WO2007013095A2

WO2007013095A2 - A compact faster alternative to qwerty keyboard

Info

Publication number: WO2007013095A2
Application number: PCT/IN2006/000134
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jugal Kishore Gupta
Original assignee: Jugal Kishore Gupta
Priority date: 2005-04-29
Filing date: 2006-04-17
Publication date: 2007-02-01
Also published as: WO2007013095A3; WO2007013095B1

Abstract

The invention pertains to methods, which allow a keyboard to be compact, fast, comfortable and customizable. These methods are universally applicable, applied herein to three applications - PC keyboard, mobile phone keyboard, and one-hand typing keyboard. The PC keyboard invention has 44 keys, symmetrically laid out in two independent sections that allow the user to adjust the angle and distance between the hands for operating comfort. The invention is easier and faster to operate than the traditional QWERTY keyboard and incorporates features such as abbreviated typing. It is much smaller in size hence can be offered in different key sizes to accommodate different hands sizes. Besides supporting the QWERTY layout, an efficient alternative key layout named WHRL has been invented. The mobile keyboard and one-hand keyboard inventions can be applied to a wide range of applications such as portable devices, toys, educational tools, and industrial applications.

Description

A compact, faster alternative to QWERTY keyboard

Technical Field

The invention pertains to the field of keyboards for entering data into devices such as desktop computers, laptop computers, pocket PCs, hand-held devices and mobile phones. More particularly, the invention pertains to the efficiency, customization and ergonomics of the keyboard design and layout to accommodate requirements of different users and applications.

Background Art

The QWERTY keyboard suffers from several drawbacks. Having over 100 keys, its bulky, occupying premium space on the table, and not suitable for portable devices such as Pocket PCs or cell phones. Moreover, the key placement is inefficient. For example, the keys that are most frequently typed during normal use such as E, T are not placed in home positions and the keys that are used less frequently such as J and K are placed in home positions. Even when both hands are placed in the home position, one experiences a significant strain on the wrists. Further, the layout does not accommodate people with larger fingers or those who are left-handed.

Since keyboards are typically manufactured as one integrated piece, the user has to keep both hands close to each other while typing. In smaller keyboards, this position becomes more awkward and hence more strenuous.

Even after achieving an acceptable typing speed for alphabets, most users cannot type numerals and special characters without looking down at the keyboard.

From a functionality perspective, the numeral pad as exists in full-function PC keyboards lacks important keys such as Tab, Comma, Equal To, and Backspace. Similarly, keyboards for mobile phones and hand-held devices lack full functionality that has been sacrificed to reduce size, are uncomfortable to use, have poor layouts, and are slow in operation because several frequently used characters require multiple strokes of the same key.

With the widespread use and rapid advancement of computer technology, there arises a need for a compact, intelligent, ergonomic and portable keyboard that can serve across varied applications such as desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistants, and other portable devices.

In recent years, several new keyboards have been introduced that improve typing efficiency, ergonomic comfort, and/or portability. Different implementations have focused on one or more of these issues, however, no single implementation has successfully addressed all issues with a single design and layout. The prior approaches to improving the keyboard have largely been focused on the following areas:

- reducing the number of keys by deriving multiple values from a key hence reducing keyboard size

- giving the frame an angle or other mechanical improvements to improve ergonomic comfort

- increasing portability by folding it along one or more axis

- providing different key overlays

The U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,449 by Danziger discloses an ergonomic keyboard with three angled sets of keys arranged to form a pyramid-shaped keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,787 by Karidis, Goldowsky and McVicker discloses a foldable keyboard. U.S. Pat. No. 2,040,248 by Dvorak and Dealey (1936) discloses an alternative keyboard overlay to be used with the QWERTY keyboard itself. U.S. Pat. No. 4,081 ,068 by Zapp (1978) discloses an arrangement in which a keyboard is operated with one hand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,493 by Einbinder (1982) discloses a non-QWERTY keyboard designed to maximize the number of successive keystrokes by the same hand. U.S. Pat. No. 4,849,732 by Dolenc (1989) discloses a non-QWERTY keyboard to be operated by one hand where control functions are operated by the thumb.

Unfortunately, no prior invention has been able to displace the standard QWERTY keyboard for most applications and its widespread usage continues even today.

Disclosure of Invention

The invention disclosed herein are methods that allow any keyboard to be compact, fast, comfortable and customizable.

These methods include: a. Allowing independent movement of sections for each hand b. Using a mirror image-based symmetrical key layout c. Arranging alphabet keys based on frequency of usage during normal typing d. Generating up to six different interpretations from a key using a press and hold technique e. Providing abbreviated typing for commonly used words f. Providing programmable keys for frequently used-defined phrases

' g. Allowing keys to switch function and modes based on simple commands

In this patent, these invented techniques have been applied across three keyboard applications - PC keyboard, mobile phone keyboard, and keyboard for one-hand typing.

In the PC keyboard invention, 38 basic keys have been used to implement the full functionality of a standard keyboard. With additional dedicated keys for cursor functions and user programmable functions the keyboard can be provided with 43 or 44 keys as preferred. The keyboard is designed as two physically independent sections, one section for each hand, where the key sizes and positions on each section are a mirror image of each other. This design allows the user the freedom of adjusting the angle or angle and distance between the two sections as per individual comfort. Any suitable angle and distance can be set in three dimensional space by the user. . Deriving the full functionality from 38 keys has been achieved by not having to reach out to separate keys for numerals and special characters. Instead, the entire set of such characters can be generated from alphabet keys by any of the following user actions - by holding a designated key down while pressing the alphabet keys or by holding the individual alphabet key down a little longer (about % seconds i.e. hold interval) or by locking the keyboard into a special mode until desired.

Besides size and ergonomic improvements, an efficient alphabet layout has been invented for users who are willing to learn an alternative layout (to QWERTY). In this key layout, named WHRL, the alphabets have been assigned positions based on their frequency of usage. The keys for the little fingers have been placed lower than the keys for the middle fingers for easier operation and their key-tops have been kept larger to accommodate varied hand and finger sizes. All five vowels and alphabet Y (which appears as a vowel in many words) have been assigned to the left hand so that most of the time one is typing with alternate hands resulting in faster typing and less taxing of any one hand. The right hand keys are so placed that frequently used keys R,S,T,N,H,L,D are in the middle and consonant pairs such as nd, nt, ng, th, st sh etc. which appear together in many words are not in the same column so as to achieve faster typing speed with minimum effort.

To further increase speed and comfort while typing, the keyboard design has a built-in abbreviation feature that does not require any software installation. Under this feature, a large number of commonly used words have been abbreviated and embedded in the keyboard itself.

For these words, instead of typing the full word, user has to just type the abbreviation followed by any of these terminating characters: space, coma, full stop, or question mark. The keyboard instantaneously replaces the abbreviation with its associated expansion followed by the terminating character. For example, one has to type just t for the, r for are, h for has, n for not, o for only, d for and, w for will, s for shall, y for you and so on. Further, a simple scheme has been devised for abbreviating multiple forms of the word: the first three letters of the abbreviation are the first three letters of the word and the fourth letter of the abbreviation represents the ending: For example, sep for separate and sepn for separation and sepg for separating.

In addition to 'Abbreviation feature¹, the user can program up to 30 frequently used words, phrases or even sentences which can be released by pressing assigned keys or dedicated user-defined keys.

As another embodiment of the design techniques described above for the 38-key version, a 12-key keyboard has been invented for mobile applications and a 25-key keyboard for one hand typing. The 12-key embodiment can generate upper case & lower case alphabets, numerals and special characters without the need to change modes or use menu. The 25-key embodiment is a full-function keyboard but is extremely fast for numerical input and is much faster than mobile phone keyboards for textual input. Both variants support the abbreviation feature.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The description of invention uses following definitions.

1. Full Function Keyboard: A keyboard that incorporates all functions and produces all key codes of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard.

2. K44: The name given to the PC keyboard invention - full function keyboard design which can be implemented with 38, 43 or 44 keys or additional keys based on user preference. The 38-key model does not provide dedicated keys for cursor functions. The 43-key model does not provide a user-defined (programmable) key. [See Figures 1, 4 and 5]

3. WHRL: The name given to the invented key layout that has the W, H, R, L keys located on the top row of the right section. [See Figure 1] 4. K44 QWERTY'1: K44 keyboard as defined above provided with standard QWERTY key layout. [See Figure 2]

5. K44 QWERTY-2: K44 keyboard as defined above provided with slightly modified QWERTY key layout. For added ergonomic comfort, the keys assigned to the little finger in QWERTY have been moved one position lower for easier hand positioning and movement. [See Figure 3 ]

6. K12: The name given to the keyboard design with 12 keys for mobile phones and other similar applications. [See Figure 8]

7. K25: The name given to the full function keyboard design with 25 keys for one hand typing. [See Figure 9]

8. Angle: The three dimensional angle between the two sections. Please refer to Figure 1 , (2) for diagrammatic representation of the keyboard angle.

9. N/S Characters: Numerals (0-9) and Special Characters (!@#$%^Λ&*()- _⁺⁼{}[]M "?/ ^*~\|,etc.) i.e. all non-alphabet printable characters.

10. Beep: This implies that a key is held down for % second or so (referred to as the hold interval), and a beep sound is produced or a small light blinks to indicate that this key has been pressed long enough to warrant a different interpretation. The hold interval is user-adjustable. If the key is continued to be held pressed, after the hold interval it generates a beep after each successive hold interval.

11 W/C Pad: Numerical-cum-Cursor Pad available in standard 101-key PC keyboards 12. One-key life: Some keys such as Alt, Ctrl if pressed and released before pressing other keys, remain asserted until after pressing of a printable character key. These keys are said to have a 'one-key life'.

K44: PC Keyboard

In the PC keyboard invention called K44 herein, 44 keys have been used to implement full functionality of a standard PC keyboard that usually has more than 100 keys. Figure-1 shows an implementation of the compact K44 keyboard with the WHRL key layout that has been invented as a faster alternative to the QWERTY key layout.

The basic approach is described here below.

1. Alphabet keys have been organized into two halves for the two hands see Figure 1 , (3), (4). The key-set for each hand has been turned in to eliminate wrist twist - given a user adjustable angle that reflects natural hand positions. The keys within the key-set are kept in simple straight-line order (no jig-jag) to avoid finger twists. (See Figure 1 )

2. The alphabets have been assigned positions based on their frequency of usage as shown in Table A below. The frequency was determined by the inventor by analyzing several large text files. The invention uses these frequencies as basis for its design.

Table A: Shows frequency of usage of alphabets in normal English text (in decreasing order of usage)

3. The keys for the little fingers have been placed lower than the keys for the middle fingers for easier operation and their key-tops have been kept larger to accommodate varied hand and finger sizes.

4. All five vowels and alphabet Y (which appears as a vowel in many words) have been assigned to the left hand so that most of the time one is typing with alternate hands resulting in faster typing and less taxing of any one hand. 5. The right hand keys are so placed that frequently used keys R₁S₁T₁N, H, L₁D are in the middle and consonant pairs such as nd, nt, ng, th, st sh etc. which appear together in many words are not in the same column so as to achieve faster typing speed with minimum effort.

6. Instead of inconveniently located separate keys for N/S characters involving considerable hand movement to reach them, it is faster if these characters are generated through alphabet keys by either convenient instant switching of mode, or by holding an alphabet key down for an extra % sec (hold interval) as explained below.

Each key has two values: an alphabet and a N/S. If a key is pressed briefly, it generates an alphabet. If the key is held pressed for about % second longer, it generates its N/S value. An audio beep or a blinking light indicates that a key has been pressed long enough to qualify for the second value. Thus, while typing alphabetical text, if we need a special character or a numeral, we just hold the corresponding key down for 1//4 second longer.

If a key is held down until two beeps are produced, it erases the earlier N/S character and generates "Shift + N/S ". Thus, one can generate Special characters such as !@#$%^Λ&*()+?|:"_~{} without having to physically press the Shift key, instead by holding the character key down till second beep. In a typical QWERTY keyboard, the Shift key has to be pressed along with the character key to generate these characters.

Additionally, if we need to type several N/S characters at a time e.g., a telephone number, we can instantaneously switch the keyboard into N/S mode by holding either of the Space keys down. In N/S mode, normal typing (without beep) generates N/S characters. The keyboard returns to the normal alphabet mode on releasing the Space key. The switching of mode is so simple and effortless that one can do it even for single N/S characters. For substantial numeral typing, one can also lock the keyboard into N/S mode by pressing both the Space (thumb) keys simultaneously. It is unlocked on pressing Space key again.

7. The numerals are arranged in 3x4 telephone format. This obviates the need for a separate numerical pad and also minimizes errors while typing numerical values. With a coma, TAB, 'equal to' and backspace included, the numerical pad is more complete.

8. In all telephones and Television remote key-pads, the top row is 1 ,2,3. In PC's numerical pad, the top row is 7,8,9. This invention allows the user to select the preferred format by pressing a designated key combination.

9. Like numerals, instead of separate function keys, generating them through convenient instant switching of mode has been preferred. Instead of holding either Space (thumb) key down, if we hold the FUNC key down, then the numeral keys arranged in 3x4 format generate the corresponding function keys F1 to F12.

10. Many keyboards, particularly the laptop versions have the PgUp, PgDn, Home, End and Insert keys placed inconveniently in some corner. Even in regular desktop keyboards, one often mistakenly presses Home instead of End and Insert instead of Delete. In this invention, the cursor keys have been reduced from 10 keys to 5 keys. The UpArrow, DownArrow, LeftArrow, Right Arrow and Delete keys when pressed while holding either Space (thumb) key down generate their logical extension i.e. PageUp, PageDown, Home, End and Insert keys respectively.

11. This simplified cursor pad has been placed in the center of the keyboard so that it can be operated with either hand; see Figure 5, (5).

12. The frequently used backspace key has been moved from its usual corner position to the center for easier access. 13. The Shift keys have been provided on both sides. Both the Shift keys have been assigned dual functions. If the left or right Shift keys are each pressed briefly and released without pressing other keys, they generate the respective assigned characters. If these keys are held down while pressing other keys, they act as Shift keys. Thus the user does not have to move the wrist even slightly for pressing the Shift key which is now effectively at home key position for the little finger.

14. The Alt and Ctrl keys have also been provided on both sides. The Alt and Ctrl keys on the left side have 'one-key life' feature i.e., if pressed and released before pressing other keys, they remain asserted until after pressing of a printable character key. Additionally, they can also be operated in the regular manner by holding them down while pressing other keys. Likewise, the left FUNC (Function) key too has the One-key life' feature.

15. The Alt, Ctrl and Program (used for 'User Defined Key' feature) keys on the right side have been assigned dual functions. The right Program key when pressed and released without pressing other keys generates 'Tab'. The right Alt key when pressed and released without pressing other keys generates CapsLock. Likewise, the right Ctrl key when pressed and released without pressing other keys generates Esc. When these keys are held down while pressing other keys, they function like Program, Alt and Ctrl keys respectively.

16. Auto-repeat: Backspace, Delete and cursor keys have auto-repeat feature in all modes. In N/C Pad mode too, all associated keys have auto-repeat feature. In the default (alphabet) mode, holding the Repeat key down beyond hold interval results in auto-repeat of the last character pressed. However, if the beep feature has been disabled, then all alphabets except those assigned to Shift keys have auto-repeat feature.

17. Visual status: The status of following is displayed on LED lamps. a. Shift (one-key life) b. Ctrl (one-key life) c. ALT (one-key life) d. FUNC (one-key life) e. Program UDK f. QWERTY-1 g. QWERTY-2 h. BEEP feature off i. Visual beep j. NUM mode k. N/C Pad mode

I. Abbreviated Typing off m. Caps n. Num o. Scroll

18. Abbreviation feature: Under this feature, a large number of commonly used words have been abbreviated and embedded in the keyboard design itself.

For these words, instead of typing the full word, user has to just type the abbreviation followed by any of these terminating characters: space, coma, full stop, or question mark (whichever terminating character is required to appear after the expansion). The keyboard instantaneously replaces the abbreviation with its associated expansion followed by the terminating character.

For example, one has to type just t for the, r for are, h for has, n for not, o for only, d for and, w for will, s for shall, y for you and so on. A illustrative list of these words is given in Table F and Table G.

Further, a simple scheme has been devised for abbreviating multiple forms of the word: the first three letters of the abbreviation are the first three letters of the word and the fourth letter of the abbreviation represents the ending: g for ing, n for tion or sion, vfor five, etc. For example, sep for separate and sepn for separation and sepg for separating.

Holding the Space key pressed for % second (hold interval) prohibits expansion of the word that has just been typed. The abbreviation feature can also be enabled/disabled by pressing a designated key combination.

19. In English text, the alphabet "q" almost always appears with alphabet "u".and two u's almost never appear together. So, instead of typing "qu", in this invention, if one types "uu" quickly, it is replaced by "qu". Likewise, this invention allows one to type "ii" instead of "j", "ww" instead of "x", "yy" instead of "z" and "hh" instead of "b" - thereby minimizing the need to access the keys that are comparatively less convenient to reach. This feature gets enabled/disabled along with the abbreviation feature.

20. User Defined Keys

In addition to 'Abbreviation feature', the user can program up to 30 frequently used words, phrases or even sentences as follows.

a. Holding Program & right-side ALT keys pressed, press one of the alphabet keys that you want to program with a certain phrase/word. Then release Program & ALT keys. Now you are in Program mode. b. Now type the word, phrase or sentence that you want to program into that key. In the present implementation, the programmed string can be up to 24 characters long. The programmed string length can be increased by incorporating more memory into the keyboard hardware. (Press Program & Ctrl keys instead of Program & ALT keys at (a) above to enter the string in hexadecimal form). c. Press Program key again to end this mode. To generate the programmed string in normal typing, hold the Program key down and press the assigned key.

This invention also has the provision to add dedicated User Defined keys (UDK). One UDK is built in to the K44 with 44 keys version. This key can be programmed as described above. However, to release the programmed string, one has to just press the dedicated UDK key without having to hold the Program key down.

21. The tables B and C at the end of this section give details of mode switching and character assignment to keys in different modes. Note that although a separate Numerical/Cursor Pad mode is not required, this mode has been included for some old applications that may require it. This is in addition to the dedicated cursor keys provided in the K44 with 44 keys. Using this mode, one can implement a full function keyboard with only 38 keys without dedicated keys for cursor functions. This implementation is shown in Figure 4.

22. With so few keys, all within easy reach, one can type without having to move the wrist even for keys such as Shift and backspace.

23. It is to be emphasized that not having separate keys for numerals, special characters, functions keys and some cursor functions is a design choice and not a design limitation. It has been so preferred in order to have a compact and simplified keyboard without sacrificing speed and ease of operation. Some or all of these keys can be added as shown in another version of this keyboard in Figure 6.

24. Restricting the number of keys has another dimension. All human wear such as shoes, gloves, clothes typically come in three sizes - small, medium and large. The keyboard, however, comes in only one size. If the inter-key distance is matched to the size of one's hand, it will make significant improvement in one's operational comfort and efficiency. With only 43 or 44 keys, it is now viable to make keyboards in three sizes.

25. With so few keys in each handset, it is also possible to have varying sizes of key- tops and/or inter-key distances: the inner key-tops smaller and outer ones larger for added typing comforts. The key-set for each hand can have a concave-like shape to further enhance the typing comfort.

26. In this design wherein keys are arranged in five columns for each hand, raised (taller) key-tops have been provided for some keys in the first and fifth column to minimize typing error through simultaneous pressing of adjoining keys: if a finger is pressed in between two keys, only the key with higher key-top will be pressed.

27. Since keys for each hand have been arranged in straight row-column order, learning time for this keyboard is much shorter as compared to QWERTY keyboard.

28. Enhanced comfort: Wherever the application permits, the key-sets for left hand and right hand can be kept independently movable as shown in Figure 1. This allows the user to adjust the distance and angle between the hands for maximum comfort. The two sets communicate with each other serially over a thin cable. They can also communicate wirelessly using technologies such as Infrared, Bluetooth and others.

29. Those who start using this keyboard may occasionally have to work with some old equipment having an integrated QWERTY keyboard. Software has been developed under popular operating systems to make this overlay available on the QWERTY keyboard as shown in Figure 7.

Customization Following commands are available in K44 to customize it to suit individual style and requirement. a. Select QWERTY-1 , QWERTY-2 or WHRL mode b. Disable % sec pause mode (beep): When beep mode is disabled, in default (Alphabet) mode one has to hold one of the Space (thumb) keys down to get the N/S characters. Holding a key down results in auto-repeat of the corresponding character as per the selected mode. c. Enable/disable abbreviated typing. d. Select one of the two numeral format: telephone format (1 ,2,3 in top row) or PC format (7,8,9 in top row) e. Select 'Left handed' mode. In the 'Left handed' mode, the overlay of the right key set and the left key set are interchanged. f. 30 User Programmable Keys for often used words/phrases

Porting the K44 design (non-layout) features to the QWERTY world

Those who are already well versed with the standard QWERTY keyboard and are not inclined to learn a new overlay can still use this invention for all its other benefits. All features except the WHRL layout are provided on the K44 keyboard by simply replacing the WHRL alphabet layout with the QWERTY alphabet layout as shown in Figure 2.

A suggested minor improvement to the standard QWERTY layout on K44 is simply changing the position of the key assigned to the little finger. For added ergonomic comfort, the keys assigned to the little finger can be moved one position lower for easier hand positioning and movement. Figure 3 shows the K44 with this improvement.

For users who have purchased the WHRL layout, and would like to use the QWERTY layout on some occasions can easily change the layout with a simple command that switches the keyboard into QWERTY mode.

Table B: Selection and termination procedure for Modes available in K44

The following conventions have been used in Tables C, D, E and H

- The character assigned to "with Shift' or "with Numlock on/off' is not being generated as is by the hardware logic of the keyboard. The keyboard merely sends a Shift code or a Numlock code whenever the respective key is pressed. As in typical keyboards, it is left up to the system software to interpret the codes appropriately. Hence these columns in the following tables are filled in if a different (known) character will be interpreted by the system or left blank for simplicity.

- The Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow, Right Arrow and Delete keys when pressed while holding Space key down generate their logical extension i.e. PageUp, PageDown, Home, End and Insert keys respectively. These key assignments have not been included in the tables.

Table C: K44 key assignments (WHRL Version, as shown in Figure 1)

Table D: K44 key assignments (QWERTY-1 Version, as shown in Figure 2)

Table E: K44 key assignments (QWERTY- 2 , as shown in Figure 3) Abbr. Expansion Abbr. Expansion Abbr. Expansion b but ab about ho however

C can af after hs himself d and ag again hu hereunder e even al almost hw herewith f for ao anyone hw hardware h has be because kb keyboard j just bf beautiful kh know how k know eb everybody kh know how m may ed everyday kn keynote

I let eg evergreen Ic life cycle n not eo everyone Iw likewise

P please et every time mo moreover q quality fb feedback OC of course r are fw farewell ol online

S shall fw firmware OV overview

O only ge good evening pg post graduate

U under gm good morning sb somebody

V very gn good night SW software

W will ha hereafter SW somewhere y you hb hereby tf therefore t the he health care yd yesterday

Table F: illustrative (partial) list of abbreviations and their expansions for commonly used words

Abbr. Expansion Abbr. Expansion Abbr. Expansion Abbr. Expansion aba abandon acq acquaintance agr agree arb arbitrate abat abandonment acqn acquainted agrg agreeing arbg arbitrating abad abandoned ade adequate agrd agreed arbr arbitrator adel adequately agrl agreeable arby arbitrarily abb abbreviate agrt agreement abbn abbreviation adh adhere arg argue adhc adherence ama amaze argg arguing abd abdicate amad amazed argl arguable abdn abdication adj adjust amat amazement argm argument adjl adjustable amag amazing argv argumentative abo abolish adjt adjustment amay amazingly abon abolition adjg adjusting arr arrange amb ambiguous arrg arranging abr abrupt adm admin amby ambiguously arrt arrangement abry abruptly admr administer admn administration amu amuse astg astonishing abs absent adav administrative amud amused astm astonishment abst absent adat administrator amut amusement asty astonishingly absc absence admg administrating amug amusing abse absentee ath athlete ada adapt ana analyze athc athletic aca academy adad adapted anas analysis athc athletically acac academic adal adaptable anat analyst acay academically aday adaptability aut authentic adan adaptation ani animate autt authenticity ace accept anig animating auty authentically ace! acceptable adv advertise anid animated accy acceptability advr advertiser anin animation ava avail aced accepted advt advertisement aval available accc acceptance advg advertising ann announce avay availability anng announcing ach achieve aff affect annt announcement awf awful ach achieved affd affected annr announcer awfy awfully achl achievable affn affection acht achievement affi affectionate apo apology awk awkward apoc apologetic awky awkwardly ack acknowledge agg aggravate apoy apologetically awks awkwardness ackm acknowledgement aggg aggravating aggn aggravation

Table G: Illustrative (partial) list of abbreviations for words that begin with "A" Similarly, words for all alphabets B-Z have also been abbreviated. K12: Mobile Phone Keyboard

The methods described in the previous section such as frequency based key layout, abbreviated typing and beep based key interpretation can be used in keyboards for applications such as mobile phones, PDAs, Pocket PCs, industrial panels, electronic toys, etc. where textual input is minimal and typing need not be very fast, but it is important that the keyboard be compact.

Using techniques described earlier, a keyboard has been developed which has 12 keys similar to a standard mobile phone keyboard, however, as compared to mobile phone keyboard, is

- faster to operate; here the alphabets have been placed according to their frequency of usage. The alphabets with high frequency of usage (A₁D₁E₁H, I, L₁N, O,R,S,T and space) can be typed with one stroke, those with lower frequency of usage (B, C₁F₁G₁J, K₁M, P₁U₁W₁Y) require two strokes and those with still lower frequency of usage (V,Q,X,Z) require three strokes.

- can generate upper case & lower case alphabets, numerals and special characters without the need to change modes or use menu

- supports abbreviated typing similar to K44

The following comparison chart (based on Table A shown in previous section) compares the typing efficiency of standard mobile phone keypads and K12.

Comparison of Key Layout Efficiencies

rd Mobile Keyboard

One Two Three Four

Number of Keystrokes Required

As per this chart, in K12 keyboard, 79% characters require only one stroke, 17 % characters require two strokes and 2.5% characters require three strokes. Surprisingly, in case of mobile phone keyboard, 24% characters require two strokes and 27% require three strokes.

This keyboard, referred herein as K12, uses two techniques to generate the full character set with 12 keys.

1. Each key generates 3 different alphabets when pressed once, twice or thrice in quick succession. For instance, the top left key will generate A when pressed once, B when pressed twice in quick succession and CapsLock when pressed thrice in quick succession. (See Figure 8)

2. If this key is held down for about % second till an audible beep is heard, then it generates "1". If this key is held down till second audible beep, it generates "!" and if held down till 3^rd audible beep, it generates "#"

Here Shift has one-key life i.e., its status is automatically reset on pressing a key after setting it ON. In this way, this keyboard generates full character set including upper & lower case Alphabets A to Z, Numerals 0 to 9, full stop, coma, special characters (! @ # $ % & * ( ) - = + \ ; : "7 ? etc.), and CapsLock without the need to change any modes or without any menu support.

The abbreviation typing described earlier under K44 invention further enhances the typing speed and ease of usage of K12.

The keyboard disclosed herein fixes the position of only alphabets and numerals in the key layout and provides methods of generating all key codes from 12 keys. However, the choice and position of other characters (those excluding alphabets and numerals) is by way of illustration and can be customized by an application provider to suit the application needs.

K25: A keyboard for one-hand typing

Several applications have minimal textual data and typing is often clustered around a few keys such as numerals and occasional special characters. Moreover, for these applications, having a compact keyboard is crucial. For such applications, using the design techniques described in the previous sections, a full function one-hand keyboard has been designed.

This invention (as shown in Figure 9) uses the same overlay as K44 for numeral keys and is therefore extremely fast for numerical input and is much faster than mobile phone keyboards for textual input. In this layout, based on frequency of usage of alphabets as shown earlier in Table A, only 12.5% of typed characters i.e. 1 in every 8 characters will require two key strokes to type.

Additionally, this keyboard caters to both right-handed and left-handed people. The key size and layout is symmetrical and a single command switches the keyboard from right- handed usage to left-handed usage. The Shift and Space keys interchange their functions in the left-handed mode.

Operation: (Refer Figure 9 and Table H)

In alphabet mode (default) a. Press the key once to get first character written on the top row of the key-top b. Press the key twice (quickly) to get second character written on the top row of the key-top c. Hold the key down till first beep to get 1^st character written on the bottom row of the key-top d. Hold the key down till 2^nd beep to get 2^nd character written on the bottom row of the key-top e. Hold Shift and the key down till 1^st beep to get 3^rd character in the top row of the key-top f. Hold Shift and the key down till 2^nd beep to get 4^th character in the top row of the key-top g. Hold the key down till 3rd beep to get 3^rd character in the top row of the key-top h. Hold the key down till 4th beep to get 4^th character in the top row of the key-top

NUM mode

To temporarily select NUM mode, hold the Space key down while pressing keys. When the Space key is released, the keyboard returns to default (alphabet) mode.

To lock the keyboard into NUM mode, select FUNC mode and press Space key. To return to default mode, press FUNC key till Beep.

In NUM mode, pressing a key results in the 1^st character written on the bottom row of key-top. Holding a key down till 1^st beep results in the 2^nd character written on the bottom row of key-top.

In NUM mode, holding the shift key down and pressing a key results in the 1^st character written on the top row of key-top; holding a key down till 1^st beep results in the 2^nd character written on the top row of key-top.

In NUM mode, to temporarily select alphabet mode, hold the Space key down while pressing keys. When the Space key is released, the keyboard returns to NUM mode.

Cursor Pad

The Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Left Arrow, Right Arrow and Delete keys when pressed while holding Space key down generate their logical extension i.e.., PageUp, PageDown, Home, End and Insert keys respectively. All these keys have auto-repeat feature.

Function Mode and ALT, CTRL keys

Press and hold FUNC key down till Beep to select Function mode. This mode has one- key life i.e., it is automatically cancelled after an alpha-numeral key is pressed to effect F1 to F12. If Function mode key is held down while pressing other keys, then the Function mode remains active until the Function Mode key is released.

Likewise, press and hold Shift, Alt and Ctrl keys till beep for 'one-key life' or hold them pressed and press other keys.

Likewise, press and release Program key for 'one-key life' or hold it pressed and press other keys. The 'User defined Key' feature functions as described under K44 keyboard.

The key assignment for this version of keyboard is shown in Table H below.

This version also incorporates abbreviated typing as described under K44 keyboard.

Visual status indicators: The status of following is displayed on LED lamps. a. Shift (one-key life) b. Ctrl (one-key life) c. ALT (one-key life) d. FUNC (one-key life) e. Program (user-defined key) f. Visual beep g. NUM mode h. Abbreviated Typing off i. Caps

Note: The Up Arrow, Down Arrow, Le Arrow, ight Arrow and Delete keys when presse while holding Space key down generate their logical extension i.e. Page Up, Page Down, Home, End and Insert keys respectively.

Table H: K25 Key assignments in various modes

¹ The characters Tab, 0, Full-stop, Comma, and Enter listed in this column are generated in NUM mode only. If held pressed till beep, these keys generate FUNC, Alt, Ctrl, Repeat and Shift respectively. Brief Description of Drawings

Explanation Note for all figures: a. BS denotes Backspace b. Rpt. denotes Repeat Key. When this key is held pressed, it repeats the last typed character. c. Abrv. denotes Abbreviation Feature On/Off. d. In WHRL layout, X and B alphabet keys and in the QWERTY layout, B and N alphabet keys are used to switch to Numeral/Cursor pad Mode

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the keyboard with 44 keys, including the mandatory 38 full-function keys, 5 dedicated (optional) cursor keys and 1 optional user-defined key. The alphabets have been arranged in the invented WHRL key layout.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the keyboard with 44 keys, including the mandatory 38 full-function keys, 5 dedicated (optional) cursor keys and 1 optional user-defined key. The alphabets have been arranged in the popular QWERTY layout.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the keyboard with 44 keys, including the mandatory 38 full-function keys, 5 dedicated (optional) cursor keys and 1 optional user-defined key. The alphabets have been arranged in the popular QWERTY layout with minor improvement in placements of keys that are intended to be typed with little finger.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the keyboard with only the mandatory 38 full-function keys. The alphabets have been arranged in the popular QWERTY layout.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the keyboard with 43 keys, including the mandatory 38 full-function keys and 5 dedicated (optional) cursor keys which have been placed in an alternative (center) position rather than attached to either section. The alphabets have been arranged in the popular QWERTY layout. FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of the keyboard showing the extended version of the invention. Dedicated keys have been provided for all special functions such as cursor, numerals, special characters and function keys. The alphabets have been arranged in the popular QWERTY layout.

FIGURE 7 is an illustration of the traditional QWERTY keyboard that has been overlaid with the invented WHRL layout for alphabets.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the 12-key variant for mobile phones.

FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of the 25-key variant for one-hand typing.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

The methods of this invention can be used in two ways.

1. New keyboard design incorporating all the methods described herein.

2. Modifying software of the existing designs of keyboard thereby incorporating some of the methods described herein such as a. Arranging alphabet keys based on frequency of usage during normal typing b. Providing abbreviated typing for commonly used words c. Providing programmable keys for frequently used-defined phrases d. One-key-life feature for Alt, Shift and Ctrl keys

industrial Appiicabiiity

The methods described herein can be used to advantage in all keyboard applications.

Claims

1. A keyboard incorporating functionality of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard and having two physically independent sections, where the key sizes and positions of each section are a mirror image of each other, communicating with each other through a cable or wirelessly, allowing the user the freedom of adjusting the angle or angle and distance between the two sections as per individual comfort.

2. A keyboard incorporating functionality of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard and having two physically independent sections having five columns of keys each, one section for each hand, communicating with each other through a wire or wirelessly, allowing the user the freedom of adjusting the angle or angle and distance between the two sections as per individual comfort. And a third section comprising of cursor and ins/del keys: which can be attached to either left or right sections or split and attached to both sections as sixth column or can be a separate section having a fixed or an adjustable position.

3. A keyboard incorporating functionality of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard and having two sections of five columns each, where the key sizes and positions of the keys in the five columns of each section are a mirror image of each other, and a third section comprising of cursor and ins/del keys: which can be a separate section or can be split and attached to both sections as sixth column..

4. A keyboard wherein, instead of or in addition to separate keys for N/S characters (i.e. Numerals and Special characters !@#$%^Λ&^*()-+={}[]:;"'?/ etc.), facility to generate the entire set of N/S characters by any of the following user actions: a. by holding a designated key down while pressing the alphabet keys or b. by holding the individual alphabet key down until one 'beep' where 'beep⁵ is defined as holding a key pressed for a duration of about % second (user adjustable hold interval), where a sound is produced and/or a small light is blinked to indicate that this key has been pressed long enough to warrant a different interpretation. If the key is continued to be held pressed it generates a 'beep' after each successive hold interval. c. locking the keyboard into N/S mode until desired by pressing the designated mode key or keys

5. A keyboard incorporating facility to generate Special characters such as!@#$%^Λ&*()+?|:"_~{} without pressing the Shift key by holding the character key down till requisite number of 'beeps'.

6. A keyboard wherein, instead of or in addition to separate Shift keys, two alphabet keys are used as Shift keys too. If either of these two alphabet keys are pressed briefly and released, it generates the character assigned to it. If the key is held pressed until one 'beep' or held down while pressing other keys, then it acts as a Shift key.

7. A keyboard incorporating raised (taller) key-tops for some keys to avoid simultaneously pressing of adjoining keys: if a finger is erroneously pressed in between two keys, only the key with higher key-top will be pressed.

8. A keyboard incorporating facility to switch the key assignments of the keyboard for left-handed and right-handed persons by pressing a designated key combination

9. A keyboard wherein three or more different characters are generated from the same key by holding the key down for successive number of 'beeps' with any one of the following options: a. With each 'beep' it generates the corresponding character and if the key is held down till next 'beep', then it first generates backspace to delete the previous character and then generates the next character b. It does not generate intermediate characters. When the key is released, depending on how many 'beeps' it is held down for, it generates the corresponding character along with Shift if required

10. A keyboard wherein four, five or six different key assignments are generated from a key, without the need for a mode or context selection, using a subset or the entire list of the following actions a. the key is pressed briefly, once. b. the key is pressed twice in quick succession c. the key is pressed thrice in quick succession d. the key is held pressed until one 'beep' e. the key is held pressed until two 'beeps' f. the key is held pressed until three 'beeps'

11. A keyboard, incorporating a method of abbreviated typing wherein a large number of commonly used words have been abbreviated and incorporated in the keyboard hardware and embedded logic itself, and permitting the user to, instead of typing the full word, just type the abbreviation followed by any of these terminating characters: space, coma, full stop, or question mark (whichever terminating character is required to appear after the expansion), where a. the keyboard instantaneously replaces the abbreviation with its associated expansion followed by the terminating character. b. holding the Space key pressed until a 'beep' prohibits expansion of the word that has just been typed. c. pressing a designated key combination enables/disables the abbreviation feature

12. The abbreviation scheme as described in Claim 16 implemented in software on any system to which a keyboard is connected.

13. The facility for abbreviated typing as per claim 16 and 17 wherein the scheme of abbreviating multiple forms of a word is that the first three letters of the abbreviation are the first three letters of the word and the fourth letter of the abbreviation represents the ending. For example, sep for the word separate and sepn for separation and sepg for separating.

14. A keyboard incorporating facility for user to store strings of words, phrases, sentences and command sequences into keyboard memory that has been allocated to individual alphabet keys in the keyboard hardware wherein the user- stored strings can comprise of all the key-codes generated by the keyboard including Shift, Alt, Ctrl and also key codes not available on the keyboard, the latter to be entered in hexadecimal form, and with the facility to generate the user programmed string by holding the designated mode key pressed and pressing the corresponding alphabet key OR first pressing the designated mode key and after releasing it, pressing the corresponding alphabet key.

15. A keyboard wherein: a. The keys Q,W,E,R,T,Y,U, I₁O₁P as placed in QWERTY layout are replaced by Q, K, I, Y, J, W, H, R, L, Enter respectively b. The keys A,S,D,F,G,H,J,K, L, semi-colon as placed in QWERTY layout are replaced by Z₁A₁E₁O, Backspace, M₁N₁T₁S₁P respectively c. The keys Z₁X₁C₁V₁B₁N₁M, comma, full-stop, /, as placed in QWERTY layout are replaced by U₁ comma, full-stop, V₁ X, B₁ F₁ D₁ C, G respectively when implemented on any keyboard via hardware or software. This layout invention has been referred to as the WHRL layout.

16. A keyboard wherein all 26 alphabets are derived from a standard telephone key pad and a single numeral key is assigned up to three alphabets, and where the first assigned alphabet key is produced with a single stroke, the second assigned alphabet is produced with two strokes in quick succession, and the third assigned alphabet is produced with three strokes in quick succession, the assignment of alphabets to the numeral key pad is as follows: a. The numeral keys 1 ,2,3 are assigned alphabets AB₁ DC and EF respectively b. The numeral keys 4,5,6 are assigned alphabets HG, IJ and LK respectively c. The numeral keys 7,8,9 are assigned alphabets NM, OPQ, RUV respectively d. The numeral key for *,0, # are assigned alphabets Spacebar SWX, and TYZ respectively

17. A keyboard wherein a maximum of two alphabets are derived from a single key, and the first alphabet assigned to a key is generated by a single stroke, and the second alphabet is generated by two strokes in quick succession, having the following key assignments of alphabets to individual keys: AB, DC, EF, HG, IJ, LK, NM, OP, RQ, S, T, UV, WX, YZ.

18. A keyboard wherein the same set of 9 keys which have been used to generate their assigned alphabets, have also been used to generate numerals 1 to 9 and Functions keys F1 to F9, both of which are typically available in separate rows above the alphabet keys in a standard QWERTY keyboard, and with or without the facility to generate cursor keys - Up, Down, Left, Right, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down from the same set of 9 alphabet keys, and with or without the facility to generate the numeral key-codes 1 to 9 available in the numeral key pad of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard, from the same set of 9 alphabet keys.

19. A keyboard wherein the full functionality of a standard 101 -key PC keyboard has been implemented with 25 keys, and alpha-numeral keys have been arranged in four rows of five keys each, and the five cursor function keys are placed as a separate adjoining cluster, and the same set of 9 keys which have been used to generate their assigned alphabets, have also been used to generate numerals 1 to 9 and Functions keys F1 to F9.

20. A keyboard being offered in three sizes with an identical physical key layout and where the inter-key distances in the three sizes are as follows: a. Less than 18 mm in the small size b. 18-20 mm in the medium size c. Greater than 20 mm in the large size