KR100715787B1 - Mobile communication terminal for switching characters input mode according to rotation - Google Patents

Abstract

A mobile communication terminal for switching the text input mode in accordance with the rotation is disclosed. The mobile communication terminal according to the present invention is different from the display unit, the body unit which rotates with the display unit, the body unit on which the keyboard for character input is arranged, the sensing unit which senses whether the body unit is rotated, and the body unit when the body unit is rotated. And a controller for switching a character keyboard to a character input mode corresponding to the character keyboard switched by the keyboard switch.

Mobile phone, keypad, keyboard layout, text entry, rotation

Description

Mobile communication terminal for switching characters input mode according to rotation}

1 is a diagram illustrating a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a view showing a rotated state according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a system configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal for performing the switching of the character input mode according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a key mapping state of a keypad before rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a view showing a key matching state of the keypad after the rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view illustrating a keyboard layout state of a keypad before rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

7 is a view showing a keyboard layout state of the keypad after the rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention.

***** Description of Major References on Drawings *****

110: display unit 111: display panel

120: body 130: primary key pad

140: hinge portion 210: buki pad

The present invention relates to a mobile communication terminal, and more particularly, to a mobile communication terminal for switching a text input mode according to a rotation angle to easily perform a text input by switching the text input mode using single-axis rotation.

As mobile communication terminals become more common, the number of characters input is increasing. This is because additional functions such as a schedule task, a memo, a text message, etc. are installed in the terminal, so that a situation in which a text must be input is required.

Character input corresponds to Korean or English characters, and a number of keypad structures have been proposed for convenient input.

However, since the keypad structure for character input has a limitation on the size of the terminal, it is common to change the input method while maintaining the size of the keyboard as it is. In this case, there is a disadvantage that the number of inputs increases.

Unlike this, there is a method of arranging various keyboard layouts by increasing keys of the keypad, but in this case, the size of the terminal is also increased.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a mobile communication terminal for switching the character input mode according to the rotation angle to conveniently input characters by increasing the number of keys on the keypad without increasing the size of the terminal. Leave.

In addition, another object of the present invention is to provide a mobile communication terminal for switching the text input mode according to the rotation angle to reduce the number of key inputs to increase the text input speed.

In order to achieve the object, the present invention, the display unit, and the body unit rotates with the display unit, the keyboard portion for the character input is arranged, the sensing unit for detecting whether the body portion is rotated, and if there is a rotation of the body portion is different Provided is a mobile communication terminal including a keyboard switching unit for switching to a character keyboard and a control unit for switching a preset character input mode to a character input mode corresponding to the character keyboard switched by the keyboard switching unit.

At this time, the character includes a number, Korean, English, the keyboard is characterized in that any one or combination of numbers, Korean, English arrangement.

In addition, the keyboard includes a plurality of key buttons, the key button is characterized in that the display characters shown before the rotation of the body portion and the hidden characters shown only after the rotation is arranged together.

On the other hand, the sensing unit can detect the rotation angle of the body portion, the keyboard switching unit can be switched to a predetermined specific keyboard arrangement according to the detected rotation angle of the body portion.

At this time, the controller is characterized in that for switching the predetermined character input mode switched by the keyboard switching unit to the character input mode corresponding to the specific keyboard array.

At this time, the keyboard includes a first keyboard exposed regardless of the rotation of the body portion, and a second keyboard exposed during the rotation of the body portion.

Here, the body portion is characterized in that the display unit is rotated with a single axis or a central axis, and when the body portion is rotated, both the first keyboard and the second keyboard is exposed, characterized in that the arrangement of the English or Korean keyboard of the computer keyboard do.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to switch the character input mode by exposing all of the keypads only when the terminal is rotated with the display panel as the axis. In addition, the character input mode is changed each time the terminal is rotated, thereby reducing the number of key inputs.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail an embodiment according to the present invention.

1 is a diagram illustrating a mobile communication terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the communication terminal includes a body 120 having a main keypad 130, a display 110 connected to the body 120, and a rotatable display 110, and a body 120. The hinge unit 140 rotatably connects the panel 111. In this case, the display 110 includes a panel 111. Of course, the panel 111 may be formed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a touch screen, or the like.

Accordingly, the body 120 may be rotated by 90 degrees with respect to the display 110 and, when rotated, arranges the keyboard vertically or horizontally in the direction of the main keypad 130. That is, when the display 110 rotates 90 degrees, a keyboard array of the body 120 is formed, which is illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, the keypad of the body unit 120 includes a primary key pad 130 and a sub key pad 210, and has a keyboard layout similar to that of a keyboard of a personal computer. Of course, the bukipad 210 is located on the rear of the display unit 110 before the rotation and the state showing this is indicated by hatching. At this time, the keyboard layout is switched. That is, for example, it may be converted from the Korean input keyboard to the English input keyboard.

3 is a system configuration diagram of a mobile communication terminal for performing the above switching of the character input mode. Referring to FIG. 3, the system configuration of the mobile communication terminal includes a control unit 310, a display unit 320, an input unit 330, a keyboard switching unit 340, a detection unit 350, a memory unit 360, and a transceiver unit. 370.

The controller 310 controls functions implemented in the mobile communication terminal and transmits and receives data and signals with other components.

As described above, the display unit 320 may be formed of a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a touch screen, or the like.

The input unit 330 is a digit button (0-9) for input or selection, a special key button (*, # ....), a letter key button engraved with a Korean alphabet or alphabet, and a function key button for performing a function. It is composed. In one embodiment of the present invention may be composed of the primary key pad 130 and the secondary key pad 210 shown in FIG. Of course, the present invention shows only the keypad, but is not limited thereto. A method using a touch pad, an organic light emitting diode, or the like is also possible.

The keyboard switching unit 340 performs a function of switching the keyboard array in the input unit 330. That is, the conversion from the Korean keyboard to the English keyboard can be mentioned. To this end, a key mapping process is performed, which is illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5.

The detector 350 detects when the hinge 140 shown in FIG. 1 rotates and transmits a signal to the controller 310 or the keyboard switch 340. Therefore, it is possible to use a sensing sensor, but it is also possible to use a simple switch. That is, a method of generating on / off signals during contact and non-contact is also possible. Therefore, when rotated, the GPIO (General Purpose Input / Output Pin) value becomes "High" or "Low" when it is horizontal, so that the character input mode can be changed by changing the key mapping.

The memory unit 360 may be configured as a storage device such as a flash memory, a RAM, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM), or the like. Therefore, in an embodiment of the present invention, key mapping data and a program for operating the terminal are stored.

In addition, an audio processor 370 for processing ring tone or voice information, a transceiver 380 for transmitting / receiving wireless data may be further included.

Next, Figure 4 is a view showing a key mapping state of the keypad before rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, a key mapping table 400 is configured according to the keyboard of the main keypad 130. In general, according to Infineon Solution, 64 keys are allocated to the terminal keypad with 8 rows and 8 columns. About 20 to 25 are actually used, but the present invention is not limited thereto. It is also possible to assign keys by varying the number of rows and columns.

Therefore, the key mapping table 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 will be described briefly. KP_IN0, KP_IN1, KP_IN2 .... is shown on the column side, and KP_OUT0, KP_OUT1, KP_OUT2 ..... is located on the row side. The keymapping values are defined in terms of the intersection of each row and column. For example, when KP_IN1 and KP_OUT0, the key mapping value is the number "1", and when KP_IN1 and KP_OUT1, the key mapping value is the number "4".

In the key mapping table 400 illustrated in FIG. 4, the body 120 is not rotated yet. At this time, the GPIO value KEY_STATUS_DETECT becomes Low, and the numeric mapping mode 400 is shown in the table. Referring to the key operation process, the default KP_IN value before selection is " High " and the default KP_OUT value is " Low ".

Therefore, when the user selects the corresponding key button, KP_IN is converted to "Low" and KP_OUT is converted to "High", and the corresponding key is selected. For simplicity, this is as follows.

[Before selection]

Default KP_IN ---> HIGH

Default KP_OUT ---> LOW

[After selecting]

KP_IN ---> LOW

KP_OUT ---> HIGH

5 is a view showing a key matching state of the keypad after the rotation according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, the body 120 is rotated at an angle of 90 degrees, and the sub-keypad 210 of the body 120 is exposed to form the main keypad 130 and the English keyboard array. One drawing.

The mapping table shown in FIG. 5 also maps alphabetic characters in the same manner as described above. This is called an alphabetic key mapping table 500 to distinguish it from the mapping table shown in FIG. 4.

In the conversion process, the body 120 is rotated at an angle of 90 degrees, so that the KEY_STATUS_DETECT value of the GPIO becomes high. Therefore, the key mapping table 400 is switched to the alphabet key mapping table 500 for inputting the alphabetic characters.

The English alphabet key mapping table 500 is briefly described as follows: KP_IN0, KP_IN1, KP_IN2 .... are placed on the column side, and KP_OUT0, KP_OUT1, KP_OUT2 ..... are placed on the row side. Keymapping values are defined in terms where the and columns intersect. For example, when KP_IN0 and KP_OUT0, the key mapping value becomes the English letter "Q", and when KP_IN1 and KP_OUT1, the key mapping value becomes the English letter "S".

Thus, letters can be input similarly to keyboard keyboards found in personal computers. Such an English keyboard structure is shown in FIG. 5.

The English keyboard 510 includes not only a key button engraved with an English letter but also a key button such as a space bar and a shift.

Of course, the keyboard layout of the main keypad 130 is different before and after the body 120 is rotated. Because the main keypad 130 and the sub-key pad 210 is configured as a keypad, the main keypad 130 is in a horizontal direction before the body 120 rotates, and is in a vertical direction after the rotation.

Therefore, since the position of the keypad is changed, when the character input is converted from the number to the alphabet, the character of the keyboard must also be converted. To this end, it is possible to simultaneously write letters and numbers on the buttons of the main keypad 130. Figures illustrating this are shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 shows that the main keypad 130 is in a horizontal direction, and is composed of a displayed text 600 (hereinafter referred to as a display text) and a hidden text 610 (hereinafter referred to as a hidden text). In particular, as shown in Figure 1, the body portion 120 is in a state before the rotation of the keyboard layout is a mode for entering a number.

Therefore, the display character 600 is displayed on the button of the primary keypad 130, and the hidden character 610 is hidden on the button of the primary keypad 130. Of course, for this purpose, a backlight (not shown) is provided at the bottom of the main keypad 130, and the light emission color of the backlight (not shown) is configured to be different for each display character 600 and the hidden character 610.

In addition, the display text 600 and the hidden text 610 of the primary keypad 130 are also different in composition so as to be combined with the light emitting color of the backlight (not shown). For example, the display text 600 may use a general material and the hidden text 610 may use a fluorescent material.

 As described above, when the body 120 shown in FIG. 5 is rotated, the main keypad 130 is also rotated in the same direction. In this case, the keyboard layout of the main keypad 130 in the rotated state is shown in FIG. 6. That is, the keyboard layout is changed in the vertical direction so that the hidden character 610 is displayed and the display character 600 is hidden. Of course, in one embodiment of the present invention, the display character 600 and the hidden character 610 is configured at regular intervals for easy understanding, but the display character 600 and the hidden character 610 may be configured in one place. Do.

Meanwhile, in one embodiment of the present invention, the keyboard layout is described as being composed of numbers or alphabets, but it is also possible to input Korean characters. That is, it is also possible to switch the character input mode by changing the rotation direction or by rotating 180 degrees. Alternatively, by selecting a specific button on the keypad, it is possible to switch the character input mode from Korean to English or from English to Korean.

It is also possible to configure the keypad as a touch screen. In other words, when the keypad is configured as a touch screen, the letters, Korean, and numeric input screens can be configured differently for each rotation, and the character array can be easily changed from horizontal to vertical and vertical to horizontal for each rotation.

In addition, although one embodiment has been described based on single-axis rotation, it is also applicable to a case in which the input mode is switched to Korean, numeric, or English characters even during the central rotation. In this case, it is also possible to switch the input mode every time the display panel is rotated.

In the above, the present invention has been described in detail using one embodiment, but the scope of the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate, without departing from the scope of the present invention. It should be understood that many modifications and variations are possible. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention will be preferably interpreted by the appended claims.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to switch the character input mode by exposing all the keypads only when the terminal is rotated around the display panel.

In addition, the character input mode is changed each time the terminal is rotated, thereby reducing the number of key inputs.

Claims (8)

A display unit; A body unit which rotates with the display unit and in which a keyboard for character input is arranged; A detection unit detecting whether the body unit is rotated; A keyboard switching unit for converting the keyboard to another character keyboard when the body unit is rotated; And a control unit which switches a preset character input mode to a character input mode corresponding to the character keyboard switched by the keyboard switching unit. The method of claim 1, The letter includes numbers, Korean, English, The keyboard is a mobile communication terminal, characterized in that any one or a combination of numbers, Korean, English. The method of claim 1, The keyboard includes a plurality of key buttons, The key button is a mobile communication terminal, characterized in that the display characters shown before the rotation of the body portion and the hidden characters shown only after the rotation is arranged together. The method of claim 1, The sensing unit detects the rotation angle of the body portion, and the keyboard switching unit is characterized in that switching to a predetermined specific keyboard array according to the detected rotation angle of the body portion. The method of claim 4, wherein And the control unit switches the preset input mode switched by the keyboard switching unit to a character input mode corresponding to the specific keyboard array. The method of claim 1, The keyboard includes a first keyboard exposed regardless of the rotation of the body portion, and a second keyboard exposed during the rotation of the body portion. The method of claim 6, And the body unit rotates the display unit as a single axis or a central axis. The method of claim 1, When the body part is rotated, both the first keyboard and the second keyboard are exposed, so that the English or Korean keyboard array of the computer keyboard is formed.

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