LV15672B - Ergonomic keyboard - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Technical sector

[001] The invention relates to information technology hardware, which are computer information input devices, in particular keyboards.

Prior art analysis

[002] Normally, the keys on the keyboard are in 6 rows, and the total number of keys exceeds 100. The developed keyboard has only 3 rows and the number of keys is greatly reduced. Lithuanian patent publication no. LT5073 describes one of the keyboards, but this keyboard has a limited number of functions. In US patent publication no. The keyboard described in US6,386,773 is complex and difficult to realize in practical production. On the other hand, in US patent publication no. The keyboard presented in US8,681,102 is awkward. US Patent Publication No. US6,005,496 describes another type of keyboard that contains a large number of keys, i.e. 88 keys. A similar multi-key keyboard is also disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. US6,084,576 and this keyboard is a far departure from the traditional keyboard, so it will be difficult to get used to and learn.

[003] The aim of the invention is to create an ergonomic and easy-to-use keyboard compared to the keyboards presented in the prior art. In addition, the keyboard must be ergonomic for a group of users who work at the computer for more than four hours every day. Secondly, it should be easier to learn and useful for seniors, children and those who are starting to learn computer skills. Third, it must be usable by the blind or partially sighted.

Purpose and essence of the invention

[004] The above object is achieved by creating an ergonomic keyboard comprising two keyboard arm units. Each keyboard block has at least 14 holes arranged in three rows, and each hole is of a diameter to accommodate any of the user's fingertips. At least 3 thumbholes are also placed on the block. Below this group of holes are located the touch screens that provide the functions of the keyboard keys. Under these same holes can be placed a cassette on which Braille writing or relief letters are created, thus allowing the use of this keyboard by a visually impaired or blind user. In addition, in another variant, instead of a touch-sensitive screen, we use light chips and interrupt the light beam on them with our finger, which provides the function of the keyboard keys and for half a second, a colored background appears around the symbol on the screen. Each keyboard block contains a palm rest mounted on the keyboard block at such a distance from the keyboard holes that when the user places his palm on the palm rest, his fingertips can reach the touch screen through the holes, because there is a spiral spring under the pad that can flex in all horizontal directions. directions and the possibility of height adjustment is also provided. The keyboard blocks additionally contain thumb levers located near the palm rest at such a distance that when the user places his palm on the palm rest and acts on the thumb lever with his thumb, the thumb lever performs the function of creating a space between words. Both keyboard units also feature a register switch panel with built-in register switch light sources. The register switching panel is placed on the keyboard arm unit with the register switching panel supports in such a way that there is a gap between the register switching panel and the keyboard blocks in which the user can insert a finger, interrupting the beam of the light beam source, which in turn turns on the respective register through the program.

[005] The ergonomic keyboard additionally contains a function block that can be optionally attached to one of the keyboard arm blocks, which is pinned thanks to the guides. The function block contains at least 12 function block holes, each hole having a diameter such that any of the user's fingertips can be inserted into it, and a touch screen is placed below the group of holes to provide the function of the keyboard keys.

[006] The ergonomic keyboard additionally contains a leg control unit of a frame-like construction, in which the light beam sources of the stationary leg control unit are arranged with the light beam receivers of the leg control unit opposite to them. The light sources and their respective opposing receivers are positioned so that the user's foot can be placed between them, which allows the beam of the light beam to be broken, which in turn allows the function of the previous keyboard key to be changed.

[007] The ergonomic keyboard in the mobile version additionally contains a semi-circle of the overpass, which is connected to the keyboard arm blocks through the semi-circle holder.

[008] In addition, the two hand blocks can be pushed away from each other and form a gap of the width of one A4 or A3 sheet, and the base of the intermediate blocks and a slideable ruler are placed in the gap. If necessary, a Fresnel lens can be installed on the sliding ruler, which is fixed in the lens holder, which in turn is placed on the slide track, ensuring the movement of the lens along the slide track and can be mounted with spacers.

[009] The ergonomic keyboard may include an additional screen that is hinged, rotatable, and/or removably attached to the keyboard and that displays key designations for the active register.

[010] In addition, in order to be able to determine the coordinates of the symbols on the keyboard arm unit without looking at the keyboard, a projection for the longest finger and a projection for the index finger different from the projection for the longest finger are formed.

[011] The keyboard can be made of organic glass, metal, plastic, wood. The keyboard can contain up to five touch screens, chips, diodes, wires, cables and other elements, but its dimensions are about 40 cm wide and 30-70 cm long.

[012] The developed keyboard eliminates the main drawback of the traditional keyboard - the large number of keys, with which, after a few years of daily work, you will have to visit a palm surgeon to perform an operation on the carpal tunnel. The number of keys has been reduced by 2.3 times, but the number of registers has been increased to 10 with the possibility of quickly switching them by interrupting the respective light beam. Thirdly, for those who need to write quickly, the so-called half-blind or blind method will be easier to learn.

[013] The information of the enabled register is visible on the left keyboard block, on the right keyboard block and with three switchable values on the main monitor or on an additional screen.

[014] A keyboard variant has been created on which a blind or partially sighted user can write, where the object of the invention contains replaceable cassettes, the frames of which have Braille writing or embossed letters on a flexible base. These cartridges are replaceable and slide under the holes in the keyboard base.

[015] For the blind and partially sighted, the text written on the keyboard can be obtained by three methods: 1) by listening to the computer as an audio sound; 2) by projecting the text onto a large screen, and 3) by printing the text on paper in Braille.

List of drawings

[016] Fig. 1 illustrates a top view of an ergonomic keyboard (1) with a page support (6) placed between keyboard arm units (5;10).

[017] Fig. 2 illustrates a sliding ruler (4) that can be placed on the ergonomic keyboard (1) shown in Fig. 1.

[018] Fig. 3 illustrates a top view of an ergonomic keyboard (1) with keyboard arm blocks and no page support (6) but with a function block.

[019] Fig. 4 illustrates a front view of the leg control unit (20).

[020] Fig. 5 illustrates a side view of one of the keyboard arm assemblies (10) with an attached overhead semi-circle (24).

[021] Fig. 6 illustrates a top view of an ergonomic keyboard (1) with a page support (6) placed between the keyboard arm units (5;10) and supplemented with a rotatable and folding screen (25).

Examples of implementation of the invention

[022] An ergonomic keyboard (1) contains two keyboard hand blocks (5;10) - a left hand keyboard block (5) and a right hand keyboard block (10). There are 14 holes (11) on the left-hand keyboard unit (5) and 15 holes (11) on the right-hand keyboard unit (10) arranged in three rows and each hole (11) having a diameter such that could fit any of the user's fingertips, and 3 thumbholes (7), and under the groups of holes are the touch screens that provide the functions of the keyboard keys. The fingers of the hands act on the touch screen through the holes (11), as a result of which the required symbol works. The base with holes (7;11) above the touch-sensitive screens in the keyboard hand blocks (5;10) eliminates the possibility of touching the adjacent key and reduces the number of mistakes. Each keyboard block (5;10) additionally contains a palm support (9) mounted on the keyboard block (10) at such a distance from the keyboard holes (11) that when the user places his palm on the palm support (9) with his fingertips, reach the touch screen through the holes (11). The palm support (9) consists of a pad, a spiral spring (29) and a support whose height can be adjusted. The hand pad rests on a spiral spring (29) that can be flexed easily in all horizontal directions. Likewise, the keyboard block (5;10) contains a thumb lever (8) located near the palm support (9) at such a distance that when the user places his palm on the palm support (9) and acts on the thumb lever (8) with his thumb, which performs the function of creating space between words. Spacing between words uses a thumb lever (8), which is used in traditional keyboards with vertical movement, but here a horizontal movement is applied, which is more natural for the thumb and acts on the thumb lever (8). The keyboard unit (5;10) contains a register switching panel (3) with built-in register switching light sources (2). The register switching panels (3) are arranged on the keyboard arm units (5;10) with the register switching panel supports (22) in such a way that there is a space between the register switching panel (3) and the keyboard units (5;10) in which the user can insert finger, interrupting the beam of the light beam source (2), which in turn turns on the corresponding register through the program. The symbol corresponding to the key is determined by the currently selected and activated register. We switch the register by interrupting the beam of the light source (2). Four registers are installed permanently and are not intended for replacement, but 6 registers can be selected by the user from the proposed list, which can be supplemented. Register switching is performed by interrupting the relevant beam from the light source (2) with your finger (see Fig. 1 and Fig. 3).

[023] In addition, the ergonomic keyboard (1) is characterized by the fact that the two blocks of the keyboard arms (5;10) can be pushed away from each other and form a space the width of one A4 or A3 sheet, and the inter-block base (6) and a sliding ruler are placed in the space (4). A Fresnel lens (12) is installed on the slideable ruler (4), which is fixed in the lens holder (13), which in turn is placed on the slide track (14) ensuring the movement of the lens along the slide track (14) and can be mounted with spacers (15) (see 1. and Fig. 2).

[024] The ergonomic keyboard additionally comprises a function block (17) which is attachable to the keyboard hand block (5;10) which is pinned thanks to the guides (16), and the function block (17) contains at least 12 function block holes (18), where the diameter of each hole (18) is such that any of the four fingertips of the user can be placed therein, and a touch screen is placed under the group of holes (18) providing the function of keyboard keys (see Fig. 3).

[025] The ergonomic keyboard is additionally equipped with a leg control unit (20) of a frame-like construction, in which the light beam sources (21) of the stationary leg control unit (20) are arranged with the light beam receivers (19) of the leg control unit opposite to them, in addition, the light sources ( 21) and the corresponding opposing receivers (19) are arranged so that the user's foot can be inserted between them, which allows to break the beam of the light beam source (21), which in turn allows to turn on the function of the keyboard key (see Fig. 4).

[026] The ergonomic keyboard additionally contains an overpass semi-circle (24), which is connected to the keyboard arm units (5; 10) through a semi-circle holder (23) (see Fig. 5).

[027] In another embodiment of the invention, the ergonomic keyboard contains an additional screen (25) which is rotatably attached to the keyboard and which displays the designations of the keys of the active register. In addition, in order to be able to determine the coordinates of the symbols without looking at the keyboard, a projection (27) for the longest finger and a different projection (28) for the index finger are formed on the keyboard hand block (5;10) (see Fig. 6).

Notations used in the drawings

- keyboard;

- register switching light beam source;

- register switching panel;

- sliding ruler;

- right hand keyboard block;

- inter-block base;

- holes for the thumb;

- thumb lever;

- hand palm support;

- left hand keyboard block;

- keyboard hole;

- Fresnel lens;

- lens holder;

- sliding track;

- slide track spacer;

- function block guides;

- function block;

- function block holes;

- light beam receiver of the leg control unit;

- foot control unit;

- the light beam source of the leg control unit;

- register switching panel support;

- overpass semicircle holder;

- overpass semi-circle;

- additional screen;

- light chip;

- a ridge for the longest finger;

- a ridge for the index finger;

- spring.

Claims (10)

1. Ergonomic keyboard (1) containing: - two keyboard arm units (5; 10), where each keyboard unit (5; 10) has at least 14 holes (11) arranged in three rows and the diameter of each hole (11) is such that any of for the tips of the user's fingers, and at least 3 holes intended for the thumb (7), in addition, under the groups of holes are placed the touch-sensitive screens that provide the functions of the keyboard keys; - the palm support (9), which is installed on the keyboard unit (10) at such a distance from the keyboard holes (11) that the user can reach the touch-sensitive screen through the holes (11) with his fingertips when he places his palm on the palm support (9); - a thumb lever (8) located near the palm support (9) at such a distance that when the user places his palm on the palm support (9) and acts on the thumb lever (8) with his thumb, which performs the function of creating a space between words; - register switching panel (3) with register switching light sources (2) built into it, moreover, register switching panels (3) are placed on keyboard arm units (5; 10) with register switching panel supports (22) in such a way that between the register switching panel (3) for the keyboard units (5; 10) has a gap in which the user can insert his finger, interrupting the beam of the light beam source (2), which in turn turns on the corresponding register through the program. 2. The ergonomic keyboard according to claim 1, characterized in that it additionally contains a function block (17) which can be connected to the keyboard arm block (5; 10) which is pinned thanks to the guides (16), in addition the function block (17) ) contains at least 12 function block holes (18), where the diameter of each hole (18) is such that any of the user's fingertips can be inserted into it, and a touch screen is placed under the group of holes (18), providing the function of the keyboard keys. 3. The ergonomic keyboard according to any one of claims 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that, in addition, the leg control unit (20) of a frame-like structure, in which the light beam sources (21) of the stationary leg control unit (20) are arranged with those opposite for the light beam receivers (19) of the leg control unit, moreover, the light sources (21) and the corresponding opposite receivers (19) are arranged so that the user's foot can be inserted between them, which allows to break the beam of the light beam source (21), which in turn allows to turn on keyboard key function. 4. The ergonomic keyboard according to claim 1, which is characterized by the fact that it additionally contains a semi-circle of the overpass (24), which is connected to the keyboard arm blocks (5; 10) through a semi-circle holder (23). 5. The ergonomic keyboard (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the two hand blocks (5; 10) can be pushed away from each other and form a gap in the width of one A4 or A3 sheet, and the intermediate block base (6) is placed in the gap ) and sliding ruler (4). 6. Ergonomic keyboard (1) according to claim 5, which is characterized by the fact that, if necessary, a Fresnel lens (12) can be installed on the sliding ruler (4), which is fixed in the lens holder (13), which in turn is located on the slide track (14) ) ensuring the movement of the lens along the slide track (14) and can be assembled with the slide track spacers (15). 7. The ergonomic keyboard according to claim 1, characterized in that it contains an additional screen (25) which is rotatably fixed to the keyboard and which displays the designations of the keys of the active register. 8. The ergonomic keyboard according to claim 1, which is characterized by the fact that instead of the touch screen we use light chips (26) and on them we interrupt the light beam with our finger, which ensures the function of the keyboard keys and for half a second a colored background appears around the symbol for two screens. 9. Ergonomic keyboard according to claim 1, which is characterized by the fact that, in order to be able to determine the coordinates of the symbols without looking at the keyboard, a projection (27) for the longest finger and a projection (28) for the index finger are created on the hand block (5;10) of the keyboard, which is different from the projection for the longest toe (27). 10. An ergonomic keyboard according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the keyboard hand blocks (5;10) contain a cassette in at least 14 holes (11) and/or at least 3 thumb holes (7) in which Braille is formed or raised letters, thus enabling the use of this keyboard by a visually impaired or blind user.