JPH04284524A - Key input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable the user of a device to input quickly HIRAGANA(cursive form of Japanese syllabary) and KATAKANA(square form of Japanese syllabary) through the input of the alphabet by providing a key array in which consonant alphabets are arranged in plural lines at the side of vowelic alphabets. CONSTITUTION:Twenty-six pieces of alphabet keys from A to Z are arranged at positions from 1 to 22 and from 24 to 27, and a long vowel key '-' is arranged at the position 23. Then, an alphabet/numeral input switching key and a HIRAGANA/KATAKANA input switching key are arranged at 28 and 29 respectively so that the alphabet, the numeral, HIRAGANA and KATAKANA can be inputted, and by pushing 29, the input of HIRAGANA or KATAKANA by the input of the alphabet can be selected. Here, since five pieces of the vowels are arranged in a line at the rightmost column, and the consonants for inputting the Japanese syllabary are arranged at an upper part as shown in a figure, the quick key input can be executed.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a key input device for computer devices such as personal computers and electronic notebooks.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When inputting Japanese on a personal computer, electronic notebook, etc., that is, when inputting hiragana or katakana, it is often done by inputting Roman characters. When inputting hiragana and katakana in this Romaji input, the layout of the alphabetic keys has a large effect on the input speed.

[0003] A conventional key input device will be explained below. Figure 2 is a diagram of a conventional key input device, and the alphabetic keys from 30 to 55 are Q
It is an ERTY array. Further, 56 is a long key, 57 is an alphabetic/numeric input switching key, and 58 is a hiragana/katakana input switching key. By using the alphabetic/numeric input switching keys 57, keys 30 to 39 are switched to numeric keys 1 to 0, respectively.

[0004] A method for inputting hiragana in the key input device having the above-described arrangement will be explained. Select the hiragana mode by pressing the hiragana/katakana input switching key shown at 58. For example, if you want to input "crab", press the alphabetic keys shown in FIG. 2 in the order of 47, 40, 54, 37. This can be achieved with

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, with the above-mentioned conventional configuration, when inputting hiragana or katakana using Romaji input, if you are not familiar with a normal PC keyboard, you will have to use a QWERTY layout keyboard as shown in Figure 2. is difficult to input. In order to solve these problems, a key input device or the like in which 50 hiragana characters are arranged has been used. However, in devices with compact shapes such as electronic notebooks, there is a problem that the key input device itself must be compact or it cannot be stored inside the device. A key input device is required. Also, since such a compact device does not have a full keyboard, key input methods such as blind touch cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a key input device that allows a device user to quickly input hiragana and katakana by inputting Roman characters.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides an alphabet key in which Roman vowel alphabetic characters are arranged consecutively so that it is easy to input hiragana and katakana in Roman alphabet input.
It has a long key, numeric keys that overlap some of the alphabet keys, an alphabet/numeric input switch key, and a hiragana/katakana input switch key.

[0008]

[Operation] With the above-described structure, the present invention can provide a key layout that is easy to input when inputting hiragana and katakana by Roman alphabet input, so that the user of the device can input keys more quickly.

[0009]

Embodiment An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a key arrangement diagram of a key input device, and the key arrangement is such that it is easy to input hiragana and katakana when inputting Roman characters. To explain the structure of the key arrangement in FIG. 1, 26 alphabetic keys from "A" to "Z" are arranged from 1 to 22 and from 24 to 27. Among these alphanumeric keys, 2 to 6 are the numbers "1" to "5", and 8 to 12 are the numbers "6" to "0".
” are also placed in duplicate. Also, 23 has a long key “
-” is placed. In order to input alphabetic characters, numbers, hiragana and katakana characters using this key input device, an alphabetic/numeric input switching key 28 and a hiragana/katakana input switching key 29 are arranged, respectively. By pressing 28, you can select alphabetic or numeric input, and by pressing 29, you can select hiragana or katakana input using Roman characters.

Regarding the key input device of FIG. 1 described above, the input of hiragana and katakana in Roman alphabet input, which is a feature of this article, will be explained. Since hiragana and katakana can be distinguished using the 29 hiragana/katakana input switching keys, only hiragana input will be explained here. 5
The input means will be explained in the order of the 0 sound: A line, KA line, SA line, T line, Na line, HA line, M line, Ya line, R line, and WA line. Vowels “A”, “I”, “U”, “E”, “O”
is the rightmost row of the keyboard layout, 6, 12, 17, 22,
They are placed on each of the 27 keys. Here, the input of the lines "a", "i", "u", "e", and "o" can be realized by inputting keys 6, 12, 17, 22, and 27, respectively. Next, the input for the row is the consonant "K" placed on the 5 key and the vowel keys 6, 12, 17, 22,
This can be realized by 27 combinations. The S line can also be input using the combination of the consonant key "S" located at 4 and the vowel key. The ta row is the 3 consonant key "T" and the vowel key, the na row is the 2 consonant key "N" and the vowel key, the is row is the 11 consonant key "H" and the vowel key, and the ma row is the 10 consonant key " M” and the vowel key, Ya row is the 9th consonant key “Y” and the vowel key, R row is the 8th consonant key “R” and the vowel key, and Wa row is the 7th consonant key “W” and the vowel key. You can input it by Also, inputting lowercase hiragana letters can be achieved by inputting "X" shown in 1 at the beginning. 1 out of the remaining 13
The alphabetic keys shown in 6, the alphabetic keys shown in 18 to 21, and 2.
By combining the alphabetic keys shown in numbers 4 to 26 with the aforementioned alphabetic keys, it is also possible to input hiragana with voiced marks. 23 is the long key "-".

An example of hiragana input will be given below. To input the string "Chicken", do the following: When "Chicken" is displayed in Roman letters, it is "NIWATORI", so from the key layout in Figure 1, 2, 12, 7, 6, 3,
27, 8, and 12 may be input in this order. As you can see, it is easier to input hiragana when vowels and consonants are arranged together.

As described above, according to the key input device of the embodiment of the present invention, five vowels are arranged in one column on the rightmost row as shown in the key arrangement shown in FIG. Consonants are placed side by side at the top, allowing for quick key input.

[0013] In this embodiment, the vowel letters are arranged in the rightmost column, but they are not limited to this, and may be arranged in the leftmost column, or in one horizontal row at the top or bottom row. It can be placed anywhere that Roman vowels are easy to recognize.

[0014]

As is clear from the above embodiments, according to the present invention, alphabetic keys are arranged as shown in FIG. Therefore, it is possible to provide a key input device that can realize smoother character input.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a key arrangement of a key input device in an embodiment of the present invention.

[Figure 2] Schematic diagram showing the key layout of a conventional key input device

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Alphabetic character “X” input key 2 Alphabetic character “N” and number “1” input key 3 Alphabetic character “T”
” and number “2” input key 4 Alphabet “S” and number “3”
Input key 5 Alphabet “K” and number “4” input key 6
Alphabet "A" and number "5" input key 7 Alphabet "W" input key 8 Alphabet "R" and number "6" input key 9 Alphabet "Y"
” and number “7” input key 10 Alphabet “M” and number “8”
” input key 11 Alphabet “H” and number “9” input key 1
2 Alphabetic letter “I” and number “0” input key 13 Alphabetic letter “
L” input key 14 Alphabet “D” input key 15 Alphabetic “Z” input key 16 Alphabetic “G” input key 17 Alphabetic “U” input key 18 Alphabetic “J” input key 19 Alphabetic “F” input key 20 Alphabetic “C” ” input key 21 Alphabetic letter “B” input key 22 Alphabetic letter “E” input key 23 Long sound “-” input key 24 Alphabetic letter “V” input key 25 Alphabetic letter “Q” input key 26 Alphabetic letter “P” input key 27 Alphabetic letter “O” Input key 28 Alphabetic/numeric input switching key

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A key input device comprising a key arrangement in which vowel letters of the Roman alphabet are arranged consecutively, and consonant letters are arranged in a plurality of lines next to the vowel letters. 2. The key input device according to claim 1, wherein the consonant alphabetic characters are arranged in alphabetical order. Claim 3: 26 alphabetic keys from A to Z, a long note key, 10 numeric keys from 0 to 9 that are shared with the alphabetic keys, an alphabetic/numeric input switch key, and a hiragana/numeric input switch key. 3. The key input device according to claim 1, further comprising a katakana input switching key. 4. The key input device according to claim 2, wherein the vowel letters of the Roman alphabet are arranged in the rightmost row of the keyboard, and the consonant letters are arranged side by side at the top of the keyboard.