KR20130069391A - Apparatus and method of japanese compact keyboard - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A small Japanese keyboard and a method thereof are provided to easily input Japanese even in small devices by implementing a small keyboard with a Roman alphabet input method. CONSTITUTION: Keys arranging alphabets are divided into a vowel part and a consonant part and the consonant part is arranged on a position of a number keypad. 'k' is arranged on a second key as a main character, 's' is arranged on a third key as a main character, 't' is arranged on a fourth key as a main character, 'n' is arranged on a fifth key as a main character, 'h' is arranged on a sixth key as a main character, 'm' is arranged on a seventh key as a main character, 'y' is arranged on an eighth key as a main character, 'r' is arranged on a ninth key as a main character, and 'w' is arranged on a zero key as a main character. The vowel part is composed by arranging four vowel keys in a line of the keypad.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a keyboard,

The present invention relates to a small keyboard for inputting Japanese characters.

[Document 1] Microsoft Japanese Keyboard Manual

[Document 2] Character frequency table (http://www7.plala.or.jp/dvorakjp/hinshutu.htm)

(Search date: December 6, 2011)

[Document 3] Kodama character arrangement (http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~cws/kodama_1.htm)

(Search date: December 15, 2011)

[Document 4] Romanization method of mobile phone (http://www.d-tech.jp/kaihatu/main2.html)

(Search date: December 15, 2011)

There are many inconveniences in the ten-key system in which the letters "a" of each line of the hiragana are arranged in order on the 3 * 4 keypad as a small keyboard for inputting Japanese.

There have been many attempts to solve this problem, but the small QWERTY keyboards are also inconvenient due to the size of the keys being too small, and new arrangements and new input methods require users to learn, I have not been able to.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact keyboard (hereinafter referred to as a virtual keyboard) in which a method of inputting Japanese as a Japanese input method, And a keyboard).

The present invention is arranged according to the order of the hiragana that the new arrangement of the roman is most easily understood by the people.

This is done by arranging the roman letters corresponding to the representative phonetic values of each row in the respective keys according to the above order, that is, in a key in which 'a' is arranged in the existing tenki arrangement system, ) Is assigned to a key in which k is arranged, s is assigned to a key in which 'sa' is arranged, t is assigned to a key in which 'ta' is arranged, and n , 'H' for the key in which 'ha' is arranged, 'm' for the key in which 'ma' is arranged, 'y' for the key in which ' Is arranged in a key in which 'wa' is arranged, and 'w' is arranged in a key in which 'wa' is arranged.

Then, among the characters i, u, e, o, g, z, d, b, p, v, l, etc., which are more necessary for inputting all Japanese characters, the vowels i, u, e, o are separated into separate keys. Each one is assigned to and arranged on the left side of the existing 3 * 4 arrangement, and the remaining consonants are arranged together on the key in which the representative note is arranged.

In addition, the positions of the vowel keys may be arranged on the right side instead of on the left side. In this case, the existing key of 'あ (a)' is assigned to v, l or punctuation, etc. instead of a, and a is assigned to a separate key along with other vowel keys and arranged on the right side.

A method for selecting and inputting a plurality of characters arranged in a single key is a known continuous pressing method. In the case of a touch screen, however, a representative character of each key is input as a touch key, It is also possible to swipe to the left or right to input characters arranged on the left or right side.

By using the present invention, it is possible to input Japanese characters easily and quickly even on a small-sized keyboard.

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the frequency of use of each character used when a Japanese character is input as a Roman character.
2 is an existing method of inputting roman characters in a mobile phone.
3 is an arrangement of Kodama inputting roman letters in a mobile phone.
Figure 4 shows a three-stage variant of the Kodama equation.
5 is a basic form of the character array according to the present invention.
6 is a character array in which vowels are arranged on the right side.
7 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
8 is an arrangement for left-handed.
FIG. 9 shows an example of screen processing when continuous pressing is performed in the embodiment of FIG.
10 is another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a graph showing the frequency of use of each character used when a Japanese character is input as a Roman character.

This graph is based on data of 117,433 characters interpreted from the front page of the Asahi Shimbun and the Yomiuri Shimbun, editorials of the Asahi Shimbun and the US President's Inaugural Addresses (Pitts Gérard de George, Bush) (See the source of the technical background of the invention).

As can be seen from the graph, the vowels a, i, u, e, and o are all ranked high and the consonants are n, t, k, s, r, y, m, w, d, g, z, b, p, f, v, and q in this order.

Therefore, in order to make an optimized keyboard, it is necessary to arrange it considering the appearance frequency.

The present invention seeks to create an easy and fast roman-based keyboard that has intuitive arrangement and intuitive input rules that are not in conflict with such an arrangement, making it easy for anyone to use without any special learning.

First, let's look at examples of the existing roman-based portable keyboard.

2 is an existing method of inputting roman characters in a mobile phone.

This method is used for character input by adding the manor key and four direction keys shown in the drawing to the existing 3 * 4 type keypad.

The input method will be described in detail as follows.

To input a vowel, press 'a' to 'a', '↑' to 'i', '→' to 'u', '↓' to 'e' Press key to enter 'o', press key to 'k', press 'S' key to 's', press 'K' key to 't' Press 'n', 'h' to 'h', 'm' to 'm', 'or' to 'y', 'r' to 'r' , Press 'I' and type 'w'.

The whisper consonants are entered using the 'Manner' key. Press the "Manner" key, press the 'or' key to 'g', the 'Manner' key, the 's' key to 'z', the 'Manner' ',' Manner 'and' b 'to enter' b '.

Press the "Manner" key and press the "N" key to enter the consonant sound.

'N' is 'n' by typing 'nn' twice by pressing 'na' key twice.

Enter the consonant key by pressing the consonant key twice twice in succession. Press the 'Manner' key and the 'A' key to enter the punctuation mark. The long sound symbol '-' Manor 'key and' 'and press'' key and enter the character to be lower case.

In addition, the extended roman letters f, j, l, and v are entered by pressing the 'manners' key and the 'ma' key, 'or' key, 'et al.'

However, this method is confusing because the consonants to be pressed are not visible on the surface of the keys, but rather because of the display for inputting alphabets (for example, to input 'k' , And vowels i, u, e, and o are arrayed in the directional key because they are not intuitive enough to be learned and require considerable practice. In addition, the mute input method uses a separate key called 'manners', which is also less intuitive and requires learning, and also requires considerable practice. Also, the manner in which the prompting is to press the 'n' key with the 'rom' key, which is the unrelated 'n' key, with the 'manners' key is less intuitive than the other examples above It requires learning and practice.

In addition, punctuation, prolonged Roman characters (f, j, l, v), and lowercase input methods also lack intuitiveness and require considerable learning and practice.

Also, the point that the vowel key is too far from the consonant keys is not a big achievement in its efficacy, as the fingering distance becomes longer (it becomes troublesome to enter with one hand) instead of reducing the number of teeth.

3 is an arrangement of Kodama inputting roman letters in a mobile phone.

This method is based on the existing 3 * 4 keypad based on the feature can be input in the Zama method.

However, this method is also less intuitive and difficult to use without going through learning. The Y key is used as a leading key for typing, and it is not intuitive enough to know it without learning.

Figure 4 shows a three-stage variant of the Kodama equation.

As can be seen in the figure, the method of depressing the Y key or the other consonants such as M, W, etc. whose usage rate is low is not intuitive and inconsistent.

It is obviously not easy to understand that pressing the Y key twice first to enter 'p'.

Thus, the present invention will be described with reference to the existing method.

5 is a basic form of the character array according to the present invention.

As shown in the figure, the Roman arrangement of the present invention utilizes the tenki arrangement most familiar to people. That is, according to the present invention, 'a' is arranged in a place where 'a' is arranged, k is placed in a place where 'ka' is arranged, s is placed in a position where ' (ta) 'is arranged,' n 'is arranged where' na 'is arranged,' h 'is arranged where' ha 'is arranged and' , 'Y' in the place where '(ya)' is arranged, 'r' in the place where 'ra (ra)' is arranged and w in the place where 'wa' This arrangement can be used as it is.

Then, by arranging i, u, e, and o by adding four vowel keys to the left side of these ten character arrays, the prototype in which the fourteen most basic characters of the present invention are arranged as basic characters is completed do. The arrangement of these keys is convenient because it is easy to input with one hand, it is convenient to input the alphabet by alternating hands with both hands, and the roman is displayed on the corresponding key, and intuitiveness is good and can be inputted quickly.

In addition, the top 14 characters having a frequency corresponding to 91.4% of the total number of characters are inputted into one letter each, and the vowel keys of a, i, u, e, and o are successively in order It is an intuitive arrangement that does not require learning or memorization.

Here, d, g, z, b, and p, which are used for inputting the whistle tone and the return sound, are respectively arranged with the letters indicating the perceived sound. That is, with g with k, z with s, d with t, b and p together with h, and mark the key, which is also an array that requires no learning.

Here, we've arranged v more with l, which is used to make lowercase letters on the last key, which is good for consistency because v is arranged with h, but these characters are rarely used and b and p are also used. A total of four letters arranged in a key together with is a collection of another, less frequently used letter, l, together, because it is less efficient.

Here, a key arranged with m, y, r, and w characters that do not need to be overlaid, a punctuation symbol (,,.,!,?) Used frequently for the vl key, and a long sign (-), respectively One by one.

The v, l and punctuation symbols are not necessarily arranged as shown in the figure. The m, y, r, w, and vl keys are arranged separately, and the order may be changed according to the purpose of the implementer.

The vl key may be arranged in positions of four rows and two columns.

Now, a description will be given of a method of inputting each arranged character in the keyboard arranged as described above.

The first letter, a, i, u, e, o, k, s, t, n, h, m, y, r, w, - in each key are entered with a single press.

Secondly arranged letters g, z, d, b, 、,。,!,?, V are entered by entering each key twice in succession according to the 'continuous pressing' method. Pressing the K key once means that k is input and the next character g is input instead of k once more.

Next, a method of inputting a lower case letter as a keyboard according to the present invention will be described.

In the keyboard according to the present invention, the first key of a lowercase letter key is first pressed on a Japanese keyboard used in a computer, and a lowercase letter of the corresponding character is input by pressing a character key to be input in lowercase. For example, if you want to enter a lower case a in (a), you can enter l, a in that order.

Another way to enter a lowercase letter is to enter all of the roman letters in which the lowercase letters are combined with other letters. For example, if you want to type 'ye', you can type 'i' by typing 'i' and then typing 'ぇ' by typing 'l' and 'e' You can type 'I' immediately after pressing 'y' and 'e'. This input method is already well known to people in computers.

Next, a method of inputting 'っ' representing geminate consonants in lower case letters will be described.

Of course, you can type 'l', 't', 'u' in order, but you can also use the method of typing っ by typing over the consonants of the letters next to the geminate as you already use them. In other words, if you type 'ざ っ し', you can type 's' and 'i' to overwrite 's'. That is, if 's', 's', and 'i' are entered in order, 'っ し' is input.

However, in order to input the consonants in this way, there is a problem that such a keyboard is likely to cause an error when a plurality of characters arranged in one key are selected by successive pressing. That is, if '-tt-' is input, it is input as '-d-'.

In order to smoothly support the geminate input method, the present invention provides the following rules. Let us take an example of a key in which t and d are arranged.

t process once with = t input

t consecutive times = d input

t consecutive times = tt (tt) input

t consecutive times = dd (dd)

t consecutive times = process again with t input

And press repeatedly to repeat this process. Here, if there is a case in which the actual language life does not come out like 'd', the process can be implemented to skip the process.

In order to input kk, ss, tt and pp in order to input the geminate consonants, according to the present invention, the corresponding keys are input 3, 3, 3 and 4, respectively. pp is more uncomfortable and confusing than other gemstones. In order to solve this inconvenience, the present invention provides one more simple way of inputting superimposed consonants for creating a geminate consonant.

Arrange the tactile sound (っ) at the front of the vl key and press it once when the tactile sound is needed so that the tactile sound is input. This has the advantage of being able to enter without losing the rhythm of typing at the timing of pressing the tactile. In addition, since the long sign is used only in katakana mode, it may be input as a subordinate of the tactile sound. The order, of course, depends on the choice of the practitioner.

Some people use x instead of l depending on the people, so it might be possible to arrange x instead of l depending on user option.

The following is a further description of how to process other keys in response to a series of presses.

For example, if you press the m key once, 'm' is pressed twice, then ',' is entered. However, it can be implemented a little differently when you press it three times. If you type ',' and then try to type a letter starting with 'm' again, to prevent the previously entered ',' , It is possible to stop the continuous pressing of ',' and process the third input as a new input again. The selection of such a treatment method can be modified to any extent according to the purpose of the person skilled in the art.

In the method of inputting numbers in the present invention, it is sufficient to input a key by long-pressing each key marked with a number or by sweeping it in a specific direction (preferably in a direction from a representative character). In the case of the drawing, the digits are inputted by sweeping in the downward direction.

Of course, in the present invention, the numbers may or may not be marked. In addition, it is also possible to switch to the numerical mode and input numerical keys.

Next, another arrangement of the present invention will be described.

6 is a character array in which vowels are arranged on the right side.

In this arrangement, since the vowel keys are arranged to the left in the previous arrangement, it is more natural than the arrangement on the right.

To arrange the vowel keys to the right, move the 'A' key from the number 1 key on the left to the right. In this example, the last characters in Example 1 are arranged on the number 1 key. Arrange the vowel keys like this.

That is, this arrangement is that the vowel keys are arranged in separate keys on the right side, and the consonant keys are arranged in accordance with the existing tenki arrangement.

You can also see that the sound is displayed on the key surface as described earlier.

7 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the drawing, it is possible to omit the notation for kiskin since it is an intuitive arrangement that people press the consonant tone and the consonant tone by pressing the consonant key in succession. This practice has a cosmetic advantage.

In this embodiment, m, y, r, and w keys are arranged in order of successive presses, followed by tactile sound, long sound, lowercase prefix (l), and v. It is characterized by inputting in the same way as input. In other words, Japanese characters were inputted by continuous tapping, and numbers or other symbols were entered by means other than continuous tapping to maintain consistency.

Also, on the right side, function keys such as input cancellation (deletion), multilanguage, symbol, and katakana mode are arranged, and space and enter key are located at the center part. Space and Enter are not only used for entering blank spaces or changing lines in Japanese input, but also for more complicated functions. Space is used to select suggested characters (usually kanji) that appear on the screen as you type Roman characters. The Enter key is used to confirm the current candidate character in the same state. In other words, the space and the enter key are used more frequently than in other language keyboards. If you are typing in one hand, it is inconvenient to extend your thumb or bend too much. .

8 is an arrangement for left-handed.

This arrangement is an arrangement where the user selects the i-key, u-key, e-key and o-key rows to the right in the embodiment of FIG.

In the user setting menu of the device, it is desirable to be able to set user options for the keyboard according to the present invention, and if the left-handed array is selected in the menu, it is preferable to be provided as shown in the drawing.

FIG. 9 shows an example of screen processing when continuous pressing is performed in the embodiment of FIG.

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, instead of displaying the display of whimpering or returning speech on the keyscene, each time the corresponding key is pressed, the character to be inputted next time is displayed on the keyscene. This figure illustrates just such a function.

The first figure in the figure shows the ki key of the k key without pressing it. After pressing the key once, the letter of the k key changes from K to G as shown in the next figure. This is to let you know that when you press one more time, g is entered according to the k key's continuous pressing rule. Now press the k key one more time and the G notation will change to KK as shown in the next figure. Press again and KK will change back to K as shown in the next figure. Here, when another character is inputted by continuous pressing, the color of the keychain may be changed as shown in the drawing to make it more conspicuous, but it is not necessary to change the character other than the character notation.

10 is another embodiment of the present invention.

It is easier to use only the thumb to type while holding a tablet computer horizontally lying in both hands, the arrangement according to the present invention can provide a consonant and a vowel divided into two, as shown in the picture, combined in a small device In the tablet computer, etc., the consonant part and the remaining part are separated from each other and separated from both sides, so that the user can easily input only with the thumb while holding the device with both hands.

As described above, the arrangement and the input method according to the present invention have excellent intuitiveness, so that it is possible to input very fast without any special learning and practice, and with high efficiency.

In order to implement the present invention using the physical keyboard, the host may be provided with a physical keyboard disposed according to the present invention, and software for receiving the scan code generated therein and converting the generated scan code into a character code as described above. In addition, to implement as a virtual keyboard, if a virtual keyboard area is allocated to display a key layout according to the present invention, and a selection or gesture of a specific key in the virtual keyboard is input by an input means (for example, a mouse or a touch), The corresponding value is generated by the input event, and the generated corresponding value may be programmed as described above and replaced with a character.

To implement the present invention, it is obvious that it is necessary to have all the general components, and this is a general technique, so a detailed description will be omitted here.

However, the difference from the existing technique is that the new character arrangement proposed by the present invention is different from the method for selecting and inputting the characters, and the input character strings are analyzed according to the new scheme and converted into Japanese character input .

By using the present invention, it is possible to input Japanese characters easily and quickly even on a small-sized keyboard.

Claims (6)

A compact keyboard for inputting Japanese as a Roman character,
Alphabet for single character input is arranged in consonant key and vowel key for character input,
Keys arranged alphabetically divided into consonants and vowels,
The consonant portion is arranged at a position of a conventional ten key (a keypad on which numeric keys of 0 to 9 are arranged), where 'k' is assigned to the second key, 's' is assigned to the third key, 't' , 'N', 'n', 'n', 'n', 'h', 'm', 'y', 'r', 'w' Characters (characters that are immediately input when a key is pressed)
The vowel section, 1) In the first method, four vowel keys are arranged in one column on the left or right side of the ten key in which the consonants are arranged, and when the left side is arranged on the left side, 'a' is the representative character in the first key of the ten key. When the remaining i, u, e, o keys are arranged in one column arranged on the left side, respectively, and the right side, vl key is arranged on the first key of the ten key, arranged on the right side of the consonant part In the five vowel keys, including four vowel keys and the keys corresponding to the #keys of the ten keys, a, i, u, e, and o are arranged as representative characters, or 2) in the second manner, the consonants are arranged. The vowel keys are arranged in two rows on the right side of the tenkey,
In the case where the vowel is the first method, in the four-row and four-column structure in which the vowel key is added to the existing tenkey structure according to the present invention, the vowel keys and the other keys except for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys ( In the second character place of the delete, multilingual, special symbols, and Katakana mode), the vowel sign (-) or the tactile and the main punctuation marks (,,。,!,?, Etc.) are arranged one by one. In the second case, the long note is arranged together in the vowel section,
'G' in the second character of the second key, 'kk' in the third character, 'z' in the second character of the third key, 'ss' in the third character, and''d','tt' in the third character position, 'b' in the second character position of the sixth key, 'p' in the third character position and 'pp' in the fourth character position,
A representative character is input by a method of selecting a representative character in each key, a second character is input by a method of selecting a second character, a third character is input by a method of selecting a third character, And the fourth character is input by the method. The method of claim 1,
The method of selecting the representative character is to press the corresponding key once, the method of selecting the second character is to press the corresponding key twice in succession, the method of selecting the third character is to press the corresponding key three times in succession, Wherein the method for selecting a character is to press the key four times in succession. The method of claim 1,
In the case where the vowel is the first method, in the four-row and four-column structure in which the vowel key is added to the existing tenkey structure according to the present invention, the vowel keys and the other keys except for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys ( The method of arranging a long sign (-) or a tactile sound and a main punctuation mark (-,。,!,?, Etc.) in the second character position of Delete, Multilingual, Special Symbol, and Katakana Mode) Tactile, long sound, v, l are arranged one by one on the seventh, eighth, ninth, and zeroth keys, and the main punctuation marks (i, u, e, o) are key punctuation marks (,,。,!,?). Mini keyboard for Japanese input, characterized in that arranged one by one each. The method of claim 1,
A small keyboard for Japanese input, further providing a user selectable function for moving the i-key, u-key, e-key, and o-key rows to the left or the right. The method of claim 1,
In the second method, the vowel section further comprises a function of separating the consonant section and the vowel section and providing the consonant section and the vowel section to both ends of the screen, respectively. A method for implementing a small keyboard for inputting Japanese as a Roman character,
Alphabet for single character input is arranged in consonant key and vowel key for character input,
Keys arranged alphabetically divided into consonants and vowels,
The consonant portion is arranged at a position of a conventional ten key (a keypad on which numeric keys of 0 to 9 are arranged), where 'k' is assigned to the second key, 's' is assigned to the third key, 't' , 'N', 'n', 'n', 'n', 'h', 'm', 'y', 'r', 'w' Characters (characters that are immediately input when a key is pressed)
The vowel section, 1) In the first method, four vowel keys are arranged in one column on the left or right side of the ten key in which the consonants are arranged, and when the left side is arranged on the left side, 'a' is the representative character in the first key of the ten key. When the remaining i, u, e, o keys are arranged in one column arranged on the left side, respectively, and the right side, vl key is arranged on the first key of the ten key, arranged on the right side of the consonant part In the five vowel keys, including four vowel keys and the keys corresponding to the #keys of the ten keys, a, i, u, e, and o are arranged as representative characters, or 2) in the second manner, the consonants are arranged. The vowel keys are arranged in two rows on the right side of the tenkey,
In the case where the vowel is the first method, in the four-row and four-column structure in which the vowel key is added to the existing tenkey structure according to the present invention, the vowel keys and the other keys except for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth keys ( In the second character place of the delete, multilingual, special symbols, and Katakana mode), the vowel sign (-) or the tactile and the main punctuation marks (,,。,!,?, Etc.) are arranged one by one. In the second case, the long note is arranged together in the vowel section,
'G' in the second character of the second key, 'kk' in the third character, 'z' in the second character of the third key, 'ss' in the third character, and''d','tt' in the third character position, 'b' in the second character position of the sixth key, 'p' in the third character position and 'pp' in the fourth character position,
A representative character is input by a method of selecting a representative character in each key, a second character is input by a method of selecting a second character, a third character is input by a method of selecting a third character, Wherein the fourth character is input by the method.

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