KR20080024381A - Keyboard including mouse function and key input method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A keyboard with a mouse function and a key input method using the same are provided to input a key button signal and a mouse signal easily without a mouse by enabling a predetermined area of a touch screen type keyboard to function as the mouse depending on user selection. A display unit(320) such as an LCD displays an image corresponding to a current input mode. A touch screen(340) is plated on the display unit and performs input by recognizing pressure applied from the outside. A switch(380) sets the input mode to a key button mode or a mouse button mode. A key arrangement storing part(350) stores a key image corresponding to the key button mode. A coordinate table(360) stores each coordinate value for displaying the key image in the touch screen and a touch pad coordinate value. A controller(300) enables the predetermined area of the display unit to function as a mouse when the mouse mode is selected. A touch pad and a touch pad button is displayed on the predetermined area of the display unit when the mouse mode is selected.

Description

Keyboard with mouse function and key input method using same {KEYBOARD INCLUDING MOUSE FUNCTION AND KEY INPUT METHOD USING THE SAME}

1 is a view showing a computer system using a conventional keyboard.

2 is a diagram illustrating a computer system using a keyboard according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view illustrating a keyboard of a touch screen type according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a block diagram schematically illustrating components of the keyboard of FIG. 3.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a key input method of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6A and 6B are plan views illustrating a touch screen image of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a plan view illustrating a touch screen image when an input mode of the keyboard is a keyboard mode. When the input mode of the keyboard is the mouse mode, a plan view showing a touch screen image.

The present invention relates to a touch screen type keyboard, and more particularly, to a keyboard having a mouse function and a key input method using the same.

1 is a view showing a computer system using a conventional keyboard.

The conventional computer system 100 includes a main body 110, a monitor 120, a keyboard 130, and a mouse 140.

The main body 110 is a part that controls the overall operation of the computer system 100. The main body 110 recognizes and processes inputs of the keyboard 130 and the mouse 140, and then displays the result on the monitor 120. to be.

The keyboard 130 is an input device of the computer system 100 and includes letters, numbers, special characters, and function keys. The number of keys on the keyboard 130 tends to increase according to the user's function expansion request, and the number of keys of the keyboard generally used is about 100.

The function keys include Control, Alt, Shift, Enter, and Tab, which can be used to change the original meaning of a key or to control program operation. It is used to move the text or the cursor on the monitor 120.

Meanwhile, the mouse 140 is an input device of the computer system 100 together with the keyboard 130, and includes a case, a ball, and a cable, and a button and a wheel are attached to an upper surface of the case. The ball indicates a cursor position on the screen as a device that sends a signal to the main body, and the cable is a line connecting the main body 110. The button is a device that selects or executes a command. One to three buttons are provided. Usually, there is a wheel that quickly moves the screen up and down between buttons. In order to use the mouse 140, a mouse driver for receiving and processing the movement of the mouse 140 and a mouse pad allowing the ball to be freely moved are required.

As described above, the conventional computer system 100 has a space utilization rate because the main body 110, the monitor 120, the keyboard 130, the mouse 140, and the wires connecting them to each other are arranged in a predetermined space. Decrease dramatically.

In addition, in order to use the computer system 100, since both the keyboard 130 and the mouse 140 must be provided, there is a problem in that the cost burden of the user increases.

An object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard with a mouse function and a key input method using the same so that a specific area of the keyboard can function as a mouse so that key button signals and mouse signals can be easily input without a separate mouse. To provide.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard and a key input method using the same to perform a key button input and a mouse signal input to a single device by operating a predetermined area on the touch screen with a mouse according to the user's selection. .

In order to achieve the above object, the keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a display unit for displaying an image corresponding to the running input mode; A touch screen positioned above the display unit and configured to recognize an external pressure; A switch for selecting the input mode as a key button mode or a mouse mode; And a controller configured to control a specific region of the display unit to operate as a mouse when the switch is selected as a mouse mode.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a key input method of a keyboard may include determining whether an input mode of a keyboard is selected as a mouse mode; If the mouse mode is selected, extracting an image of a touch pad and a touch pad button corresponding to the mouse mode and coordinate values thereof; Displaying the touch pad and touch pad button images on a touch screen corresponding to a specific area of the keyboard; And transmitting a pointing signal input from the touch screen to an external device.

The keyboard with a mouse function of the present invention and a key input method using the same have the advantage that a particular area of the keyboard can function as a mouse so that key button signals and mouse signals can be easily inputted without a mouse. have.

Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a keyboard and a key input method using the same according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a view showing a computer system using a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing a keyboard of the touch screen type according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 4 is a view 3 is a block diagram schematically showing the components of the keyboard of FIG.

2, the computer system 200 of the present invention includes a main body 210, a monitor 220, and a touch screen type keyboard 230.

The main body 210 is a part for controlling the overall operation of the computer system 200. In particular, the main body 210 receives a key button signal and a mouse signal input through the keyboard 230, and according to the received signal, Control the operation.

The monitor 220 is a device on which a program running on the main body 210 is displayed. In the present invention, key button signals input through the keyboard 230 are displayed, and when the keyboard 230 operates as a mouse, the cursor is displayed at a corresponding position according to the pointing data of the mouse.

The keyboard 230 is a touch screen type keyboard and is configured such that a specific area of the keyboard 230 may operate as a mouse.

More specifically, referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the keyboard 230 includes the controller 300, the LCD driver 310, the display 320, the touch screen device 330, the touch screen 340, and the key arrangement. The storage unit 350, the coordinate table unit 360, a random access memory (RAM) 370, a switch 380, an interface unit 390, and a connector 400 are included.

The display unit 320 is a portion for displaying a key arrangement corresponding to key images of a plurality of key buttons. For example, an array of a plurality of text keys, numeric keys, and function keys corresponding to the current input mode is displayed.

In addition, a specific area of the display unit 320, for example, a portion corresponding to the numeric key area A as shown in FIG. 3, may be a touch pad and a touch pad button for a mouse, that is, a mouse when the input mode is a mouse mode. The image is set to be displayed.

On the other hand, the display unit 320 is implemented as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), it is not limited to implement other display elements.

The touch screen 340 is positioned above the display 320 to perform key button input and mouse signal input. The touch screen 340 is a part where a user inputs actual data, and may be manufactured by at least one or more of a contact capacitance method, a resistive film method, a surface ultrasonic conduction method, a tension measurement method, and an infrared light method.

Specifically, the contact capacitive method is manufactured by coating a transparent special conductive metal (TAO: Tin Antimony Oxide) material on both sides of the glass constituting the touch screen sensor, and uses the human body's capacitance. That is, when the user touches the coated touch screen, a certain amount of current flowing on the surface of the touch screen is absorbed into the user's body, and the touch screen recognizes the coordinates of the portion where the amount of current is changed.

The resistive film method is manufactured by coating a resistive component on a surface of a touch screen and covering a special film on the resistive component. In other words, a resistive coating is applied to the inside of the special film, and an insulating rod is placed at regular intervals so that the resistive component and the touch screen do not come into contact with each other. This is to recognize the coordinates of the part in contact with.

The surface ultrasonic conduction method is a method in which a transducer installed on the opposite side receives surface ultrasonic waves when a transducer attached to a touch screen emits surface ultrasonic waves. Since the transmitted surface ultrasonic waves are constant, when pressure is applied to a specific portion of the touch screen, the surface ultrasonic waves of the applied portion are weakened to recognize the coordinates of the contacted portions.

The tension measuring method is a method of detecting the coordinates of the contact point according to the degree of force applied to the screen of the touch screen by attaching a sensor that can measure the tension on the four corners of the touch screen.

The infrared light method is a method of recognizing the coordinates of the touched part by blocking the infrared scanning light flowing on the touch screen surface.

Meanwhile, the controller 300 reads the key arrangement information from the key arrangement storage 350 according to the input mode selected by the user and displays the corresponding key image or mouse image on the display 320. In addition, according to the key image or the mouse image displayed on the display unit 320 receives a variety of data and key input value input through the touch screen 340, and transmits the data received through the connector 400 to the main body 210 do.

The LCD driver 310 drives the display 320 according to the control signal of the controller 300.

The touch screen device 330 recognizes an input signal transmitted from the touch screen 340, calculates a position coordinate of a point in contact with the touch screen 340, and transmits a corresponding data signal to the controller 300.

The key arrangement storage unit 350 stores an image corresponding to each key button displayed on the display unit 320.

The coordinate table 360 stores a coordinate value on the display 320 of the image stored in the key array storage 350. Therefore, the controller 300 outputs a key image and a mouse image to a specific position on the display unit 320 using the coordinate values stored in the coordinate table unit 360. In addition, the controller 300 recognizes a key button signal or a mouse signal corresponding to the data transmitted from the touch screen device 330 by using the coordinate values stored in the coordinate table 360.

The RAM 370 temporarily stores data input from the touch screen 340 or data generated during the operation of the controller 300.

The switch 380 is formed at one end of the keyboard 230 to select an input mode of the keyboard 230. That is, the keyboard 230 selects whether the keyboard 230 operates in the key button mode or whether the specific region of the keyboard 230 operates in the mouse mode.

According to the input mode selected by the switch 380, the controller 300 controls each device to control a specific area of the keyboard 230 to operate in a key button mode or a mouse mode.

The interface unit 390 converts data input from the touch screen 340 into a data format for transmitting to the main body 210.

The connector 400 is a connection terminal for connecting the keyboard 230 to the main body 210, and an RS-232C connector, a parallel connector, a USB connector, and the like may be used.

Hereinafter, a key input method using the keyboard 230 according to the present invention will be described in detail.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a key input method of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6A and 6B are plan views illustrating a touch screen image of a keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6A is a plan view illustrating a touch screen image when an input mode of a keyboard is a keyboard mode. 6B is a plan view illustrating a touch screen image when the input mode of the keyboard is a mouse mode.

Referring to FIG. 5, first, the keyboard 230 receives power from the main body 210 in a state in which the keyboard 230 is connected to the main body 210 through the connector 400 (S410).

Accordingly, the controller 300 switches the display unit 320 and the touch screen 340 to an operation state and switches to a kind of standby state in which an input can be performed (S420).

Subsequently, the controller 300 determines whether an input mode of the switch 380 is selected as a mouse mode (S430).

As a result of the determination, if it is not the mouse mode, it is recognized that the key button mode is selected (S440).

Next, data relating to the key button mode is extracted (S450). That is, the key image and the corresponding coordinate value are extracted from the key array storage 350 and the coordinate table 360. In this case, the control unit 300 receives a plurality of key images from the key array storage unit 350, and receives coordinate values from the coordinate table unit 360 on the display unit 320 allocated to each transmitted key image. .

Subsequently, the controller 300 transmits the extracted key image and coordinate values to the LCD driver 310 to display the key image as shown in FIG. 6A on the display 320 (S460).

In the state in which the key image is displayed on the display unit 320 as described above, it is detected whether there is a signal input from the touch screen 340 (S470).

If it is determined that there is a key input, the touch screen device 330 calculates the position coordinates of the input point and transmits a corresponding data signal to the controller 300. The control unit 300 transmits the data signal to the main body 210 through the connector 400, and the main body 210 recognizes the input data signal to be displayed on the monitor 220 (S480).

On the other hand, when the mouse mode is selected in step 430, the switch 380 transmits a signal that the mouse mode is selected to the control unit 300 to recognize the mouse mode to the control unit 300 (S490).

Next, data about the mouse mode is extracted (S500). That is, the image of the touch pad 500 and the touch pad button 510 and the coordinate values corresponding thereto are extracted from the coordinate table 360. At this time, the control unit 300 receives the coordinate values on the display unit 320 assigned to function as the touch pad 500 and the touch pad button 510 from the coordinate table unit 360.

Subsequently, the controller 300 transmits the extracted images and coordinate values of the touch pad 500 and the touch pad button 510 to the LCD driver 310 to display the mouse image as shown in FIG. 6B on the display 320. To be displayed (S510).

In this case, a specific area of the keyboard 230, for example, an area A corresponding to the numeric keys operates with a mouse, and the other areas operate in the same manner as when operating in the key button mode.

As described above, the touch pad 500 and the touch pad button 510 are displayed in the numeric key area A on the display 320 to detect whether there is a signal input from the touch screen 340 (S520).

The touch pad 500 moves a pointer on the monitor 220 and performs a command of a portion where the pointer is located by using the touch pad button 510.

When it is determined that there is an input, the touch screen device 330 detects the position of the finger touched on the touch pad 500 in 2D coordinates and outputs the detected 2D coordinates as pointing data. In addition, when a selection signal is input through the touch pad button 510, selection information indicating that the corresponding button is selected is output.

The controller 300 converts the cursor into PS / 2 data to display the cursor at a corresponding position according to the pointing data output from the touch screen device 330 and transmits the PS / 2 data to the main body 210. In addition, the selection signal is converted into PS / 2 data and transmitted to the main body 210 (S530).

Accordingly, the main body 210 receives PS / 2 data and transmits a control signal to each device so that the pointer displayed on the monitor 220 moves or performs an operation according to the input of the touch pad button 510.

As such, the keyboard 230 according to the present invention does not include a separate mouse by operating a specific area A of the touch screen 330 by using a numeric key or a mouse according to the input mode selected by the switch 380. Instead, there is an advantage in that all the inputs can be conveniently performed with one input device.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention described above are disclosed for purposes of illustration, and those skilled in the art having various ordinary knowledge of the present invention may make various modifications, changes, and additions within the spirit and scope of the present invention. Additions should be considered to be within the scope of the following claims.

The keyboard with a mouse function of the present invention and a key input method using the same have the advantage that a particular area of the keyboard can function as a mouse so that key button signals and mouse signals can be easily inputted without a mouse. have.

In addition, the keyboard of the present invention and a key input method using the same have an advantage in that a certain area is operated as a mouse on an upper portion of the touch screen according to a user's selection so that a key button input and a mouse signal input can be performed by one device.

Claims (7)

A display unit which displays an image corresponding to an input mode being executed; A touch screen positioned above the display unit and configured to recognize an external pressure; A switch for selecting the input mode as a key button mode or a mouse mode; And And a control unit for controlling a specific area of the display unit to operate as a mouse when the switch is selected as a mouse mode. The method of claim 1, When the input mode is a mouse mode, a specific area of the display unit is displayed by a touch pad and a touch pad button. The method of claim 2, A key array storage unit for storing a key image corresponding to the key button mode; And And a coordinate table unit in which each key value displayed on the touch screen and coordinate values for the touch pad are stored. The method of claim 1, The touch screen is a keyboard, characterized in that implemented in one or more of the capacitive touch method, resistive film method, surface ultrasonic conduction method, tension measurement method or infrared light method. The method of claim 1, And the display unit is a liquid crystal display (LCD). (a) determining whether an input mode of the keyboard is selected as a mouse mode; (b) extracting an image and coordinate values of a touch pad and a touch pad button corresponding to the mouse mode when the mouse mode is selected; (c) displaying the touch pad and touch pad button images on a touch screen corresponding to a specific area of the keyboard; And and (d) transmitting a pointing signal input from the touch screen to an external device. The method of claim 1, If the mouse mode is not selected in the step (a), Recognizing the input mode as a key button mode and extracting a key image and coordinate values corresponding to the key button mode; Displaying the key image on the touch screen; And And transmitting a key button signal input from the touch screen to an external device.

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