KR100461552B1 - Rotatable key inputting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a rotary key input device that can implement a plurality of characters with a small number of track balls, since a key can be rotated by being formed as a track ball, so that a plurality of contact terminals can be formed on one track ball. Rotary input means of having a polygon; A rotating shaft of the rotary input means; A rotating shaft support part supporting the rotating shaft and moving up and down; And a button positioned under the rotary input means and including a button for transmitting an input signal when the input means is pressed.

Description

Rotary key input device

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keypad used for a mobile phone terminal, and the like, and more particularly, to a key input device capable of minimizing a space occupied by a keypad, by forming a keypad as a track ball and inputting a number or character with one keypad. .

In general, mobile phone terminals have numbers from 0 to 9 and * and # on 12 keypads. In addition to numbers, alphabets and Korean alphabets are written on the keypad as described above, so that numbers and letters can be input.

Referring to Figure 1 describes the keypad of a mobile phone according to the prior art as follows.

The conventional mobile phone terminal includes a display unit 10 having an LCD window; And a lower end having a navigation keypad 30 and a keyboard keypad 40 at the bottom of the display unit 10.

The keypad 40 is arranged in three rows and four rows of 12 keys consisting of numbers 0 to 9 and *, #. In addition, the English alphabet and the Korean alphabet are written on the numeric keys.

In the case of pressing a phone number, when the user selectively presses the key, the corresponding numbers are displayed on the LCD window of the display unit 10, and when a desired number is selected, the call button of the navigation keypad 30 is used. To transmit the number.

In the case of writing a sentence in order to send a text message, the navigation keypad 30 is operated to select English or Korean, which is operated using the LCD window. When entering letters after selecting English or Korean, press the key several times to display the desired letters on the LCD.

However, since the keypad according to the related art requires 12 keys in order to express numbers and characters, the size of the terminal may be largely determined by the size of the keypad. There was a problem becoming.

In addition, since the numbers, the Korean alphabet and the English alphabet are written on one keyboard, there is a problem in that an input character type has to be set for inputting a desired character.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, the key is formed of a track ball can be rotated, it is possible to form a plurality of contact terminals in one track ball, a plurality of characters with a small number of track balls It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary key input device that can be implemented.

In addition, even if the number of keys constituting the key input device less than 12 can implement all the characters, there is another object to provide a rotary key input device that can reduce the size of the terminal.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotary key input device capable of inputting a desired character even if the characters are distinguished and displayed on different surfaces so that the character input is not set.

1 is a front view showing the configuration of a mobile phone terminal according to the prior art;

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a mobile terminal equipped with a rotary key input device according to the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the configuration and installation of one embodiment of a rotary key input device according to the present invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view showing an embodiment configuration of a track ball inner cross section of the rotary key input device according to the present invention.

* Description of the main parts of the drawings

10, 100: display unit 20, 200: lower part

30, 210: navigation key 40: keypad

300: rotary key input device 310: track ball

311: Track ball division contact 312: Face division contact

320: rotary shaft 330: rotary shaft support

340: button 350: restoring spring

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a polygonal rotary input means having a function of a key; A rotating shaft of the rotary input means; A rotating shaft support part supporting the rotating shaft and moving up and down; And a button positioned under the rotary input means and including a button for transmitting an input signal when the input means is pressed.

The rotating shaft support may be provided with a restoring spring.

The rotating shaft has an upper surface of a conductor; The inner surface of the rotary input means is provided with a plurality of contacts for distinguishing each surface can distinguish the type of input means and the surface of the input means directed upward.

2 to 4, an embodiment of a rotary key input device according to the present invention will be described.

Figure 2 shows the configuration of a mobile phone terminal equipped with a rotary key input device according to the present invention.

As shown in Fig. 2, the terminal of the present embodiment includes a display unit 100 having an LCD window; And a lower end 200 having a navigation key input device 210 and a rotary key input device 300.

3 illustrates a configuration and installation state of the rotary key input device 300.

As shown in Fig. 3, in this embodiment, an octagonal trackball 310 having a function of a key; A rotating shaft 320 which is a rotating shaft of the track ball 310; A rotating shaft support 330 supporting the rotating shaft 320 and movable up and down; And a button 340 positioned below the track ball 310 to transmit an input signal when the track ball 310 is pressed.

The rotating shaft support 330 is provided with a restoring spring 350 so that when the user presses the track ball 310, the rotating shaft 320 and the rotating shaft support 330 connected to the track ball 310 are moved downward, and the track ball 310 ) Is pressed back to the original position after pressing the button 340.

Figure 4 shows a cross section inside the key input device of this embodiment.

When the user rotates the rotary key input device, the user may view a track ball located at an upper portion thereof and press a key to input a desired character. In order to implement this operation, it is necessary to know the rotation position of the trackball.

To this end, the upper surface of the rotating shaft 320 in contact with the lower surface of the track ball 310 toward the upper side is made of a conductor; The inner surface of the track ball 310 is provided with a plurality of contacts (311, 312) to distinguish each surface, the position of the key is recognized by the contact of the contact 311, 312 and the rotary shaft.

As shown in Fig. 4, in the present embodiment, a track ball segment 311 indicating the type of track ball 310 on the inner surface of the track ball; And a face dividing contact 312 for dividing the faces of the octagon.

Trackballs are distinguished by the trackball sorting contacts 311; The surface dividing contact 312 is provided with an open contact 312a and a closed contact 312b at different positions on each surface, and the open contact 312a and the closed contact provided at the three surface dividing contacts 312. 312b) is configured to distinguish the eight sides of the trackball according to the position in contact with the axis of rotation.

The letters to be displayed on the trackball are 10 letters from Korean 26 letters and 10 letters from 12 letters. How to implement the Hangul alphabet may vary for each manufacturer.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, since 24 faces are formed on the three octagonal trackballs 310, numbers and Korean letters are marked on 12 sides by appropriately assigning alphabets and numbers to adjacent surfaces. , 12 letters on the alphabet.

Hereinafter, with reference to the embodiment of the rotary key input device having three octagonal track balls shown in Figure 2, the operation and effect of the present invention configured as described above will be described.

Since the key input device is made of a track ball shape that can be rotated without being made of a key, the size of the key input device can be reduced to about half the size of the conventional key input device, thereby reducing the size of the terminal body.

When entering numbers such as telephone numbers, turn the trackball until the number you want to press appears on the number written on the face of the trackball, and press the trackball once to take a picture. At this time, the number of the upper surface is displayed on the LCD screen while the trackball is rotated so that the user can check.

In the case of inputting Hangul, the desired surface is placed on the upper side, and unlike the numbers above, pressing the trackball twice causes the Hangul alphabet to be input, so that it is possible to configure the input setting for the Hangul input.

In the case of inputting English, if the desired alphabet comes to the upper side, a surface on which several alphabets are marked is provided on the upper side, and the desired alphabet may be input by pressing the trackball in the order of the desired alphabet.

The above input method is one embodiment, and the input method may be selected in a similar manner. Therefore, by varying the number of trackballs and the number of polygonal faces of the trackball, it is possible to increase or decrease the number of faces necessary for the character implementation.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiments and the accompanying drawings, and it is common in the field of the present invention that various substitutions, modifications, and changes can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be apparent to those who have knowledge.

As described above, according to the present invention, since a plurality of characters can be implemented in one trackball without having a different key input device for each character, the area occupied by the key input device can be reduced.

In addition, there is another effect that can implement a large number of characters with a small number of trackballs by varying the number of trackballs or the polygonal shape of the trackball cross section.

In addition, since many character planes can be formed by the trackball, there is another effect that input can be made without setting a character by writing only the same type of character on any face of the trawlball.

Claims (6)

Polygonal rotary input means having a function of a key; A rotating shaft of the rotary input means; A rotating shaft support part supporting the rotating shaft and moving up and down; And Located at the bottom of the rotary input means, a button for transmitting an input signal when the input means is pressed Rotary key input device comprising a. The method of claim 1, Rotary key input device is provided with a resilient spring on the rotary shaft support. The method of claim 1, The rotating shaft has an upper surface of a conductor; The inner surface of the rotary input means is provided with a plurality of contacts to distinguish each surface Rotary key input device. The method of claim 3, wherein On the inner surface of the rotary input means An input means division contact capable of displaying the type of the rotary input means; And Face sorting means to separate faces Rotary key input device having a. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 4, The rotary input means is a rotary key input device consisting of an octagonal track ball. The method of claim 5, wherein Means for distinguishing the surface of the inner surface of the trackball Each face consists of three face-dividing contacts with open and closed contacts in different positions Rotary key input device.