JPH08272787A - Character processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To surely input a desired character on a small input screen by assigning characters to pen touch areas on the input screen, and detecting a pen stroke to a character specification area from a reference area and specifying the character. CONSTITUTION: This input screen consists of a pen touch area 1 where the characters of the 'a'-series of the Japanese syllabary are specified, a pen touch area 2 where the characters of other series of the Japanese syllabary are specified, a pen touch area 3 where lowercase characters are specified, and a pen touch area 4 where '-' is inputted. The Japanese characters 'a', 'i', 'u', 'e', and 'o' correspond to the respective corners of the pentagonal pen touch area 1 and are displayed, and the respective areas of the pen touch area 2 are areas for specifying the characters of the 'k'-series, 's'-series..., so K, S... are displayed in the respective areas. A pen after put down on the line of a desired character in the pen touch area 1 or 2 is given a stroke to the column direction of the desired character and then lift, thus inputting the desired character.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character processing device such as a portable electronic device, a computer and a word processor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional character processing device will be described.
9 to 11 show examples of input screens of the conventional character processing device. In the example of FIG. 9, all kana characters are displayed on the input screen, the desired character is directly specified, and the character is input. Further, in the example of FIG. 10, a desired kana character is input in Roman letters from the alphabet displayed on the input screen. Further, in the example of FIG. 11, desired characters are directly handwritten on the screen.

[0003]

In the conventional character processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 9, a desired character is selected and input only by the operation of designating a specific area on the screen where each character is displayed. Therefore, an area indicating all characters (kana characters in this example) must be displayed on the screen. Therefore, there is a problem that a very large display area is required for inputting characters, other information cannot be displayed at the same time, and the device itself becomes large because the display screen is large. Further, searching for a desired character from a large number of characters is troublesome and causes an erroneous input.

Further, in the conventional character processing device as shown in FIG. 10, the problem of increasing the display area is solved, but the position designation operation must be performed twice in order to input one character. However, there is a problem that the operation is troublesome and the input takes time.

Further, in the conventional character processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 11, when inputting a character having a large number of strokes, it takes time to input. In addition, it is often the case that the device cannot recognize a habitual character or a character written in a hurry, or erroneously recognizes it as a similar character. Further, it is necessary to install large software for recognizing handwritten characters, which causes an increase in the program memory ROM.

[0006]

The present invention has been made for the purpose of solving the above problems. In the invention according to claim 1, a plurality of pen touch areas are provided on the input screen, and a plurality of pen touch areas are provided in each pen touch area. While allocating characters, each of the pen touch areas is divided into a reference area and a plurality of character designation areas arranged substantially evenly with respect to the reference area, and a pen stroke from the reference area to the character designation area is detected to detect the pen stroke. It is a character processing device provided with input character discrimination means for identifying a character corresponding to a stroke.

Further, according to the invention of claim 2, the character assigned to the pen touch area is a hiragana character.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a plurality of pen touch areas are provided on the input screen, and a plurality of characters are assigned to each of the pen touch areas, while each of the pen touch areas is a reference area and a reference area with respect to the reference area. It is divided into a plurality of character designating areas arranged substantially evenly, a pen stroke from the reference area to the character designating area is detected, and the character corresponding to the pen stroke is specified.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the characters assigned to the pen touch area are hiragana.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In the input screen example of FIG. 1, this input screen has a pen touch area 1 for designating characters in the Japanese syllabary "A" line, and a pen touch area 2 for designating characters in the other 50 syllabary rows. It consists of a pen touch area 3 for specifying lowercase letters and a pen touch area 4 for inputting "-".

The pen touch areas 1 and 2 have a pentagonal shape, and each corner is clockwise from the upper right corner and has 50 syllabary "a".
Corresponding to the stages, "I" stage, "U" stage, "E" stage, "O" stage.

In the pen touch area 1, "a", "i", "u", "e", and "o" correspond to the respective corners of the pentagon, so "a", "i", "u". , "E",
"O" is displayed. Further, in the pen touch area 2, since each area is an area for designating characters of “ka” line, “sa” line, ..., “K”, “S” in each area.
... is displayed.

As shown in FIG. 2, after pen-down the line of the desired character in the pen touch area 1 or 2, the desired character is input by stroking the pen up in the step direction of the desired character and pen-up.

For example, when the character "ka" is input, a pen stroke may be made as shown in FIG. When the character "n" is input, it can be input only by designating the "N" pen touch area as shown in FIG. Further, when the character "tsu" is input, "tsu" is input only by designating the pen touch area 2 other than the areas "a" and "N" as shown in FIG.

The process of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the device enters the character input mode, it is first determined whether or not there is a pen down on the screen (step S1), and the process continues waiting until the pen down occurs.
If there is a pen down (YES in step S1),
The coordinates (Xd, Yd) of that position are stored in the memory (step S2). Then, the coordinates of the pen-touch areas 1 to 4 stored in advance are compared with the coordinates where the pen-down occurs, and the pen-down area is the pen-touch area 2
Is determined, that is, whether it is the region of the “ka” line to the “pa” line (step S3). If it is the region of the “ka” line to the “pa” line (YES in step S3), “ K ",
“S” ... Of “P”, the display of the pen-down area is “a, i, u, e, o” similar to the pen-down area 1.
The display is changed (step S4).

Next, it is judged whether or not the pen is up (step S5), and the waiting is continued until the pen is up. When pen-up is performed (YES in step S5), the coordinates (Xu, Yu) of the pen-up position are stored in the memory (step S6). Then, if it is determined in step S3 that the pen-down area is the pen touch area 2, that is, the area between the "ka" row and the "pa" row (YES in step S7), the display changed in step S4 is also displayed. To the display (step S
8).

As shown in FIG. 7, the pen-down area may be highlighted so that the selected area becomes clear. In this case, it is sufficient to return to the original display of pen-up.

Next, regarding the input processing,
Processing branches depending on the position of the pen down. If the pen-down position is the pen-down area 1 or 2, step S
9. If the pen-down position is the pen-down area 3, proceed to step S13. If the pen-down position is the pen-down area 4, proceed to step S15. If the pen-down position is not one of the pen-down areas 1 to 4. In other words, if it is outside the area, the process is terminated as it is.

If the pen-down position is the pen-down area 1 or 2, the process proceeds to step S9, and the pen-down position coordinates (Xd, Yd) and the pen-up position coordinates (Xu,
The distance between the pen-down position and the pen-up position, that is, the pen stroke distance (L) is calculated by the following Pythagorean theorem (Equation 1).

L = √ {(Xd-Xu) ² + (Yd-Yu) ² } (Equation 1) Then, it is determined whether or not this distance (L) is equal to or greater than a predetermined reference value. (Step S9). This reference value is for determining whether or not the pen stroke is intended by the operator, and is set as appropriate.

If the calculated distance (L) is equal to or greater than the reference value (YES in step S9), the pen stroke intended by the operator is determined, and the relative angle between the pen-down position and the pen-up position is the following inverted triangle. It is calculated by a function (Formula 2).

Α = tan ⁻¹ {| Yu-Yd | / | Xu-Xd |} (Equation 2) From the pen-down position coordinates (Xd, Yd) and the pen-up position coordinates (Xu, Yu). , The relative angle (θ) between the pen-down position and the pen-up position is as follows.

If Xu> Xd and Yu> Yd, θ
= Α Xu <Xd and Yu> Yd, θ = 180 ° −
If α Xu <Xd and Yu <Yd, θ = α + 180
If Xu> Xd and Yu <Yd, then θ = 360 ° −
α Then, as shown in FIG. 8, the stage of the input character is determined by the value of the relative angle (θ) (step S10).

If 18 ° ≦ θ <90 °, the “A” stage 0 ° ≦ θ <18 °, if 306 ° ≦ θ <360 °
If it is 234 ° ≦ θ <306 °, it is “U”. If 162 ° ≦ θ <234 °, it is “E” if it is 306 ° ≦ θ <360 °. Then, the character of the column obtained from the relative angle is input (step S11).

On the other hand, if the pen stroke distance is smaller than the reference value (NO in step S9), the flow advances to step S12. If the pen down position is the "A" line, nothing is input and the pen down position is reached. If the line is "na", the character "n" is input, and if the position of the pen-down is another line, "tsu" is input (step S12).

If the position of the pen-down is the pen-down area 3, that is, if lowercase is designated, step S1
The process proceeds to step 3, and it is determined whether or not the previous input character is a character that can be changed to a lowercase character (step S13). If the character can be changed to a lowercase character (YES in step S13), the previous input character is changed to a lowercase character. (Step S14). Here, the characters that can be changed to lowercase are Oh, U, U, E, Oh,
It's nine characters, ya, yu and yo.

When the position of the pen down is the pen down area 4, that is, when the input designation of "-" is made, step S
Proceed to step 15 and enter "-".

As one embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the pen-down area is a pentagon, but it is not limited to this and may be a star. In this embodiment, since the input character is a kana character, five characters are assigned to the pen-down area according to the rule of the Japanese syllabary. Therefore, the shape of the area is preferably a pentagon or a star shape related to 5. .

However, the number of characters to be allocated and the shape of the area are not limited to those in the present embodiment, and the kind of characters to be allocated is not limited to the kana character and may be an alphabet or a number.

[0030]

According to the present invention, a plurality of pen touch areas are provided on the input screen, and a plurality of characters are assigned to each pen touch area, while the pen touch areas are substantially equal to the reference area. It is divided into a plurality of arranged character designating areas, the pen stroke from the reference area to the character designating area is detected, and the character corresponding to the pen stroke is specified, so that all the characters necessary for input can be displayed. A desired character can be surely input without requiring a large input screen, and the device itself can be downsized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an input example of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an input example of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an input example of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an input example of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a process flowchart of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an input example of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a relative angle between a pen-down position and a pen-up position according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional input screen.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional input screen.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional input screen.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Pen Touch Area 2 Pen Touch Area 3 Pen Touch Area 4 Pen Touch Area 5 Pen 6 Pen Stroke 7 Pen Down

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Office reference number FI technical display location 9288-5L G06F 15/20 504F

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pen touch areas are provided on an input screen, and a plurality of characters are assigned to each of the pen touch areas, and each of the pen touch areas is a reference area and a plurality of characters arranged substantially evenly with respect to the reference area. A character processing device provided with an input character discriminating means which divides into a designated area, detects a pen stroke from a reference area to a character designated area, and specifies a character corresponding to the pen stroke. 2. The character processing device according to claim 1, wherein the character assigned to the pen touch area is a hiragana character.