U.S. patent number RE44,913 [Application Number 13/955,345] was granted by the patent office on 2014-05-27 for text entry method and device therefor.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Koninklijke Philips N.V.. The grantee listed for this patent is Matthew J. Bickerton. Invention is credited to Matthew J. Bickerton.
United States Patent |
RE44,913 |
Bickerton |
May 27, 2014 |
**Please see images for:
( PTAB Trial Certificate ) ** |
Text entry method and device therefor
Abstract
A method and device for improved character input are described,
wherein the method employs a keypad 100 comprising keys 102 able to
display secondary characters 106 in addition to primary characters
104. The keypad has a default display state. A first key selection
causes the keypad 100 to display secondary characters 106
associated with the first key on other keys 102, whereupon a second
key selection causes the displayed character to be input, following
which the keypad reverts to displaying the default state. Further
secondary characters 200 may also be displayed after a first key
selection. The method is particularly useful for handheld devices
such as mobile radio telephones or handheld computers adapted to
implement the method of the invention.
Inventors: |
Bickerton; Matthew J.
(Bletchingley, GB) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Bickerton; Matthew J. |
Bletchingley |
N/A |
GB |
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Assignee: |
Koninklijke Philips N.V.
(Eindhoven, NL)
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Family
ID: |
9917725 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/955,345 |
Filed: |
July 31, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
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Reissue of: |
10156409 |
May 28, 2002 |
6885318 |
Apr 26, 2005 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Jun 30, 2001 [GB] |
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0116083.7 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
341/22; 708/146;
708/145; 379/368; 345/168; 400/486 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F
3/04886 (20130101); G06F 3/0238 (20130101); G06F
3/0236 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H03K
17/94 (20060101); G06F 15/02 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;341/20,22 ;345/168
;379/368 ;400/486 ;708/131,145,146 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0889388 |
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Jul 1999 |
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EP |
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4127310 |
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Apr 1992 |
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JP |
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07200120 |
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Aug 1995 |
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JP |
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0934891 |
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Feb 1997 |
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JP |
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2000172417 |
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Jun 2000 |
|
JP |
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2001125720 |
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May 2001 |
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JP |
|
4019512 |
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Oct 2007 |
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JP |
|
04999794 |
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Aug 2012 |
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JP |
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200214996 |
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Feb 2002 |
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WO |
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WO 0214996 |
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Feb 2002 |
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WO |
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Other References
TLS2200 Thermal Transfer Printer User's Guide, 2000 Brady
Worldwide, Inc. 93 pages. cited by applicant .
Masui, "An Efficient Text Input Method for Pen-Based Computers",
Proceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing
System, Apr. 1998, p. 328-335. cited by applicant .
Patent Abstracts of Japan, Ono Katsuyasu: "Adjacent Character
Display Keyboard," Publication No. 07200120, Apr. 8, 1995,
Application No. 05355185, Dec. 28, 1993. cited by
applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Wong; Albert
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A method for inputting a character to a device, the device
.[.comprising.]. .Iadd.including .Iaddend.a keypad, the keypad
.[.comprising.]. .Iadd.including .Iaddend.a plurality of keys, at
least one of .[.which.]. .Iadd.the .Iaddend.keys has a primary
character, a plurality of secondary characters and .[.a.]. .Iadd.an
associated .Iaddend.display area .[.associated with it.]., the
keypad in a default state displaying the primary character
associated with .[.a.]. .Iadd.the at least one .Iaddend.key in
.[.its respective.]. .Iadd.the associated .Iaddend.display area,
.[.wherein.]. the method .[.comprises the steps.]. .Iadd.comprising
acts .Iaddend.of: .Iadd.in the default state, returning the primary
character as an input character in response to selection of the at
least one key for a period shorter than a predetermined time
period; switching to a second state after .Iaddend.detecting a
first key selection .Iadd.of the at least one key for a period
longer than the predetermined time period.Iaddend.; .Iadd.in the
second state .Iaddend. displaying each of the secondary characters
associated with the first selected key in a respective display
area; detecting a second key selection; selecting for .Iadd.the
.Iaddend.input .Iadd.character .Iaddend.the secondary character
associated with the second key selection; and returning the keypad
to the default state.
2. .[.A.]. .Iadd.The .Iaddend.method according to claim 1,
.[.wherein the keypad in a default state.]. further .[.displays.].
.Iadd.comprising an act of displaying by the keypad in the default
state .Iaddend.associated secondary characters adjacent the primary
character, the location of each secondary character providing an
indication of which display area will display that secondary
character following a first key selection.
3. A computer program product stored on a computer readable
.Iadd.non-transitory .Iaddend.medium .[.for performing all of the
steps of claim 1.]. .Iadd.that .Iaddend.when .[.the program is.].
run on a device for receiving character input .Iadd.including a
keypad, the keypad including a plurality of keys, at least one of
the keys having a primary character, a plurality of secondary
characters and an associated display area, the keypad in a default
state displaying the primary character associated with the at least
one key in the associated display area, performs acts of: in the
default state, returning the primary character as an input
character in response to selection of the at least one key for a
period shorter than a predetermined time period; switching to a
second state after detecting a first key selection of the at least
one key for a period longer than the predetermined time period; in
the second state, displaying each of the secondary characters
associated with the first selected key in a respective display
area; detecting a second key selection; selecting for the input
character the secondary character associated with the second key
selection; and returning the keypad to the default
state.Iaddend..
4. A device for receiving character input, comprising.Iadd.:
.Iaddend. a keypad having a plurality of keys, at least one of
which keys has a primary character, a plurality of secondary
characters and .[.a.]. .Iadd.an associated .Iaddend.display area
.[.associated with it, wherein.]..Iadd.: .Iaddend. means .[.are
provided.]. for displaying in a default state the primary character
associated with .[.a.]. .Iadd.the at least one .Iaddend.key in
.[.its respective.]. .Iadd.the associated .Iaddend.display
area.[.,.]..Iadd.; in the default state, means for returning the
primary character as an input character in response to selection of
the at least one key for a period shorter than a predetermined time
period; .Iaddend. means .Iadd.for switching to a second state
.Iaddend.responsive to a first key selection .[.are provided.].
.Iadd.of the at least one key for a period longer than the
predetermined time period; in the second state, means .Iaddend.for
displaying each of the secondary characters associated with the
selected key in a respective display area.[., and.]..Iadd.;
.Iaddend. means responsive to a second key selection .[.are
provided.]. for selecting as .Iadd.the .Iaddend.input character the
secondary character associated with the second key selection.Iadd.;
.Iaddend.and .Iadd.means .Iaddend.for returning the keypad to
.[.its.]. .Iadd.the .Iaddend.default state.
5. .[.A.]. .Iadd.The .Iaddend.device as claimed in claim 4, further
comprising a touchscreen on which the keypad is displayed and
wherein the display area associated with .[.a.]. .Iadd.the at least
one .Iaddend.key comprises a respective portion of the
touchscreen.
6. .[.A.]. .Iadd.The .Iaddend.device as claimed in claim 4,
.[.wherein.]. .Iadd.comprising a display means within the key for
displaying .Iaddend.the display area associated with .[.a.].
.Iadd.the at least one .Iaddend.key .[.is provided by display means
within the key.]..
7. .[.A.]. .Iadd.The .Iaddend.device as claimed in claim 4,
.[.wherein.]. .Iadd.comprising a display means adjacent the key for
displaying .Iaddend.the display area associated with .[.a.].
.Iadd.the at least one .Iaddend.key .[.is provided by display means
adjacent the key.]..
.Iadd.8. The device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the means for
switching to a second state comprises a means for detecting a
sliding across the keypad from the first key selection to the
second key selection. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.9. The method as claimed in claim 1, the device further
including a touchscreen, the method comprising an act of displaying
the keypad and the at least one key on the touchscreen.
.Iaddend.
.Iadd.10. The method as claimed in claim 1, the device further
including a display within the at least one key, the method
comprising an act of displaying the display area associated with
the at least one key on the display. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.11. The method as claimed in claim 1, the device further
including a display adjacent the key, the method comprising an act
of displaying the display area associated with the at least one key
on the display. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the act of
detecting the second key selection comprises an act of detecting a
sliding across the keypad from the first key selection to the
second key selection. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.13. The computer program product as claimed in claim 3, the
device further including a touchscreen, the method comprising an
act of displaying the keypad and the at least one key on the
touchscreen. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.14. The computer program product as claimed in claim 3, the
device further including a display within the at least one key, the
method comprising an act of displaying the display area associated
with the at least one key on the display. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.15. The computer program product as claimed in claim 3, the
device further including a display adjacent the key, the method
comprising an act of displaying the display area associated with
the at least one key on the display. .Iaddend.
.Iadd.16. The computer program product as claimed in claim 3,
wherein the act of detecting the second key selection comprises an
act of detecting a sliding across the keypad from the first key
selection to the second key selection. .Iaddend.
Description
.Iadd.This application claims the benefit or priority of and
describes the relationships between the following applications:
wherein this application is a reissue of U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,318,
issued Apr. 26, 2005, from U.S. patent application Ser. No.
10/156,409, filed May 28, 2002, which claims priority of foreign
application GB 0116083.7 filed Jun. 30, 2001, all of which are
incorporated herein in whole by reference. .Iaddend.
The present invention relates to a method of entering text into a
device, and to a device such as a portable radio telephone or a
handheld computer suitably adapted to implement said method.
Portable radio telephone, or "mobile phone", ownership during
recent years has been well documented and reported world-wide.
Whilst mobile phone networks such as the Global System for Mobile
communications (GSM) were originally designed for voice traffic,
the sending of text messages using a Short Messaging Service (SMS)
via suitably equipped phones has risen dramatically over the past
couple of years, with the number of SMS messages sent world-wide on
the GSM networks reaching fifteen billion in December 2000. This is
in part due to the critical mass of ownership now reached in
developed countries and also due to the low and typically fixed
costs of sending a text message when compared with a voice call.
The popularity of text messaging is also explained by the private
and often intimate communication path offered by a text message.
The numbers of text messages sent and received by users are
forecast to increase even further with the impending introduction
of more advanced, so-called 3G (third generation) wireless networks
and services, where data, fax and more advanced e-mail services
will be available on a 3G mobile phone or suitably equipped
handheld computer or personal digital assistant (PDA).
A known method of entering text into devices such as mobile phones
involves a user pressing a key on a keypad several times to cycle
through characters associated with the key, until the character
required is selected. For example, the number "2" key is associated
with the characters "abc", the "3" key with the characters "def",
the "4" key with the characters "ghi", the "5" key with "jkl" and
so on. To select the character "a", the "2" key is pressed once. To
select the character "b" the "2" key is press twice. The character
"1" is selected by pressing the "5" key three times and so forth.
Special characters (for example full stop, exclamation mark, double
quote, dollar, percent, ampersand and star) are produced by tapping
the one or zero keys several times until the required special
character is selected. This method of entering text, commonly
referred to as the "multitap" method is at present almost
ubiquitous on mobile phones due to agreed standardisation between
mobile phone manufacturers and service providers. Users are
therefore very familiar with the multitap keypad layout and
character association. However, this method often requires more
than two key taps to select a character, and the entering of
special characters can take many key taps. The method is therefore
slow and prone to error.
An alternative method of inputting text to a device is disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 5,128,672 wherein the device comprises a dynamic
predictive keyboard which is graphically represented on a touch
sensitive display. A user inputs a character by pressing a key with
the required character displayed on it. Following a character
input, software provided within the device formulates a prediction,
based on statistical analysis of the make-up and composition of
English words of the next most likely character required by the
user and consequently the layout of the keyboard is altered such
that said most likely character is displayed on the keyboard. This
has the problem that the keyboard does not resemble the multitap
keypad familiar to mobile phone users, thereby presenting an
unfamiliar interface to the average user. This problem is further
compounded since in use the constant changing of the keyboard
layout necessitates much practice and learning for proficient and
quick text entry. Furthermore, the access and input of special
characters is a problem unsolved by the predictive means of U.S.
Pat. No. 5,128,672.
It is therefore an aim of the present invention to provide an
improved method of entering characters into a device such as a
mobile phone or handheld computer. It is a further aim of the
present invention to provide a method consistent with a keypad with
which mobile phone users are familiar.
According to a first aspect of the present invention there is
provided a method for inputting a character to a device, the device
comprising a keypad, the keypad comprising a plurality of keys, at
least one of which keys has a primary character, a plurality of
secondary characters and a display area associated with it, the
keypad in a default state displaying the primary character
associated with a key in its respective display area, wherein the
method comprises the steps of: detecting a first key selection;
displaying each of the secondary characters associated with the
first selected key in a respective display area; detecting a second
key selection; selecting for input the secondary character
associated with the second key selection; and returning the keypad
to the default state.
According to a second aspect of the present invention there is
provided a device for receiving character input, comprising a
keypad having a plurality of keys, a key having a primary
character, a plurality of secondary characters and a display area
associated with it, wherein means are provided for displaying in a
default state the primary character associated with a key in its
respective display area, means responsive to a first key selection
are provided for displaying each of the secondary characters
associated with the selected key in a respective display area, and
means responsive to a second key selection are provided for
selecting as input character the secondary character associated
with the second key selected and for returning the keypad to its
default state.
The device and method of this invention comprise a keypad having a
default display state wherein primary, and optionally secondary,
characters are displayed. A user inputs a character by selecting
the key having that character as one of its associated secondary
characters, following which the keypad displays the required
character which is then input via an appropriate second key
selection.
In one embodiment of the present invention the keypad is displayed
on a touch screen, the touchscreen having an output area for
displaying characters input by the user. In this embodiment the
display area associated with a key is provided by an area of
touchscreen within or adjacent to the graphical representation of
the key or button.
In another embodiment of the present invention the associated
display area of a key is provided by display means such as a liquid
crystal display within or adjacent to the key or button. The
display means are arranged such that a displayed character is
visible to the user, and hence character association with the key
is rendered obvious to the user.
The method and device of this invention provide improved text entry
particularly suited to, but not exclusively for, hand held devices
such as portable mobile radio telephones, personal digital
assistants, pocket computers and remote control handsets.
Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way
of example only, with reference to the accompanying figures in
which:
FIG. 1 depicts a default display state of a keypad for use with the
present invention.
FIG. 2 illustrates an example of the characters displayed on the
keypad after a first key selection.
FIG. 3 depicts an example of a device made in accordance with the
present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of components of the device of FIG.
3.
FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating a basic implementation of a
method according to the present invention.
FIG. 6 depicts an alternative default display state of a keypad for
use with the present invention.
In the figures the same reference numerals have been used to
indicate corresponding features.
FIG. 1 depicts a keypad 100 in a default display state wherein
twelve keys 102 are arranged in four rows of three keys. Each key
has a primary character 104 and a plurality of secondary characters
106 associated with it. The primary character 104 displayed on each
key 102 is, in this embodiment, selected from the group of
characters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0, # and *. The secondary
characters 106 associated with each key are shown in groups
adjacent the respective key. The secondary character groupings in
this embodiment are similar to those of the multitap method, for
example the key associated with primary character "2" has an
associated secondary character grouping "abc", the key "3" the
associated secondary characters "def" and so on as shown in the
figure. Hence, the default display state of the keypad 100 as shown
in FIG. 1 presents to the user a keypad having a well known key and
character layout, thereby necessitating little or no
familiarisation.
FIG. 2 illustrates a possible display state of the keypad 100 after
a first key selection by a user, the selected key in this example
being the "5" key (the key associated with the primary character
"5" and secondary characters "jkl"). The secondary character "j" is
displayed by the display area associated with a neighbouring key,
in this example the key associated with the primary character "4"
adjacent the "5" key. Similarly, the secondary characters "k" and
"l", associated with the first key selection, are displayed
respectively on the keys previously displaying "2" and "6" as
primary characters. In this example the remaining keys have
displayed upon them further characters 200 which are useful for
text entry. For example characters representing an exclamation
mark, a double quote, a pound, a dollar sign, left and right
brackets, a percentage symbol and a caret may be displayed as shown
in FIG. 2.
A second key selection from the keypad of FIG. 2 selects the
character displayed on the display area associated with said second
key for input. Following a character input, the keypad of FIG. 2 is
returned to the default display state as shown in FIG. 1.
The key selections are typically provided by a user's finger or
stylus and may comprise the user tapping a first key followed by
the user tapping a second key. Alternatively, the user may make a
second key selection by sliding or dragging said finger or stylus
across the keypad from the first key to the second key and pausing
on, or removing the finger or stylus from, the required second
key.
The dynamic keypad states illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 provide
a method of quick and accurate character input wherein secondary
characters are available with only two key selections. Additionally
the method is intuitive and requires little or no learning by the
user due to the provision of a familiar default keypad display
state.
An embodiment of a device employing the keypad and features of this
method and made in accordance with the present invention is shown
in FIG. 3. The figure depicts a hand-held device 300 such as a
personal digital assistant (PDA) or sometimes called a handheld
computer. The device comprises a touchscreen 302 comprising touch
input means arranged to detect touch input upon a surface of a
display means (such as a liquid crystal or organic light emitting
diode display). The touchscreen in this embodiment displays a
keypad 100 to the user within a touch input region 302a of the
touchscreen, whilst input characters 304 are displayed in an output
region 302b of the touchscreen 302. In FIG. 3 the keypad 100 is
shown in the second display state of FIG. 2, wherein a first key
selection of the key "5" has occurred and the keypad awaits a
second key selection to input a character. The device further
comprises control buttons 306 provided to power up the device or
change mode of usage for example. Additionally the handheld device
may incorporate means (not shown on FIG. 3) to transmit and receive
data including voice and text messaging wirelessly via a suitable
network.
The device 300 further comprises components adapted for carrying
out a method in accordance with the present invention, these
components being schematically represented in FIG. 4. The relevant
components comprise a computer program (PRG) and processing means
in the form of a general purpose microprocessor 400 (.mu.P). The
computer program is stored in computer readable storage media 402
(MEM), the PRG comprising instructions to instruct the
microprocessor (.mu.P) 400 to carry out the steps of a method
according to the present invention. It is noted herewith that
although the processing means of this embodiment comprise a general
purpose microprocessor, other suitable forms of processing means
such as dedicated logic circuits, PICmicro.RTM. chips or
application specific integrated circuits (ASIC) operating with or
without a computer program could be employed in alternative
embodiments.
In FIG. 4 there is also provided the touchscreen 302, the
touchscreen able to display a keypad 100 (KP) and detect touch
input for inputting characters. In this embodiment the display area
associated with each key 102 of the keypad 100 is provided by an
area of touchscreen 302 within or adjacent to the graphical
representation of the key 102. p Additionally, one or more key
character tables (KCT) are provided within MEM 402. A KCT provides
information to the microprocessor relating to the default keypad to
be displayed on the touchscreen, and also provides the primary and
secondary characters which are to be displayed upon a first key
selection.
An example of a KCT is presented below (Table 1).
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 KEY PRIMARY CHARACTER SECONDARY CHARACTER(S)
1 1 Not used 2 2 abc 3 3 def 4 4 ghi 5 5 jkl 6 6 mno 7 7 pqrs 8 8
tuv 9 9 wxyz 0 0 Not used * * Not used # # Not used
Table 1 thereby provides primary and secondary characters to the
microprocessor which, under the guidance of PRG instructs the
touchscreen to display these characters in the appropriate
locations to build up a default keypad display state corresponding
to FIG. 1 and Table 1.
Similarly a KCT relating to a first key selection of key 5 is shown
below in Table 2.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 DISPLAY SECONDARY KEY CHARACTER 1 ! 2 k 3 ''
4 j 5 5 6 1 7 .English Pound. 8 $ 9 % 0 {circumflex over ( )} * ( #
)
This KCT provides the characters displayed upon a first key
selection corresponding to key 5 thereby providing a second keypad
display state as shown in FIG. 2.
In operation, the microprocessor 400, under the guidance of PRG
looks up the default key character assignations stored in MEM 402
as a KCT (for example the KCT of Table 1) and instructs the
touchscreen 302 to display the keypad 100 in a default display
state. The touchscreen is sampled repeatedly until a first key
selection is detected, following which the appropriate characters
to be displayed are retrieved from an appropriate stored KCT (e.g.
Table 2) by the microprocessor and provided to the touchscreen
which updates the keypad 100 displayed. Following these operations
the touchscreen is sampled repeatedly for a second key
selection.
Upon detection of a second key selection the microprocessor 400
compares the key selected with the displayed KCT (Table 2 for
example) and returns the input character for display in the output
region 302b of the touchscreen 302. Finally, the microprocessor
instructs the touchscreen to display the default keypad and awaits
further user interaction.
A flow diagram illustrating the main steps of this method is
presented in FIG. 5, the method being performed as a loop, wherein:
A default keypad is displayed (DIS DEF KP) 502 The keypad is
monitored for a first key selection (MON1) 504 Following a first
key selection the appropriate characters are displayed on the
keypad (DIS 2.sup.nd KP) 506 The keypad is monitored for a second
key selection (MON2) 508 Following a second key selection the
secondary character associated with the second key selection is
returned as an input character (RET CHAR) 510 Loop back to display
the default keypad (DIS DEF KP) 502
In a further embodiment, the first key selection is reported only
after the key is selected by a user for a pre-determined time
period, for example a time period of 0.2 seconds. This enables
quick tapping to select the default primary characters displayed on
a default keypad, thereby allowing fast number entry when required
without altering the keypad display state.
According to a further embodiment of this invention, the display of
primary or secondary characters associated with a key is achieved
by providing an associated display area within, on or situated
adjacent to the key. The default assigned secondary characters are
provided adjacent to the keys on the keypad, and the user presses
the keys to input characters in accordance with a method of this
invention.
In a further embodiment of this invention, the default display
state of the keypad comprises positioning some of the secondary
characters associated with a key such that the key display area
upon which a secondary character will be displayed next is
indicated to the user. An example of a keypad default display state
according to this embodiment is given in FIG. 6 wherein secondary
characters are displayed within a key, each secondary character
being positioned relative to the key upon which it will appear
following a first key selection. For example, the key displaying
the primary character "5" has the secondary characters "j", "k" and
"l" positioned to the left, above and right of the "5"
respectively. Hence a visual indication of the key upon which each
character will appear should the "5" be first selected is provided
to the user. In this example the default display state provides an
indication that the "j" will appear on the "4" key to the left of
the "5" key, as is shown in the example of the keypad in FIG.
2.
In yet a further embodiment of this invention, one or more of the
key character tables are alterable, thereby providing a user with
the option of customising the keypad to his or her preference.
Whilst the embodiments described hereinbefore apply this invention
to handheld devices such as PDAs and mobile phones, it will be
apparent to those skilled in the art that the teaching of this
invention may also be applied to advantage to devices wherever
character input is required, such as remote control handsets or
children's learning aids and toys.
Additionally, the characters assigned as primary and or secondary
characters may be any characters convenient for the device,
language and application chosen, and the keypad may comprise more
or less keys displaying more or less characters than those
illustrated herein without departing from the spirit and scope of
this invention.
* * * * *