TWI884461B - Mobile device and input method - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile device and an input method. The electronic device includes a general camera module, a touch display module, a barcode scanning module, a character recognition engine and a control unit. The general camera module is configured to generate an image. The touch display module is configured to simultaneously display a character input field and an overlapping window with a virtual keyboard of a system default input method and a preview window of an image conversion input method. The barcode scanning module is configured to scan at least one first barcode to obtain a first string represented by each first barcode. The character recognition engine is configured to generate perform text recognition on the image to obtain at least one second string according to the image. The control unit is configured to activate one of the barcode scanning module and the character recognition engine and control the touch display module to display at least one of the first character string and the second character string in the character input field.

Description

Mobile devices and input methods

This case relates to a multiple input method, and more particularly to a mobile device and an input method.

When using the camera lens of existing mobile devices on the market to perform image recognition to convert images into text (such as barcode decoding, QR code decoding, OCR text recognition and license plate recognition, etc.), it is usually necessary to open the camera in a dedicated application installed in the mobile device, capture and recognize the image in the application, and then manually copy and paste the recognized text into the text field to be entered. The operation is not intuitive, the steps are numerous, and it is often necessary to switch between applications on the mobile device, which affects the user experience.

In some embodiments, a mobile device includes a general camera module, a touch display module, a barcode scanning module, a text recognition engine, and a control module. The general camera module is used to generate an image. The touch display module is used to simultaneously display a text input bar and an overlapping window having a virtual keyboard of a parallel system default input method and a preview pane of an image conversion input method. The barcode scanning module is used to scan at least one first barcode to obtain at least one first string expressed by at least one first barcode, wherein the image conversion input method is linked to the barcode scanning module. The text recognition engine is coupled to the general camera module to perform text recognition on the image to obtain at least one second string, wherein the image conversion input method is linked to the text recognition engine. The control module is coupled to the general camera module, the touch display module, the barcode scanning module and the text recognition engine, and is used to activate one of the barcode scanning module and the text recognition engine and control the touch display module to display at least one of a first string and a second string in the text input field.

In some embodiments, the barcode scanning module is further used to generate a preview screen having at least one barcode image and the control module is further used to display the preview screen in the preview pane in real time.

In some embodiments, the barcode scanning module includes a dedicated camera module and a barcode decoding module. The dedicated camera module is used to shoot at least one barcode to obtain at least one barcode image and a preview screen. The barcode decoding module is coupled to the dedicated camera module and the control module to decode at least one barcode image into at least one first string.

In some embodiments, the overlay window further has a candidate column, the candidate column is above the virtual keyboard and the preview pane, and the control module is further used to display at least one of the first string and the second string as an input option of the text input column in the candidate column.

In some embodiments, the control module is further configured to display the image in the preview pane immediately after the text recognition engine is activated.

In some embodiments, the overlay window further includes a selection key set, and the control module is further used to activate the barcode scanning module or the text recognition engine according to the trigger event occurring on the selection key set.

In some embodiments, the image has at least one string image, each string image is generated by a general camera module by photographing at least one text, and the text recognition engine is further used to recognize and convert each string image into at least one of at least one second string.

In some embodiments, the image further has at least one barcode image, the at least one barcode image is generated by a general camera module by photographing at least one second barcode, and the text recognition engine is further used to recognize and decode the at least one barcode image of the at least one second barcode in the image into at least one of the at least one second string.

In some embodiments, the preview pane further includes a magnifying key, and the control module is further configured to magnify the preview pane and display it on the touch display module according to a trigger event occurring on the magnifying key.

In some embodiments, an input method includes enabling a system default input method and an image conversion input method from a text input bar to simultaneously display the text input bar and an overlay window, wherein the overlay window has a virtual keyboard of the system default input method and a preview pane of the image conversion input method in parallel; generating at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method; and displaying one of the at least one string in the text input bar.

In some embodiments, the image conversion input method includes a barcode scanning input method, and the step of generating at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method includes: detecting an activation signal of the barcode scanning input method; activating a barcode scanning module in response to the activation signal; scanning at least one barcode with the activated barcode scanning module to obtain at least one barcode image of the at least one barcode; and decoding at least one barcode image into at least one string using the barcode scanning module.

In some embodiments, the input method further includes: when the barcode scanning module obtains at least one barcode image, a preview screen having at least one barcode image is generated and the preview screen is displayed in a preview pane in real time.

In some embodiments, the overlay window further has a candidate column, the candidate column is above the virtual keyboard and the preview pane, and the step of generating at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: displaying the at least one string as an input option of the text input column in the candidate column.

In some embodiments, the image conversion input method further includes a text recognition input method, and the step of generating at least one word string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: detecting another activation signal of the text recognition input method; generating an image using a general camera module according to another activation signal, wherein the image has at least one word string image, and each word string image is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one word; displaying the image in a preview pane in real time; and recognizing and converting at least one word string image into at least one word string.

In some embodiments, the image further has at least one barcode image, and the at least one barcode image is generated by a general camera module by photographing at least one second barcode. The step of generating the at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: identifying and converting the at least one barcode image into at least one of the at least one string.

In some embodiments, the preview pane further includes a magnifying key, and the input method further includes: displaying the preview pane in magnified form according to a trigger event occurring on the magnifying key.

In summary, any mobile device and input method of any embodiment is applicable to a mobile device, so that the basic input function of the mobile device can use other input forms of input methods (such as image conversion input method that uses images to obtain strings) in addition to the system default input method, so as to improve the convenience and efficiency of text input. Here, the image conversion input method can use the capture and analysis of optical images to obtain the string input into the text input field, so as to simplify the text input operation procedure to improve the convenience and efficiency of text input, thereby greatly improving the user experience. In addition, the image conversion input method provides two image analysis methods to improve the scope of application of the image conversion input method.

For example, when a user wants to input a string into a text input field, the user can use a mobile device to take a picture of a target with a barcode or text, thereby executing a barcode scanning input method or a text recognition input method to obtain the string, and the obtained string will be directly displayed in the text input field. Therefore, when inputting into the text input field, the user does not need to manually copy and paste the decoded or recognized string into the text input field, and does not need to switch between different applications on the mobile device.

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following implementation method, and the content is sufficient for anyone familiar with the relevant technology to understand the technical content of the present invention and implement it accordingly. Moreover, according to the content disclosed in this specification, the scope of the patent application and the drawings, anyone familiar with the relevant technology can easily understand the relevant purposes and advantages of the present invention.

FIG1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile device 1. Please refer to FIG1. The mobile device 1 includes a general camera module 12, a touch display module 15, a barcode scanning module 11, a text recognition engine 13 and a control module 14.

The text recognition engine 13 is coupled to the general camera module 12 . The control module 14 is coupled to the general camera module 12 , the touch display module 15 , the barcode scanning module 11 and the text recognition engine 13 .

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of the input method. FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of the mobile device 1. Please refer to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3. The general camera module 12 is used to shoot to generate an image P. The touch display module 15 is used to display the text input column CIF (step S01). Specifically, the display screen D displayed by the touch display module 15 has a text input column CIF, and this text input column CIF can be used to receive the string S input by the user.

FIG4 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen D after executing step S03 of FIG2. Please refer to FIG4. Here, the control module 14 responds to a trigger event (hereinafter referred to as input trigger event) occurring in the text input field CIF to enable the system default input method and the image conversion input method (step S02), thereby simultaneously displaying the text input field CIF and the overlay window OW on the display screen D (step S03). The overlay window OW has a virtual keyboard VK of the system default input method and a preview pane PW of the image conversion input method in parallel. In other words, the overlay window OW is used to provide a user interface of the input method for the user to operate and generate an input string S accordingly. Before the system default input method and the image conversion input method are enabled, there is no user interface (e.g., overlay window OW) of any input method on the display screen D of the touch display module 15; on the contrary, after the system default input method and the image conversion input method are enabled, the user interface (i.e., overlay window OW) of the enabled input method (i.e., the system default input method and the image conversion input method) will appear on the display screen of the touch display module 15. The input trigger event may be that the user clicks on the position where the text input field CIF is displayed in the display screen D to enable the text input field CIF to activate the input function.

For example, when an input trigger event occurs at the position where the text input field CIF is displayed in the display screen D (e.g., the user clicks the text input field CIF so that the cursor appears in the text input field CIF), the system default input method and the image conversion input method are enabled, and after enabling, the overlay window OW will appear in the lower half of the display screen D.

Here, the control module 14 controls one of the virtual keyboard VK, the barcode scanning module 11 and the text recognition engine 13 according to the currently activated input method (i.e., one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method) to generate at least one string S (step S04).

Finally, the control module 14 controls the touch display module 15 to display one of the generated character strings S in the text input field CIF (step S05).

In some embodiments, the image conversion input method may include a barcode scanning input method and a text recognition input method.

In some embodiments, the overlay window OW further includes a selection key set B. In some embodiments, the selection key set B is configured in the left half of the overlay window OW and is located to the left of the virtual keyboard VK and the preview pane PW.

Here, the control module 14 is used to activate the barcode scanning module 11 or the text recognition engine 13 according to the trigger event (hereinafter referred to as the selection trigger event) occurring in the selection key group B, or to activate the virtual keyboard VK according to the trigger event occurring in the virtual keyboard VK. Specifically, there are at least two types of selection trigger events (hereinafter referred to as the first selection trigger event and the second selection trigger event, respectively). The first selection trigger event corresponds to the barcode scanning module 11 (step S43), and the second selection trigger event corresponds to the text recognition engine 13 (step S45). The first selection trigger event may cause the selection key group B to generate an activation signal for the barcode scanning input method, and the second selection trigger event may cause the selection key group B to generate an activation signal for the text recognition input method. The trigger event occurring in the virtual keyboard VK may cause the virtual keyboard VK to generate an activation signal for the system default input method (step S41).

In some embodiments, the selection key set B includes two keys (hereinafter referred to as selection key B1 and selection key B2). The selection key B1 corresponds to the first selection trigger event. The selection key B2 corresponds to the second selection trigger event. Specifically, the control module 14 executes the barcode scanning input method according to the trigger event occurring in the selection key B1, and the control module 14 executes the text recognition input method according to the trigger event occurring in the selection key B2.

In some embodiments, after the system default input method and the image conversion input method are enabled, the virtual keyboard VK is normally activated. In some embodiments, when the overlay window OW appears, the control module 14 only activates the virtual keyboard VK, and the barcode scanning module 11 and the text recognition engine 13 are not activated. The control module 14 does not activate the barcode scanning module 11 until the first selection trigger event occurs, and does not activate the text recognition engine 13 until the second selection trigger event occurs. In some embodiments, the virtual keyboard VK can be activated simultaneously with the barcode scanning module 11 or the text recognition engine 13.

FIG5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S43 of FIG2. In some embodiments, in step S43, when the first selection trigger event occurs on the selection key B1 (i.e., the selection key group B generates the activation signal of the barcode scanning input method), the control module 14 detects the activation signal of the barcode scanning input method (step S431), and thus activates the barcode scanning module 11 in response to the first selection trigger event occurring on the selection key B1 (i.e., the control module 14 activates the barcode scanning module 11 in response to the activation signal of the barcode scanning input method) (step S432). Then, the control module 14 starts to execute the barcode scanning input method.

After step S432, the control module 14 uses the barcode scanning module 11 to scan at least one barcode (hereinafter referred to as the first barcode) to obtain at least one first barcode image BC1 of the at least one barcode (step S433). The barcode scanning module 11 then decodes the at least one first barcode image BC1 into at least one string S (step S434). For the convenience of explanation, the string S generated by the barcode scanning module 11 decoding the first barcode image BC1 is called the first string S1.

FIG6 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen after executing step S43 of FIG5. Please refer to FIG6. For example, when the first selection trigger event occurs on the selection key B1 (e.g., the user clicks the selection key B1 to generate the activation signal of the barcode scanning input method), the control module 14 detects the activation signal of the barcode scanning input method, and thus activates the barcode scanning module 11 in response to the first selection trigger event occurring on the selection key B1. The control module 14 then starts to execute the barcode scanning input method. The control module 14 scans the first barcode with the barcode scanning module 11 to obtain the first barcode image BC1. The barcode scanning module 11 then decodes the first barcode image BC1 into a first character string S1. The decoded first character string S1 is 72527273037. Therefore, the control module 14 will display the first character string S1 (i.e., 72527273037) in the text input field CIF.

When the number of at least one first barcode is multiple. When the control module 14 executes the barcode scanning input method, the number of first barcode images BC1 obtained by scanning at least one first barcode with the barcode scanning module 11 is also multiple, and the number of at least one first string S1 obtained by decoding at least one first barcode image BC1 with the barcode scanning module 11 is also multiple. Therefore, in some embodiments, at this time, the overlay window OW further has a candidate column C, and the candidate column C is located above the virtual keyboard VK and the preview pane PW. The control module 14 is further used to display a plurality of first character strings S1 as input options of the text input column CIF in the candidate column C and display the corresponding first character string S1 in the text input column CIF according to a trigger event occurring in the candidate column C.

FIG7 is a schematic diagram of another embodiment of the display screen D after executing step S43 of FIG5. Please refer to FIG7. When the control module 14 uses the barcode scanning module 11 to scan the two first barcodes to obtain two first barcode images BC1 (hereinafter referred to as the first barcode image BC11 and the first barcode image BC12). The barcode scanning module 11 then decodes the first barcode image BC11 and the first barcode image BC12 into two first strings S1 (hereinafter referred to as the first string S11 and the first string S12). The decoded first string S11 is 72527273037, and the decoded first string S12 is 72527273038. At this time, the control module 14 displays the first string S11 (i.e., 72527273037) and the first string S12 (i.e., 72527273038) as input options of the text input column CIF in the first input option area O1 and the second input option area O2 of the candidate column C. The first string S11 is displayed in the first input option area O1, and the first string S12 is displayed in the second input option area O2. If a trigger event occurs in the first input option area O1 at this time (e.g., the user clicks on the first input option area O1 to select the first string S11 as the string displayed in the text input column CIF), the control module 14 will display the first string S11 (i.e., 72527273037) in the text input column CIF.

Please refer to FIG. 6 , in some embodiments, the barcode scanning module 11 is further used to generate a preview screen PD having at least a first barcode image BC1 and the control module 14 is further used to display the preview screen PD in the preview pane PW in real time.

FIG8 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the mobile device 1. Please refer to FIG8. In some embodiments, the barcode scanning module 11 includes a dedicated camera module 111 and a barcode decoding module 112. The dedicated camera module 111 is used to capture at least one first barcode to obtain a preview screen PD having at least one first barcode image BC1. The barcode decoding module 112 is coupled to the dedicated camera module 111 and the control module 14, and is used to decode at least one first barcode image BC1 into at least one first string S1. In some embodiments, the barcode scanning module 11 can also directly capture the first barcode through the general camera module 12 to generate a preview screen PD having at least one first barcode image BC1.

FIG9 is a rear view of an embodiment of the mobile device 1 in FIG3. Please refer to FIG3 and FIG9. In some embodiments, the mobile device 1 includes a housing 20. The touch display module 15 is embedded in the front of the housing 20 (as shown in FIG3), and the general camera module 12 and the dedicated camera module 111 are embedded in the back of the housing 20 (as shown in FIG9). In some embodiments, the general camera module 12 and the dedicated camera module 111 can also be embedded in the front or side of the housing 20 (not shown).

In some embodiments, the preview screen PD only includes the first barcode image BC1. In some embodiments, the preview screen PD also includes the surrounding environment image of the first barcode image BC1 in addition to the first barcode image BC1.

Here, the character string S1 parsed by the barcode scanning module 11 is directly displayed in the text input field CIF. Therefore, the user does not need to manually copy and paste the recognized character string into the text input field CIF and/or switch between applications in the mobile device 1, thereby greatly improving the user experience.

FIG10 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S45 of FIG2. Please refer to FIG10. In other embodiments, when the second selection trigger event occurs in the selection key group B (i.e., the selection key group B generates an activation signal of the text recognition input method), the control module 14 detects the activation signal of the text recognition input method (hereinafter referred to as another activation signal) (step S451), and thus activates the text recognition engine 13 in response to the other activation signal of the selection key group B (step S452), and then the control module 14 starts to execute the text recognition input method.

The control module 14 drives the general camera module 12 in response to another activation signal, so that the general camera module 12 generates an image P by photographing at least one character (step S453). The image P has at least one string image of at least one character.

At the same time, the control module 14 controls the touch display module 15 to display the image P in the preview pane PW in real time (step S454). In addition, the text recognition engine 13 recognizes and converts at least one string image into at least one string S (step S455). For the convenience of explanation, the string S generated by the text recognition engine 13 recognizing and converting the string image is called the second string S2.

In some embodiments, the control module 14 is further configured to display at least one second string S2 as an input option of the text input field CIF in the candidate field C and display the corresponding second string S2 in the text input field CIF according to a trigger event occurring in the candidate field C.

FIG11 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen D after executing step S45 of FIG10. Referring to FIG11, for example, when the second selection trigger event occurs on the selection key B2 (e.g., the user clicks the selection key B2 to generate an activation signal of the text recognition input method), the control module 14 detects the activation signal of the text recognition input method, and thus activates the text recognition engine 13 in response to the second selection trigger event occurring on the selection key B2. The control module 14 then starts to execute the text recognition input method. The control module 14 generates an image P with a general camera module 12, wherein the image P has a plurality of string images, and each string image is generated by the general camera module 12 by photographing at least one text. The control module 14 displays the image P in the preview pane PW in real time, and the text recognition engine 13 recognizes and converts the plurality of string images into a plurality of second strings S2. The control module 14 displays the plurality of second strings S2 as input options of the text input column CIF in the candidate column C and displays the corresponding second string S2 in the text input column CIF according to the trigger event occurring in the candidate column C. In the embodiment of FIG. 11 , the corresponding second string S2 displayed in the text input column CIF is MODEL:P15F v2.

Here, the second string S2 parsed by the text recognition engine 13 is directly displayed in the text input field CIF. Therefore, when the user wants to input the second string S2 in the text input field CIF, the user selects the key set B, and does not need to manually copy and paste the recognized string into the text input field CIF and/or switch between applications in the mobile device 1, thereby greatly improving the user experience.

In some embodiments, the text recognition engine 13 can also be used to scan and decode at least one barcode (hereinafter referred to as the second barcode) to obtain the string represented by the second barcode. Specifically, the general camera module 12 can generate an image P of at least one second barcode image BC2 having at least one second barcode by photographing at least one second barcode.

The text recognition engine 13 is further used to recognize and decode at least one second barcode image BC2 in the image P as at least one of the at least one second string S2. For example, referring to FIG. 5 , the image P includes a second barcode image BC2 of a second barcode in addition to a plurality of string images. In addition to recognizing and converting a plurality of string images in the image P into a plurality of strings S2, the text recognition engine 13 is further used to recognize and decode the second barcode image BC2 of the second barcode in the image P as one of the plurality of second strings S2.

In some embodiments, if the general camera module 12 captures at least one text and at least one second barcode at the same time, the image P has both a text string image and a barcode image. In other embodiments, if the general camera module 12 captures only at least one text, the image P only has a text string image. In still other embodiments, if the general camera module 12 captures only at least one second barcode, the image P only has a barcode image.

In some embodiments, the selection key set B may be a single or multiple physical keys (i.e., selection keys), or a single or multiple virtual keys (i.e., selection keys), or a combination thereof. In some embodiments, if the selection key set B is a single key, the first selection trigger event and the second selection trigger event may be distinguished by the number of consecutive times or the number of consecutive times of enabling (e.g., pressing, electric shock, etc.) the key, or the odd and even times.

In some implementations, the number of keys included in the selection key set B may be the same as the type of selection trigger events, and the keys included in the selection key set B correspond one-to-one to different selection trigger events. In one example, the keys of the selection key set B corresponding to the first selection trigger event and the second selection trigger event may both be physical keys. In another example, the key of the selection key set B corresponding to the first selection trigger event may be one of a physical key and a virtual key, and the key of the selection key set B corresponding to the second selection trigger event may be the other of a physical key and a virtual key. In another example, the keys of the selection key set B corresponding to the first selection trigger event and the second selection trigger event may both be virtual keys.

In some embodiments, the preview pane PW may further include a zoom key FS. The control module 14 is further configured to magnify the preview pane PW and display it on the display screen D according to a trigger event occurring on the zoom key FS.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen D after the preview pane PW is enlarged and displayed. Please refer to FIG. 6 and FIG. 12. For example, when a trigger event occurs on the zoom key FS (e.g., the user clicks the zoom key FS to enlarge and display the preview pane PW), the control module 14 detects the trigger event, and thus responds to the trigger event to enlarge and display the preview pane PW on the display screen D. In some embodiments, the control module 14 displays the preview pane PW on the display screen D in full screen. In some embodiments, after the preview pane PW is displayed on the display screen D in full screen, the preview pane PW further includes a return key FS2 and does not include the zoom key FS. The control module 14 is further used to display the preview pane PW displayed in full screen on the display screen D at a size before the enlarged display according to the trigger event occurring on the return key FS2.

In some embodiments, the overlay window OW may further include a control option key CO. The control option key CO is used to open and close a setting window for setting or adjusting various functions of the image conversion input method and various functions of the overlay window OW.

In some embodiments, the mobile device 1 may be, but is not limited to, a smart phone, a tablet computer, or a laptop computer.

In some embodiments, the barcode scanning module 11 may be an independent component, such as but not limited to a barcode scanner (also called a barcode engine). The barcode scanner may be, for example, a laser scanner, a CCD scanner, and a photographic scanner.

In some embodiments, each of the general camera module and the dedicated camera module can be implemented by a combination of a photosensitive element and a lens. The photosensitive element is used to capture images (including barcode images and string images) and convert the images from optical signals to electrical signals. The photosensitive element can be, for example but not limited to, a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor sensor (CMOS sensor).

In some embodiments, the text recognition engine 13 may be but is not limited to Tesseract, Azure, Real-Time Recognition SDK or Ocr Space.

In some embodiments, each of the barcode decoding module, the text recognition engine 13, and the control module 14 can be implemented by one or more hardware devices that execute software or firmware to implement corresponding computing functions.

In other embodiments, the barcode decoding module is implemented by a hardware device that executes software or firmware that implements corresponding computing functions, while the text recognition engine 13 and the control module 14 are implemented by another hardware device that executes software or firmware that implements corresponding computing functions.

In some other embodiments, the barcode decoding module, the text recognition engine 13 and the control module 14 can be implemented by a single hardware component that executes software or firmware to implement corresponding computing functions.

In some embodiments, each hardware component may be, for example but not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a complex programmable logic device (CPLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a microcontroller unit.

In some embodiments, the text input field CIF can be a desktop widget that is resident on the desktop and provided by the operating system or application of the mobile device 1 (for example, but not limited to the search bar on the main screen of the mobile device 1), a field of a search engine in an application or a web page (for example, but not limited to the App Store search engine or the Google search engine, etc.), or a text input page or field in an application or a web page (for example, but not limited to the input page of Word or the create post field of Facebook, etc.).

In summary, in some embodiments, the mobile device 1 can enable the basic input function of the mobile device 1 to use the image conversion input method in addition to the system default input method, so as to improve the convenience and efficiency of text input. Moreover, the image conversion input method can directly obtain the string S input into the text input field CIF by capturing and analyzing the preview screen PD or the image P, so as to simplify the text input operation procedure to improve the convenience and efficiency of text input, thereby greatly improving the user experience. In addition, the image conversion input method provides two image analysis methods, namely the barcode scanning input method and the text recognition input method, which can further improve the scope of application of the image conversion input method. The user can use the mobile device 1 to take a picture of a target with a barcode or text, thereby executing the barcode scanning input method or the text recognition input method to obtain a string S, and the obtained string S will be directly displayed in the text input field CIF. Therefore, when inputting in the text input field CIF, the user does not need to manually copy and paste the decoded or recognized string S into the text input field CIF, and does not need to switch between different applications of the mobile device 1.

Although the technical content of this case has been disclosed as above with the preferred embodiment, it is not used to limit this case. Any slight changes and embellishments made by anyone familiar with this technology without departing from the spirit of this case should be included in the scope of this case. Therefore, the protection scope of this case shall be defined by the scope of the attached patent application.

1: Mobile device 11: Barcode scanning module 12: General camera module 13: Text recognition engine 14: Control module 15: Touch display module P: Image S, S1~S2, S11~S12: String S01~S05, S41, S43, S45: Step CIF: Text input field D: Display screen 20: Shell B: Selection key group B1~B2: Selection key PW: Preview pane VK: Virtual keyboard OW: Overlay window FS: Zoom key CO: Control option key S431~S434, S451~S455: Step BC1~BC2,BC11~BC12: Barcode image PD: Preview screen C: Candidate column O1: First input option area O2: Second input option area 111: Dedicated camera module 112: Barcode decoding module FS2: Return key

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile device. FIG. 2 is a flow chart of an embodiment of an input method. FIG. 3 is a front view of an embodiment of a mobile device. FIG. 4 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen after executing step S03 of FIG. 2. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S43 of FIG. 2. FIG. 6 is a diagram of an embodiment of a display screen after executing step S43 of FIG. 5. FIG. 7 is a diagram of another embodiment of a display screen after executing step S43 of FIG. 5. FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a mobile device. FIG. 9 is a rear view of an embodiment of the mobile device in FIG. 3. FIG. 10 is a flow chart of an embodiment of step S45 of FIG. 2 . FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen after executing step S45 of FIG. 10 . FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a display screen after the preview pane is enlarged.

1: Mobile device

11: Barcode scanning module

12: General camera module

13: Text recognition engine

14: Control module

15: Touch display module

P: Image

S,S1~S2: string

Claims (17)

A mobile device comprises: a general camera module for generating an image; a touch display module for simultaneously displaying a text input field and an overlapping window having a virtual keyboard of a system default input method and a preview pane of an image conversion input method in parallel; a barcode scanning module for scanning at least one first barcode to obtain at least one first string represented by the at least one first barcode, wherein the image conversion input method is connected to the barcode scanning module; a text recognition engine coupled to the general camera module for performing text recognition on the image to obtain at least one second string, wherein the image conversion input method is connected to the text recognition engine; and A control module is coupled to the general camera module, the touch display module, the barcode scanning module and the text recognition engine, and is used to activate one of the barcode scanning module and the text recognition engine and control the touch display module to display one of the at least one first string and the second string in the text input field. A mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the barcode scanning module is further used to generate a preview screen having at least one barcode image and the control module is further used to display the preview screen in the preview pane in real time. The mobile device as described in claim 2, wherein the barcode scanning module comprises: a dedicated camera module for photographing the at least one first barcode to obtain the at least one barcode image and the preview screen; and a barcode decoding module, coupled to the dedicated camera module and the control module, for decoding the at least one barcode image into the at least one first string. A mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the overlay window further comprises a candidate column, the candidate column is above the virtual keyboard and the preview pane, and the control module is further used to display one of the at least one first string and the second string as an input option of the text input column in the candidate column. A mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the control module is further used to display the image in the preview pane in real time after starting the text recognition engine. The mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the overlay window further includes a selection key set, and the control module is further used to activate the barcode scanning module or the text recognition engine in response to a trigger event occurring on the selection key set. A mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the image has at least one string image, each of the string images is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one text, and the text recognition engine is further used to recognize and convert each of the string images into at least one of the at least one second string. A mobile device as described in claim 7, wherein the image further has at least one barcode image, the at least one barcode image is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one second barcode, and the text recognition engine is further used to recognize and decode the at least one barcode image of the at least one second barcode in the image into at least one of the at least one second strings. A mobile device as described in claim 1, wherein the preview pane further includes a magnification key, and the control module is further used to enlarge the preview pane and display it on the touch display module based on a trigger event occurring on the magnification key. An input method includes: enabling a system default input method and an image conversion input method from a text input bar to simultaneously display the text input bar and an overlay window, wherein the overlay window has a virtual keyboard of the system default input method and a preview pane of the image conversion input method in parallel; generating at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method; and displaying one of the at least one string in the text input bar. The input method as described in claim 10, wherein the image conversion input method includes a barcode scanning input method, and the step of generating the at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method includes: Detecting an activation signal of the barcode scanning input method; Activating a barcode scanning module in response to the activation signal; Scanning at least one barcode with the activated barcode scanning module to obtain at least one barcode image of the at least one barcode; and Decoding the at least one barcode image into the at least one string using the barcode scanning module. The input method as described in claim 11 further comprises: When the barcode scanning module obtains the at least one barcode image, it generates a preview screen having the at least one barcode image and displays the preview screen in the preview pane in real time. The input method as described in claim 10, wherein the overlay window further has a candidate column, the candidate column is above the virtual keyboard and the preview pane, and the step of generating the at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: Displaying the at least one string as an input option of the text input column in the candidate column. The input method as described in claim 12, wherein the image conversion input method further includes a text recognition input method, and the step of generating the at least one word string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: Detecting another activation signal of the text recognition input method; Generating an image using a general camera module according to the other activation signal, wherein the image has at least one word string image, and each word string image is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one word; Real-time display of the image in the preview pane; and Recognizing and converting the at least one word string image into the at least one word string. The input method as described in claim 10, wherein the image conversion input method includes a text recognition input method, and the step of generating the at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method includes: Detecting another activation signal of the text recognition input method; Responding to the other activation signal, generating an image with a general camera module, wherein the image has at least one string image, and each string image is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one text; Real-time display of the image in the preview pane; and Recognizing and converting the at least one string image into at least one of the at least one string. The input method as described in claim 15, wherein the image further has at least one barcode image, the at least one barcode image is generated by the general camera module by photographing at least one second barcode, and the step of generating the at least one string using one of the system default input method and the image conversion input method further includes: Recognizing and converting the at least one barcode image into at least one of the at least one string. The input method as described in claim 10, wherein the preview pane further includes a magnifying key, and the input method further includes: Displaying the preview pane in magnified form according to a trigger event occurring on the magnifying key.

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