JP2011192215A - Device, method and program for inputting character - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a character input device, or the like which can easily perform character input by making it difficult to generate any typing mistake. <P>SOLUTION: The character input device includes: a display part for displaying an image; an input detection part arranged to be overlapped with the display part, and for detecting the touch input of an operator; and a control part for making the display part display a software keyboard, and for, when it is detected by an input detection part that the image of one key of the software keyboard has been touched, performing enlargement key display to enlarge and display the image of one key and the image of at least one of keys in the periphery. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device, a character input method, and a character input program for inputting characters using a software keyboard displayed on a display unit.

  In a communication device such as a cellular phone, there are various input devices other than an input device for pressing a keyboard, a numeric keypad, or a button as a device for inputting an operator's instruction. For example, in Patent Document 1, a character input screen having a character display area is displayed on a display unit, a virtual character table in which a plurality of characters are arranged is associated with a touch panel, and a virtual character table corresponding to a position touch-inputted on the touch panel A character input device that displays the character as an input target character in a character display area is described. Further, the character input device described in Patent Document 1 switches the input target character corresponding to the virtual character table and displays it in the character display area according to the position of the touch input while the touch input is continued. Yes.

JP 2007-26349 A

  By the way, as a portable electronic device, an image of a general QWERTY keyboard is displayed on an image display unit, and characters are input by touching an image of a desired key on a touch panel arranged on the front surface of the image display unit. Some have a so-called software keyboard as an input unit.

  However, since the display area of portable electronic devices is limited by the size of the housing, using a software keyboard causes the software keys to be small, making typing errors difficult to input characters. It was.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and provides a character input device, a character input method, and a character input program that are less likely to cause typographical errors and can facilitate character input. With the goal.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a character input device according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays an image, and an input that is arranged so as to overlap the display unit and detects an operator's touch input. When a software keyboard is displayed on the detection unit and the display unit, and it is detected that the image of one key of the software keyboard is touched by the input detection unit, the image of the one key and the surrounding keys And a control unit for performing a first enlargement key display for enlarging and displaying at least one image.

  Here, it is preferable that the control unit performs the first enlarged key display when the input detection unit detects that the image of the one key is touched for a predetermined time.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said control part expands and displays the image of said one key, and the image of all the keys of the circumference | surroundings as said 1st expansion key display.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said control part displays the image of said one key larger than the image of the surrounding key as said 1st expansion key display.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said control part enlarges gradually the image by a said 1st expansion key display according to the elapsed time after the image of the said one key was touched.

  In addition, when the control unit detects that the position touched by the input detection unit during the display of the first enlargement key is moved outside the image by the first enlargement key display, It is preferable to end the enlargement key display.

  In addition, when the control unit detects that the touch position is moved to an image of any one of the keys around the one key by the input detection unit during the display of the first enlarged key, It is preferable that the first enlarged key display is performed around the moved key.

  In addition, when the control unit detects that the touched state of the image of the moved destination key is maintained for a predetermined time, the control unit performs the first enlarged key display centering on the moved destination key. Is preferred.

  In addition, when the control unit detects that the image of the one key is still touched by the input detection unit while the first enlarged key is displayed, the control unit detects that the other key image is touched. It is preferable to perform the second enlarged key display in which the image of the key and the image of the surrounding keys are enlarged and displayed.

  Further, it is preferable that the control unit performs the second enlarged key display when detecting that the touched state of the image of the other key is maintained for a predetermined time.

  In addition, when the first enlarged key display and the second enlarged key display overlap each other, the control unit displays the second enlarged key display so as to overlap the first enlarged key display. It is preferable to make it.

  Further, when the input detection unit detects a movement of the touch position during the first enlarged key display and the second other enlarged key display, the control unit detects the first enlarged key display and the second enlarged key display. It is preferable to display the enlarged display by the touch of the moved one of the enlarged key displays superimposed on the other enlarged display.

  The input detection unit can detect at least two stages of a touch by a pressing force equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and a touch by a pressing force stronger than the threshold, and the control unit can detect the threshold by the input detection unit. When it is detected that the touch is performed with a stronger pressing force, it is preferable to confirm the input of the character corresponding to the touched key.

  In addition, when the control unit detects that the touch of the key image has been canceled by the input detection unit, it is preferable that the input of the character corresponding to the key touched immediately before the touch cancellation is confirmed. .

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a character input method according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays an image, and an input that is arranged so as to overlap the display unit and detects an operator's touch input. A method executed by a character input device comprising: a detection unit; and a step of displaying a software keyboard on the display unit; and detecting that an image of one key of the software keyboard is touched by the input detection unit Then, an enlarged key display for enlarging and displaying at least one image of the image of the one key and the surrounding keys is included.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a character input program according to the present invention includes a display unit that displays an image, and an input that is arranged so as to overlap the display unit and detects an operator's touch input. A program executed by a character input device comprising: a detecting unit; and a step of displaying a software keyboard on the display unit; and detecting that an image of one key of the software keyboard is touched by the input detecting unit Then, an enlarged key display for enlarging and displaying at least one image of the image of the one key and the surrounding keys is included.

  The character input device, the character input method, and the character input program according to the present invention have an effect that it is possible to make it difficult to generate a typo and to facilitate character input.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of a mobile communication device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of functions of an embodiment of the mobile communication device. FIG. 3A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 3-2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 3C is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 5A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 5B is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 6A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 6B is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 7A is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 7-2 is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 7C is an explanatory diagram for explaining the operation of the mobile communication device. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the mobile communication device.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following description. In addition, constituent elements in the following description include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art, those that are substantially the same, and those in a so-called equivalent range. In the following, a mobile communication device, more specifically a mobile phone, will be described as an example of a character input device. However, the application target of the present invention is not limited to a mobile phone. For example, PHS (Personal Handyphone System) ), PDA, portable and in-vehicle navigation devices, notebook computers, game machines, vending machines, ATMs, etc.

  First, the external appearance of the mobile communication device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. Here, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the mobile communication device 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile communication device 10 has a housing 11, and each part constituting the mobile communication device 10 is built in the housing 11. A display unit 33 is disposed on the front surface of the housing 11, and an input unit 28 is disposed on the front surface of the display unit 33. A microphone 15 is disposed at one end in the longitudinal direction of the front surface of the housing 11 (the surface on which the display unit 33 is disposed), and a receiver is disposed at the other end of the front surface of the housing 11 in the longitudinal direction. 16 is arranged. 1 is in a state where a character input screen (to be described later) is displayed on the display unit 33, and a software keyboard having a QWERTY layout is displayed.

  Next, a schematic configuration of functions of the mobile communication device will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of functions of an embodiment of the mobile communication device. The mobile communication device 10 is a mobile phone having a wireless communication function. As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile communication device 10 includes a control unit 22, a display control unit 23, a storage unit 24, a communication unit 26, an input unit 28, an audio processing unit 30, a driver IC 32, and a display unit. 33.

  The control unit 22 is a processing unit that centrally controls the overall operation of the mobile communication device 10, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). That is, the communication unit 26, the display unit, and the like so that various processes of the mobile communication device 10 are executed in an appropriate procedure according to the input of the input unit 28 and the software stored in the storage unit 24 of the mobile communication device 10. The operation of 33 etc. is controlled. The control unit 22 executes processing based on a program (for example, an operating system program, application program, etc.) stored in the storage unit 24. The control unit 22 can execute a plurality of programs (applications, software) in parallel.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 22 further includes a multi-touch control application unit 22a, a feedback control application unit 22b, and a key expansion control application unit 22c. In FIG. 2, for the sake of explanation, each software (application program) is shown as being provided individually. However, signal exchange and data processing are performed between the control unit 22, the storage unit 24, and the like. However, each part is not visually provided separately. FIG. 2 shows software related to character input as software, but as described above, various software other than the software shown in FIG. 2 is provided. Each application unit is executed by reading and processing a program stored in the storage unit 24. Hereinafter, the configuration of each unit will be described.

  The multi-touch control application unit 22a receives the coordinate information touched by the operator's finger from the input unit 28, refers to the coordinate / key correspondence database stored in the storage unit 24, and selects the operator from the software keyboard. Determines the software key (hereinafter also simply referred to as “key”) that the user wishes to input. In addition, when the number of fingers touching the software key newly increases, the multi-touch control application unit 22a discriminates it from the information passed from the input unit 28, manages it according to the order of touching the finger, and identifies each finger. Information is sent to the display control unit 23.

  The feedback control application unit 22b receives the software key information touched by the finger from the multi-touch control application unit 22a, and sends feedback display information corresponding to the software key to the display control unit 23.

  The key enlargement control application unit 22c receives coordinate information touched by each finger from the multi-touch control application unit 22a, and determines whether or not the key corresponds to a certain condition (timer value, enlarged display) stored in the storage unit 24. Software key enlargement information is sent to the display control unit 23 according to the enlargement corresponding key determination information to be updated, and the coordinate / key correspondence database in the storage unit 24 is updated.

  The display control unit 23 generates an image based on various conditions and image information (image material) sent from the control unit 22 and outputs the image to the driver IC 32. In this embodiment, the display control unit 23 is provided as a control unit different from the control unit 22, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the display control unit 23 may be provided integrally with the control unit 22. Alternatively, it may be provided as a part of the control unit 22.

  The storage unit 24 stores application programs and data used for processing in the control unit 22. Specifically, programs such as a multi-touch control application, a feedback control application, a key expansion control application, and a character input application are stored. As data, dictionary data for character conversion, address book data, a coordinate / key correspondence database for associating coordinates of the input unit 28 with software keys, and the like are stored.

  The communication unit 26 includes an antenna 26a, establishes a radio signal line by a CDMA method or the like with a base station via a channel assigned by the base station, and performs telephone communication and information communication with the base station. .

  The input unit 28 is a touch panel arranged so as to overlap the front surface of the display unit 33, and detects the contact as an input when the operator touches the surface. The input unit 28 detects the touched position, the strength of the contact, and the like. As the touch panel, various types of touch panels such as a matrix switch, a resistive film method, a surface acoustic wave method, an infrared method, an electromagnetic induction method, and a capacitance method can be used. Here, the input unit 28 is in a state where an image of a key assigned with various functions such as a power key, a call key, a numeric key, a character key, a direction key, a determination key, and a call key is displayed on the display unit 33. If it is detected that the surface is sometimes pressed (contact is on the surface), the pressed position (position where the contact is made) is detected. The control unit 22 of the mobile communication device 10 performs the process on the assumption that the key operation corresponding to the position where the input unit 28 detected contact is input.

  The audio processing unit 30 executes processing of an audio signal input to the microphone 15 and an audio signal output from the receiver 16.

  The driver IC 32 generates a video corresponding to the video data supplied from the display control unit 23 and a signal corresponding to the image data, and outputs the video to the display unit 33. The display unit 33 includes a display panel configured by a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL (Organic Electro-Luminescence) panel, or the like. The display unit 33 displays an image based on the signal sent from the driver IC 32.

  Next, referring to FIGS. 3-1 to 7-3, the operation of the mobile communication device 10, specifically, the detection of the software keyboard image and character input to be displayed on the screen when character input is performed. explain. Here, FIGS. 3-1 to 7-3 are explanatory diagrams illustrating examples of images of the software keyboard displayed on the display unit 33, respectively.

  First, when character input is performed, that is, when the character input function is activated, the mobile communication device 10 displays a QWERTY-arranged software keyboard image 100 on the display unit 33 as shown in FIG. Let

  Then, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, when the image 102 of the “G” key in the image 100 of the software keyboard is touched by the operator's finger F1, the mobile communication device 10 detects the touch. Note that the mobile communication device 10 is set with a key selection operation and an input confirmation (determination) operation. When the input unit 28 is simply touched (a state in which the key selection operation is input), the key is changed. It is not determined that the key has been input, but it is determined that the key has been selected.

  After that, when the state in which the image 102 is touched by the operator's finger F1 is maintained for a predetermined time, the mobile communication device 10 has a “G” key and surrounding “R”, as shown in FIG. An enlarged image 114 is displayed in which the keys “T”, “Y”, “F”, “H”, “V”, “B”, and “N” are enlarged. Here, the enlarged image 114 is an image in which the enlarged image 114a of the “G” key is larger than the enlarged images of the other keys. Note that the mobile communication device 10 (the control unit 22 thereof) also changes the input detection area of each key in accordance with the display area of each key of the software key displayed on the display unit 33. That is, according to the change of the key display area, the area for determining that the corresponding key is input is also changed.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3C, when the mobile communication device 10 is in a state where the enlarged image 114 is being displayed and a determination operation is input with respect to an image of a key constituting the enlarged image 114, the corresponding key is input. Character.

  Here, the setting method of the character input selection operation and the confirmation operation can be various settings. For example, a touch on the input unit 28 can be detected in two stages: a touch with a pressing force equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and a touch with a pressing force stronger than the threshold. In this case, when the mobile communication device 10 detects that the key image is touched with a pressing force weaker than the threshold value, it determines that the character corresponding to the software key displayed at the coordinates is selected. When it is detected that the key image is touched with a pressing force stronger than the threshold value, it is determined that the character corresponding to the key displayed at the coordinates has been input (the input has been confirmed). Thus, by setting to determine based on the pressing force of touch (contact), the user can confirm the input only by pressing with a stronger force. In the above embodiment, the pressing force of the input unit 28 is determined in two stages, and each pressing force is set to be a selection operation and a confirmation operation. However, the pressing force is set to two or more threshold values. You may make it detect in 3 steps or more. In this case, in accordance with the pressure level, in addition to the selection operation and the confirmation operation, various character input controls such as conversion start instructions and phrase instructions can be set. Further, for example, when it is detected that the touch by the operator has been eliminated, it may be determined that the confirmation operation has been input, and it may be determined that the character corresponding to the software key displayed at the coordinates has been input.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3C, when the touch position by the operator's finger F1 is moved out of the enlarged image 114 while the enlarged image 114 is displayed, the mobile communication device 10 is displayed in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the enlarged display of the image of the software key “G” and the surrounding software keys is terminated, and the size of the image of the software key “G” and the surrounding software keys is returned to the original size. return.

  As described above, the mobile communication device 10 can easily touch the software key by displaying a part of the software key including the key touched by the user in an enlarged manner. In the above embodiment, the keys (software keys) of “G” and surrounding “R”, “T”, “Y”, “F”, “H”, “V”, “B”, “N” The image can be easily touched. As a result, the operator can touch the touched key and its surrounding keys, specifically, “G”, “R”, “T”, “Y”, “F”, “H”, “V”, “V”, “ It becomes easy to input the characters “B” and “N”. Thereby, the user can input characters while suppressing the occurrence of typing errors.

  Further, by displaying the enlarged image 114a of the “G” key larger than the enlarged images of the surrounding keys, a key that is likely to be a key that the operator desires to input is displayed larger. be able to. Thereby, it is possible to make it easier to input a key that the operator desires to input. Therefore, even if the touch position is slightly deviated from the original key arrangement, the key can be input, and the occurrence of typing errors can be more appropriately suppressed.

  Further, when the touch position deviates from the display area of the enlarged image 114 while continuing the touch, the operator can move the finger F1 outside the enlarged software key by terminating the display of the enlarged image 114. Thus, the enlarged software key can be easily restored to the original size.

  Here, the mobile communication device 10 switches the size of the enlarged image 114 displayed on the display unit 33 in multiple steps according to the elapsed time since the touch. That is, the size of the enlarged image 114 is increased stepwise. Further, when the size of the enlarged image 114 reaches a predetermined size (a preset maximum size), the enlarged image 114 is displayed in that size even if time passes. The time from the start of enlarged display to the maximum size may be adjustable in advance by the user.

  In addition, when the “G” software key image 102 is touched by the operator's finger F1, the mobile communication device 10 performs a process of enlarging and displaying the “G” software key and surrounding software key images. It may be started. That is, the above-described enlarged image 114 may be displayed without waiting for the state where the “G” software key image 102 is touched to be maintained for a predetermined time.

  Also, here, the image of the touched key and the surrounding keys are enlarged and displayed, but at least one of the touched key and the surrounding keys is enlarged. It may be displayed. For example, the image of the touched key and the adjacent keys on the top, bottom, left, and right may be enlarged and displayed.

  As a method for confirming the character input, a method other than the method for confirming that the character corresponding to the software key displayed at the coordinates is input and confirmed when it is detected that the touch by the operator is canceled is adopted. May be. In this case, the enlarged software key may be returned to the original size when the touch by the operator is canceled.

  Next, an example of a screen display when the touched position is moved will be described. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3-2 described above, when the image 102 is touched by the operator's finger F1 and the touched state is maintained for a predetermined time, the image is illustrated in FIG. 3-3 described above. Thus, the enlarged image 114 is enlarged and displayed. After that, as shown in FIG. 5A, the mobile communication device 10 is moved to the enlarged image 114b indicating the “Y” key while the touch is continued, in the enlarged image 114, with the touch position of the operator's finger F1. And, when it is detected that the state where the enlarged image 114b is touched is maintained for a predetermined time, as shown in FIG. 5B, the “Y” key and the surrounding “T”, “U”, “ An enlarged image 116 in which the keys “G”, “H”, and “J” are enlarged is displayed. In this case, the mobile communication device 10 displays the enlarged image 116 instead of the enlarged image 114.

  Thus, when the operator desires to input the letter “Y”, the touched finger can be moved to the “Y” software key even after first touching the image of the “G” software key. The image of the software key “Y” can be displayed in a large size by moving to the image of “Y”, and the image of the software key “Y” can be easily touched. That is, the operator can easily input the letter “Y”. Further, even if the user desires to input “U” and “J” and the “G” key is enlarged, the “U” and “J” keys are easily enlarged. can do. That is, “U” and “J” can be input without releasing the touch and touching the screen again.

  Also in this case, when the mobile communication device 10 detects that the touch position by the user has been moved to the enlarged image 114b indicating the “Y” key in the enlarged image 114, the enlarged image 114 is used instead of the enlarged image 114. The image 116 may be displayed.

  Next, a first case where two keys are touched will be described. First, the mobile communication device 10 touches the image 104 of the “H” key with the first finger F1 of the operator on the software keyboard 100 having the QWERTY layout shown in FIG. When it is detected that the key is maintained, as shown in FIG. 6A, the “H” key and surrounding “T”, “Y”, “U”, “G”, “J”, “B” , “N”, “M” keys are enlarged, and an enlarged image 118 is displayed. In the enlarged image 118, the enlarged image 118a of the “H” key is displayed larger than the enlarged images of the surrounding keys.

  Next, the mobile communication device 10 touches the image 106 of the “S” key with the operator's second finger F2, and when the touched state is maintained for a predetermined time, as shown in FIG. , “S” key and the surrounding “Q”, “W”, “E”, “A”, “D”, “Z”, “X”, “C” key enlarged image 120 is displayed. Further, the enlarged image 120 is displayed such that the enlarged image 120a of the “S” key is larger than the enlarged images of the surrounding keys. The enlarged image 120 is displayed in a color different from the color of the enlarged image 118.

  Thus, the mobile communication device 10 can be input simultaneously at a plurality of points, and the touched position is displayed as an enlarged image, so that the operator can use the first finger F1 to perform “H”, “T”. , “Y”, “U”, “G”, “J”, “B”, “N”, “M”, and the second finger F2 can be used to input “ The characters S, Q, W, E, A, D, Z, X, and C can be easily input. In addition, it is possible to grasp intuitively by changing the color of the enlarged image.

  Next, a case where two keys are touched and two sets of enlarged images resulting from each touch overlap will be described. First, the mobile communication device 10 touches the image 104 of the “H” key with the first finger F1 of the operator on the software keyboard 100 having the QWERTY layout shown in FIG. When it is detected that the key is maintained, as shown in FIG. 7A, the “H” key and surrounding “T”, “Y”, “U”, “G”, “J”, “B” , “N”, “M” keys are enlarged, and an enlarged image 118 is displayed. In the enlarged image 118, the enlarged image 118a of the “H” key is displayed larger than the enlarged images of the surrounding keys.

  Next, when the portable communication device 10 touches the image 108 of the “D” key with the operator's second finger F2 (second input point) and the touched state is maintained for a predetermined time, As shown in FIG. 7-2, the key “D” and surrounding “W”, “E”, “R”, “S”, “F”, “X”, “C”, “V” An enlarged image 122 in which the key is enlarged is displayed. In the enlarged image 122, the enlarged image 122a of the “D” key is displayed larger than the enlarged images of the surrounding keys.

  Also, the mobile communication device 10 displays the enlarged image 122 by the later (latest) touch, that is, the touch of the second finger F2, and the enlarged image 118 by the earlier touch, that is, the touch of the first finger F1. Display hierarchy and foreground. That is, the enlarged image 118 and the enlarged image 122 can be displayed in an overlapping manner, and the latest operated enlarged image 122 is overlaid on the enlarged image 118. Therefore, many portions of the enlarged image 118b of the “T”, “G”, and “B” keys of the enlarged image 118 displayed by the earlier touch, that is, the touch of the first finger F1, It is hidden under the enlarged image of the key “R”, “F”, “V” of the enlarged image 122 displayed by the touch, that is, the touch of the second finger F2.

  As described above, when the display areas of the enlarged images overlap, the enlarged image to which the latest operation is input is displayed in a higher layer, that is, more easily visible and in a large area. Thereby, it is possible to display an enlarged image having a key which is operated most recently and is more likely to be input at a more easily viewable position.

  Next, when the operator moves the touch position of the first finger F1 from the enlarged image 118a of the “H” key to the enlarged image 118b of the “G” key, the mobile communication device 10 changes to FIG. As shown, the enlarged image 118 is displayed in a hierarchy above the enlarged image 122, that is, the foreground.

  In this manner, the mobile communication device 10 can display an enlarged image having a key that is more likely to be input at a more easily viewable position by displaying the enlarged image whose touch position has changed most recently in the foreground. it can. Although the case where the operator uses two fingers at the same time has been described here, display control may be performed in the same manner when the operator uses three or more fingers at the same time. As described above, since it is possible to easily input with two or more fingers, it is easy to apply to a ctl key or a SHIFT key.

  Next, the operation of the mobile communication device 10, specifically, the character input acceptance operation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing operation of the mobile communication device.

  Referring to FIG. 8, in step S12, the input unit 28 detects a touch input to the image of the software key. Next, the control part 22 determines whether the touch of the finger | toe to the image of a software key was added by the multitouch control application part 22a based on the information passed from the input part 28 as step S14. Note that the addition of the touch of the software key to the image includes the first touch (first touch).

  If the multi-touch control application unit 22a determines that a finger touch on the image of the software key has been added (Yes), the control unit 22 performs a touch addition process as step S16. Touch addition processing refers to determining information sent from the input unit 28 (including coordinate information of touched coordinates), managing information sent from the input unit 28 according to the touch order, and This is processing for sending the identification information to the display control unit 23. The display control unit 23 generates an image based on the information sent from the control unit 22 and outputs the image to the driver IC 32.

  Next, the control part 22 starts the timer corresponding to the added touch as step S18 by the multi-touch control application part 22a.

  Next, when the key enlargement control application unit 22c determines that the finger touch on the software key image has not been added in Step S14 (No) or when Step S18 is executed, the control unit 22 performs Step S20. It is determined whether or not a certain time has elapsed since any one of the timers for each touch starts timing.

  If it is determined by the key expansion control application unit 22c that a certain period of time has elapsed since any timer started counting in step S20 (Yes), the control unit 22 determines that the touched software key is in step S22. It is determined whether or not the display is enlarged up to a preset upper limit. As described above, software key images (enlarged images of some keys) are enlarged and displayed in multiple stages up to a predetermined size in accordance with the elapsed time since the touch.

  If the key enlargement control application unit 22c determines that the software key touched in step S22 is not enlarged to a certain upper limit (No), the control unit 22 determines that the touched software key and Software key enlargement information for enlarging and displaying the surrounding software keys by one step from the present is sent to the display control unit 23, and the touched software key and the surrounding software keys are enlarged by one step from the present. Specifically, the control unit 22 generates an image based on the conditions (see Steps S12 and S16) supplied from each unit by the display control unit 23.

  Next, the control unit 22 receives coordinate information touched with each finger from the multi-touch control application unit 22a by the key enlargement control application unit 22c in step S26, and stores certain conditions stored in the storage unit 24. The coordinate / key correspondence database in the storage unit 24 is updated in accordance with (timer value, enlarged key determination information, etc.). When the image of the software key is enlarged and displayed, the correspondence between the coordinates of the input unit 28 and the software key changes. By updating this coordinate / key correspondence database, the finger is touched in the subsequent step S32. It is possible to obtain which software key the coordinate corresponds to.

  If the control unit 22 determines by the key enlargement control application unit 22c that no fixed time has elapsed since the start of any timer in step S20 (No), the software key touched in step S22 is determined. If it is determined that the display is enlarged to a certain upper limit (Yes), or if step S26 is executed, the time value of each timer is updated as step S30. The control unit 22 may update the time value of the timer as needed.

  Next, in step S32, the control unit 22 receives coordinate information where the finger is touched from the input unit 28 by the multi-touch control application unit 22a, and stores the coordinate / key correspondence database stored in the storage unit 24. By searching, the touched software key is determined.

  Next, in step S34, the control unit 22 receives the coordinate information of the software key touched by the finger from the multi-touch control application unit 22a by the feedback control application unit 22b, and displays the display unit 33 corresponding to the movement of the finger. A feedback information database storing software key images (feedback display images) to be displayed is searched, and the display control unit 23 is controlled to display a feedback display image corresponding to the movement of the finger. By this step, for example, when the operator moves a finger outside the image of one software key and its surrounding keys, the image of one key and its surrounding keys can be restored to the original size, etc. It becomes possible. Further, for example, when the operator uses two fingers at the same time, it is possible to switch an enlarged image displayed in the foreground.

  The control unit 22 repeats the processing from step S12 to step S34 until the character input is confirmed by the operator. As described above, for example, the input unit 28 can detect at least two stages of touch by pressing with a pressing force equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and touch with pressing force stronger than the threshold, as described above. In this case, when it is detected that the operator has touched the image of the software key with a pressing force stronger than the threshold value, the character corresponding to the software key displayed at the coordinates may be input and confirmed. . Alternatively, the input unit 28 may be able to detect touches of three or more stages, and control regarding character input may be performed according to the stages. Further, for example, when it is detected that the touch by the operator has been canceled, the character corresponding to the software key displayed at the coordinates may be input and confirmed.

  In this embodiment, the case where a software keyboard having a QWERTY layout is used has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other layouts such as a multi-tap 10-key layout software keyboard and other languages such as Korean. A software keyboard may be used.

  As described above, the character input device, the character input method, and the character input program according to the present invention are useful for inputting characters using the software keyboard displayed on the display unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Portable communication apparatus 11 Case 15 Microphone 16 Receiver 22 Control part 22a Multi-touch control application part 22b Feedback control application part 22c Key expansion control application part 23 Display control part 24 Storage part 26 Communication part 26a Antenna 28 Input part 30 Audio | voice processing part 32 Driver IC
33 Display

Claims (16)

A display for displaying an image;
An input detection unit arranged to be superimposed on the display unit and detecting an operator's touch input;
When a software keyboard is displayed on the display unit and the input detection unit detects that an image of one key of the software keyboard is touched, an image of the one key and at least one of the surrounding keys A control unit that performs a first enlargement key display for enlarging and displaying
A character input device comprising:   2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the first enlarged key display when the input detection unit detects that the touched state of the image of the one key is maintained for a predetermined time. The character input device described.   The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit enlarges and displays the image of the one key and the images of all the surrounding keys as the first enlarged key display. .   The character according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control unit displays an image of the one key larger than an image of a surrounding key as the first enlarged key display. Input device.   5. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit gradually enlarges the image displayed by the first enlargement key display in accordance with an elapsed time after the image of the one key is touched. The character input device according to item.   When the control unit detects that the position touched by the input detection unit during the display of the first enlargement key is moved outside the image by the first enlargement key display, the first enlargement key is displayed. 5. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the key display is terminated.   When the control unit detects that the touch position is moved to an image of any one of the keys around the one key by the input detection unit during the display of the first enlarged key, the control unit moves the key. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the first enlarged key display is performed around the previous key.   When the control unit detects that the touched state of the moved destination image is maintained for a predetermined time, the control unit performs the first enlarged key display with the moved destination key as a center. The character input device according to claim 7.   When the control unit detects that the image of the one key is still touched by the input detection unit while the first enlarged key is displayed, and the other key is touched, The character input device according to claim 1, wherein a second enlarged key display for enlarging and displaying the image of the image and the image of the surrounding keys is performed.   10. The character input device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit displays the second enlarged key when detecting that the state of the touch of the image of the other key is maintained for a predetermined time. .   When the first enlarged key display and the second enlarged key display overlap each other, the control unit displays the second enlarged key display on the first enlarged key display. The character input device according to claim 10.   When the control unit detects the movement of the touch position by the input detection unit during the first enlarged key display and the second enlarged key display, the first enlarged key display and the second enlarged key display are displayed. The character input device according to claim 11, wherein an enlarged display by the touch of the moved one of the two is overlaid on the other enlarged display. The input detection unit is capable of detecting at least two stages of touch, that is, a touch with a pressing force equal to or less than a predetermined threshold and a touch with a pressing force stronger than the threshold.
The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the input detection unit detects that the touch is performed with a pressing force stronger than the threshold, the input of the character corresponding to the touched key is confirmed. The character input device according to any one of the above.   When the input detection unit detects that the touch of the key image is canceled, the control unit determines the input of the character corresponding to the key touched immediately before the touch cancellation. The character input device according to claim 1. A method executed by a character input device comprising: a display unit that displays an image; and an input detection unit that is arranged to overlap the display unit and detects an operator's touch input,
Displaying a software keyboard on the display unit;
When the input detection unit detects that an image of one key of the software keyboard is touched, an enlarged key display for enlarging and displaying at least one of the image of the one key and the surrounding keys is displayed. Steps to do,
The character input method characterized by including. A program executed by a character input device comprising: a display unit that displays an image; and an input detection unit that is arranged to be superimposed on the display unit and detects an operator's touch input,
Displaying a software keyboard on the display unit;
When the input detection unit detects that an image of one key of the software keyboard is touched, an enlarged key display for enlarging and displaying at least one of the image of the one key and the surrounding keys is displayed. Steps to do,
A character input program characterized by including:

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