KR20070012265A - Character input device and method using direction keys - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses a character input device and method using five direction keys of up, down, left, right and center.

The apparatus of the present invention includes a direction key consisting of an up key U, a down key D, a left key L, a right key R, and a center key C; A code table in which character codes of basic consonants and short vowels allocated corresponding to the direction keys are selected so as to be selected by two inputs of the direction keys; And if the direction key is input twice, first selecting a corresponding character code from the code table, and if the selected character code is a basic consonant, then if the consonant conversion operation is input from the direction key, the selected character code is a double consonant character. If the selected character code is a short vowel, if the next key input is the same short vowel operation, the short vowel is converted into a middle vowel, and when another vowel is input in the state of the short vowel or the middle vowel, the combination is formed. It includes a control unit.

Therefore, the present invention can be usefully used in an electronic device having a direction key because it is easy to display, learn, and input the keyboard by arranging and inputting according to the order and direction of the characters.

Description

Character input device and method using direction keys {CHARACTER INPUT DEVICE AND METHOD USING DIRECTIONAL KEY}

1 is a block diagram of a character input apparatus using a direction key according to the present invention,

2 is an example of a direction key which is a character input key shown in FIG. 1;

3 is a diagram showing a display example of a character assigned to a direction key according to the present invention;

4 is a flowchart illustrating a character input procedure according to the present invention.

* Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings

1: Control unit 2: Character input key (direction key)

3: memory 4: display

5: character processing unit L: left key

R: Right key U: Up key

D: Down Key C: Center Key

The present invention relates to a character input apparatus and method, and more particularly, to a character input apparatus and method using the five direction keys of the up, down, left, right, center widely used in portable small terminals.

In general, when a numeric key (KEY or button) and a direction key are present together, such as a mobile phone and a remote controller, a Korean character is input by using a numeric key having a large number of keys, and a character is input by assigning a character to the numeric key. Various techniques for doing this are well known.

However, character input in devices such as MP3, PSP, digital cameras, joysticks, etc., which does not have numeric keys and only five direction keys in the up, down, left, right, and center, has been difficult to implement. That is, one of the conventional character input techniques using the direction keys known to date is a method of displaying a combination of characters to complete the Hangul characters on the display window and moving them with the direction keys to select and combine them. However, this method has a problem in that it is very difficult to find or move due to displaying too many characters on a small display window.

In addition, as another conventional method of inputting a character by using a direction key, a method of inputting all the shapes of a letter, and searching all the databases capable of expressing this information is known, but this should indicate the end of the letter unit. There is a problem that multiple letters may be selected.

Another conventional method is to implement a code similar to the shape according to the shape of the characters of the alphabet, vowels, but part of the actual code and the shape of the code is difficult to match, and because of this, all the irregular codes for the letter is to be remembered There is a problem.

The present invention has been proposed to solve the above problems, the character using a direction key that can input Korean characters, numbers, symbols, English, etc. by a small number of key press operation after assigning a character easy to remember to five direction keys Its purpose is to provide an input device and method.

In order to achieve the above object, the device of the present invention includes a direction key consisting of an up key (U) and a down key (D), a left key (L), a right key (R), and a center key (C); A code table in which character codes of basic consonants and short vowels allocated corresponding to the direction keys are selected so as to be selected by two inputs of the direction keys; And if the direction key is input twice, first selecting a corresponding character code from the code table, and if the selected character code is a basic consonant, then if the consonant conversion operation is input from the direction key, the selected character code is a double consonant character. If the selected character code is a short vowel, if the next key input is the same short vowel operation, the short vowel is converted into a middle vowel, and when another vowel is input in the state of the short vowel or the middle vowel, a combination is formed to form a double vowel. It characterized in that it comprises a control unit.

In addition, in order to achieve the above object, the method of the present invention comprises a direction key consisting of an up key (U) and a down key (D), a left key (L), a right key (R), a center key (C). A character input method in a device, comprising: setting an input mode according to a user's operation; If the input mode is a Hangul mode, receiving the direction key twice; Displaying a basic consonant or a short vowel corresponding to the input direction key; Converting the basic consonants into twin consonants when a consonant conversion operation is input when the basic consonants are displayed; Converting a single vowel when the same vowel is displayed when the short vowel is displayed, and converting the vowel to a double vowel when another vowel is input when the short vowel or the middle vowel is displayed; And inputting the displayed basic consonants or short vowels, the converted double consonants or the middle vowels, and the double vowels.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram of a character input apparatus using a direction key according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an example of a direction key which is a character input key shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a display example of a character assigned to a direction key according to the present invention. Figure is a diagram.

Character input apparatus according to the present invention is composed of a control unit 1, a character input key (2), a memory (3), a display unit (4) as shown in Figure 1 and input characters through the character input key (2) Is displayed on the display unit 4 and transmitted to the character processing unit 4 to perform various processes using characters.

Referring to FIG. 1, the control unit 1 performs a predetermined character input procedure to display the corresponding character on the display unit 4 according to a key input from the character input key 2 and to display the input character. Transfer to the character processing unit 5 to be able to process the character. The memory 3 stores a code table in which character codes such as basic consonants, short vowels, numbers, and English characters allocated to be selected by the input of the character input keys 2 are stored. The text processing unit 5 stores the input text in a storage or transmits the text to a transmission means not shown to process the text as desired by the user.

According to the present invention, a character input key 2 for inputting letters, numbers, symbols, etc. is a direction key having five keys arranged up, down, left, right, and center, as shown in FIG. In the embodiment of the present invention, when referring to all five keys to avoid confusion, the term 'directional key' is used, and the 'directional key' refers to an up key (U), a down key (D), a left key (L), It consists of the right key R and the center key C. Such a direction key 2 is used in various terminals such as a mobile phone, PDA, MP3, etc. The present invention can be applied to all devices using the direction key as it is. Hereinafter, each direction key is simply indicated as up, down, left, right, middle.

And the example in which the letter is displayed on the direction key according to the invention, as shown in Figure 3, a, b on the left key (L), c, d on the right key (R), up key (U) ), ㅅ, ㅅ, down key (D) ㅁ, ㅂ, and the central key (C) ㅇ, ㅎ, the pair of letters are displayed. In this case, the letters assigned to the left and right keys (L, R) are displayed as up and down, indicating that the corresponding letters can be selected by the up key (U) and the down key (D), and the up and down keys (U, D). The letters assigned to are displayed as left and right to indicate that the corresponding letters can be selected as the left key (L) and the right key (R). The letter assigned to the center key C is also placed in the center, upward, and leftward to indicate that the corresponding letter or function is associated with the left key L or the right key R. As described above, the letter assignment method according to the present invention has an orientation when displaying a letter assigned to a direction key so that the selection procedure of the letter can be easily stored.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the mode for inputting characters is divided into Korean mode, numeric mode, and English mode, so that Korean, numeric, English, etc. can be inputted only with the direction keys. Therefore, the characters assigned to each key may vary according to the input mode. In the present invention, the numerical mode and the English mode are defined based on the Korean mode, so that the Korean user can easily remember them.

Table 1 below is an example of the characters assigned to the direction keys in the Hangul mode according to the present invention.

                       Secondary key  Left  Ooh  Prize  Ha  medium  1 car key  Left Lol ㅡ A N ㅓ  Ooh Enter ㅌ C D Back space  Prize S ㅈ H ㅣ ㅗ  Ha M ㅂ Mode conversion ㅍ Space  medium A double consonant ㅏ ㅎ TT ㅇ

As shown in Table 1, the Hangul input method according to the present invention requires at least two direction key inputs, where the primary key indicates the first key input and the secondary key indicates the second key input. For example, after pressing the left key (L) and pressing the left key (L) again, consonant "ㅋ" is input, and pressing the left key (L) and then pressing the right key (R) enters the vowel "-". In the same way, pressing the center key (C) and pressing the left key (L) selects "double consonants", pressing the center key (C) and pressing the center key (C) again enters the consonant "ㅇ". As shown in Table 1 above, a special function button such as Enter, Back Space, Space, Twin Consonant Conversion, Mode Conversion, or the like may be assigned to an area not allocated to the basic consonant. It is also possible to assign a sign (? ,,,.,!).

As described above, when the consonants and the vowels are assigned to the five keys, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3, the letters assigned to the left and right keys (L, R) are displayed in the upper and lower directions according to the present invention. It can be seen that the up key (U) and down key (D) can be selected, and the letters assigned to the up and down keys (U, D) are displayed as left and right, and the corresponding letters are displayed as the left and right keys (L). This lets you know what you can choose with the R key. For example, referring to the display shown in FIG. 3, first, when the left key L is input, “a” and “b” are selected first, and when the up key U is input, the “a” is input. It can be expected that "a" located upward of "b" and "b" are selected. In addition, if the up key (U) is input, "ㅅ" and "ㅈ" are selected first. If the right key (R) is input second, "ㅅ" and "ㅈ" are located at the right of "ㅈ". Can be predicted to be selected. And if the secondary central key (C) is input after the primary central key (C) is input, it can be predicted that the "0" located in the center is selected, and after the primary central key (C) is input, the secondary If the up key (U) is input to, it can be predicted that "ㅎ" located upward. As described above, in the present invention, the basic consonants are arranged and displayed on the direction keys so as to be oriented up and down or left and right, and two key inputs allow the user to select the desired basic consonants so that they are easy to remember.

In the case of double consonants, select the basic consonant first, and then press the center key (C) and the left key (L) to input the consonants of the selected consonants. Press the direction key twice to enter. For example, "ㄲ" selects "a" by pressing the left key (L) and the up key (U), and then presses the center key (C) and the left key (L) to be converted into double consonants. Pressing the left (L) key twice selects ㅋ similar to a, and pressing the up key (U) twice enters "" ", similar to" ㅈ ". Pressing the down key (D) twice," Press “T” twice to have “ㅌ” be input.

Thus, the character input method according to the present invention, in the case of consonants, assigns a character to each direction to have a direction, and then selects a character group assigned to the corresponding key as the primary key, and selects the desired character group in the corresponding character group as the secondary key. It is easy to select the characters.

In the vowel input using the direction key according to the present invention, when the center key C is regarded as the vertical line "│" or the horizontal line "-", "ㅏ" means that the right key R is pressed after the center key C is pressed. Press "ㅓ" for left key (L) and center key (C), "ㅗ" for up key (U) and center key (C), "TT" for center key (C) and down key Press (D). And "-" presses the left and right keys (L) and "R", and "|" presses the up (U) and down (D) keys. In the case of medium vowels, a single vowel is input twice, and in the case of a double vowel, a single vowel or a middle vowel is combined with another vowel. For example, the middle vowel "ㅑ" inputs "ㅏ" twice (Central key (C) right key (R), the center key (C) right key (R)), and the double vowel "ㅐ" is "ㅏ" and " | "(Center key (C) Right key (R), Up key (U) Down key (D)).

As described above, in the character input method according to the present invention, the vowels are assigned to be easily stored in accordance with the shapes of the arranged keys.

Based on the Korean key input method as described above, an example of numeric key assignment in numeric mode is shown in Table 2 below, and an example of English key assignment in English mode is shown in Table 3 below.

number One 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Hangul A N C D M ㅂ S ㅈ Center Heavy right

In the numerical input method according to the present invention, the input mode is selected as the numerical mode, and then input in the same manner as the corresponding Korean input method as shown in Table 2 above. For example, the number 1 is input by the left key (L) and the up key (U) corresponding to the Hangul a, and the 8 is input by the up key (U) and the right key (R). 9 is inputted by the center key C and the left direction key L, and 0 is inputted by the center key C and the right direction key R.

English a b c d e f g h i j Hangul ㅏ ㅂ H C ㅓ P ++ A ㅎ ㅣ ㅈ English k l m n o p q r s t Hangul Lol D M N ㅗ ㅍ Lol ㄹ + ㅇ S ㅌ English u v w x y z Hangul TT ㅂ + ㅇ TT + ㅇ S + ㅣ + ㅇ +

The English input method according to the present invention selects the input mode as the English mode and inputs the same as the corresponding Korean input method as shown in Table 3 above. For example, the English "a" is input by the central key (C), the right key (R), which is a procedure for inputting the Korean "ㅏ", and z is the up key (U) right key (R) corresponding to the Korean and ㅇ. Enter the middle key (C). When assigning Hangul to English according to the present invention, it is preferable to assign similar pronunciations to each other so that it is easy to remember.

As described above, a procedure for inputting a character using a direction key assigned with Korean, numerals and English according to the present invention will be described in detail.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a character input procedure according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, first, an input mode is selected (S1). The input mode may be selected through a separate key, but in the embodiment of the present invention, the down key (D) is pressed and then the up key (U) is selected in Korean> number> English> Korean> number .... method. The default mode is Korean mode, and the selected mode is preferably displayed by an LED or a display.

In the case of the Korean mode, the primary key and the secondary key are input to select a corresponding character or symbol (S2, S3). In this case, the selected character may be displayed on the display unit 4 (S4).

If you want to input the twin consonants, according to the previous procedure to select the primary consonants first, and then press the center key (C) and the left key (L) to convert to twin consonants (S5, S6).

If you want to enter the middle vowels, enter the corresponding short vowel twice, and if you want to enter the double vowels, enter a combination of other vowels in the short vowel or middle vowel state (S7 ~ S10).

Finally, the displayed basic consonants or short vowels, the converted double consonants or middle vowels, and the double vowels are input to the corresponding character processor (S15). In this case, the actual character input may be performed when the next character is input after the previous character is completed, when an enter is input, or when switching to another mode, and this may be represented as a sound.

If you want to enter a number, input in the same manner as the corresponding Hangul predefined in the numeric mode, and accordingly generates a corresponding numeric code (S11, S12).

If the user wants to enter English, the English mode is input in the same manner as the corresponding Korean, which is predefined, and accordingly generates the corresponding English code (S13, S14).

<Hangul input example>

Hello: Middle middle right middle left lower left middle left middle (14 times key press)

Elephant: Upper left middle upper left middle upper and lower right upper and lower (14 times key press)

Website: Middle left middle left and right middle left and right middle left middle left middle right middle left and right middle left and right (24 times)

If you enter the 'mobile phone', ㅎ is medium (ㅇ, ㅎ) + sang because 경 is ㅠ, ㅠ is the middle vowel of TT downward, so the middle + lower (TT) + middle + lower (TT), ㄷ Since it is the top of ㄷㄹ, it is U (ㄷㄹ) + up (up), ㅐ is divided into ㅏ and ㅣ, ㅏ is right and horizontal because it is middle + right, ㅣ is long vertical and up + down, Lower (ㅁㅂ) + Lower (same place), ㅗ is the vertical (up) + middle because it is vertical, and b is the lower part of the b is to enter as (left) + lower (lower).

When the second key is input from the direction key, a sound indicating that one character unit is completed is output, and when the user enters the first input standby state, if the user misses one time or adds one time by error, the sound can be recognized. The system is configured to use the input cycle.

If you press and hold the right + middle, right + left, down + middle, down + up or five keys that are not assigned, you can enter or convert the mode to space, back space, alphabet, numbers, special characters, etc. The system is configured to be applicable to other character input methods.

In order to input the Hangul in the joystick, the paddle is operated in the corresponding direction, and the operation of the center means that the system is configured so that it can be recognized by pressing the inside of the paddle or another key operation. Is in range.

In order to input Korean characters in a PDA device, a system displays a direction key shape on a display window, and a system is configured to be recognized by touching a pen twice as described above.

In addition, instead of the above two pen contacts in the PDA device, the system is configured to be recognized by one drag connecting two direction keys, and the system inputs such that two inputs of the same digit can be recognized as one touch. It is also within the scope of the claims herein as applied systems and methods.

Hangul character input using the direction keys can be input using fewer keys, so it can be used for very small electronic devices such as MP3 and PSP as well as mobile phones and remote controllers. This can be easily applied to the device.

As described above, the present invention, when assigning consonants to five directional keys consisting of up, down, left, right, center, arranged to have a direction up, down, left and right, and in the case of assigning the vowel according to the vowel shape By assigning a key, it is easy for a user to remember and an input is easy.

In addition, the character input method according to the present invention can input Korean, numbers, English, etc. with only five keys, so it is applied to all products equipped with direction keys (for example, PDA, mobile phone, MP3, PMP, joystick, etc.) Characters can be entered and all characters can be easily entered with a very few operations compared to the key numbers.

Claims (11)

A direction key consisting of an up key U, a down key D, a left key L, a right key R, and a center key C; A code table in which character codes of basic consonants and short vowels allocated corresponding to the direction keys are selected so as to be selected by two inputs of the direction keys; And When the direction key is input twice, a corresponding character code is first selected from the code table, and when the selected character code is a basic consonant, when a consonant conversion operation is input from the direction key, the selected character code is converted into a double consonant character code. If the selected character code is a short vowel, if the subsequent key input is the same short vowel operation, the control unit converts the short vowel to the middle vowel, and combines it to form a double vowel when another vowel is input in the state of the short vowel or the middle vowel. Character input device using a direction key including a. According to claim 1, wherein the up key (U) and the down key (D) The assigned basic consonants are displayed left and right so that the left basic consonants are selected by the left key L and the right basic consonants are selected by the right key R, so that they can be easily stored. Character input device. According to claim 1, wherein the left and right keys (L) and the right key (R) The assigned basic consonants are marked up and down so that the upper basic consonants are selected by the up key U and the lower basic consonants are selected by the down key D, so that they are easy to store. Character input device. The method of claim 1, wherein the direction key and the code table, When the center key C is regarded as a vertical line "│" or a horizontal line "-", "ㅏ" is selected by pressing the right key R after pressing the center key C, and "ㅓ" is Pressing the left key (L) and the center key (C) is selected, "ㅗ" is selected by pressing the up key (U) and the center key (C), "TT" is the center key (C) And the down arrow key (D) is assigned to be selected. The method of claim 4, wherein the direction key and the code table,  "-" Is selected by pressing the left key (L) and the right key (R), "ㅣ" is a direction key, characterized in that assigned to the pressing the down key (U) and the down key (D) Character input device using. The method of claim 1, wherein the character input device is Display means for displaying the input characters; Further comprising a sound output means The controller controls the sound output means to output a sound indicating that one character unit is completed when the second key is input from the direction key, and controls the sound output means to be in the first input standby state and displays the input character. Character input apparatus using a direction key characterized in that the control to display on the means. In the character input method in a device having a direction key consisting of an up key (U), a down key (D), a left key (L), a right key (R), a center key (C), Setting an input mode according to a user's operation; If the input mode is a Hangul mode, receiving the direction key twice; Displaying a basic consonant or a short vowel corresponding to the input direction key; Converting the basic consonants into twin consonants when a consonant conversion operation is input when the basic consonants are displayed; Converting a single vowel when the same vowel is displayed when the short vowel is displayed, and converting the vowel to a double vowel when another vowel is input when the short vowel or the middle vowel is displayed; And And inputting the displayed basic consonants or short vowels, the converted double consonants, the middle vowels, and the double vowels. The method of claim 7, wherein the displaying of the basic consonant or the short vowel When the up key U or the down key D with two basic consonants are displayed left and right, the basic consonants in the corresponding direction are selected and displayed by the left and right keys L and R, and the two basic consonants are displayed. When the left key L or the right key R in which the consonants are displayed up and down is input, the primary consonants of the corresponding directions are selected and displayed by the up key U and the down key D. Character input method. The method of claim 7, wherein the displaying of the basic consonant or the short vowel Press the right key (R) after pressing the center key (C) to select and display "ㅏ", press the left key (L) and the center key (C) to select and display "ㅓ", and press the up key ( U) and press the center key (C) to select "ㅗ", press the center key (C) and the down key (D) to select "TT", By pressing the left and right keys (L) and the right key (R), "-" is selected and displayed, and when the up-key (U) and down-key (D) is selected, "ㅣ" is selected and displayed. Character input method. The method of claim 7, wherein the character input method, And if the input mode is a numeric mode, converting a number into a number corresponding to the corresponding Hangul alphabet by inputting it in the same manner as a predefined Hangul alphabet. The method of claim 7, wherein the character input method, If the input mode is an English mode, the method for inputting a letter using the direction key, characterized in that the input method in the same manner as the predefined Hangul alphabet, and converting to the alphabet corresponding to the Hangul alphabet.

Images