JP2010055207A - Character input device, character input method, program, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

A character input device, a character input method, a program, and a storage medium capable of intuitive character input are provided.
A character input device 100 equipped with a touch panel 30 capable of multipoint input, a press information acquisition means 51 for acquiring position information of a press position of the touch panel 30, a list 32 of character types, and the list. Display control means 42c, 42f for displaying a character input screen in which a soft keyboard 34 of the pressed character type, an input character field 33 for displaying a character pressed by the soft keyboard 34, and a press information acquisition means are displayed. 51, when one of the character types in the list is pressed and it is detected that the pressed position of the soft keyboard has moved in a predetermined manner, the character code of the character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard is stored in memory. 53, a character input means 52 stored in 53, and a character display means 54 for displaying characters of the character code stored in the memory in the input character column. Characterized in that it.
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device equipped with a touch panel, and more particularly to a character input device, a character input method, a program, and a storage medium capable of inputting characters by combining two touch positions.

  A so-called rich content user interface (hereinafter referred to as UI) is considered in which a touch panel is mounted on an operation unit of home appliances, office equipment, and the like, and a variety of user-friendly operation menus are displayed on the touch panel. As the functions of home appliances and office equipment become more complex and diversified, the operation menu has become more complex and hierarchical, so the problem with a rich content UI is how to make operation intuitively easy. (For example, refer to Patent Documents 1 and 2.)

  In particular, it is remarkable in, for example, Japanese that can properly use kanji, hiragana, katakana, etc. However, a UI that is easier to input is desired for character input in languages with many character types.

  With respect to this point, in Patent Document 1, a rotatable wheel is provided around the operation panel, and each item of the operation menu, candidate characters, and the like are sequentially specified according to the amount of rotation of the wheel, and are confirmed by pressing. Possible UIs are described. However, providing a new wheel as in Patent Document 1 may increase costs.

Patent Document 2 describes a UI for detecting a user operation unit by a multipoint sensing device such as a multipoint touch screen and identifying a corresponding multipoint gesture. For example, when a control box is displayed at a position touched by the left hand and a button in the control box is touched, a task corresponding to the button is displayed in another area. Thus, for example, the same gesture made with the user's right hand can have multiple meanings depending on which of the left hand buttons is selected.
JP 2007-128381 A Special table 2008-508601 gazette

  However, Patent Document 2 does not consider character input in a language having various character types such as Japanese, and there is a problem that character input cannot be performed intuitively.

  An object of this invention is to provide the character input device, the character input method, program, and storage medium which can input a character intuitively in view of the said subject.

  In view of the above problems, the present invention is a character input device equipped with a touch panel capable of multi-point input, a press information acquisition unit for acquiring position information of a press position of the touch panel, a list of character types, and the list. The character type of the list is displayed by a display control means for displaying a character input screen in which a soft keyboard of a pressed character type, an input character field for displaying a character pressed by the soft keyboard, and a pressing information acquisition means are arranged. The character input means for storing the character code of the character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard in the memory when it is detected that the pressed position of the soft keyboard has moved in a predetermined manner in a state where any of the above is pressed And character display means for displaying the characters of the character code stored in the memory in the input character field.

  It is possible to provide a character input device, a character input method, a program, and a storage medium that can input characters intuitively.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character input screen provided by the character input device 100. The character input device 100 displays a character input screen on the operation panel 30. The operation panel 30 includes a touch panel that can detect multiple points simultaneously, and the character input screen is divided into a left-hand input area and a right-hand input area. A control button 31 and a character type designation button 32 are displayed in the left hand input area, and an input box 33 and a soft keyboard 34 are displayed in the right hand input area.

  The character type designation button 32 has buttons “A”, “A”, “1”, “A, a” for designating character types such as katakana, hiragana, numbers, alphabets, etc., and corresponds when the user touches any of the buttons. A soft keyboard 34 is displayed. Characters can be displayed one after another in the input box 33 by the user touching a key of the soft keyboard 34 (when a user performs a flip operation described later). By inputting characters by this “playing” operation instead of simply touching, it becomes possible to reduce input mistakes and make intuitive input.

  The control button 31 includes, for example, “Copy”, “Paste”, and “Modify” buttons, and performs operations such as copy, delete, move, modify, and paste to characters once entered in the input box 33. Make it possible. For example, the user can copy the traced character by “tracing” the character in the input box 33 with the right hand while pressing “copy” with the left hand.

  As described above, the character input device 100 according to the present embodiment specifies the input content of the user by flipping or tracing the touch panel in the right hand input area while designating input or operation in the left hand input area. Character input is possible.

  In the following description, it is assumed that the left hand input area is operated with the left hand and the right hand input area is operated with the right hand. However, the left hand input area and the right hand input area may be operated with one left hand or one right hand. In addition to the character input screen for right-handed users of the present embodiment, a character input screen in which the right hand input area and the left hand input area are reversed left and right may be displayed for left-handed users. In addition, when the user simply touches the touch panel is referred to as “pressing”, and two movement modes for moving the pressing position while pressing are referred to as “playing” and “tracing”, respectively.

  Note that a series of user interfaces (hereinafter referred to as UI) provided by the character input device 100 can be applied to any device equipped with a touch panel. For example, an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral), a home appliance, a computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a mobile phone, a PHS, a smartphone, and the like. In this embodiment, an application example to an MFP will be described.

[Configuration of MFP 200]
FIG. 2 shows an example of a hardware configuration diagram of the MFP 200. A known hardware configuration of the MFP 200 can be used. The MFP 200 may be a device having one or more functions of a printer, a facsimile, a scanner device, or a copying machine, and does not necessarily have two or more functions.

  In the MFP 200, a controller 50, a fax control unit 26, a plotter 27, a scanner 28, and other hardware resources 29 are connected by a serial interbus (such as a PCI bus or PCI-Express). The controller 50 is connected to an operation panel 30 operated by a user.

  The controller 50 is a control unit for the entire MFP 200 that uses the fax control unit 26, the plotter 27, the scanner 28, and other hardware resources 29 to process document reading, printing, facsimile transmission / reception, input from the operation panel 30, and the like. is there.

  The plotter 27 is a black and white plotter and / or a one-drum color plotter, and forms an image for each page based on print target data and image data read by the scanner 28, and transfers the image onto a sheet. For example, a toner image formed on a photosensitive drum or the like is transferred onto a sheet using an electrophotographic process using a laser beam, and is fixed by a fixing device with heat and pressure and output.

  The scanner 28 optically scans the document placed on the contact glass, A / D converts the reflected light, performs known image processing, and converts the image data into digital data of a predetermined resolution. Generate.

  The fax control unit 26 is connected to a public communication network via an NCU (Network Control Unit), and performs facsimile transmission / reception according to a communication procedure (communication protocol) corresponding to, for example, a G3 or G4 standard facsimile. The fax control unit 26 performs signal processing such as data compression and modulation on the image data and transmits it, and decompresses the image data received from the other party and corrects the error to restore the image data.

  The controller 50 includes a CPU 11, an NB (North Bridge) 13, a MEM-P 12, a MEM-C 14, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) 16, and a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD 15). In addition, a network interface card (NIC) 18 that provides an interface with the outside, a wireless LAN I / F 19, an IEEE 134 I / F 21, a USB host 22, and a memory card I / F 23 are provided.

  The CPU 11 controls the entire MFP 200 via the NB 13 that controls transmission of data distributed to a bus connecting the MEM-P 12, the ASIC 16, the USB host 22, and the like. Further, the character input program 20 stored in the HDD 15 is executed to realize each function described later.

  The NB 13 is a bridge IC for connecting the CPU 11 to the MEM-P 12 and AGP, and the MEM-P 12 is a system memory used as a drawing memory of the image processing apparatus 100.

  The MEM-C 14 is a local memory used as a copy image buffer and a code buffer, and the ASIC 16 includes a large number of registers and logic circuits, and functions as a head pulse generation unit in addition to a control unit of each motor driver. The ASIC 16 also serves as a bridge for connecting the AGP, HDD 15 and MEM-C 14 respectively.

  The operation panel 30 is an operation unit that receives an input operation from a user and performs display for the user. The operation panel 30 has a touch panel as an input unit in addition to a keyboard, and is also used as a display unit such as an LCD (liquid crystal display). Yes.

  The HDD 15 is a storage unit that stores image data, various programs such as an OS (Operating System) 44 and an application 41, font data, and the like. In the present embodiment, a character input program 20 is stored in the HDD 15. The character input program 20 is stored in the memory card 24 and distributed and installed in the HDD 15, or downloaded from the server and installed in the HDD 15. The memory card 24 is, for example, a USB memory, an SD card, a multimedia card, an xD card, or the like.

[Functional configuration of MFP 200]
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of the MFP 200. The MFP 200 includes an application 41, an API (Application Interface), a control service 42, an SRM (system resource manager) 43, an OS 44, an engine I / F, and a hardware resource 45.

The control service 42 interprets the processing request from the application 41 and generates a hardware resource 45 acquisition request. The SRM 43 arbitrates acquisition requests from the control service 42. The control service 42 is formed by a plurality of service modules, an ECS (engine control service) 42a for controlling hardware resources 45 such as the plotter 27 and the scanner 28, acquisition and release of image memory, use of the HDD 15, use of image data The MCS (memory control service) 42b that performs compression and decompression and the operation panel 30 are controlled to acquire a key press on the operation panel 30 as a key event, and a key event function corresponding to the acquired key is obtained from an SCS (system control). (Service) 42 f sent to 42 f and FCS which performs facsimile transmission / reception using public telephone network, recording, printing of received facsimile data, reading of facsimile data to be transmitted, etc. SCS (fax control service) 42d and NCS (network control) that sends data received according to each protocol from the network side to each application 41 to the application 41 connected to the network and transmits the data from the application 41 via the network Service) 42e and an SCS 42f that performs management of the application 41, control of the operation panel 30, system screen display, LED display, resource management, interrupt application control, and the like.

  The OS 44 is a general-purpose operating system such as UNIX (registered trademark) or LINUX (registered trademark), and operates the service modules of the application 41 and the control service 42 in parallel.

  The application 41 requests processing from the control service 42 by a predefined function (API). The application 41 is, for example, a printer application that develops print target data described in a page description language into raster data and performs printing according to printing conditions, a copy application that executes from reading to printing during copying, and a facsimile application. A fax application, a scanner application that is a scanner application, a Web application that is a network file application, and the like.

  The character input device 100 of the present embodiment enables character input and operation of the input character using the functions of the OCS 42c and the SCS 42f. The OCS 42c includes an OCS function library 55 in which drawing functions for displaying various screens on the operation panel 30 are registered in advance. When the user presses a key, a key event corresponding to the key is detected and sent to the SCS 42f, and when the application 41 requests the OCS 42c to display a screen via the API, the information is sent to the SCS 42f. As a result, the SCS 42 f reads the drawing function designated from the OCS function library 55 and displays a screen in response to a user operation or a request from the application 41.

  The character input service 46 is configured integrally with one application 41, one process of the control service 42, or the OCS 42c or SCS 42f, and the screen of the operation panel 30 is operated in an operation screen mode (operating the MFP 200 for copying, scanning, etc.). When the screen is switched to the character input screen in the character input mode, intuitive character input and operation are enabled. The character input service 46 is realized by the CPU 11 executing the character input program 20.

[Operation panel 30]
A touch panel included in the operation panel 30 will be described. There are various methods for detecting the user's pressed position on the touch panel, such as a capacitance method, a resistive film method, an acoustic pulse recognition method, an ultrasonic surface acoustic wave method, an infrared shading method, and an image recognition method. Any method can be used as long as it can detect points simultaneously. For example, a capacitive touch panel or an optical touch panel is provided.

FIG. 4 is an example of a diagram for schematically explaining the pressing position of the user detected by the operation panel 30. In FIG. 4, a plurality of pressed positions with the left hand and the right hand are detected. The operation panel 30 detects the coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ) and (x _r , y _r ) of two or more pressed positions, assigns a unique identification ID to each, and sends it to the controller 50. In addition to the coordinates, a finger contact area, a pressing force (a touch panel displacement amount), and the like may be detected.

  In the case of the electrostatic capacity method, current detectors are provided at the four corners of the operation panel 30, and a current proportional to the distance flowing from the pressed position to each current detector is calculated to calculate the pressed position. In the case of the optical method, a change in light near the pixel is detected by a photodiode formed in the pixel, and whether or not the user has pressed the pixel is detected.

  The operation panel 30 detects the coordinates of the pressed position for each cycle time. Therefore, if the user's finger stays at the same position, almost the same coordinates can be obtained with slight displacement in accordance with human physiological phenomena. On the other hand, when the user moves his / her finger while touching the touch panel (when playing or tracing), coordinates displaced in the moving direction are detected every cycle time. Accordingly, by monitoring the coordinates of the pressed position, it is possible to detect the manner of movement of the pressed position (the manner of pressing by the user).

[Detection of pressed information]
FIG. 5 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the character input device 100. Of the functional blocks in FIG. 5, the pressed information acquisition unit 51, the character input processing unit 52, and the character display processing unit 54 are functions provided by the character input service 46.

  The position information of the pressed position where the user pressed the operation panel 30 is sent to the OCS 42c or the pressed information acquisition unit 51 according to the two modes described above. The character input mode and the operation screen mode can be switched alternately by a user operation or a request from the application 41.

  In the operation screen mode, the key event function acquired by the OCS 42c in response to pressing of the operation panel 30 is sent to the SCS 42f as it is, and the SCS 42f reads the key event function received from the OCS 42c from the OCS function library 55 and executes it. Display the screen. The same applies to switching from the operation screen mode to the character input mode. When the user inputs a button operation or the like to switch to the character input mode, the SCS 42f displays a character input screen as shown in FIG.

  In the character input mode, the coordinates detected by the operation panel 30 are once input to the press information acquisition unit 51. The press information acquisition unit 51 monitors the press positions of the left hand input area and the right hand input area on the character input screen, and acquires the press information of the user, which is a characteristic part of the present embodiment. This press information becomes a key event function for inputting characters in the MFP.

  In the character input mode, the SCS 42 f sends the press information to the character input processing unit 52. The character input processing unit 52 performs character input or character operation based on the character operation table in which the pressed information is associated with the character input and operation contents, and reflects (stores) them in the text memory 53. The pressing information will be described later.

  The text memory 53 is composed of a text RAM or the like, and stores a character code of characters displayed in the input box 33. The characters input by the user are stored in the text memory 53 in the order of input, and the character display processing unit 54 reads out the character codes from the text memory 53 in ascending or descending order of addresses (including lines, positions, attributes, etc. if necessary). . By passing this character code to the drawing function of the character input screen of the OCS function library 55, the character input by the user is displayed in the input box 33 of the character input screen.

  Accordingly, the storage position (address) in the text memory 53 becomes the display position in the input box 33 as it is, but the line number and the column number of each character code may be stored in the text memory 53 in association with each other. In the latter case, the degree of freedom of character codes stored in the text memory 53 can be increased. Further, when attributes such as color, font type, size, etc. can be set for the characters input by the user or displayed in the input box 33, these attributes are stored in addition to the character code.

[Press information]
The pressing information will be described. The pressing information is a combination of one or more of the pressing position of the left hand input area and the right hand input area, the moving direction of the pressing position, and the moving speed (or acceleration) of the pressing position. In the present embodiment, only the pressed position is detected in the left-hand input area, but the movement of the pressed position may be detected also in the left-hand input area, and more various types of pressed information may be input.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the pressing information, and FIG. 7 shows an example of a character operation table. As shown in FIG. 7, assuming that the left hand is stationary in the left hand input area, the coordinates (x _l , y _l ) of the left hand input area are common to all the pressed information.

FIG. 6A shows the coordinates when the pressed position is almost stationary in time series (time t1 to tn). When stationary, the coordinates (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)), (x _r (t2), y _r (t2)),... Detected at each cycle time may be substantially equal to each other. .

  When the pressed information acquisition unit 51 detects a stationary coordinate of the left-hand input area and corresponds to the position of the character type designation button 32, the pressed information acquisition unit 51 calls the drawing function of the soft keyboard 34 from the OCS function library 55. Displayed on the operation panel 30. The soft keyboard 34 may be displayed only while the character type designation button 32 is pressed, or the soft keyboard 34 corresponding to the character type designation button 32 pressed last may be displayed. However, from the viewpoint of intuitive operation using both hands, even if the soft keyboard 34 remains displayed after the character type designation button 32 is released, the character type designation button 32 and the soft keyboard 34 are used for character input. It is preferable to require a state where both are pressed in a common time zone.

FIG. 6B shows the coordinates of the operation of flipping the pressed position upward in time series. When the user flips the pressed position upward in the coordinate system shown in FIG. 4, the x coordinate of the pressed position may be the same, and the y coordinate increases in a short time. In order to detect the movement mode of the pressed position, the pressed information acquisition unit 51 determines the coordinates of the end point (x _r (tn), y) from the start point coordinate (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) to the end of playing. _r (tn)) to generate a vector S. When the length is equal to or greater than a predetermined value and the coordinate movement speed V is equal to or greater than v1, it may be determined that the user intentionally flicked his / her finger. Therefore, the coordinates of the starting point (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) designating the character pressed by the user in the right-hand input area, the bounce direction θ, and the moving speed V can be used as the pressing information.

  The moving speed V is detected from a value obtained by dividing the length of the vector S by the time T until moving. An operation of differentiating the moving speed V with respect to time and playing from the acceleration may be detected. Further, the direction θ is measured with respect to the horizontal direction, for example, and different operations can be input according to the direction θ. For example, if the direction θ is approximated to any of four of 0 degree, 90 degrees, 180 degrees, and 270 degrees, four different operations can be input.

There is an operation (an operation to move the pressed position) similar to the operation of playing. The tracing operation is used when one or more characters in the input box 33 are copied. The difference from the playing operation is that the coordinates change speed and the coordinates of the end point are required. In many cases, the length of the vector S is longer than the playing operation. Therefore, a vector S is generated from the coordinates of the starting point (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) and the coordinates of the end point of playing (x _r (tn), y _r (tn)), and the length thereof is predetermined. When the value is equal to or higher than the value and the moving speed is less than v1, it can be determined that the user intentionally moves the finger. Therefore, the pressing information can be obtained by adding the coordinates of the end point (x _r (tn), y _r (tn)) to the pressing information of the flip operation. The copy range or the like can be detected from the coordinates of the end point.

  Further, even if the left hand input area and the right hand input area are pressed with two or more fingers, the pressed information acquisition unit 51 can detect it. For example, when inputting an alphabet, the character type designation button 32 is displayed without distinguishing between uppercase and lowercase alphabets, and the uppercase and lowercase letters are switched depending on how many fingers press the character type designation button 32. can do. In this case, a plurality of coordinates in the left-hand input area is the pressing information. The pressing information of the right-hand input area is the same as the playing operation, for example.

From the above, as the pressing information, (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)), (x _r (tn), y _r (tn)), the direction θ, and the moving speed V are sufficient. More preferably, by including the coordinates of (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) to (x _r (tn), y _r (tn)), movement other than a straight line is detected, and various pressings are performed. Information can be acquired. In addition, since necessary pressing information changes also with the pressed control button 31, the pressing information acquisition means may discard a part of pressing information acquired according to the pressed control button 31. FIG.

[Character input screen]
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a character operation table. As shown in the figure, how the character is operated is registered in association with the pressed information. Hereinafter, various character input screens will be described with reference to FIG.

FIGS. 9A and 9B and FIGS. 10A to 10C show examples of a character input screen displayed on the operation panel 30 when the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area is selected. FIG. 9A shows an example of the soft keyboard 34 displayed when “a” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area. As shown in the drawing, “a” to “n” are displayed in katakana in order of 50 notes. In the state where “a” in the left hand input area is pressed, when the user flips, for example, “ne” upward with the finger of the right hand, the character input processing unit 52 is to input the character “ne” from the pressed information. Is detected. That is, the operation is to specify the character code of “N” from the combination of (x ₁ , y ₁ ) and (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) and play from the moving speed V of the pressed position, A character input is detected from the direction θ (90 degrees). The character code “ne” is stored in the text memory 53, and “ne” input by the user is displayed in the input box 33 of the character input screen. Note that the pressed key of the soft keyboard may be displayed in a large size so that the user can easily select it.

  FIG. 9B shows an example of the soft keyboard 34 displayed when “A” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area. As shown in the figure, “a” to “n” are displayed in hiragana in the order of 50 sounds. As in the case of katakana, when the user plays, for example, “Ne” upward with the finger of the right hand, the character code “Ne” is stored in the text memory 53, and the user enters the input box 33 on the character input screen. The entered “Ne” is displayed.

  FIG. 10A shows an example of the soft keyboard 34 displayed when “1” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area. As shown in the drawing, numerical values “0 to 9”, “*” and “#” are displayed. As in the case of katakana, when the user plays, for example, “1” upward with the finger of the right hand, the character code “1” is stored in the text memory 53, and the user enters the input box 33 on the character input screen. The entered “1” is displayed.

  FIG. 10B shows an example of the soft keyboard 34 displayed when “A, a” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area. As shown in the drawing, lower case alphabets “az” are displayed. As in the case of katakana, when the user plays, for example, “p” upward with the finger of the right hand, the character code “p” is stored in the text memory 53, and the user enters the input box 33 on the character input screen. The input “p” is displayed.

  Since the alphabet has uppercase and lowercase characters, the uppercase button and lowercase button may be displayed on the character type designation button 32, but the display area of the character type designation button 32 can be saved by combining uppercase and lowercase letters. it can. In the present embodiment, for example, by pressing “A, a” at two places on the character type designation button 32, an uppercase alphabet can be input.

  FIG. 10C shows an example of the soft keyboard 34 displayed when “A, a” is pressed at two positions (with two fingers) in the character type designation button 32 in the left-hand input area. As shown, capital letters “A to Z” are displayed. As in the case of katakana, when the user plays, for example, “P” upward with the finger of the right hand, the character code “P” is stored in the text memory 53, and the user enters the input box 33 on the character input screen. The input “P” is displayed.

  In FIG. 10C, uppercase and lowercase letters are switched according to the number of pressed positions. For example, "a" that enables katakana input is full-width when pressed at one place, and half-width when pressed at two places. Thus, it may be possible to input by switching each.

  After the user inputs a series of characters in the input box 33, the user may want to pass the characters to the application 41 or store them in the HDD 15. In order to make it possible to determine such a character, a character string in the input box 33 may be determined when predetermined pressing information is input to the input box 33 while nothing is pressed in the left-hand input area. it can.

FIG. 11A is an example of a diagram illustrating a determination operation for a character (character string) in the input box 33. When the user flips the pressed position upward in the input box 33, the character input processing unit 52 detects from the pressed information that the character in the input box 33 is confirmed. That is, (x ₁ , y ₁ ) is not detected, and it is detected from (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) that the input box 33 is pressed. Further, it is detected that the operation is to play from the moving speed V of the pressed position and that the character is confirmed from the direction θ (90 degrees).

  For example, the character input processing unit 52 stores the character codes of all characters stored in the text memory 53 in the shared memory of the application 41 or in the HDD 15. As a result, the characters input with the soft keyboard 34 can be used with the application 41. At this time, the character code stored in the text memory 53 may be initialized or may be stored.

  As described above, when inputting characters, the left-hand input area and the right-hand input area are used properly, and each can be input with a single press, so that intuitive and efficient character input is possible. Further, when inputting characters, it is necessary to “play” the characters on the soft keyboard 34. Therefore, even if the wrong key is pressed, the character is not input until it is played, and the user's input mistakes can be reduced. In addition, since the player needs to change the pressing position at a speed of v1 or higher, the user may accidentally move the finger while pressing or select characters to be input while tracing. However, input errors can be reduced.

<Correction>
Next, the operation of characters when the control button 31 is pressed will be described together with the character input screen. There are cases where it is desired to correct a series of characters entered in the input box 33. In the present embodiment, the character can be corrected by playing the correction target character in the input box 33 in a state where “correction” is pressed in the left-hand input area.

FIG. 11B is an example of a diagram for explaining correction of characters in the input box 33. When the user flips the character in the input box 33 downward while pressing “correct” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area, the character input processing unit 52 can correct the character in the input box 33 from the pressed information. Detect that there is. That is, it is detected from (x _l , y _l ) that “correction” has been pressed, and the character “u” in the input box 33 is specified from (x _r (t1), _yr (t1)). Further, it is detected that the operation is to play from the moving speed V of the pressed position and that the character is to be corrected from the direction θ (270 degrees).

  The character display processing unit 54 notifies the user that “U” is a correction target, for example, by highlighting “U” in the input box 33. When a new character is input from the soft keyboard 34, the character input processing unit 52 replaces the character code “u” in the text memory 53 with the newly input character code (for example, “A”). The character display processing unit 54 displays in the input box 33 characters corresponding to an example character code of the text memory 53 including the replaced character code.

<Delete>
In some cases, it may be desirable to delete characters entered in the input box 33. In this embodiment, when deleting, the character to be deleted in the input box 33 is played while “correction” is pressed in the left-hand input area.

FIG. 12A is an example for explaining deletion of characters in the input box 33. When the user flips the character in the input box 33 upward while pressing “correct” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area, the character input processing unit 52 deletes the character in the input box 33 from the pressed information. Detect that there is. That is, it is detected from (x _l , y _l ) that “correction” has been pressed, and the character “u” in the input box 33 is specified from (x _r (t1), _yr (t1)). Further, it is detected that the operation is to play from the moving speed V of the pressed position and that the character is to be deleted from the direction θ (90 degrees).

  The character input processing unit 52 deletes the character code of “u” in the text memory 53 and moves the character code at the address lower than “u” by the number of bytes of one character. This eliminates the blank in the input box 33 and allows “U” to be deleted. The character display processing unit 54 displays in the input box 33 characters corresponding to a series of character codes in the text memory 53 from which the character code “u” has been deleted.

  With the correction / deletion method of the present embodiment, it is only necessary to play the character to be deleted or corrected in the right hand input area while pressing “correct” in the left hand input area. Steps such as pressing and designating characters can be reduced, and characters can be corrected or deleted intuitively.

<Move>
There are cases where it is desired to move a character entered in the input box 33. In the present embodiment, when moving a character, the character to be moved in the input box 33 is flipped in the moving direction while “correct” is pressed in the left-hand input area.

FIG. 12B is an example of a diagram illustrating the movement of characters in the input box 33. When the user presses the character in the input box 33 to be moved in the right or left direction while the “correction” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area is pressed, the character input processing unit 52 uses the input information to determine the input box 33. Detect that the character is moving. That is, it is detected from (x _l , y _l ) that “correction” has been pressed, and the character “u” in the input box 33 is specified from (x _r (t1), _yr (t1)). Further, it is detected that the operation is to play from the moving speed V of the pressed position and that the character is moving from the direction θ (0 degree or 180 degrees).

  For example, when the character is played in the right direction, the character input processing unit 52 exchanges the character codes “U” and “E” in the text memory 53. Thereby, “u” can be moved to the right by one column. The character display processing unit 54 displays in the input box 33 characters corresponding to a series of character codes in the text memory 53 with the character codes replaced. If you want to move multiple columns and characters, you can repeat this process.

  With the movement method of this embodiment, it is only necessary to play the character to be moved in the right hand input area in the moving direction while pressing “correction” in the left hand input area. Steps such as direction designation and character designation can be reduced, and characters can be moved intuitively.

<Copy>
There are cases where the characters entered in the input box 33 are copied and reused. In the present embodiment, when copying, the user moves (traces) while pressing the desired copy range in the input box 33 while “copy” is pressed in the left-hand input area.

FIG. 13A is an example of a diagram illustrating copying of characters to the input box 33. When the user moves the pressed position from the predetermined position of the input box 33 to the predetermined position while pressing “Copy” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area, the character input processing unit 52 uses the input information to determine the input box 33. Detect that this is a copy of the character. That is, it is detected from (x ₁ , y ₁ ) that “Copy” is pressed, and (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) and (x _r (tn), y _r (tn)) Specifies the range of characters to copy from. In the figure, “U” to “O” are specified. Further, it is detected that the operation is to move from the moving speed V at the pressed position.

  The character input processing unit 52 reads the character codes “U” to “O” in the text memory 53 and stores them in a work area provided in the MEM-P 12 or the HDD 15. As a result, the character codes “U” to “O” could be copied. Although the display of the input box 33 does not change, for example, “U” to “O” may be highlighted to notify the user that the copy has been made.

  With the copy method of this embodiment, it is only necessary to trace the character to be copied in the right hand input area while pressing “Copy” in the left hand input area. Steps such as specifying the end position and executing copying can be reduced, and characters can be copied intuitively.

<Paste>
In some cases, it is desired to input characters into the input box 33 without using the soft keyboard 34. Such character input is known as paste, and the character code stored in the work area can be inserted at a designated location. In the present embodiment, when pasting, the user pushes his / her finger at a position where the input box 33 is desired to be inserted while “paste” is pressed in the left-hand input area.

FIG. 13B is an example of a diagram for explaining paste of characters into the input box 33. When the user flips a character upward at a predetermined position in the input box 33 while pressing the “paste” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area, the character input processing unit 52 uses the pressed information to input the input box 33. Detects that it is a character paste. That is, it is detected from (x ₁ , y ₁ ) that “Paste” is pressed, and the insertion position of the input box 33 is specified from (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)). Although “u” is specified in the figure, it may be played below “u”. Further, it is detected that the operation is to play from the moving speed V of the pressed position and that the character is to be inserted from the direction θ (90 degrees).

  The character input processing unit 52 counts the number of characters in the work area, and moves the character code after “U” in the text memory 53 by the number of characters. Then, the character code of the work area is stored at an empty address in the text memory 53. Thereby, a character can be inserted into the input box 33. The character display processing unit 54 displays in the input box 33 characters corresponding to a series of character codes in the text memory 53 in which the character code is newly inserted.

  With the paste method of the present embodiment, it is only necessary to play the position where the paste is desired in the right hand input area while pressing “Paste” in the left hand input area. Steps such as paste execution can be reduced and characters can be pasted intuitively.

  Note that the relationship between the press information described above, character input, and character operation is merely an example. For example, the “flick” operation in the right-hand input area is substituted with a check mark (re) or a movement mode of a circular press position. May be. Further, for example, two presses within a predetermined time, such as a so-called double click, may be used instead of the “playing” operation, and characters other than those described above may be enabled by this press information.

[Character input procedure]
A character input procedure using the above configuration will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The flowchart of FIG. 14 starts when, for example, a character input screen is displayed.

  The character input processing unit 52 refers to the pressing information and determines whether or not the left-hand input area is pressed (S10).

When the left-hand input area is pressed (Yes in S10), the character input processing unit 52 determines whether the control button 31 or the character type designation button 32 is pressed from the left-hand input area coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ). Is identified (S20).

The character input processing unit 52 determines whether or not the pressed position of the left hand input area is the alphabet “A, a” based on the coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ) of the left hand input area (S30). If “A, a” is pressed (Yes in S30), it is determined whether two pressed positions are detected in “A, a” (S70).

  When “A, a” is simultaneously pressed at two places (Yes in S70), the character input processing unit 52 displays the uppercase alphabetic soft keyboard 34 in the right-hand input area (S80). When “A, a” is pressed in one place (No in S70), the character input processing unit 52 displays the lowercase alphabetic soft keyboard 34 in the right-hand input area (S90).

  Returning to step S30, if “A, a” is not pressed (No in S30), the character input processing unit 52 determines whether “1” of the character type designation button 32 is pressed (S40). When “1” is pressed (Yes in S40), the character input processing unit 52 displays the soft keyboard 34 having numerical values “0” to “9” in the right-hand input area (S100).

  Returning to step S40, if “1” of the character type designation button 32 is not pressed (No in S40), the character input processing unit 52 determines whether “a” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 or not. (S50) When "A" is pressed (Yes in S50), the character input processing unit 52 displays the hiragana soft keyboard 34 from "A" to "N" in the right-hand input area (S110).

  Returning to step S50, if “A” of the character type designation button 32 is not pressed (No in S50), the character input processing unit 52 determines whether “A” is pressed in the character type designation button 32 or not. (S60) If “A” is pressed (Yes in S60), the character input processing unit 52 displays the katakana soft keyboard 34 of “A” to “N” in the right-hand input area (S120).

  When the soft keyboard 34 is displayed, the character input processing unit 52 acquires pressing information obtained from the right hand input area (S130).

First, it is determined whether or not an operation to play with any key of the soft keyboard 34 is detected (S140). When the playing direction θ is, for example, 90 degrees, character input is detected. Therefore, the character input processing unit 52 stores the character code specified based on (x _r (t1), y _r (t1)) in the text memory 53. (S150). As a result, the character display processing unit 54 displays characters in the input box 33.

  Further, the character input processing unit 52 determines whether or not the user has pressed the input box 33 (S160). If the input box 33 is not pressed, the character input is repeated.

  Next, the character input processing unit 52 determines whether or not there is an operation for determining the character (character string) in the input box 33 (S170). The confirmation of the characters in the input box 33 is when the left hand input area is not pressed and the input box 33 is flipped upward. When the pressing information is input, the character input processing unit 52 outputs the character code stored in the text memory 53 to the application 41 or the like (S200).

  When there is no operation to confirm the character (character string) in the input box 33 (No in S170), the character input processing unit 52 determines whether or not “Copy” of the control button 31 in the left-hand input area is pressed (S180). ).

When “Copy” of the control button 31 is pressed (Yes in S180), the character input processing unit 52 shifts to the copy mode (S210), and the two coordinates (x _r (t1), y _r ( _{t1)) (x r (t1} ), and stores the character code in the work area of the text memory 53 which identifies the copy range from y r _(t1)) corresponding (S230).

When the “paste” of the control button 31 is pressed (Yes in S190), the character input processing unit 52 shifts to the paste mode (S220), and the coordinates (x _r (t1), y _r ( t1)) Specify the paste position, and paste the character code of the work area into the text memory 53 (S240). Thereby, a character can be inserted into the input box 33.

  As described above, according to the character input method of the present embodiment, the left hand input area and the right hand input area are properly used, and characters are input by an operation with the intention to play, so that intuitive and efficient character input is possible. It becomes. In addition, since a character is not input until it is played even if it is simply pressed, user input errors can be reduced.

  In addition, since the user can paste or copy by playing or tracing the characters in the input box 33 while pressing the control button 31 in the left hand input area, the characters can be pasted or copied intuitively.

It is a figure explaining the character input using the character input screen displayed on the operation panel. 2 is an example of a hardware configuration diagram of an MFP. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a functional configuration of an MFP. FIG. It is an example of the figure which illustrates typically the pressing position of the user which an operation panel detects. It is an example of the functional block diagram of a character input device. It is an example of the figure for demonstrating pressing information. It is a figure which shows an example of pressing information. It is a figure which shows an example of a character operation table. It is a figure explaining an example of the character input using a character input screen. It is a figure explaining an example of the character input using a character input screen. It is a figure explaining an example of finalizing operation and correction of the character (character string) of an input box. It is a figure explaining an example of the deletion of the character (character string) of an input box, and a movement. It is a figure explaining an example of the copy of the character (character string) of an input box, and a paste. It is an example of the flowchart figure which shows the procedure of a character input.

Explanation of symbols

20 Character input program 24 Memory card 30 Operation panel 31 Control button 32 Character type designation button 33 Input box 34 Soft keyboard 42c OCS
42f SCS
46 Character Input Service 51 Press Information Acquisition Unit 52 Character Input Processing Unit 53 Text Memory 54 Character Display Processing Unit 55 OCS Function Library 100 Character Input Device 200 MFP

Claims (12)

A character input device equipped with a touch panel capable of multipoint input,
Pressing information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a pressing position of the touch panel;
A display control means for displaying a character input list in which a list of character types, a soft keyboard of the character types pressed in the list, and an input character field for displaying characters pressed in the soft keyboard are arranged;
When the pressing information acquisition unit detects that the pressed position of the soft keyboard has been moved in a predetermined state while any of the character types in the list is pressed, the character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard A character input means for storing the character code in the memory;
Character display means for displaying characters of the character code stored in the memory in the input character field;
A character input device comprising: The display control means displays a control button for operating a character displayed in the input character field,
When the pressing information acquisition means detects that the pressing position of the input character field has moved in a predetermined manner while the control button is pressed,
The character input means operates the characters displayed in the input character field according to the pressed control button and the mode.
The character input device according to claim 1, further comprising: The aspect is that the pressed position moves at a speed or acceleration greater than or equal to a predetermined value in either the up, down, left, or right direction.
The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the character input device is a character input device. When it is detected that one or more characters in the input character field are pressed while the control button for copying characters is pressed,
The character input means transcribes a character code corresponding to one or more pressed characters from the memory to a working memory.
The character input device according to claim 2. When it is detected that the pressed position of the input character field has been moved in a predetermined manner while the control button for pasting the character is pressed,
The character input means stores the character code stored in the work memory in the memory,
The character display means inserts and displays a character code character stored in the memory from a working memory at a pressed position of the input character field.
The character input device according to claim 2. When it is detected that the pressed position of the input character field has moved in a predetermined manner while the control button for correcting a character is pressed,
The character input means deletes the character code of the character corresponding to the pressed position of the input character field stored in the memory;
The character display means deletes the character of the character code deleted from the memory from the input character field;
The character input device according to claim 2. When it is detected that the pressed position of the input character field has moved in a predetermined manner while the control button for correcting a character is pressed,
The character display means displays the character at the pressed position of the input character field and the position of the character adjacent to the character;
The character input device according to claim 2. When it is detected that the pressed position of the input character field has moved in a predetermined manner while the control button for correcting a character is pressed,
The character display means replaces the character code stored in the memory corresponding to the character at the pressed position of the input character field with the character code of the character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard,
The character display means displays a character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard at the pressed position of the input character field.
The character input device according to claim 2. When the pressing information acquisition means detects that the pressing position of the input character field has moved in a predetermined manner in a state where the control button is not pressed,
The character input means outputs all the character codes stored in the memory to a predetermined output destination;
The character input device according to claim 2. A character input method using a touch panel capable of multipoint input,
A step in which the pressing information acquisition means acquires position information of a pressing position of the touch panel;
A step of displaying a character input screen in which the display control means is arranged with a list of character types, a soft keyboard of the character types pressed in the list, and an input character field for displaying the characters pressed on the soft keyboard; ,
When the pressing information acquisition unit detects that the pressed position of the soft keyboard has moved in a predetermined manner while any of the character types in the list is pressed, the character input unit presses the soft keyboard. Storing the character code of the character corresponding to the position in a memory;
A character display means for displaying a character of a character code stored in the memory in the input character field;
The character input method characterized by having. A computer connected to a touch panel capable of multipoint input
Pressing information acquisition means for acquiring position information of a pressing position of the touch panel;
A display control means for displaying a character input list in which a list of character types, a soft keyboard of the character types pressed in the list, and an input character field for displaying characters pressed on the soft keyboard are arranged;
When the pressing information acquisition means detects that the pressed position of the soft keyboard has been moved in a predetermined manner while any of the character types in the list is pressed, the character corresponding to the pressed position of the soft keyboard A character input means for storing the character code in the memory;
Character display means for displaying characters of the character code stored in the memory in the input character field;
A program characterized by functioning as   A computer-readable storage medium storing the program according to claim 11.

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