WO2009104940A2 - Character input method using touch keypad - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to provide a small sized input device using a touchpad which allows for an easier pointing function, like a mouse, and an easier character input function than a keypad of a general cellular phone. To accomplish the object of the present invention, a method is provided that comprises designating a plurality of characters to each of the keys of a virtual keyboard and permitting those characters to be input separately in a touched state and in a pressed state in a virtual keyboard input system using a two-dimensional pointing device which can discriminate between a touched state and a pressed state.

Description

 Character input method using touch keypad Field of technology

 A related field of the present invention is a technical field related to an input device of a portable small digital device, and is a field for developing a simple text input method using a two-dimensional pointing device represented by a touch pad or a touch screen.

Background

 The computer's transition to a graphical user interface (GUI) system began with the emergence of the mouse as a device that allows the computer monitor to move pointers that specify the content and location of executable commands. Since then, as computers become smaller in size, portable pointing devices, such as touchpads and built-in touch screens, have been developed and used as a built-in pointing device that can replace a mouse for added convenience. These touch screens also provide the form and function of a full PC keyboard, which causes the inconvenience of having to operate it with two hands unlike the keypad of a mobile phone. Accordingly, the present invention is to provide a text input method that can be operated with one hand even using a touch pad and a touch screen pointing device.

Brief description of the drawings

 1 is a view showing a keypad using a general keypad mobile phone and the touchpad of the present invention.

 FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a touch pad having a push switch of FIG.

 FIG. 3 shows one switch at each of four lower corners of the touch pad, and the upper part where a finger touches forms a key top layer of a general keypad, and the positive and negative electrodes of the switches are connected to each other with the same polarity. A diagram showing an example of a structure that generates one on / off signal even when pressed simultaneously

 FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a structure in which a metal dome sheet is disposed below the touch pad bundle so that one metal dome switch is disposed directly under each key area to facilitate switch operation.

 FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a structure in which a switch under the touch pad shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is disposed at an outer side of a mobile phone body;

 6 is a diagram illustrating key presses for inputting the phrase 'door opens' using a keypad mobile phone.

 7 is a diagram schematically showing a key press for inputting the phrase 'door opens' using the touch pad of the present invention.

 FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for selecting and inputting one character from among a plurality of characters assigned to one key according to the number of presses using a pointing device that distinguishes a touch state from a pressed state.

 FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method in which an input execution is performed when a finger is spaced apart from the pointing apparatus in a character input method using a pointing device that distinguishes a touch state from a pressed state. Drawing showing an example

 FIG. 10 illustrates an example of inputting characters when only two characters are designated for each key of the virtual keyboard. FIG.

 11 is a diagram illustrating an example and a flowchart of a method in which three or more characters are assigned to one key and all of these characters are separately input using a touch state and a pressed state.

 FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a string arrangement of subgroups belonging to ten character lines in Japanese, and a flowchart for inputting characters.

 FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process of inputting Japanese according to the method described with reference to FIG. 12.

 FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of inputting a letter 'n' using a virtual keypad having a 5 * 5 type keypad.

Technical challenge

 Thanks to advances in semiconductor technology, vacuum tube-based computers in the mid-twentieth century are now miniaturized and integrated enough to fit in your hand, and are no longer devices that are confined to space and used on desktops and laptops. (laptop) Routines have already been made through computers and PDAs. Furthermore, devices such as mobile phones, MP3s, and PDPs, which were previously unrelated to computers, are in charge of additional functions such as computers, or are in the age of convergence where these functions are included in portable Palmtop computers. With this trend, it is time to introduce computer graphical user interface (GUI) systems to these small electronic devices. However, the pointing device, which is essential for a graphical user interface (GUI) system of a computer, has not been applied due to the space limitations and usage problems in which these small electronic devices can be mounted. In order for the pointing device to be applied to use a graphical user interface (GUI) system, the size of the touchpad or pointing stick already used in a laptop computer and the like and the structure and size of the function button used with the pointing device need to be changed. will be. Designed to overcome this point, touch screens and input pens are currently being applied to palmtop computers or PDAs, but such touch screens or input pens are not easy to apply in one hand such as mobile phones. Accordingly, it is a technical problem of the present invention to provide an input device using a touch pad which is easy to point like a mouse and makes text input easier than a keypad of a general mobile phone. In addition, in some cases, by providing a structure that can be operated with one hand to provide a method that can be used in the same way as the existing mobile phone.

Technical solution

 For the above purpose, the present invention uses a two-dimensional pointing device capable of distinguishing a touch state from a pressed state, and includes a virtual key including a plurality of characters assigned to a plurality of characters including a first letter and a second letter. A character input method using a keyboard, comprising: when a touch state is detected, designating a first character of a virtual key on a virtual keyboard corresponding to a touched area of the two-dimensional pointing device; If a pressed state is detected, designating a second character of the virtual key; And allowing the designated character to be inputted.

 Here, when only two characters are designated for each virtual key of the virtual keyboard, the reference character, which is a representative character of these two characters, is input when the finger is spaced while touching the pointing device, and another non-reference Characters can be entered when the pointing device reaches a pressed state and the fingers are spaced apart.

 In addition, when three or more characters are assigned to each key of the virtual keyboard, the reference character, which is a representative of these characters, is input when the finger is spaced while touching the pointing device, and the remaining non-reference characters are used for pointing the pointing device. It can be specified in turn according to the number of presses, and the specified characters can be entered when the fingers are spaced apart.

 In addition, when the number of presses is greater than the number of the specified characters, the number of subtracted numbers of the designated characters becomes the actual number of presses so that the characters may be designated.

 In addition, the character input method may allow a new character input step to be entered when the finger is separated from the pointing device or the finger moves to another position in the touch state.

 On the other hand, the present invention is a character input method through a virtual keyboard comprising a virtual key assigned a plurality of characters to each key using a two-dimensional pointing device in order to achieve the above object, when a touch state is detected, Allowing a plurality of characters allocated to a virtual key on a virtual keyboard corresponding to the touched first area to be arranged and output on each virtual key of the virtual keyboard on the screen in the two-dimensional pointing device; Designating one letter of the output characters according to the touched position in the two-dimensional pointing device in a state in which the plurality of characters are output on the virtual keyboard; And allowing the designated character to be inputted.

 Here, when a user moves a finger to a second area other than the first area while pressing a finger, and then presses it, the plurality of characters assigned to the virtual key are output to the virtual keyboard on the screen. The letter of may be a letter assigned to the virtual key corresponding to the second area.

Favorable effect

 The present invention adds a push switch to a two-dimensional pointing device such as a touch pad and a touch screen in order to facilitate text input in a handheld small device such as a mobile electronic device, especially a mobile phone. To distinguish between. That is, by providing a touch input method and an input method by pressing such as a keypad, the number of keys on the keyboard can be reduced in half, thereby bringing the effect of embedding the keyboard in a small space of the mobile device. Moreover, the QWERTY keyboard installed in existing mobile devices is so small that it can be placed in a limited space due to the large number of keys, so that the thumb touches the keypad as much as possible by raising the thumb to distinguish between the key to be pressed and the surrounding keys. It causes the inconvenience of making the area small. This causes a lot of fatigue and even pain in the thumb, while the character input using the touchpad of the present invention does not need to move the finger carefully to distinguish between the key and the surrounding key to press on the keyboard Relatively low fatigue and fast text entry is guaranteed.

 As a result, the text input method using the touch pad according to the present invention enables the user to install a keyboard which can be easily operated even in a narrow space, and thus, the mobile phone is no longer a simple communication device but a PDA in a hand, that is, a Palmtop computer. It will open an upgraded generation of fingertop computers. This change means the emergence of digital devices that bring mobile phones to the computer at any time in response to the Ubiquitous era. In addition, the input device using the touch pad of the present invention can be used as a remote controller capable of inputting characters used in conventional TVs, VCRs, DVDs, as well as portable digital electronic devices. That is, not only a simple pointing device but also a function of a universal pointing device equipped with a function of a keyboard substantially enables the implementation of a graphical user interface (GUI) in an electronic device having a monitor. Ultimately, the input device of the present invention will be a true hand-in Ubiquitous input device that enables computerization of electronic devices and networking between all devices.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

 The present invention uses a structure in which the touch pad and the touch screen have a separate switch for confirming the pressed state or can identify the touch and the pressed state in order to distinguish the touch from the pressed state. Such a structure is shown in FIGS. 1 to 5. Although the method of checking the touch state and the pressed state is different, it is easy to operate the touch state and the pressed state while holding the mobile device with one hand.

 Figure 1 shows a typical keypad mobile phone [Fig. 1 (A)] and a mobile phone (Fig. 1 (B)) using a touch pad 101 having a switch function with a built-in push switch at the bottom, although not shown in the figure. In the case of a mobile phone using a touch pad, a virtual keypad 106 and an input window 103 are used on a screen 105 for text transmission or a phone call, and a pointer 104 is provided to operate as a general personal computer. In addition to the touch pad, the additional power on / off switch 012 is sufficient to implement a handheld PC. The reason is that the touch pad having a switch function according to the present invention is a pointing device that allows a user to operate a cursor with a keyboard input using a virtual keypad, and tapping and pressing a function of tapping the touch pad with the functions of the left and right buttons of a mouse. Each switch can be implemented to provide a practical one-handed PC.

 2 is an example of a touch pad having the push switch of FIG. 1 (B) below, and when the touch pad bundle 201 is pressed with a finger, the switch 202 located at one end is pressed and a finger for operating the touch pad. The mouse button can also be operated. The switch 202 shown in the figure preferably uses a metal dome switch or tact switch that allows the user to easily recognize the on / off state of the switch.

 FIG. 3 shows one switch 303 disposed at four corners of the bottom of the touch pad 301, and the upper part where the finger touches makes a keytop layer 306 of a general keypad to visually and tactilely recognize each key. To print the keyboard and to form the uneven structure. Unlike in FIG. 2, the switch closest to where the finger is pressed is pressed so that the touch pad 301, the touch pad support plate 302, and the touch pad bundle composed of the key top layer are attached to the cellular phone body 304. It is a structure supporting it. 3 (A) and (B) show that the touch pad is in a touch state and a pressed state, respectively. As in FIG. 2, the switch under the touch pad bundle may use a metal dome switch or a tact switch.

 FIG. 4 is a structure in which a metal dome sheet is disposed below the touch pad bundle so that one metal dome switch is disposed directly under each key region, thereby making it easier to operate the switch. 4A is a plan view of a bundle of touch pads consisting of a keytop, a light guide sheet, a silicon pad, a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) type touch pad, and a metal dome switch (metal dome sheet and PCB) ( II, III, IV, V, VI) and A-A ', and the silicon pad's boss presses the center of the metal dome to increase the click feel, and the touch pad allows the boss to penetrate through It has a boss hole and is attached to the bottom of the silicon pad. The characteristic feature of the metal dome switch shown in FIG. 4 is that the circuit on the PCB on which the metal dome sheet is placed has only one (+) and (-) electrodes. It penetrates through the PCB and is connected to the lower surface of the PCB. Likewise, the negative electrode covers the entire upper surface of the PCB. Therefore, the same on / off signal is generated when a finger presses any position of the keytop. The principle of the operation of the metal dome switch is as shown in Fig. 4b. In the non-pressed state [Fig. 4b (I)], the metal dome has an edge portion contacting the negative electrode of the PCB and the positive electrode of the PCB is connected to the metal dome. When the touch pad is pressed by a finger [Fig. 4b (II)], the center part of the metal dome is recessed downward and touches the (+) electrode of the PCB. The over (+) electrode is short-circuited to turn on the SW. However, in the figure, the adhesive tape for combining the LED illuminating the waveguide sheet, the key top, the waveguide sheet, the silicon pad, and the touch pad is omitted.

 5 illustrates a structure in which a switch under the touch pad shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 is disposed at the outer side of the mobile phone body. The advantage of such a structure is to remove the movement of the touch pad to form a rigid touch pad structure, and particularly to apply when the touch sensor is located above the display, such as a touch screen is impossible to move up and down. Figure 5a (A) shows the front of the portion of the clamshell phone body containing the touch pad 501, Figure 5a (B) is the back portion and Figures 5a (C) and (D) is A-A '. Shown along the cut section. In particular, the rear part has push switch levers 502L and 502R at both edges in the longitudinal direction, and this structure reacts to the pressing force of the touchpad when the mobile phone is held by one or both hands as shown in FIG. 5B. The push switch lever is pressed simultaneously so that the switch 503R is turned on. The pressed shape of the lever is shown in detail in FIG. 5A (D). 5b (A) shows how the mobile phone having such a switch structure is actually held by one hand, and unlike a mobile phone, a mobile phone having a touch screen can operate in landscape mode with two hands due to its wide screen size. This operation is shown in Figure 5b (B). In the case of the actual touch screen mobile phone can be operated with one hand in portrait mode in this case is the same shape as in Figure 5b (A). In particular, in the case of the touch screen, since the touch screen itself is bonded to the monitor and its size is generally large, it is impossible to have a push switch having the structure shown in FIGS. 1 to 4. Therefore, when the structure shown in FIG. 5A is applied to the mobile device having the touch screen, the pressed state is also given, so that both the left-handed and the right-handed are easily operated.

 In the case of using such a structure there is the following convenience.

 When a two-dimensional pointing device such as a touch pad or a touch screen has a function of distinguishing a contact state from a pressed state, a virtual keyboard character input system using these pointing devices may have the same input method as a conventional keypad input device. For example, the position of the key on the virtual keyboard is determined by the intrinsic (x, y) coordinate providing function of the pointing device, and when a pressed state is reached, a character assigned to the key where the finger is located is input. If multiple characters are assigned to each key, they are entered in order among multiple characters specified by the number of pressing. This is the same as the method using a conventional keypad. However, in the case of the two-dimensional pointing device that distinguishes the contact state from the pressed state, the state in which the finger touches the pointing device and the separated state is distinguished, so the counting of the number of times of pressing the same key ends and the new counting starts. When the contact point is broken, unlike the existing keypad, it is not necessary to press the move key to input the same character consecutively. That is, the first configuration of the present invention is to determine the counting reset function of the number of pressing in the virtual keyboard system requiring multi-tapping according to the contact state. In this case, the contact is disconnected not only when the finger is spaced apart from the pointing device but also when the current key position is moved to another key, the new position key is activated and a new count of counting starts. Therefore, in order to input the same character continuously, the user presses the designated key for the specified number of times and then presses the finger away from the pointing device and presses the same key again for the specified number of times. If the user presses the key a predetermined number of times and moves the finger to a neighboring key while the finger is in contact with the pointing device, the counting of the key pressed so far is terminated and the character is selected and input according to the number of presses. If the finger returns to the same key and is pressed again without being separated from the pointing device, the number of pushes is counted again from the beginning to start a new character input.

 6 (showing only the keypad of the keypad mobile phone) and FIG. 7, the difference between the keypad using the existing multi-tap and the text input using the touch pointing device of the present invention will be described below.

 Figure 6 shows the keypad portion (A) of the body of the keypad phone, Figure 6 (B) shows a key press for inputting the phrase 'door opens' using multi-tapping, in particular the movement key (601) The following shows an example of using the character input.

 In the case of the keypad using the existing multi-tap, in the case of entering the English letter door, in order to input consecutive 'o' after entering 'd', press 'mno' key three times and enter 'o' In order to input the second 'o', the shift key 601 is pressed, and the 'mno' key is pressed three times to input 'o'. In this case, the direction key 601, which moves to the next space in the text input sentence, is located at the farthest distance from the range of joint movement of the thumb from the keypad, which makes the text input more difficult.

 7 illustrates a method of inputting text in the same manner as a general keypad mobile phone by using a two-dimensional pointing device that can distinguish a touch state from a touch state by using the push switches of FIGS. 1 to 6. However, unlike a general keypad, since the pointing device can distinguish a touch state from a spaced state, when a finger is spaced apart from the pointing device, the pointing device enters a new input step in the input window to produce the same effect as pressing the move key shown in FIG. The point is different. In case of inputting 'door opens' sentence, 'd' is input when the finger reaches the pressed state by pressing once while touching the 'DEF' key area on the pointing device. After the 'd' is entered, the finger moves to the 'MNO' key to activate the 'MNO' key ('Activation' refers to a state in which a key area is selected to be touched by the finger) and then pressed three times. 'O' is entered when three pushes have been reached. At this time, when the finger moves from the 'DEF' key area to the 'MNO' key area, the same result is obtained whether the finger moves with the pointing device touched or spaced apart. This is the same result even if the finger moves to the pressed state, that is, the touch pad is in the pressed state. However, after moving in the pressed state, the actual state of the 'MNO' key is activated only when it is restored to the touch state.

 Press the touch pad area corresponding to the 'mno' key three times, and then, to enter the next 'o', the finger is moved away from the touch pad and then touches the touch pad as shown in FIG. 7 (B) (702). Press again three times and leave the 'mno' key area or move your hand away from the touchpad to create a continuous 'o' input. That is, even if the finger is separated from the touch pad, the effect of pressing the direction key of the keypad is produced. Furthermore, even when the finger touches the touchpad, even if the character is out of the character area and is returned to the character area again, the same effect as pressing the direction key on the keypad is not the same as the first configuration of the present invention. You do not have to move your finger away from the pointing device to enter the letters assigned to the keys.

 In other words, the two-dimensional pointing device that distinguishes the touch state from the pressed state under this configuration can input multiple characters with one key by multi-tapping like the existing keypad mobile phone, while pressing the move key to input the same characters continuously. Eliminate the discomfort you have to give. 8 is a flowchart illustrating such a configuration in the virtual keyboard system corresponding to the case where three characters are assigned to each key.

 FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an algorithm for selecting and inputting one character from among a plurality of characters assigned to one key according to the number of presses using a pointing device that distinguishes a touch state from a pressed state. In the general keypad, a separate switch is connected to each key so that the pressing operation of the key is performed simultaneously with the selection of the key and the execution of the input, but in the case of the pointing device that distinguishes the touch state from the pressing state, the key is selected in the touch state ( Activated, 801) The input execution is different only when the pressed state is reached. Therefore, the point that the touch of the finger to the area of the current input key when the character input using the pointing device is terminated (802, 803) is different from the general keypad that the movement to the next space is made. In other words, in the case of the general keypad, it is necessary to press another key or press the move key (exactly the character input end key of the currently input key) to move to the next space in the input window to start a new input step.

 According to the second aspect of the present invention, in the case of the two-dimensional pointing device having a function of distinguishing the contact state from the pressed state, unlike the first configuration, the character input is made only by being separated from the contact state. That is, a second configuration of the present invention is to provide a method for distinguishing a character input in a touch state and a character input in a pressed state.

 As shown in FIG. 9, when three letters are assigned to one key in the virtual keypad, the reference letter (corresponding to the first letter of the letters printed on each key of the virtual keypad) is spaced apart when the fingers are in contact. The other two non-reference characters are inputted in order according to the number of times of pressing the pointing apparatus while the finger is in contact with the two-dimensional pointing apparatus, that is, the number of times of reaching the pressed state. If all n characters including the representative character are specified, the reference character is displayed on the virtual keypad screen when each key is touched, and the last non-reference character is displayed on the screen according to the number of presses. If a total of n pushes are made, the reference character is displayed on the screen again.

 FIG. 9 illustrates a case in which an input execution is performed when a finger is spaced apart from the pointing apparatus in the character input method using a pointing device that distinguishes a touch state from a pressed state. The actual character input is shown in Figure 9b. to be. The difference from FIG. 8 is that the entry into the new character input step is the point 901 in which the finger starts contacting the pointing device, and the point in which the character input ends is the time point 902 in which the finger is separated from the pointing device. When the finger is in contact with the pointing device, the position change (903) results in a change of the activation key so that no input of the letter assigned to the key that has been activated is made at all, and a new key is activated to start the input step of the letter assigned to this key. do. According to the flow chart, when the character input is achieved, the character is specified in both the touch state and the pressed state to reduce the number of presses required for the character input. Furthermore, when only two characters are assigned to one key, no multi-tapping is necessary. You can implement no keyboard algorithm. An example of this is illustrated in FIG. 10. FIG. 9B shows an example of character input using both the touch state and the pressed state of the same sentence 'door opens' used in the character input method using only the pressed state in FIG. 7B. As a result, the number of presses is 22 to 14 times. It shows the effect of reducing it. In addition, 'd' and 'p' do not need to be pressed, so the ease of input is much increased.

 In detail, the first letter 'd' is input when the finger touches the 'DEF' key area in the pointing device and is separated. The 'o' that follows is pressed twice by touching the 'MNO' key area 905 with a finger. Spaced apart (904). And second 'o' touch the 'MNO' key area and press twice to complete the input. In the case of 'r', press 'PRS' area once and input if you separate your fingers. That is, in the case shown in FIG. 7B, since the input is performed only by pressing twice, the input is reduced even by pressing twice because the input is performed only once. Like 'r', 'e' and 'n' both press the 'DEF' and 'MNO' key area once to complete the input. 'd' and 'p' are just the 'DEF' and 'PRS' key areas. Touching and spacing brings the ease of typing.

 FIG. 10 shows an example of inputting a character when only two characters are assigned to each key of the virtual keyboard. FIG. 10A is English and FIG. 10B is a virtual keypad corresponding to Korean (A) and Chinese (B). It is showing the bay.

 In English and Chinese, only two letters are assigned to a single key, but in the case of Korean, the three letter keys are 'ㄱㅋ', 'ㄷㅌ', 'ㅂㄷ' and 'ㅈㅊ'. These keys are additionally assigned to twin consonants. To input these twin consonants, these keys must be pressed twice in the designated area of the pointing device. This refers to the case where m = 2 in the flowchart of FIG. 9A.

 When only two characters are assigned to each key, such as the 5 * 5 type keyboard shown in FIG. 10A, the same input method as that of the keyboard, that is, a method of inputting one character in one pressing operation is implemented. ) Has the advantage of changing the keypad method to the keyboard method (all characters can be entered by pressing a key once).

 For example, enter the sentence 'door opens', and the number of presses is 10 times the same as the keyboard, which is less than half that of the multi-tap method, and even 'o', 'e', and 's' are separated from the touch. Since it is input by only to bring the advantage of reducing the fatigue of pressing.

 FIG. 10B shows a virtual keyboard layout for Korean (A) and Chinese (B) input. Unlike English, Korean and Chinese are characterized by a collection of vowels separated on a single line. This is because one syllable is composed of elementary, middle, and final words like Korean and Chinese, and it is convenient to separate consonants and vowels, especially when neutral is composed of vowels.

 Korean and Chinese have separate consonants and vowels, and all vowels are completed with a combination of these vowels. In Korean, however, the vowels' ㅐ ',' ㅒ ',' ㅔ ', and' 입력 'are input as a complete vowel in the general keyboard, but in the virtual keypad of FIG. 10B (A), they are respectively' ㅏ '+' ㅣ The only difference is the combination of ',' ㅑ '+' ㅣ ',' ㅓ '+' ㅣ ',' ㅕ '+' ㅣ '. And English and Korean are phonetic letters, so if you enter the letters phonetically, the characters are completed. However, in Chinese, they are ideograms, so various characters are expressed with the same pronunciation. You will go through the process of selecting the letters you want. For example, if you enter Chinese Pinyin 'zhongguo' phonetically to input '中國 (China)', you will first find 18 Chinese characters that correspond to 'zhong'.

 20 Chinese characters for "guo"

 It is inconvenient to input by selecting '中' and '國' respectively. However, in the case of a personal computer, if you use the input method editor (IME) provided by the US Microsoft Windows system, when you enter 'zhongguo' in order, it is automatically converted to '中國' and you need to convert each character. Input is done by translating the entire sentence into the most appropriate Chinese characters in context, without the need. The conversion of Chinese Pinyin to Chinese characters through the context requires a method of accurately inputting Pinyin one by one like a keyboard. In the case of the conventional keypad, it is difficult to input each of the Pinyin by multi-tap method [shown in FIG. In the case of keypad mobile phone, to input 'zhongguo', all z (3) + h (2) + o (3) + move key (1) + n (2) + g (1) + move key (1) + g (1 ) + u (2) + o (3)] 19 presses are required.] When entering a word, enter only the consonants of each syllable as Pinyin, then list the words that are predicted from those consonants. Prediction method that the user selects and inputs is used as an input method. On the contrary, the Chinese virtual keypad shown in FIG. 10B (B) brings a convenience that the input of '中國' can be completed by a total of eight pressing operations. That is, the character input is possible in the same principle as the method of inputting using a keyboard as in a personal computer.

 In the pointing device shown in Fig. 10B, the arrangement of the keys of five rows has substantially the same effect as the keyboard of ten rows. Therefore, a problem occurs in the case of a mobile device equipped with a general QWERTY keyboard, that is, the size of the key becomes smaller, making it difficult to select it with a finger, or vice versa, in which the mobile device must be turned on to maintain a certain size of the key. Does not occur in a mobile device using this configuration. If the keys are the same size, the width can be reduced by half compared to the mobile device equipped with the QWERTY keyboard to maximize portability. Unlike the keypads used in general mobile phones, the keys are not touched. There is no inconvenience to lift your thumb to press only the desired key, so that the user can easily use a large finger.

 Unlike the first configuration, the third configuration of the present invention is not performed by pressing repeated input of a plurality of characters assigned to each key, but each key when a finger touches a pointing device with a plurality of characters assigned to each key on a virtual keyboard. This is a method of distributing it around and selecting it and inputting it. That is, in the case of a virtual keyboard using a two-dimensional pointing device, if multiple characters are assigned to each key and the finger touches the pointing device, the characters assigned to each key are distributed and arranged around each key, and the user inputs them among the distributed letters. To move the finger to the position where the desired character is arranged to move the finger away from the pointing device at that position can be made to enter the character.

 11 is a method in which three or more characters are assigned to one key and all of these characters are separated by using the touch state and the pressed state. When the decrease in the number of presses is not noticeably reduced, the Japanese input method is used. For example,

 In FIG. 11, the keyboard layout of the virtual keypad is composed of characters representing the ten rows (あ, か, さ, た, な, は, ま, や, ら, わ) from keys 1 to 0. It is the same as the keyboard of a Japanese mobile phone. Representative characters in each of these lines correspond to different consonants, and each of these lines includes a total of five characters in which the representative characters and the consonant pronunciations are the same and differ in vowel pronunciation.

 In the case of a general keypad mobile phone, each key is assigned a letter corresponding to each line, and the key must be pressed one to five times to enter five characters on each line. On the contrary, in the case of using the two-dimensional pointing device, it is possible to input a desired character by one touch and a space without having to press it several times.

 Look specifically.

 11A (I) shows a case of having the same virtual keypad layout as that of a typical keypad cellular phone. The keyboard layout of this virtual keypad is different from that of a general keypad. In Japanese, five letters are assigned to each key. These characters have the same consonant and different vowel pronunciation. The same consonant and vowel sound are said to belong to the same line. Thus, in the case of か (ka), the five Japanese characters `` ka (ka), KI (ki), く (ku), け (ke, こ (ko) '' belong to this.

 11A (II) shows that the characters belonging to the ka line when the finger is spaced from the pointing device 1101 and the ka line key is activated by contacting the key area 1103 of the pointing device 1103. Shows the arrangement around the key. When one line (character group) is activated, the characters representing each row displayed on each key on the virtual keypad disappear from the screen, and instead, the characters belonging to the active row (character group) are arranged and displayed on the screen.

 As shown in FIG. 11A (II), when the user touches the key area 1103 of the '2' and the ka row key is activated, ka (ka) and ki (ki) belonging to the same character group as ka (ka). , Ku (ku), け (ke), and ko (ko) are arranged around the second key on the virtual keypad 1102 (in this configuration, in a symmetrical form from top to bottom).

 In this state, when the finger moves to the area in which the character to be input among the characters belonging to the active row is displayed, the character is selected and activated. If the finger is spaced apart in the state, the corresponding character is input.

 FIG. 11A (III) shows that the finger moves to the 'SP' (space, 1105) key region while the ka key is activated, and the character 'ka (ka, 1106) is selected and activated. Ka is shown in the input window 1107. This is shown in a flowchart in Fig. 11B.

 That is, when a character string representing a character group is displayed on each key of the initial screen of the virtual keypad, and a finger touches the pointing device to activate these keys (1108), the characters belonging to the character group are displayed from top to bottom on each key of the virtual keypad. When the finger is moved to the region of these characters (1109), the keys corresponding to these characters are activated (1110) and input when the fingers are spaced (1111).

 In this way, it is possible to input characters corresponding to ten lines in Japanese. However, the problem is that in addition to the characters (あ, か, さ, た, な, は, ま, や, ら, わ) representing each line displayed on these keypad keyboards, there are characters derived from these representative characters. For example, あ (A)-> ぁ ('あ'), か (ka)-> が (ga), さ (sa)-> ざ (za), た (ta)-> だ (da) , は (ha)-> ば (ba)-> ぱ (pa)-> ヴ ぁ (va), etc. To enable input of these keys, each key is touched. In addition to the characters, these derivatives must be arranged on the virtual keypad at the same time, which is inconvenient for practical use, and in the case of the 15-key virtual keypad, if a total of 16 keys are required, such as the ha line, they cannot be distributed. In some cases. On the contrary, as in the case of a normal keypad, to input these derived characters, enter the characters corresponding to the representative characters and then press a key (corresponding to the '*' key on the keypad) to input these derived characters. It is convenient. In this regard, the third configuration of the present invention designates not only the representative character group of each row but also the derived character group in one key, and the finger touches the pointing device area corresponding to the key to which the representative character group is assigned. The representative character group is distributed around the designated key on the virtual keypad. Press once to display the characters belonging to the first derived character group on the virtual keypad, and press the pointing device again to display the second derived character group. It is a way to display the characters belonging to and select it. If all n character groups including the representative character group are specified, the representative character group is displayed on the virtual keypad screen when each key is touched, and the characters of the last derivative group are displayed on the screen according to the number of pressing. If press once more, press n times, then the representative character group is displayed on the screen again. In other words, according to the number of times a key is pressed, the characters of the derived character group belonging to these groups are arranged on the virtual keypad so as to be selected.

 An example of designating such a derived character group (subgroup) string in a virtual keypad for inputting Japanese is shown in FIG. 12.

 Each character line additionally has a subgroup character line similar in consonant pronunciation to the character that represents each character line. For example, in FIG. 12A, line あ (a), which is Group-1, has line la (la) as a subgroup.

 For line ka (ka) with Group-2, line 을 (ga),

 Line sa (Group-3) with line sa (za),

 In the case of Group (4) (TA), we have だ (da) and っ (ltu).

 な (na) lines, which are Group-5, have nen (nn) lines,

 Group-6 inha (ha) has a line of ba, pa and pa

 Ya (ya) line, which is Group-8, has Ya (lya) line as subgroup,

 However, Group-7 (Ma), Group-9 (ら) and Group-0 (WA) do not have separate subgroups. Therefore, in order to input characters belonging to each subgroup of each character line, first activate the character line (1201), and then press the pointing device without moving the finger to activate the subgroup in turn according to the number of times of pressing (1202). . As shown in FIG. 12E, if the subgroups are all three, activating the character line to which these subgroups belong will display the representative subgroup subgroup-0 on the screen, and then activate them according to the number of times subgroup-1 and subgroup-2 press in turn. If the number of times of pressing is greater than 3, the number of times of subtracting 3 from the number of pressings determines the subgroup (1202). Once the subgroups are activated, the method of inputting the characters belonging to these subgroups is the same as the method shown in FIG. 11B, and the finger is moved (1203) to select and activate the desired character. (1204) In this state, the pointing device If it is separated from (1205), character input is performed. 12E illustrates a case where the number of subgroups is 3, and if the number of subgroups is p, 3n may be changed to pn from 3n + m, which is a criterion for determining the number of times 1202 of FIG. 12E.

 Referring to FIG. 12, in the case of the representative character group 'か (ka)', as shown in Group 2 of FIG. 12A, pressing the key area 1303 corresponding to ka (ka) once designated to this key Subgroup-1 [が (ga) derived character group] of the group 'か (ka)' is shown on the virtual keypad. Subgroup-1 in Group 2 is the same except that the English pronunciation 'k' in the representative group Subgroup-0 ['か (ka)'] is changed to 'g'. Therefore, you do not need to know the characters belonging to Subgroup-1 easily. Furthermore, Subgroup-0 of each group is a representative character group representing each line, and the first character of these standard groups is the same as the character representing each key in the Japanese mobile phone keyboard. It is an advantage that you can learn them naturally. In the case of the existing keypad mobile phone, if you want to enter ga (ga), you need to press the か (ka)-> が (ga) conversion key in addition to the input か (ka) in the third configuration of the present invention According to the method, it is convenient to carry out the automatic conversion of ka (ka)-> ga (ga) by pressing the same key (key corresponding to ka (ka)] once without the need for a separate conversion key.

 The fourth configuration of the present invention supplements the problem of the character input method using the third configuration. In the second configuration, the key of the area where the finger is in contact with the pointing device is the active key, and when the finger is moved to the new key area in the contact state, this key becomes the active key and the input of the character assigned to the key is It becomes possible. In contrast, in the third configuration, the activation key remains unchanged until the key in the area where the finger first touches the pointing device is locked by the activation key and the finger is spaced apart from the pointing device. The finger movement in the contacted state is only responsible for selecting the letters arranged around the activation key, and the keys of the virtual keyboard displayed on the screen before the contact are not activated. As in the third configuration of the present invention, even when the finger is fixed with an active key touched in the spaced apart state, the method of enabling the conversion of the active key without separating the finger from the pointing device by using the pressed state of the pointing device is described herein. Fourth configuration of the invention. In other words, while the finger is in contact with the pointing device, it moves from the already activated key area to the new key area, and then presses the key area to activate the key to enable setting of a new activation key. This is not possible with a pointing device without a pressed state. This will be described with reference to FIG. 13 as an example. 13A (I) is a virtual keypad arrangement providing a method for inputting Japanese according to the third aspect of the present invention. Figure 13a (II) is a character that the actual user wants to input the other (た) line, in the case of accidentally selected a line (아) by the finger touches the '1' key to activate the 'あ' key Is showing. In this case, as shown in FIG. 13B (III), when the finger touches the touch pad, the finger is moved to the touch pad '4' key area corresponding to the other row, and the finger is pressed in that state. As shown, the ta line is activated and the characters assigned to it are expanded on the virtual keyboard so that they can be selected. The method of changing the activation key while the finger is in contact with the pointing device (touch pad) is to provide an easy way to modify the activation key even if the activation key is incorrectly selected by the touch. It is an advantage that the pointing device has a pressed state. If a pointing device has only a touch state without a pressing state, it is inconvenient to select a method of correcting a finger after being separated from the pointing device. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 12, the letter is arranged only on the surrounding keys without assigning a letter to the position of the active key as shown in FIG. 12, spaced apart while the finger is first touched, and then the key is touched to input the key. Just activate it. In FIG. 12, the numbers written inside the Activation Key, which are shown in black, are shown for the purpose of showing the correlation with the numbers displayed on the pointing device of the cellular phone of FIG. 11 and are not designated as numbers that can be input to the Activation Key. In reality, no character is specified.

 The fifth configuration of the present invention is a method for enabling easy input without using the pressing function of the pointing device when two letters are assigned to each key of the virtual keypad. Referring to FIG. 14, when two letters m and n are assigned to the '4' key, the finger (exactly the center of the finger) is located in the pointing device area (the '4' key) corresponding to this key (mn key). Touches the 'mn' key on the virtual keypad and enters the reference character 'm' when the fingers are spaced in this state, and the non-reference character when the fingers are separated from the pointing device with the pointer out of the 'mn' key area. 'n' is inputted.

 In other words, two letters are assigned to each key of the virtual keypad, and when these keys are activated, the standard letter is assigned to the original active key position and the remaining non-reference letters are assigned around the active key. The reference character is input when the key is spaced apart from the pointing device at the activation key position, and the non-reference character is input when the key is spaced apart from the position of the activation key.

 Here, the activated key is a key of the virtual keypad corresponding to the point where the finger first touches the spaced apart device. The activated key is not changed until the finger is spaced apart.

 However, in this configuration as in the fourth configuration of the present invention, if the two-dimensional pointing device can distinguish the touch state from the pressed state, if the finger is moved out of the active key area to a position of another key, the pointing device is pressed. The key corresponding to the position can be activated.

 For example, the character that the user wants to input was originally 'o', but the 'mn' key was activated by touching the 'mn' key as shown in FIG. 14 (II), but the finger as shown in FIG. 14 (III). Move to the position corresponding to 'op' key area and press the pointing device to activate 'op' key. This example clearly demonstrates the usefulness of the Activation Key Conversion function provided by FIG.

 In the case of FIG. 14, if the user only touches an area corresponding to a desired key, the user does not need to consider the direction and the point at which the finger should be spaced apart to input the non-reference character. When a key is activated, the background color of this key is different from that of the original virtual keypad, indicating that it is in an active state. Furthermore, the reference character is displayed at the center of the activation key and non-reference characters are displayed at key areas other than the activation key, so that the active state, reference, and non-reference characters can be easily recognized. . However, as shown in FIG. 14, when the display of non-reference characters is limited to only the key immediately adjacent to the active key, the user can continuously grasp the characters assigned to the keys other than the currently activated key, thereby positioning the next character. Make it easy to grasp.

The method of the present invention can also be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet). Include. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

Claims (8)

In a character input method using a virtual keyboard comprising a virtual key assigned a plurality of characters including a first character and a second character to each key using a two-dimensional pointing device that can distinguish the touch state and the pressed state , If a touch state is detected, designating a first character of a virtual key on a virtual keyboard corresponding to a touched area of the two-dimensional pointing device; If a pressed state is detected, designating a second character of the virtual key; And Character input method using a virtual keyboard, characterized in that it comprises; inputting the specified character. The method of claim 1, wherein if only two characters are designated for each virtual key of the virtual keyboard, the reference character that is representative of these two characters is input when the finger is spaced apart while touching the pointing device. One non-reference character is a character input method using a virtual keyboard, characterized in that is input when the pointing device reaches the pressed state and the fingers are spaced apart. The reference character of claim 1, wherein when three or more characters are assigned to each key of the virtual keyboard, a reference character that is representative of these characters is input when a finger is spaced apart while touching a pointing device, and the remaining non-reference characters are used. The character input method using a virtual keyboard characterized in that the specified in accordance with the number of times the pointing device is pressed in order to be input when the finger is spaced apart. The character input method of claim 3, wherein when the number of presses is greater than the number of the specified characters, the number of characters remaining after subtracting the number of the specified characters becomes the actual number of presses. The character input method of claim 1, wherein the character input method enters a new character input step when the finger is spaced from the pointing device or the finger moves to another position in a touch state. In the character input method through a virtual keyboard comprising a virtual key assigned a plurality of characters to each key using a two-dimensional pointing device, If a touch state is detected, causing the plurality of characters allocated to the virtual key on the virtual keyboard corresponding to the touched first area to be arranged on each virtual key of the virtual keyboard on the screen; Designating one letter of the output letters according to the touched position in the two-dimensional pointing device in a state in which the plurality of letters are output on the virtual keyboard; And Character input method using a virtual keyboard, comprising the step of: inputting the specified character when the finger spaced apart. The method of claim 6, wherein when a user moves a finger to a second area other than the first area while pressing a finger, the plurality of characters assigned to the virtual key are output to the virtual keyboard on the screen. A plurality of characters output from the character input method using a virtual keyboard, characterized in that the character assigned to the virtual key corresponding to the second area. A computer-readable recording medium having recorded thereon a program for realizing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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