U.S. patent application number 08/974622 was filed with the patent office on 2001-11-29 for information input device, cursor moving device and portable telephone.
Invention is credited to YAMADA, AKIHIRO.
Application Number | 20010046885 08/974622 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 18108114 |
Filed Date | 2001-11-29 |
United States Patent
Application |
20010046885 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
YAMADA, AKIHIRO |
November 29, 2001 |
INFORMATION INPUT DEVICE, CURSOR MOVING DEVICE AND PORTABLE
TELEPHONE
Abstract
A compact apparatus, such as a portable telephone set, has first
and second rotary dials for selecting information items such as
characters to be inputted into a text, or for moving a cursor on a
display screen. Each dial is provided with a click mechanism. In
accordance with rotational directions and rotational amounts of the
dials, a control section of the apparatus selects a desired
coordinate location in a table of information items stored in a
memory, and enters the information item in the selected location
into a buffer memory in response to a clicking operation on the
first dial. A further clicking operation on the dial initiates a
information conversion mode such as a Japanese kana-kanji
conversion mode. In this mode, the control section searches a
dictionary for one or more information items corresponding to the
item in the buffer memory, and displays the corresponding
information items one after another on a display screen. The
control section enters an item into the text in response to a
clicking operation on the second dial.
Inventors: |
YAMADA, AKIHIRO; (SAITAMA,
JP) |
Correspondence
Address: |
JAY H MAIOLI
COOPER & DUNHAM
1185 AVENUE OFTHE AMERICAS
NEW YORK
NY
10036
|
Family ID: |
18108114 |
Appl. No.: |
08/974622 |
Filed: |
November 19, 1997 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
455/566 ;
455/550.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04M 1/2747 20200101;
H04M 1/233 20130101; H04M 1/2748 20200101 |
Class at
Publication: |
455/566 ;
455/550; 455/575; 455/90 |
International
Class: |
H04M 001/00; H04B
001/38 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Nov 29, 1996 |
JP |
P08-319251 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An information input device comprising: information selecting
means for being operated in a first direction and a second
direction opposite to the first direction; display means for
displaying information for selection; control means for causing
said displaying means to display the information for selection in a
first sequence in response to a rotational operation of said
selecting means in the first direction, and for causing said
displaying means to display the information for selection in a
second sequence different from said first sequence in response to a
rotational operation of said selecting means in the second
direction; and selective input means for selectively inputting a
desired information item from the information displayed by said
display means.
2. An information input device as recited in claim 1 wherein said
control means is configured to cause said display means to display
the information for selection in accordance with at least one of a
rotational operation in the first direction of said selecting means
and a rotational operation in the second direction of said
selecting means.
3. An information input device as recited in claim 1 wherein said
information input device further comprises a memory for storing
conversion candidate information of a character row, and converting
means for converting the information displayed on said display
means into the conversion candidate information by consulting said
memory.
4. An information input device as recited in claim 3 wherein said
input means is configured to selectively input a desired
information item from information converted by said converting
means and displayed by said display means.
5. An information input device as recited in claim 1 wherein said
selecting means comprises a rotary mechanism comprising a rotary
member for enabling an information selecting operation by rotating
in the first and second directions, and a click mechanism for
enabling an input operation.
6. A cursor moving device comprising: cursor moving means for being
operated in a first direction and a second direction opposite to
the first direction; display means for displaying information for
selection; cursor generating means for causing said display means
to display a cursor; and control means for moving the cursor
displayed by said display means in a first sequence in response to
a rotational operation of said cursor moving means in the first
direction, and for moving the cursor displayed by said display
means in a second sequence different from said first sequence in
response to a rotational operation of said cursor moving means in
the second direction.
7. An cursor moving device as recited in claim 6 wherein said
control means is configured to move the cursor displayed by said
display means in accordance with at least one of a rotational
operation in the first direction of said cursor moving means and a
rotational operation in the second direction of said cursor moving
means.
8. A cursor moving device as recited in claim 6 wherein said cursor
moving means comprises a rotary mechanism comprising a rotary
member for enabling a cursor moving operation by rotating in the
first and second directions, and a click mechanism for enabling an
information fixing operation.
9. A portable telephone apparatus comprising: a receiver section; a
transmitter section; information selecting means for being operated
in a first direction and a second direction opposite to the first
direction; display means for displaying information for selection;
control means for causing said displaying means to display the
information for selection in a first sequence in response to a
rotational operation of said selecting means in the first
direction, and for causing said displaying means to display the
information for selection in a second sequence different from said
first sequence in response to a rotational operation of said
selecting means in the second direction; and selective input means
for selectively inputting a desired information item from the
information display by said display means.
10. A portable telephone apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein
said control means is configured to cause said display means to
display the information for selection in accordance with at least
one of a rotational operation in the first direction of said
selecting means and a rotational operation in the second direction
of said selecting means.
11. A portable telephone apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein
said telephone apparatus further comprises a memory for storing
conversion candidate information of a character row, and converting
means for converting the information displayed on said display
means into the conversion candidate information by consulting said
memory.
12. A portable telephone apparatus as recited in claim 9 wherein
said input means is configured to selectively input a desired
information item from information converted by said converting
means and displayed by said display means.
13. A portable telephone apparatus as recited in claim 9 said
selecting means comprises a rotary mechanism comprising a rotary
member for enabling an information selecting operation by rotating
in the first and second directions, and a click mechanism for
enabling an input operation.
14. An apparatus comprising: an operating section comprising a
first operating unit for producing a first operation signal
indicative of amount and direction of movement of a first operating
member, and a second operating unit for producing a second
operation signal indicative of amount and direction of movement of
a second operating member; a control section for shifting a control
point in a first direction in response to said first operation
signal, and shifting the control point in a second direction in
response to said second operation signal; and a display section for
displaying an object in accordance with a location of the control
point.
15. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the control point
represents one of a location of a cursor displayed by the display
section, and a location of an information item in a table, and the
object is one of the cursor and the information item.
16. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the apparatus
further comprises a memory section for storing a table which is an
array of information items, the control point indicates a location
in the table to select one item from the table, and the control
section is configured to select a plurality of items from the table
sequentially one by one by shifting the control point along a first
direction in the table in response to the first operation signal
and in a second direction in the table in response to the second
operation signal, and causes the display section to display a
plurality of selected items sequentially one by one.
17. An apparatus as recited in claim 16 wherein the control section
is configured to shift the control point in the first direction
when only the first operating member is moved, in the second
direction when only the second operating member is moved, and in a
third direction when the first and second operating members are
moved simultaneously.
18. An apparatus as recited in claim 17 wherein the array of
information items is a rectangular array, one of the first and
second directions is a horizontal direction, the other of the first
and second directions is a vertical direction, and the third
direction is an oblique direction.
19. An apparatus as recited in claim 17 wherein the control section
is configured to determine a first coordinate in accordance with
the first operation signal and a second coordinate in accordance
with the second operation signal, uniquely identify a location in
the table with a coordinate pair of the first and second
coordinates, and causes the display section to display the
information item at the location in the table identified by the
coordinate pair.
20. An apparatus as recited in claim 14 wherein the first operating
unit comprises a switch for producing a click signal when the first
operating member is pressed, and the control section is configured
to process the object displayed by the display section in response
to the click signal.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to information input device,
cursor moving device and portable or hand-held telephone apparatus
using two of devices (such as dials) for selecting information by
motion (such as rotation) and fixing information as decided input
by clicking.
[0002] Analog portable telephones, digital portable telephones and
PHS (Personal Handy-phone System, in service in Japan) telephones
are now gaining popularity as portable communication terminals with
the advantage of compactness and light weight. Many portable
communication terminals have a function to store frequently used
telephone numbers in a memory. In this case, a user enters names of
callees and telephone numbers by inputting characters.
[0003] In the conventional communication terminals, Japanese
katakana characters and letters of the English alphabet are
assigned to the keys of a ten-key set for dialing telephone
numbers. One method for inputting characters is a key input method
in which a desired character is entered by pressing the ten key
set. Another method employs a dial and one or more keys for
inputting and editing.
[0004] In the conventional portable telephone, Japanese kana-kanji
conversion (or translation) is performed as shown in FIGS. 10 and
11.
[0005] FIG. 10 shows the appearance of a portable telephone set
having the function of kana-kanji conversion. As shown in FIG. 10,
Japanese katakana characters are assigned to the ten keys.
Therefore, a user can input "a reading" (or pronunciation) with the
ten keys.
[0006] FIGS. 11A11G illustrates the process of kana-kanji
conversion according to the key input method. First, to input a
kana character "mo", the 7-numbered key for "ma" row (of ma
mimumeand mois pressed five times, and the display section shows
"ma.fwdarw.mi.fwdarw.mu.fwdarw.me.fwdarw.mo- " consecutively one
after another. In this way, the user can input the kana character
"mo" as shown in FIG. 11A. Likewise, the user inputs "ri", next to
"mo", by pressing the 9-numbered key of "ra" row (of ra , r,
rureand ro() two times (FIG. 11B), and inputs "ta" by pressing the
4-numbered key of ta row (of ta , ti, tu, teand toone time (FIG.
11C). Thus, the user can input the "reading" of "mo-ri-ta", as
shown in FIG. 11C.
[0007] Then, for kana-kanji conversion, the user pushes down a
conversion key (henkan key) four times (FIG. 11DFIG. 11G).
Therefore, the display section displays four candidates, one after
another. By pushing down a fixing or decision key ("kakutei" key),
the user can fix the fourth candidate, as a decided input (FIG.
11G) to a text.
[0008] The conventional key input method requires a plurality of
key strokes to find a desired kana character, and the conventional
method is very awkward. The combination method of one dial and
other keys requires a plurality of rotational dial operations to
find desired kana characters.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] It is therefore an object of the present invention to
provide an information input device for quickly selecting and
fixing an information item such as a kana character with two
operating devices, a cursor moving device for moving a cursor
freely with two operating devices, and a compact telephone
apparatus using these devices.
[0010] According to the present invention, an information input
device comprises first and second selecting means capable of being
operated in first and second directions; a fixed memory for storing
a plurality of information items in coordinate locations in a
manner of one to one correspondence; display means for displaying
at least the information in the fixed memory; and control means for
selecting a desired coordinate location of the fixed memory in
accordance with a physical amount of movement of said first
selecting means in the first direction and a physical amount of
movement of said second selecting means in the first direction, and
fixing the information in the selected coordinate location in
accordance with an operation of said first selecting means or said
second selecting means in the second direction.
[0011] Accordingly, the device selects a desired coordinate
location in the fixed memory in accordance with the physical
amounts of the first and second selecting means in the first
direction, and fixes the information on the coordinates in
accordance with the operation of the first or second selecting
means in the second direction.
[0012] A cursor moving device according to the present invention
comprises: first and second cursor moving means capable of being
operated in first and second directions; a display section for
displaying a plurality of information items; a cursor generating
means for displaying a cursor on the display section; and control
means for moving said cursor on the display section in accordance
with physical amounts of movement of said first and second cursor
moving means in the first direction.
[0013] Accordingly, the device moves the cursor displayed on the
display section in accordance with the physical amounts of movement
of the first and second cursor moving means.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing, in a functional manner,
the structures of a device serving as an information input device
and a cursor moving device according to an embodiment of the
present invention.
[0015] FIG. 2A is a schematic view showing a table of kana
characters stored in a fixed memory of the device shown in FIG.
1.
[0016] FIG. 2B is a schematic view for illustrating movement of a
cursor in a display section with two dials of the device shown in
FIG. 1.
[0017] FIG. 3 is a plan view schematically showing a mechanism of
one of the dials of the device of FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a rotary encoder of the device
shown in FIG. 1.
[0019] FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing output waveforms of the
rotary encoder.
[0020] FIG. 6 is a view for showing a text input mode of a portable
telephone equipped with the device of FIG. 1.
[0021] FIG. 7 is a view for showing an E mail mode of the portable
telephone.
[0022] FIG. 8A is a view for showing a table of information items
(kana characters) and shifting directions of the dials of the
device of FIG. 1.
[0023] FIGS. 8B8H are views for illustrating a kana-kanji
conversion process of the device of FIG. 1.
[0024] FIG. 9 is a schematic block view of a circuit of a digital
portable telephone which can be employed in the telephone according
to the present invention.
[0025] FIG. 10 is a view showing the appearance of a conventional
portable telephone.
[0026] FIGS. 11A11G are views for illustrating a kana-kanji
conversion process with the conventional portable telephone.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0027] The following is an explanation of an embodiment of the
present invention. In this embodiment, an information input device
and a cursor moving device according to the present invention are
applied to a portable telephone apparatus. In this example, a first
character row which is a Japanese hiragana character or a row of
Japanese hiragana characters is inputted as input information, and
the input information is converted to a second character row
comprising a Japanese kanji or katakana character or a row of kanji
or katakana characters. A conversion candidate is one of possible
second character rows corresponding to a first character row.
[0028] FIG. 1 shows a device according to one embodiment of the
present invention. The device shown in FIG. 1 is an information
input device serving also as a cursor moving device. The
information input device of FIG. 1 comprises an operating section
1, a control section 4, a memory section 5, a display section 6, an
input buffer 37, and a program memory 38.
[0029] The memory section 5 of this example comprises a fixed
memory 5a and a kana-kanji dictionary 5b. The fixed memory 5a
stores a table of first information items (such as a table of
characters) in appropriately selected coordinates in a manner of
one to one correspondence. For example, the table is a rectangular
array of information items. In this example, the table is a table
of of Japanese kana characters. As schematically shown, as an
example, in FIG. 2A, the table stored in the fixed memory 5a is a
table of the Japanese syllabary.
[0030] The kana-kanji dictionary 5b of this example includes a read
only memory, and stores a collection of second information items.
In this example, each second information item is a second character
row corresponding to a kana character row selected from the fixed
memory 5b.
[0031] The input buffer 37 temporarily stores at least one kana
character selected from the fixed memory 5a. The program memory 38
stores a program for converting an inputted first information item
(such as "an inputted kana character row") into a corresponding
second item by searching the kana-kanji dictionary 5b in accordance
with the contents of the input buffer 37.
[0032] The display section 6 displays kana characters to be
inputted, conversion candidates, results of conversion and
characters fixed and entered into a text.
[0033] The operating section 1 is adapted to be operated by a hand
or by a finger. The operating section 1 of this device enables the
user to select, input and process one or more information items and
to move a cursor displayed on a screen of the display section. In
this example, the operating section includes dials 1a and 1b which
are constructed, for example, as shown in FIG. 3. Each dial 1a or
1b comprises a member 2 of a circular disk shape (constituting a
rotary encoder) rotating in a rotational direction (as shown by
arrows A and B) around a rotation axis O, a slide plate (not shown)
slidable in a radial direction (arrows C and D), and a slide switch
3.
[0034] The slide switch 3 of each dial is urged in the C direction
together with the slide place, by a biasing means.
[0035] The rotation axis O is fixed with the slide plate, so that
the rotation axis O is stationary to the slide plate. When the dial
1 is pushed in the direction of the arrow D, the rotary encoder 2
slides as a unit with the slide plate, pushes down the slide switch
3, and thereby turns the switch 3 to the on state. This device
determines whether each dial 1a or 1b is clicked or not, by
detecting the on signal or the off signal of the associated slide
switch 3.
[0036] The rotary encoder 2 of each dial comprises two circular
disks 2a and 2b as shown in FIG. 4. The rotary encoder 2 slides
together with the slide plate as a unit. The disk 2a is a movable
member placed on an upper surface of the disk 2b. The disk 2a is
mounted on the disk 2b fixed to the slide plate so that the disk 2a
is rotatable relative to the disk 2b. The rotary disk 2a is
provided with a pair of confronting electrodes 10a. The disk 2b of
this example is provided with 20 pairs of confronting electrodes
10b arranged along the periphery of the disk 2b. In the assembled
state, the electrode pair 10a can be put in contact with the
electrode pairs 10b of the disk 2b. The electrodes 10b are formed
so that the positions of the inner circumferential side and outer
circumferential side are shifted slightly. The contact resistance
of the confronting electrodes 10a and the confronting electrodes
10b varies with rotation of the rotary disk 2a. Therefore, this
encoder 2 provides an output corresponding to a rotation angle of
the disk 10a. Thus, each dial 1a or 1b produces a signal indicative
of amount and direction of movement of the movable member.
[0037] FIGS. 5A and 5B are views showing signal waveforms of an
output signal from the rotary encoder 2. FIG. 5A shows the output
potentials from the confronting electrodes when the dial is rotated
in the A direction. In this case, the potential of the inner side
falls first to the ground potential. In the case of rotation in the
B direction, as shown in FIG. 5B, the potential of the outer side
falls first to the ground potential. Therefore, the device can
detect the rotational direction by checking which of the outer side
potential and inner side potential falls first. Furthermore, the
device can detect the amount of rotation of the dial by counting
pulses outputted from the outer side electrode, for example.
[0038] The dial 1a of this example produces output pulses from the
rotary encoder 2 in accordance with a rotational operation and
enables search and selection along the horizontal (X) direction in
FIG. 2A with the output pulses, to select a kana character from a
horizontally arranged characters. The dial 1a fixes the selected
kana character (as a decided input item) and moves the cursor
rightwards with the on or off signal of the slide switch 3 in
response to a clicking operation. When the kana-kanji conversion is
desired, the device is changed to the kana- kanji conversion mode
by further clicking on the dial 1a. From a next clicking operation,
the display section 6 displays a conversion candidate or conversion
candidates one after another.
[0039] The dial 1b produces output pulses from the rotary encoder 2
in accordance with a rotational operation, and enables search and
selection along the vertical (Y) direction in FIG. 2A. The dial 1b
fixes an object displayed on the display section 6, such as a
selected kana character row or a converted kanji character row,
with the on or off signal of the slide switch 3 in response to a
clicking operation.
[0040] When the dials 1a and 1b are rotated simultaneously, the
user can performs search and selection of characters along an
oblique direction in the table of FIG. 2A.
[0041] As shown in an example of FIGS. 6 and 7, the dial 1b is
disposed near a receiving section of a compact cordless telephone
set. The dial 1a is disposed near the side surface opposite to the
side surface in which the dial 1b is provided. In this example, the
dial 1b projects from the left side of the telephone set, and the
dial 1a projects from the front side near the right side. In this
example, the axis of the dial 1b is perpendicular to a plane in
which the display screen extends, and the axis of the dial 1a is
parallel to the plane. FIG. 6 shows a character input process
according to the character input mode (or text input mode). In the
example of FIG. 6, kana characters "morita" are inputted to obtain
kanji by conversion. FIG. 7 shows a non-telephone mode (electronic
mail mode). In FIG. 7, the screen of the display section 6 displays
a received mail book in an open state.
[0042] The control section 4 of FIG. 1 is connected with the memory
section 5, the display section 6, the two dials (or jog dials) 1a
and 1b, the input buffer 37 and the program memory 38. The outputs
of the rotary encoder 2 and the slide switch 3 of each of the dials
1a and 1b are supplied to the control section 4. The control
section 4 performs various control operations in accordance with
these signals.
[0043] The following is an explanation about operations of the
thus-constructed device. When the rotary encoder 2 of each dial 1a
or 1b is rotated, the output pulses corresponding to the amount of
rotation are supplied to the control section 4. In accordance with
the output pulses, the display section 6 displays kana characters
of the fixed memory 5a sequentially one by one under the control of
the control section 4. When the dial 1a is clicked, the associated
slide switch 3 produces the on signal. This output is supplied to
the control section 4, a kana character at the coordinate location
is stored into the input buffer 37, and the cursor on the display
section 6 is moved rightward. In this way, the user inputs a first
character row in the form of a row of hiragana characters
representing a reading (or pronunciation) of Japanese language by
repeating operations of rotating the dials 1a and 1b and clicking
the dial 1a.
[0044] After the input of the first character row in the form of
the kana character row representing a reading, a further clicking
on the dial 1a changes the system to the kana-kanji conversion
mode. In the kana-kanji conversion mode, in response to each
clicking operation on the dial 1a, a search is performed over kanji
conversion candidates (or second information items) stored in the
kana-kanji dictionary 5b by using as a retrieval key, the kana
character row in the input buffer 37, according to the software
stored in the program memory 38. The display section 6 displays
conversion candidates corresponding to the inputted kana character
row, one after another. When a desired conversion candidate is
displayed, the user fixes the conversion candidate as a decided
input by clicking on the dial 1b.
[0045] In this embodiment, the kana-kanji conversion is carried out
by clicking on the dial 1a. Alternatively, it is optional to use
rotation of either or both of the dials 1a and 1b. In the case of
input of only kana character rows, the system may be arranged to
fix a kana character row clicking on the dial 1b, without entering
the kana-kanji conversion mode.
[0046] FIGS. 8A8H demonstrates the kana-kanji conversion process
using the portable telephone provided with the information input
device of FIG. 1. In the example of FIG. 8, the kanji is inputted.
To input the corresponding kana characters mo-ri-ta are entered in
the following manner. First, the kana character mo is selected by
rotating the dials 1a and 1b, as shown in FIG. 8A. After the
selection of mo, clicking on the dial 1a causes the selected kana
character mo to be fixed as a determined entry, and moves the
cursor to the next column.
[0047] Then, rotation of the dials 1a and 1b enables selection of
the kana character ri and clicking of the dial 1a causes fixation
of ri. In this way, the kana character row mo-ri-ta is inputted as
shown in FIG. 8F by repetition of the operation of selection of a
kana character by rotation of the dials 1a and 1b and fixation of
the selected character by clicking on the dial 1a.
[0048] After the input of the kana character row of mo-ri-ta, the
dial 1a is double-clicked to obtain a conversion candidate display
mode. In the conversion candidate display mode initiated by
double-clicking, the display section 6 displays conversion
candidates corresponding to the inputted kana character row, that
is, and one after another as shown in FIG. 8G in response to a
clicking operation on the dial 1a. When the dictionary has learning
function, the order of candidates displayed on the screen is
updated in accordance with the frequency in use. When the desired
is reached by clicking of the first dial 1a, the second dial 1b is
clicked. Clicking of the second dial 1b fixes the converted
character row and this character row is inputted into the text.
[0049] When the dials 1a and 1b are used as cursor moving devices,
the cursor of the display section 6 is moved in accordance with the
moving direction and moving amount of each dial 1a or 1b.
Furthermore, it is possible to fix or process information at the
position of the cursor by clicking on either of the dials 1a and
1b.
[0050] FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram showing a digital
portable telephone having the device of FIG. 1. Dial 1a and Dial 1b
both function to input data into CPU 4 like Keypad 7. A kana
character is specified by judging up and down and forward and
reverse with software, and varying an address counter value. The
CPU 4 recognizes the slide switch of each of Dial 1a and Dial 1b as
one of keys. Therefore, according to circumstances, each slide
switch carries out functions of "shift", "kana-kanji conversion"
and "decision". RTC 8 functions to display a current time on
Display 6.
[0051] The following is an explanation about telephone
communication by this digital portable telephone.
[0052] A voice signal inputted from MIC 18 is amplified by Amp 11.
The amplified voice signal is supplied to Converter 10, and the
analog voice signal is converted to a digital form. The digitized
voice signal is supplied to DSP (Digital Signal Processor: digital
signal processing section) 13. DSP 13 performs a high efficiency
coding (data compression) according to a predetermined algorithm,
and delivers an output to Digital ASIC 12. Digital ASIC 12 handles
channel coding of a layer 1 of a communication protocol, and error
correction with hardware, and returns the signal to Converter 10.
The signal is converted to the analog form and delivered to RF
Modulator 9f. CPU 4 controls a layer 2 of data link of the
communication protocol, layer 3 of cordless control, call control
and movement control, and various devices.
[0053] RF Modulator 9f modulates the high-efficiency-encoded voice
signal with the frequency of an output from Synthesizer 9c
controlled by a control signal of BBi/f 9d. The modulated voice
signal is supplied to Power Amp 13, and amplified under control of
Power Control 9e. The amplified voice signal is transmitted through
Circulator 16 from Rx/Tx antenna 15. Circulator 16 enables the
transmission signal to go only to the route of the Rx/Tx antenna 15
and blocks the route to the receiving side.
[0054] This digital portable telephone has a function of space
diversity reception with Rx antenna 14 and Rx/Tx antenna 15.
Stronger radio waves are selected and supplied to FE 9a. FE 9a
amplifies the supplied waves and supplies the waves to MIX/IF 9b.
MIX/IF 9b mixes the amplified signal with the signal outputted from
Synthesizer 9c to produce an intermediate frequency signal. The
intermediate frequency signal is processed by Digital ASIC 12, DSP
13 and Converter 10, and converted to an analog voice signal by
detection, error correction, voice decoding and digital/analog
conversion. The analog voice signal is amplified by Amp 11, and
Speaker 17 makes audible voice of the other party.
[0055] As explained above, the portable telephone having the
information input and cursor moving device according to the present
invention employs the rotary dials equipped with the push mechanism
(click mechanism). Therefore, operations are easy, and the
advantages are attainable, even in a compact portable telephone
with no or little change of design and shape, specifically for
input to a telephone directory, and data communication of
electronic mails. Direct search (oblique search) makes it possible
to find a desired kana character or the like smoothly.
[0056] The dials 1a and 1b, when not used for the kana character
input and kana-kanji conversion, can be used for scrolling or
moving a cursor or pointer on a small LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)
screen of the display section of the portable telephone.
[0057] In the illustrated example, input information is in the form
of kana characters. However, the present invention is applicable to
the input of symbols, alphabet or language other than Japanese.
[0058] The present invention is not limited to the illustrated
embodiment with respect to the method of kana-kanji conversion, the
positions, shapes and operation of dials, the number of dials and a
combination of a ten-key set and dials.
[0059] As explained above, the information input device according
to the present invention has two of selecting or operating devices
having selecting function and fixing function. Therefore, after
selection of target information item, the target information can be
fixed as decided entry by clicking on the same device used for the
selection. A user can readily select and fix information without
need of moving a hand or finger away from the device.
[0060] The cursor moving device according to the present invention
can move a cursor freely on a display screen of a display section
only with two of operating devices. In addition to the
above-mentioned effect, the cursor moving device enables fixation
of information at the position of a cursor merely by clicking on
the operating device used for moving the cursor without need of
moving a hand or finger away from the device.
[0061] The portable telephone having the information input device
according to the present invention makes it possible to operate two
selecting or operating devices by the use of only one hand.
Therefore, even in an awkward situation, during walking or in a
vehicle, for example, a user can fix information, after selection,
merely by clicking on the same device used for selection. A user
can search and fix information speedily, and readily input the
information without moving one's finger from the selecting
device.
[0062] The portable telephone having the cursor moving device
according to the present invention makes it possible to operate two
moving devices by the use of only one hand. Therefore, even in an
awkward situation, during walking or in a vehicle, for example, a
user can move a cursor smoothly. In addition to the above-mentioned
effect, the portable telephone of the illustrated embodiment
enables fixation of information at the position of a cursor merely
by clicking on the device used for moving the cursor without need
of moving a finger away from the device.
[0063] According to the illustrated embodiment of the present
invention, an apparatus such as hand held telephone set, portable
data communication terminal, or data processing unit, comprises at
least an operating section, a control section and a display
section.
[0064] The operating section comprises at least a first operating
unit, such as a first operating dial, for producing a first
operation signal indicative of amount and direction of movement of
a first operating member, such as a rotary member, and a second
operating unit, such as a second dial, for producing a second
operation signal indicative of amount and direction of movement of
a second operating (rotary) member.
[0065] The control section is a section for shifting a control
point in a first direction in response to the first operation
signal, and shifting the control point in a second direction in
response to the second operation signal. The control section may
comprises a CPU as a main component.
[0066] The display section is a section for displaying an object in
accordance with a location of the control point. The display
section may comprise a screen such as a liquid crystal display
screen.
[0067] The object may be in the form of an information item or a
cursor on the screen. The control point may be an indicator for
determining a location (or coordinate location) in a table of
information items stored in a memory section and for displaying an
information item stored in the memory location; and/or an indicator
for determining a position of a cursor on the display screen. The
control section can change the information items to be displayed on
the screen sequentially by shifting the control point, or move the
cursor by shifting the control point.
* * * * *