as a contact located in the front, and a contact located on the upper side is defined as a contact located in the rear. In the user's finger motion, the forward direction of the finger is defined as the forward movement of the finger, and the direction toward the user's body is defined as the backward movement of the finger. Therefore, the contact located at the rear of each key 14 is connected by forward movement of the user's finger, and the contact located at the front is connected by backward movement of the finger.

4 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a switch of a one-handed keyboard according to the present invention, and FIGS. 5A and 5B are plan and side cross-sectional views of the switch, respectively.

As shown, a plurality of fixed contacts 22 are formed on the wiring board 20 installed inside the case 12, and two fixed contacts 22 are allocated to each key 14. do. At this time, the two fixed contacts 22 are spaced apart from each other in diagonal directions in the front and rear directions of the keyboard.

The thin film sheet 24 made of an elastic material is covered on the wiring board 20. The thin film sheet 24 is provided with hollow projections 26 at positions corresponding to the fixed contacts 22, respectively, and movable contacts 28 are attached to the inner surface of each of the protrusions 26 to face the fixed contacts 22. do.

The fixing block 30 is fixed between the two fixing contacts 22 assigned to each key 14 on the thin film sheet 24, and the first and second sides have predetermined elastic forces on both left and right sides of the fixing block 30. And second elastic rods 40 and 40 'are pivotally coupled.

The first and second elastic rods 40, 40 'are fixed lengths 42 and 42' integrally coupled to the side of the fixed block 30, respectively, and have a predetermined length horizontally from the fixed ends 42 and 42 '. The first horizontal portions 44 and 44 'extending, the inclined portions 46 and 46' extending inclined upward by a predetermined angle from the ends of the first horizontal portions 44 and 44 ', and the inclined portions 46 and 46; The second horizontal portion 48, 48 'extending a predetermined length horizontally from the end of') and the projection 26 of the thin film sheet 24 directly on the bottom surface of the free end of the second horizontal portion 48, 48 '. And pushers 49 and 49 'protruding into the chamber.

The first elastic rod 40 extends forward from the fixed end 42 to the front of the keyboard 10 by two fixed contacts 22 which are spaced diagonally from each other in the front and rear directions on the wiring board 20. On the other hand, the second elastic rod 40 ′ extends from the fixed end 42 ′ to the rear of the keyboard 10.

An upper side of the fixed block 30 is provided with a sliding member 50 supported by the fixed block 30 and slidable in the front and rear directions. The sliding member 50 surrounds a part of the upper surface and both sides of the fixed block 30, and both sides of the sliding member 50 contact the upper surfaces of the first and second elastic rods 40 and 40 ', respectively. Two pressurizing protrusions 52 and 52 'are formed. On the upper surface of the sliding member 50, a manipulator 54 is formed to protrude so that a user can operate the sliding member 50 with a finger, and the manipulator 54 has a slot 13 formed in the case 12. Exposed upwards.

Preferably, the operating body 54 is formed similar to the shape of the existing abacus eggs, which means that the input method of the one-handed keyboard 10 according to the present invention is mainly the same as the abacus use method. Since it is made by the movement, it is to give the convenience of accurate and quick operation of the abacus.

Hereinafter, the operation and effect of the switch of the one-hand keyboard according to the present invention configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5A to 6B.

As shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B, in a non-operating state in which no external force is applied to the operating body 54 of the key 14, the operating body 54 is located at the center of the slot 13 of the case 12. The first and second pressing protrusions 52 and 52 'protruding from the sliding member 50 may be formed by the first horizontal portions 44 and 44' of the first and second elastic rods 40 and 40 ', respectively. In contact with the boundary of the inclined portions 46 and 46 '.

In this non-operational state, for example, if the user moves the manipulator 54 to the front of the keyboard 10 (lower side of FIG. 5A, right side of FIG. 5B) with a finger, as shown in FIGS. 6A and 6B. , The sliding member 50 is supported between the fixed block 30 and the case 12, the sliding movement to the end of the slot 13 of the case 12, the first pressing projection 52 of the sliding member 50 In contact with the inclined portion 46 of the first elastic rod 40 is to advance to the upper end of the inclined portion 46 to press the first elastic rod 40 downward. At this time, the second pressing protrusion 52 ′ positioned opposite to the sliding member 50 moves along the upper surface of the first horizontal portion 44 ′ of the second elastic rod 40 ′ positioned below the first pressing protrusion 52 ′. 2 The elastic rod 40 'is not pressurized.

The first elastic rod 40 pressurized by the first pressing protrusion 52 pivots clockwise (based on FIG. 6B) around the fixed end portion 42 coupled to the side of the fixed block 30, and the second elastic rod 40 is rotated. The pressing protrusion 49 coupled to the bottom of the free end of the horizontal portion 48 moves downward to press the protrusion 26 of the thin film sheet 24. As a result, the movable contact 28 attached to the inner surface of the protruding portion 26 comes into contact with the fixed contact 22 on the wiring board 20, thereby outputting a corresponding signal.

Subsequently, when the external force applied by the user is removed, the protrusion 26 of the thin film sheet 24 pressed is moved upward by the elastic force of its own, and at the same time, since the first elastic rod 40 also has its own elastic force, The first elastic rod 40 is rotated counterclockwise (reference to FIG. 6B) about the fixed end portion 42 to return to its original position. As a result, the sliding member 50 is also returned to its original position by the first pressing protrusion 52 moving along the inclined portion 46 of the first elastic rod 40. At this time, the second pressing protrusion 52 'located on the opposite side of the sliding member 50 returns to the interface between the first horizontal portion 44' and the inclined portion 46 'of the second elastic rod 40'. Further, further movement is suppressed by the upwardly inclined inclined portion 46 '(see FIG. 5A), so that the sliding member 50 passes through the center position of the case slot 13 toward the fixed contact located at the rear. Prevent it.

In the above, the switch of the one-hand keyboard according to the present invention has been described as a front and rear two contact sliding switch.

As described above, the operation of the one-handed keyboard of the present invention is configured to be performed by the forward and backward movement of the finger, among which the main operation is performed by the forward movement of the thumb and the backward movement of the index finger, respectively. How to arrange characters in (14) is quite important.

Referring again to FIG. 3, in the case of Hangul consonant and vowel arrangement, it is preferable to arrange the consonant input keys on the left side rather than the vowel input keys. This is arranged in consideration of the majority of the right-handed user, because when entering Hangul, the consonant is input before the vowel, and it is convenient to use the thumb first because of the body structure.

Specifically, basic consonants such as' ㄱ ',' ㄴ ',' ㄷ ',' ㄹ ',' ㅁ ',' ㅂ ',' ㅅ ',' ㅇ, 'ㅈ', 'ㅎ' are frequently used. According to the structure of the finger of the person is easy to use by the forward movement of the thumb to be input to the contact located on the rear of each key 14, while being assigned to the relatively less frequent use 'ㅆ', ' Horns such as ㄲ, ㄸ, ㅉ, ㅃ, etc., and beeps such as ㅋ, ㅌ, ㅍ, ㅊ, etc. It is assigned and arranged at a contact located in front of the key 14.

Also, basic consonants such as 'ㄱ' and 'ㄲ', 'ㄷ' and 'ㄸ', 'ㅂ' and 'ㅃ', 'ㅅ' and 'ㅆ', 'ㅈ' and 'ㅉ' First, the pairs are arranged in pairs with one key, and each pair of basic consonants and diaphragms such as 'ㄴ' and 'ㅌ', 'ㄹ' and 'ㅍ', 'ㅁ' and 'ㅋ' By arranging at the key of, the user can more easily recognize the keyboard layout.

Therefore, in a conventional keyboard or keypad, each of the horns such as "ㄲ" and the "bee" such as "ㅋ", which must be pressed together with the shift key or the key must be pressed two or more times, can also be input. By arranging to be assigned to the switch contacts, all characters can be input in one-touch manner, and the character input speed becomes considerably high.

In the method of arranging the vowels arranged on the right side rather than the consonants, in consideration of the easy movement of the index finger by the human body structure, the frequently used 'ㅏ', 'ㅓ', 'ㅗ', 'TT', 'ㅣ' Short vowels such as, 'ㅔ', 'ㅐ', etc. are allocated to the contacts located in front of each key 14, while relatively less frequently used 'ㅑ', 'ㅕ', 'ㅛ', 'ㅠ' , '-', 'ㅖ', 'ㅒ' and the like are assigned to the contacts located behind each key 14 is arranged.

'ㅏ' and 'ㅑ', 'ㅓ' and 'ㅕ', 'ㅗ' and 'ㅛ', 'TT' and 'ㅠ', 'ㅣ' and 'ㅡ', 'ㅔ' and 'ㅖ', 'ㅐ Correlated short vowels and double vowels, such as' and 'ㅒ', are grouped together and placed on a single key.

Therefore, in the conventional keyboard, vowels such as "ㅖ" and "ㅒ", which were input only when the shift keys were pressed together, are also assigned to one switch contact, so that all characters can be input in one-touch manner. Character input speed becomes considerably high.

Next, when the alphabetical arrangement method of the English language, the Korean letters and the English letters are arranged in pairs on each key 14 in the same manner as the conventional computer keyboard arrangement method.

That is, the Korean letter “” and the English letter “T” are arranged on one key, and the Korean letter “ㅏ” and the English letter “K” are arranged on one key. In Korean and English, input is switched by the operation of the Han-Young switch key (Han / English).

Special symbol inputs such as "@" and "%" operate the corresponding key of the special symbol while the shift key is operated as in the prior art. As described above, since the shift key is located in the rightmost column of the keyboard, the shift key is operated by the thumb and the index finger while the shift key is operated by the ring finger or the middle finger.

In addition to the keys for inputting Korean or English, the function keys (F1 ~ F12) and numeric input keys (1 ~ 0) are also paired with 'F1', 'F7', '1' and '6', respectively. It is configured in such a way that it is arranged in.

Letters, numbers, special symbols, and the like are partitioned and printed on the upper surface of the operating body 54 or the sliding member 50 so as to be identified by the user.

In addition to the character input keys, the escape key (Esc), control key (Crtl), alt key (Alt), Korean-English toggle key (Korean / English), enter key (Shift) The space key (Spc) is configured to output a unique signal of the key even if one of the two front and rear switch contacts is connected, thereby improving the input speed. In addition, since the control key (Crtl) and the alt key (Alt), which are always used together with the character input key, are located in the leftmost column, the user detects the control key (Crtl) or the alt key (Alt) with the thumb. It is easy to input because the character input key is operated by stopping or stopping.

If you need to enter a large number of numbers at the time or need to calculate the number, the character input key has a structure that can input and calculate the number in conjunction with the number lock key (NumLK). That is, assign each character input key number from '1' to '0', decimal point '.' And '/', '*', '-' and '+' one by one. In order to be recognized, a mark is placed on each corresponding key or the case 12 adjacent to the corresponding key. Numerical input and calculation functions by interlocking with the NumLK are already known in the art, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

Similarly, the caps lock key (CapLK) can be activated to selectively enter upper and lower case letters of English.

The one-handed keyboard 10 according to the present invention can be applied as an input means of various electronic devices, such as a PDA, a notebook, an electronic notebook, a mobile phone, and the above-described arrangement method of the keys 14 is merely illustrative. It is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the gist of the present invention as claimed in the claims.

As described in detail above, the one-handed keyboard according to the present invention can provide convenience for use and sufficient space utilization in all environments to which a keyboard such as a PDA is applied by greatly miniaturizing its size while maintaining all the functions of the existing keyboard. It works.

In addition, by providing a switch having a plurality of contacts in each key, by assigning a letter to each contact one by one by the key movement in the direction of the contact to reduce the error rate and improve the input speed It can be effected.

Furthermore, the switch structure of each key is applied by the front and rear two-contact sliding method, and the external shape of the key is similar to the existing abacus egg, so that the input is mainly made by the front and back motion of the thumb and index finger in the same way as the abacus use method. By doing so, there is an advantage that the convenience of accurate and quick operation of the main plate.

1 is a plan view showing a typical computer keyboard,

2 is a plan view showing a keypad for a conventional mobile phone,

3 is a plan view showing a one-handed keyboard according to the present invention;

4 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a switch of a one-handed keyboard according to the present invention;

5a is a plan view showing a switch of a one-handed keyboard according to the present invention;

Figure 5b is a side cross-sectional view showing a switch of the one-handed keyboard according to the present invention,

Figure 6a is a plan view showing the operating state of the switch of the one-hand keyboard according to the present invention,

Figure 6b is a side cross-sectional view showing the operating state of the switch of the one-hand keyboard according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: one-handed keyboard 14: keys

20: wiring board 22: fixed contact

24: thin film sheet 26: protrusion

28: movable contact 30: fixed block

40,40 ': Elastic rod 42,42': Fixed end

44,44 ': first horizontal portion 46,46': inclined portion

48,48 ': 2nd horizontal part 49,49': Pushing protrusion

50: sliding member 52, 52 ': pressing projection

54: manipulator

Claims (20)

A case; It includes a plurality of keys installed in a plurality of columns and rows on the case, Each of the plurality of keys comprises a plurality of contact switches, wherein the plurality of contact switches include a plurality of contacts, and output a signal determined according to the connection of each contact of the plurality of contact switches. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 1, wherein the multi-contact switch is a 2-contact switch. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 2, wherein the contacts of the two-contact switch are positioned in the front-rear direction of the case. The one-handed keyboard according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the multi-contact switch is a sliding switch. 5. The multi-contact switch according to claim 4, wherein the multi-contact switch includes a wiring board installed inside the case, a plurality of fixed contacts mounted on the wiring board and assigned to each key by a pair, and one for each key. A pair of movable contacts respectively correspondingly positioned on the pair of fixed contacts, pressurizing means for selectively pressing the movable contact toward the fixed contact side, and a separation means for separating the movable contact from the fixed contact point; One-handed keyboard characterized by. The method of claim 5, wherein the separation means is made of a thin film sheet having a predetermined elastic force and covering the wiring board, The thin film sheet has a hollow protrusion formed at a position corresponding to the fixed contact point, and the movable contact is attached to an inner surface of the protrusion. The pressing means includes a fixed block coupled to the thin film sheet, a pair of elastic rods rotatably coupled to both sides of the fixed block, and sliding to be slidably installed in the front and rear directions of the case on the fixed block. A pair of pressing protrusions protruding from both sides of the member and the sliding member and for pressing one end of the elastic rod toward the protrusion of the thin film sheet by sliding of the sliding member; A one-handed keyboard comprising an operation body exposed to the upper side. According to claim 6, The elastic rod is a fixed end coupled to the fixed block, a first horizontal portion extending horizontally formed from the fixed end, the inclined portion extending inclined upward from the end of the first horizontal portion, And a second horizontal portion extending horizontally from an end portion of the inclined portion, and a push protrusion protruding from the end portion of the second horizontal portion toward the protrusion of the thin film sheet. The keyboard of claim 3, wherein the one-handed keyboard includes a first key group for outputting different signals according to the connection of each contact point of the multi-contact switch, and a second key group for outputting the same signal regardless of which contact point is connected. One-handed keyboard. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 8, wherein the first key group includes a plurality of character input keys. 10. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 9, wherein the character input keys corresponding to the consonants of the Korean alphabet among the plurality of character input keys are arranged in a left column than the character input keys corresponding to the vowels of the Korean alphabet. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 10, wherein the basic consonants and the horns, the basic consonants, and the vowels of the Hangul are paired and arranged together on one letter input key. According to claim 11, Hangul consonants a and ㄲ, b and ㅌ, c and ㄸ, d and ㅍ, ㅁ and ㅋ, ㅂ and ㅃ, ㅅ and ㅆ, ㅇ and, and 각각 each input a single character A one-handed keyboard, characterized in that it is arranged together in a key. The consonant a, b, c, r, ㅁ, ㅂ, ㅅ, ㅇ, ㅎ and ㅎ are input by connection of a contact located at the rear of each character input key, Consonants, ㅌ, ㄸ, ,, ㅃ, ㅃ, ㅆ, 및 and ㅉ are one-handed keyboard characterized in that the input by the connection of the contact located in front of each character input key. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 10, wherein the short vowels and the double vowels of the Hangul pair are paired and arranged together on one letter input key. The hand of claim 14, wherein the vowels ㅏ and ㅑ, ㅓ and ㅕ, ㅗ and ㅛ, TT and ㅠ, ㅣ and ㅡ, ㅔ and ㅖ, ㅖ and 각각 are each arranged together on a single character input key. keyboard. 16. The vowels ㅏ, ㅓ, ㅜ, ㅔ, ㅔ, ㅔ and 입력 are input by connection of a contact located forward from each character input key, The vowels ㅑ, ㅕ, ㅛ, ㅠ, ㅡ, ㅖ and ㅒ are input by the connection of the contact located at the rear from each character input key. 10. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 9, wherein the first key group further comprises numeric input keys and function keys (F1 to F12). The one-handed keyboard according to claim 8, wherein the second key group includes an enter key, a space key, and a shift key. 19. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 18, wherein the second key group further comprises a control key and an alt key. 19. The one-handed keyboard according to claim 18, wherein the second key group further comprises an escape key and a Korean-English switching key.