Portable mobile unit
Contents
1. 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 6 according to the present invention has three 3 modes or methods a first one as the letter input system is a dial key method a second one a letter code method and as a third one a letter input method according to the alphabetic letter input method In the dial key mode of the first one the sound at the top of an each line of fifty 50 sounds 10 lines of Japanese alphabetic letters from amp a to p wa are assigned to each of the dial keys 1 to 0 respectively and other than those are assigned amp wo and A nn to the dial keys 0 For example if trying to input tu since a vowel sound of gt is 5 u and it is on third column from the top of amp a the key assigned with ta 1 the key 4 must be depressed down three 3 times In the letter code mode of the second method a code is keyed in which is predetermined in advance for each of Japanese alphabetic letters In this method distinction is made first between a capital letter and a small letter and thereafter the input of the letters is carried out The letters are aligned of the fifty 50 sounds in vertical lines with positioning the vowel at the top of a first line and supplemental marks are added thereto wherein the number of tens of a two digit code indicates the line in the vertical direction and the number of units a column For example Ab dennwa tel2. CORRESPONDING UNVOICED CONSONANT p VOWEL DOUBLED CONSONANT OF CORRESPONDING UN VOICED kpkpya VOICED CONSONANT CONSONANT p CORRESPONDING 5 X e CONTRACTED CONSONANT UN VOICED CONSONANT p y VOWEL LONG VOWEL CONTINUE FUNCTION KEY 14 LONG VONE COMMA PERIOD SOFT KEY L20 START BRACKET CONTINUE SOFT KEY 119 2TIMES CONTINUE SOFT KEY 1202 TIMES 10 11 12 lt 16 FUNCTIONS KEY OPERATION INSERT OF SPACE DETERMINE POSITION OF CURSOR BY FUNCTION KEY Fnci4 16 OR gt 17 DECISION KEY Ent18 AND SHIFT THE CURSOR BY 17 DECISION KEY Entt8 THEN E N THE PORTION WHERE THE CURSOR PASSES THROUGH AAY INPUTTED 18 DECISION KEY Ent KANA LETTER KANJI CONVERSION OF CONTINUOUSLY 2 TIMES OF DECISION KEY Ent18 KANA LETTER RSOR AREA ASSIGNMENT BY DETERMINE RESPECTIVE BOUNDARY BY FUNCTION KEY CU 14 16 OR 17 DECISION KEY Ent18 AND SET AREA BY 280 INPUT INO I US 6 870 528 B2 1 PORTABLE MOBILE UNIT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1 Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable mobile unit with which inputting of letters or characters is conducted by using input keys and in particular to a portable mobile unit being suitable for easiness of Japanese language input when using the numeral keys as the input keys thereof 2 Description of R
3. OF LETTER INPUT J FIG 11 a FIG 8 51 RETURN SELECTION Sheet 9 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 10 b FUNCTION SELECTION 1 10 7 8 MARK HALF SPACE 9 HALF SPACE TO SELECTION OF LETTER INPUT MODE O L1 SELECTION 11 b FIG 11 c U S Patent Mar 22 2005 10 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 12 ND VOICED SOUND SEMI VOICED SOUND CONTRACTED SOUND DOUBLE CONSONANT MARK cad SEE ABOVE INPUT LETTER HIRAKANA FULL HALF SPACE SELECTION KATAKANA FULL HALF SPACE ALPHANUMERIC FULL HALF SPACE NUMERAL FULL HALF SPACE MODE LETTER INPUT MODE SELECTION END INPUT LETTER INPUT BY CURSOR FIG 13 KATAKANA FULL SPACE NUMERAL FULL SPACE ALPHANUMERIC HALF SPACE U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 11 of US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 14 ab VOICED CONSONANT CORRESPONDING UN VOICED a OCE CONSONANT CONTRACTED CONSONANT SAME TO ALPHANUMERIC INPUT az Ole Ci Me TO memo MAT Nee DOUBLED CONSONANT OF SAME TO ALPHANUMERIC INPUT Khao IRVOEED 7 CONTRACTED CONSONANT SAME TO ALPHANUMERIC INPUT aU ME 1O mM NUT me Um DOUBLED CONSONANT OF SAME TO ALPHANUMERIC INPUT a5 RAVAGED o nM CONTRACTED CONSONANT CORRESPONDING UN VOICED OF VOICED CONSONANT CONSONANT p VOWEL DOUBLED CONSONANT OF CORRESPONDING UN VOICED gt Af VOICED CONSONANT CONSONANT
4. key 11 a send transfer key 12 for exchanging between ON and OFF in hook of the telephone apparatus and dial keys 13 including numerical keys similar to those of a push phone apparatus and mark or symbol keys such as and construct the basic function switches As keys for selecting an icon indicated on the display 2 for the purpose of using the large number of functions mentioned above there are provided keys 14 15 16 and 17 for shifting a cursor displayed in the directions of up and down and of left and right and a decide key an enter key 18 Also as keys for setting the functions having high frequency in uses thereon so as to initiate them directly there are also provided soft keys L19 and R20 and direct keys A21 and B22 Explanation will be given on the circuit block diagram of the portable telephone apparatus 200 by referring to FIG 3 An antenna ANTS1 and a high frequency circuit RF52 provide a communication function The high frequency circuit RF52 has a base band processing function for extracting codified digital information from a radio wave received by the antenna 51 and a transmission function for converting and amplifying the codified information into information for use in transmission The high frequency circuit RF52 carries out inputting outputting of signals between an interface bus BUS69 Voices of an user is converted into an analogue electric signal through a mouth piece microphone MIC59
5. obtain the portable telephone apparatus capable of inputting alphabetic letters using the fourteen 14 pieces of keys in a similar manner to an ordinary alphabetic input method of Japanese language and capable of enabling the key opera tion necessary for inputting the consonant to be equal or less than two 2 times for each letter thereby being easily operable While we have shown and described several embodiments in accordance with our invention it should be understood that the disclosed embodiments are susceptible of changes and modifications without departing from the scope of the invention Therefore we do not intend to be bound by the embodiments shown and described herein but intend to cover all such changes and modifications falling within the ambit of the appended claims for example even if the layout of keys the display of screen or the process sequences thereof are changed What is claimed is 1 A method for inputting Japanese language comprising the steps of assigning five 5 alphabetic letters indicative of vowels of Japanese language to five input keys assigning nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of un voiced consonants of Japanese language to nine input keys assigning a function for bringing the un voiced consonant into a voiced consonant to one of the input keys for the alphabetic letters indicative of the un voiced conso nants and inputting the voiced consonant by combination of key operations
6. of the fifty 50 sounds there is not included the line for p nor a standard for directly deciding the position thereof where it should be disposed however according to the present embodiment it gt gt 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 8 is disposed at the position on the right hand line and at the height of a center thereof for satisfying the requirements of a less amount of shifting of a finger and easy understanding of the position thereof when inputting a voiced consonant which will be mentioned latter With the function keys other than the alphabets the decide key 18 is used as was originally used and the cursor keys are used as the arrow keys 16 and 17 corresponding to the directions of the arrows The function selections is assigned to a central key 14 in the most upper line and to the remaining two 2 keys 19 and 20 are assigned with the marks which are used at high frequency of use such as the punctuation marks and brackets The keys relating to the basic functions of the telephone apparatus must be positioned in common to those in the other portable telephone apparatus Therefore the indication relating to the quasi alphabetic letter input is made off the key in the right upper direction for each of the keys for example Next a method of Japanese language input in the present embodiment will be explained by referring to FIGS 7 to 9 and FIGS 13 14 and 15 Each
7. of the key indicative of the un voiced con sonant of said consonants the key assigned to said function of bringing into a voiced consonant and the key indicative of said vowel 10 15 20 25 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 14 2 A method for inputting Japanese language as defined in the claim 1 wherein said alphabetic letter assigned to said function of bringing into voiced consonant is set to a letter different from the nine alphabetic letters indicative of said un voiced consonants and is also different from any one of the nine 9 input keys indicative of said un voiced consonants whereby an input of half voiced consonant is conducted by combination of key operations of the key assigned to said function of bringing into a voiced consonant and the key indicative of said vowel 3 A method for inputting Japanese language as defined in the claim 1 wherein one of the nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of said un voiced consonants is assigned to the alphabetic letter for said function for bringing into a voiced consonant and one letter being different from the letter of the nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of said un voiced consonants which is assigned to said function for bringing into a voiced consonant is assigned to a function of bringing into a half voiced consonant whereby an input of the half voiced consonant is con ducted by combination of key operations of the key indicative of said un voic
8. 69 rotate thereby to operate a vibrator combination of those operations and or each of the operation patterns are memorized in a semi static memory EPROMT1 in a form of data for use in control For alarming an incoming of telephone call not such a simple sound as a buzzer sound of the conventional art but it comes to be common to sound a music comfortable on hearing and in the present embodiment for that purpose the speaker SPK64 the high sound quality speaker is used which is superior in a sound reproduction characteristic thereof As a circuit for driving the speaker SPK64 a digital analog converter DAS66 and an amplifier AMS6S are provided Control programs and various data for operating those constituent elements mentioned above are memorized in the semi static memory 1 that can hold the memory even in non conduction of electricity thereto While the information is memorized in a random memory 70 being necessary for a contemporary processing Next explanation will be given on the functions of the portable telephone apparatus 200 The basic function of the portable telephone apparatus 200 includes a communication function as the portable telephone and a transmission func tion of the electronic mails In order to make the large number of settings which are for easy use of those functions as well as the memory functions easily understandable the following functions and steps are set First of all depression of
9. 99 wherein twelve 12 pieces of dial keys of the telephone apparatus are classified into separate keys each being used at high fre quency and assigned with a separate alphabet thereto and code keys with which an alphabet is determined by pushing 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 2 down a plural number of keys thereof and alphabets are inputted by combining those keys so that a sentence input ted is converted into Japanese Among those above mentioned conventional arts from 1 to 3 the 2 and 3 are desired to be installed into the apparatus as the common technologies shared with the other kinds of machines and as a new technology in the place of the 1 or in addition thereto it is an object to make the input of Japanese language easy much more For achieving this object as was mentioned in the above such a method is preferable having as many aspects as possible in common with the input methods which are practiced widely in the word processor etc From this viewpoint it is an object to realize an input method of alphabetic letters or character which can be used widely as the Japanese language input method and also can be done with using letters i e keys as small as possible in the number however with changes therein as small as possible For such the implicit object of this there is a necessity of making the number of key operations necessary for inputting a consonant be only tw
10. NS M381 QUASI M38 CHARACTER M8 SERVICE Er ALPHABETIC FUNCTIONS SPECIAL L ENTHY SETTING LETTER INPUT M382 DIAL KEY M9 DISPLAY AND INPUT OTHERS M383 CHARACTER CODE INPUT M INTERNET MO MY PHONE NUMBER DISPLAY Mf MAIL FUNCTIONS U S Patent Mar 22 2005 FIG 5 Tul mi 2 y ZLETTER INPUT 92 QUASHALPHABETIC 2 27 LETTER INPUT Z DIAL KEY INPUT gt LETTER CODE INPUT gt Sheet 5 of 11 CHANGE IN INPUT MODE US 6 870 528 B2 CHANGE IN LETTER INPUT MODE U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 6 of US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 7 101 Q 2 102 NO IMPOSSIBLE CONVERSION PROCESS TO DECIDE 110 NO DECIDED CONDITION 111 DETERMINE BEFORE INPUT KEY IS PRESENT INPUT p 9 117 NO CONSECUTIVE SAME SOUND a PREVIOUS INPUT 8 P 2 11 VOICED CONSONANT MODE OF 157 CONSONANT EXCEPT DOUBLE CONSONANT MODE U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 7 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 CONSECUTIV DOUBLE INPUT OF THE SAME KEY CONSECUTIVE DOUBLE INPUT OF THE SAME KEY CONSECUTIV DOUBLE INPUT OF THE SAME KEY KANJI CONVERSION PROCESS SET MODE DECISION SELECTION PROCESS U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 8 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 YES 144 SET REVERSE AREA 145 U S Patent Mar 22 2005 FIG 10 a FUNCTION SELECTION 1 10 HIRAGANA 77777777777 2 KATAKANA 3 ALPHANUMERIC 4 MARK NUMERAL 8 END
11. a United States Patent Ichikawa US006870528B2 10 Patent No US 6 870 528 B2 45 Date of Patent Mar 22 2005 54 PORTABLE MOBILE UNIT 75 Inventor Atsushi Ichikawa Tsukuba JP 73 Assignee Hitachi Ltd Tokyo JP Notice Subject to any disclaimer the term of this patent is extended or adjusted under 35 U S C 154 b by 866 days 21 Appl No 09 793 527 22 Filed Feb 27 2001 65 Prior Publication Data US 2002 0069231 A1 Jun 6 2002 30 Foreign Application Priority Data Dec 6 2000 2000 376565 50 Int CE eoa daga G09G 5 00 52 USOR custom 345 171 345 168 341 28 708 146 58 Field of Search 345 168 169 345 171 341 28 708 145 146 400 484 56 References Cited U S PATENT DOCUMENTS 6 275 216 8 2001 Kitamura 345A71 SELECTION FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS JP 11015584 1 1999 JP 2001 5589 1 2001 JP 2001 28621 1 2001 JP 2001265502 A 9 2001 06 3 033 JP 02001265503 A 9 2001 06 3 033 cited by examiner Primary Examiner Amare Mengistu 74 Attorney Agent or Firm Antonelli Terry Stout amp Kraus LLP 57 ABSTRACT A portable mobile unit comprising an input portion for inputting a letter or a numeral therethrough wherein the input portion has at least fourteen 14 pieces of input keys five 5 alphabetic letters of indicative vowels of Japanese language are assigne
12. a voiced consonant is assigned to an input key having a function of bringing into a half voiced consonant input of the voiced consonant is conducted by operations of the input key of the alphabetic letter indicative of said un voiced consonant the input key assigned to said function of bringing into a voiced consonant and the input key of the alphabetic letter indicative of said vowel and input of the half voiced consonant is conducted by opera tions of the input key of the alphabetic letter indicative of said un voiced consonant the input key assigned to the function of bringing into a half voiced consonant and the input key of the alphabetic letter indicative of said vowel 12 A portable mobile unit as defined in the claim 11 wherein said alphabets indicative of said vowels of Japanese language are a e i and u and the alphabets indicative of the un voiced consonants within the conso nants are h m n ep 5221 ep y and w
13. and is further converted into a digital signal through an analog digital converter ADM60 to be transferred to an interface bus BUS69 This informa tion is compressed into minimum amount of necessary digital information in a voice converter VOC73 that is constructed in a form of a program within a microcomputer Also the voice converter VOC73 converts the digital signal which is converted from the voices and received through the interface bus BUS69 into analog signal and drives the receiver REC61 through an amplifier AMR62 An ON OFF US 6 870 528 B2 5 condition of the key switch is converted into digital signal through a switch interface IF53 and is transferred to the microcomputer MPU72 through the interface bus BUS69 As the LCD display 2 is used a liquid crystal panel LDC62 and the signal for use of information display which is outputted from the microcomputer MPU72 is supplied to a liquid crystal driver LDCDRV68 whereby it is converted into signal for use in liquid crystal panel in the liquid crystal driver LDCRV68 so as to drive the liquid crystal panel LDC62 therefore the signal is displayed on the liquid crystal panel LCD62 as the information When receiving a tele phone call or an electronic mail a driving signal is inputted into a light emitting diode driver DRL56 or and a motor driver DRMSS from the microcomputer MPU72 through the interface bus BUS69 thereby making the light emitting diode LEDSS flash or the motor MOT
14. black and white is called a cursor area and processing is conducted on this area as a target thereof through the decide key Ent18 etc If the previous input is not the function key Fnc14 137 no since the cursor position was already deter mined 139 yes if the input at this time is the gt key 17 140 yes the letter which was inputted at the right hand side of the cursor is shifted to the right together with the cursor and at the same time a space is inserted after the cursor is shifted 141 And the process proceeds to the next input through the connection point 5 If the input at this time is the lt key 16 140 no only the cursor is shifted If the cursor position is not yet determined 139 yes the cursor is shifted in the direction of the key inputted These also proceed to the next input through the connection point 5 If the key inputted at the present is the clear key 143 yes if the cursor area is established 144 yes the established cursor area is deleted and the letter at the right hand side of the cursor area is shifted to the left thereby filling up the area which is deleted 145 And the process proceeds to the next input through the connection point 5 If the cursor area is not yet set 144 no but if the letters inputted are already determined 146 yes the cursor deletes the letter at the left hand side and shifts to the left by a space of one letter 147 And the process proceeds to the next inp
15. cess according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 13 is a view showing a table of modes which can be selected by a combination between a function key and a numeral key according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 14 is a view showing kinds of the letters and marks and the input methods thereof according to the first embodi ment of the present invention and FIG 15 is a view showing each of the function and the key operations thereof according to the first embodiment of the present invention DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter embodiments according to the present inven tion will be fully explained by referring to the attached FIGS 1 to 15 The present embodiment shows an example in which the present invention is applied into a portable telephone apparatus 200 In recent years the portable tele phone apparatus comes to be so called a multi function terminal device which installs not only the function as a movable or mobile telephone apparatus but also a function as the Internet terminal as well as an entertainment function 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 4 such as reproducing high sound quality melody of a tele phone call or a game machine The portable telephone apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment also has such the functions as mentioned above An outlook is shown in FIG 2 Upon a front surface there are dispos
16. d to five 5 input keys of said fourteen 14 pieces of input keys and nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of un voiced consonants in consonants of Japa nese language are assigned to nine 9 input keys whereby an input of a voiced consonant or a half voiced consonant is conducted by using an input key for use in inputting other consonant With this there is provided the portable mobile unit which enables the input of Japanese language is pos sible even with a small number of key operations in the manner similar to that of the Roman letter input method of Japanese language with ease 12 Claims 11 Drawing Sheets US 6 870 528 B2 Sheet 1 of 11 FIG Mar 22 2005 U S Patent 1 U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 2 of US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 2 U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 3 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 3 61 REC 59 62 64 51 53 55 0 3 57 6 6 65 mi 68 BE 54 6 72 4 66 Rr ir paw VOc pas 3 E is BUS gt i U S Patent Mar 22 2005 Sheet 4 of 11 US 6 870 528 B2 FIG 4 LARGE ITEM MIDDLE ITEM SMALL ITEM M1 TIME CHARGE M11 CALL TIME n FUNCTIONS CHARGE DISPLAY M2 TONE M21 ADJUST 211 NORMAL FUNCTIONS RINGER VOLUME RINGER M212 MAIL NOTICE M3 DISPLAY M31 WALL PAPER F NCTIONS SETTING M32 SCREEN M321 SCREEN SAVER SETTING i SAVER SETTING M322 ECONOMIC M7 CLOCK AND MODE SETTING ALARM FUNCTIO
17. de of the first method and 3 the letter code input mode of the second method In this condition when the arrow key 14 in an up direction or the arrow key 15 in a down direction is inputted so as to shift the cursor to a position for the letter input method desired and the decide key 18 is inputted then the letter input method is changed to the one which is selected and there after the letter input is possible in accordance with that selected mode When 1 is selected on the screen for selecting the letter input method and the decide key is inputted it is changed into the quasi Roman letter input mode After conducting the change into the quasi alphabetic or Roman letter input during that quasi alphabetic letter input any one of the processes is conducted 151 and a key input is conducted 152 and then a determination is made whether the process relates to the processing or not 153 whether it changes the letter mode or not 154 whether it changes the letter input mode or not 155 and whether the US 6 870 528 B2 7 input is completed or not 156 thereafter it turns back to the next key Input The function selection relates to the letter mode selection for selecting among the inputs of marks kana Japanese alphabets and alphabetic and or numeral alphanumeric letters and or to the completion of the input etc The function selection is determined by the function key Fnc14 and the input key s following there
18. ds from the step 103 no passing through the connection point 3 to a step 124 wherein determination is made on whether the key input at this time is the function key Fnc14 or not If it is the function key Fnc14 124 yes the process sets the long vowel and directs to the next key input passing through the connection point 5 if the same key is continued two 2 times from the previous time 125 yes If the key inputted at this time is not the function key Fnc14 125 no it sets the function mode and determines to which mode the change to be made depending upon the next input About this it was mentioned as the processes after the above mentioned step 104 yes If the key inputted at this time is not the function key Fnc14 124 no determination is made on whether it is the decide key Ent18 or not If the key inputted at this time is the decide key Ent18 128 yes determination is made on whether Ent18 was inputted twice consecutively or not and if Ent18 was not inputted consecutively 129 no the deter mination of the kana input or the conversion into Chinese character is conducted 131 then the process proceeds to the next letter input through the connection point 5 On the other hand if it is consecutive inputs of the same key 129 yes the conversion into Chinese character is carried out 130 The Chinese character conversion is conducted on the cursor area as a target thereof if it is appointed but is conducted on the
19. ecided in a next determination thereof If the key inputted at this time is the same key inputted before this 117 yes and if the key inputted is N it is set to A nn passing through the connection point 1 and it will be determined 111 when being decided in the next coming determination thereof If the key inputted is not N the process is set to the double consonant mode for process ing the double consonant which is determined by a vowel to be inputted next And the process comes back to the key input Turning back before the key inputted at this time is the first consonant but not P 113 no determination is made on whether the same key is repeated or not 117 as was mentioned before and thereafter the same processes after the step 117 are conducted 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 10 Turning back to the case where the key inputted at this time is not the letter key 103 no explanation will be given on a case different from the mentioned above The function key 14 performs an important function such as the functions of non letter keys The function key Fnc14 per forms the input of the marks in combination with other key s other than the kana input explained in the above or change into other mode s etc The decide key Ent18 performs the determination of the kana input or the conversion into Chinese characters of the words inputted Under the above m
20. ed a receiver or an ear speaker 1 a display 2 using a color LCD key switches 3A and a mouthpiece or a microphone 4 in an order from the top thereof and a light emitting diode 5 is disposed at the right front in an upper portion thereof On a rear surface not shown in the figure are disposed a high sound quality speaker on an opposite surface of the LCD display 2 and a battery on an opposite surface of the key switches 3A while at the left hand side of the rear surface is disposed an antenna 6 On the lower and side surface are disposed the following external connector terminals surface key switches on the right hand side through which an operator can determined the functions thereof and a switch for exchanging the mode thereof on the left upper side surface The functions which the portable telephone apparatus 200 has can be divided roughly into 1 a basic function of the telephone apparatus a homepage browser function for use in the Internet an electronic mail e mail function a music reproducing function a game function etc For the purpose of obtaining the Internet function and or the music reproducing function more effectively the LCD display is widened in the display surface thereof and colorized and also the apparatus comprises the high sound quality speaker being larger than the receiver 1 for use of telephone con versation Selection of those functions is performed by means of key switches 3A A power on off
21. ed consonant and the key assigned to said function of bringing into a half voiced consonant and the key indicative of said vowel 4 A method for inputting Japanese language as defined in the claim 1 wherein said alphabets indicative of said vowels of Japanese language a e i o and u and the alphabets indicative of the un voiced consonants within the consonants are h m 5 t and w 5 method for inputting Japanese language as defined in the claim 2 wherein the alphabet indicative of the consonant of a half sonant mark is p and the voiced consonant is indicated by disposing in a front or a rear of the un voiced consonant corresponding thereto 6 A portable mobile unit comprising an input portion for inputting a letter or a numeral therethrough a display portion for displaying letter information includ ing the numeral inputted through said input portion a processing portion for processing information including the information from said input portion and for out putting information to said display portion and a memory portion for storing data necessary for the processing in said processing portion wherein said input portion has at least fourteen 14 pieces of input keys five 5 alphabetic letters of indicative vowels of Japanese language are assigned to five 5 input keys of said fourteen 14 piec
22. elated Art Input and output function of a portable telephone apparatus as a representative example of the portable mobile unit becomes more and more important when the Internet function is added to the portable telephone appara tus However a method for inputting Japanese language cannot be said to be easy to handle With a means for inputting Japanese language a standard method is deter mined relating to a Japanese language word processor apparatus including a personal computer installing a soft ware of Japanese language word processor therein hereinafter called by word processor and many peoples are familiar with that process and come to have a skill of inputting it at high speed In the word processor the func tions are distributed to a hundred 100 more or less of the key switches however in the portable telephone apparatus and or the portable codeless telephone apparatus since the apparatus itself is small in the sizes there are provided only around twenty 20 of the key switches Therefore in the portable telephone apparatus the functions of several keys of the word processor must assigned to one key thereof and has a problem that it requires a troublesome operation for inputting the Japanese language therewith In a user s manual of the portable telephone apparatus there are described three methods i e 1 dial cursor input 2 dial key input and 3 letter or character code input as representative ones the
23. entioned explanation will be given on a case where the key inputted at this time is the letter key and the key inputted before is the function key Fnc14 114 first After the function key 14 is inputted the screen shown in FIG 10 is indicated on the display 2 In this instance if the key inputted at this time through the connection point 4 is the numeral key inherent a dial key 121 yes the process is changed into the mode 122 which is determined by a combination with the function key Fnc14 shown in FIG 13 The mode to which the process is changed is a mode for going out from the quasi alphabetic letter processing 123 no a message file inputted is determined under the present condition to be held or not and the quasi alphabetic letter input is completed thereby being changed to the mode before If the mode to which the process is changed is the mode for changing into the input of marks within the quasi alphabetic letter input mode or so on 123 yes the input is made in those modes from the next one In the mode of katakana Japanese alphabets input the process is basi cally same as those of the kana input mentioned above and it turns back to the next key input through the connec tion point 5 If the key inputted at this time is not the numeral key 121 no since it has no function of sense no process is conducted not processed to an input of the next key through the connection point 5 Next the process excee
24. ephone can be inputted by pushing down the keys 44040301 in total since ewn de be inputted by a code 44 indicating fourth 4 sound of a line of 1 and code 04 indicating a sonant mark following thereto i e 4404 by a code 03 and by a code 01 respectively However way of those the input must be made by imaging a code table in the mind therefore it is difficult work for a person not familiar therewith Then in the letter input mode according to the alphabeti cal letters of the third method hereinafter a quasi alphabetic or quasi Roman letter input mode an input method is applied which is near to the alphabetical letters used in the word processor available in common In this third method for lowering the number of alphabets used smaller there is applied a rule being partially different from the conventional alphabetic letter input method when describing Japanese words by the alphabetical letters In the portable telephone apparatus according to the present invention so as to select the letter input method an input is made by the key M38 under the waiting condition or by the key corresponding thereto on the menu selection screen then the selection screen of the letter input method is displayed as shown in FIG 5 In the FIG 5 1 indicates the quasi Roman letter input method of the third method 2 the dial key input mo
25. es of input keys and nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of un voiced conso nants in consonants of Japanese language are assigned to nine 9 input keys further comprising an input key being assigned with one of the alphabets indicative of the un voiced consonants in the conso nants of Japanese language and a function of bringing the un voiced consonant into a voiced consonant wherein input of the voiced consonant is conducted by combina tion of key operations of the key indicative of said un voiced consonant the key assigned to said function of bringing into a voiced consonant and the key indicative of said vowel 7 A portable mobile unit as defined in the claim 6 wherein said alphabets indicative of said vowels of Japanese US 6 870 528 B2 15 66599 66 0 language are o and u the alphabets indicative of the un voiced consonants within the conso nants are h r 47 y and w and the alphabet indicative of the consonant of a half sonant mark is p whereby the voiced consonant is indicated by disposing p in a front or a rear of the un voiced consonant corresponding thereto 8 A portable mobile unit as defined in the claim 6 wherein the keys indicative of said vowels of Japanese language are aligned on one line 9 A portable mobile unit as defined in the claim 6 further comprising at
26. his and the Y inputted at this time comes to be a head portion of a new sound If the key input is not Y 106 no determination is made on whether the key inputted before this is a first consonant or not 112 Herein the first consonant is a name given to a group of the consonants of un voiced consonants corresponding to voiced consonants ie S and H and P in addition thereto If the key inputted before this is the first consonant 112 yes and if the key inputted at this time is P 113 yes the process is set to a double consonant mode for processing the double consonant upon a vowel ought to be inputted next when the key inputted before this is P 114 yes And then the process turns back to the key input If the key inputted before this is not P 114 no the process is set to a voiced consonant mode for processing the voiced consonants cor responding to the consonants excepting P from the first consonants determined by a vowel ought to be inputted next And the process turns back to the key input If the key inputted before this is not the first consonant 112 no determination is made on whether the same key input is repeated or not at this time 117 and if they are different 117 no they have a spell of non sense then they are remained in the form of the alphabets as they are The process turns back to the key input and they are determined as they are when be d
27. least a key for making determination and a key for making a selection 10 A portable mobile unit as defined in the claim 8 wherein the keys indicative of said consonants of Japanese language are aligned on two 2 lines adjacent to the line of the keys indicative of said vowels 11 A portable mobile unit comprising an input portion for inputting a letter or a numeral therethrough a display portion for displaying letter information includ ing the numeral inputted through said input portion a processing portion for processing the information including that from said input portion and for output ting information to said display portion and a memory portion for storing data necessary for the processing in said processing portion wherein said input portion has at least fourteen 14 pieces of input keys five 5 alphabetic letters of indicative vowels of Japanese language are assigned to five 5 input keys of said fourteen 14 pieces of input keys and 10 15 20 25 30 16 nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of un voiced conso nants in consonants of Japanese language are assigned to nine 9 input keys one of the nine 9 input keys indicative of said un voiced consonants is assigned to the input key having a function of bringing into voiced consonant and other one of the nine 9 input keys indicative of said un voiced consonants than the input key to which is assigned the function of bringing into
28. o 2 times or less than that In addition to fulfilling such the object mentioned above it is also important object to provide the input method in which the input of a mark being generally used as well as exchange of the letters can be performed with a simple and common method SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a portable mobile unit wherein although the numeral keys are mainly used as the input keys the alphabetic or Roman letter input of Japanese language is possible with a small number of key operations therefore being easy to handle with According to the present invention upon the basis of the alphabetic letter input method of Japanese language the input of the voiced consonant or the half voiced consonant can be easily conducted by using the input key for use in the input of other consonant even with a small number of the input keys in the manner similar to the alphabetic letter input method of Japanese language thereby achieving the object mentioned above In more details for achieving the object mentioned above according to the present invention there is provided a portable mobile unit comprising an input portion for input ting a letter or a numeral therethrough a display portion for displaying letter information including the numeral inputted through said input portion a processing portion for process ing the information including that from said input portion and for o
29. of FIGS 7 to 9 shows the flowchart in a part thereof respectively and each of symbols in which the numerals 1 to 5 are marked in circles hereinafter connection points 1 to 5 indicates that the same marks are connected to each other The FIG 7 shows mainly the conversion into Japanese language when inputting the alphabets and the FIGS 8 and 9 the function selection and the input of the marks mainly The input of Japanese language is carried out by the input method which is shown in the FIG 14 The basic portions of the input of Japanese language are shown in Nos 1 to 11 in the FIG 14 Examples of the input keys and the letter s expressed by them are indicated at the tips of arrows in the columns of the input examples In the FIG 14 and the explanations given below an un voiced consonant means a consonant which constructs the un voiced consonant The input of the marks which can be considered to be high in the use frequency other than the basic portions of the Japanese language such as a long vowel a comma and a period a start of bracket and an end of bracket are conducted by the key operations shown in Nos 12 to 16 in the FIG 14 respectively Also various functions including such as insertion of a blank a decision of kana letters Japanese alphabets appointment of an area or region of kana letters by a kanji Chinese character conversion cursor are conducted by the key ope
30. on point 3 If it is the letter key 103 yes determination is made whether the key inputted before the key input at this time is the function key Fnc14 or not If it is the function key Fnc14 104 yes since the possibility is high of a mode change the process is directed to the mode change process through the connection point 4 If the input key before is not the function key Fnc14 determination is made whether the input key at this time is a consonant or not 105 When the process reaches to the step 105 passing through the steps 103 and 104 it ought to be the letter input then determination is made whether it is a consonant or not 105 If the above mentioned determination is a vowel 105 no the sound of Japanese language is determined by this input the process proceeds to the above mentioned kana conversion process 109 through the connection point 2 The following is the case where the above mentioned determination is a consonant 105 yes If the key inputted is Y 106 yes and if the key inputted before this is a consonant 107 yes the possibility is high of being a contracted sound the process is set to a contracted sound mode 108 while waiting a vowel ought to be input next If the key inputted is Y 106 yes and if the key inputted before this is not a consonant 107 no since the key inputted before this should be a vowel the kana conver sion was already made on the portion until the key input before t
31. or the conversion into Chinese character is indicated in black and white 10 15 20 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 12 inversely at a position where kana Japanese alphabets was displayed and a next candidate of Chinese character is indicated below The arrow at the left hand side of the candidate of Chinese character displayed indicates it will be converted into that Chinese character if the arrow in that direction is inputted In this case since amp amp 5 means today the candidate that includes Chinese characters which means today namely a is selected When trying to input the alphanumeric next in the portion which is completed in the Chinese character conversion the 5 key is inputted next to the function key Fnc14 thereby changing into the mode for inputting the alphanumeric input mode within the quasi alphabetic letter input mode In the above mentioned mode for inputting the alphanumeric as shown in the FIG 11 c the numerals and the alphabets and the marks of four basic calculations x are aligned on four 4 lines in the lower side thereof wherein an alphanumeric or a mark of calculation is selected by designating a line number counted from the top one and a column number counted from the left hand side When trying to input the example mentioned above keys 2 37 17 3 17 0 1 9 27 and 8 are inputted and then C309H i
32. other parts not yet converted into Chinese characters as an object thereof if it is not appointed And the process proceeds to the next letter input through the con nection point 5 If the input key is not the decide key Ent18 128 no determination is made on whether it is the soft key R20 or L19 132 If it is any one of the above mentioned keys 132 yes determination is made on whether the same key is inputted US 6 870 528 B2 11 twice consecutively and the bracket or is set if it is consecutive inputs of the same key 133 yes but the period or comma is set if the different key is inputted after the soft key R20 or L19 In this case consecutive twice inputs of the soft key R20 or L19 set the bracket or respectively and single input of the soft key R20 or L19 followed by an input of the different key sets the period or comma respectively If the input key at this time is not either one of the soft keys R20 and L19 132 no determination is made on whether it is the lt key 16 or the gt key 17 through the connection point 6 136 If the previous input is the function key 14 137 yes the cursor is shifted in the direction of the lt key 16 or the key 17 and the area of shifting thereof is reversed in black and white 138 And the process proceeds to the next input through the connection point 5 As was described in the above the area reversed in
33. perspective view of the structure of the portable mobile unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention being seen obliquely from a right upper side in front FIG 3 is a function block diagram of the portable mobile unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 4 is a view of the structure of function menus according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 5 is a view showing a selection screen for a method for inputting letters according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 6 is a flowchart relating to function selection by a function key Fnc 14 according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 7 is a flowchart 1 of a quasi alphabetic or Roman letter input method or mode according to the first embodi ment of the present invention FIG 8 is a flowchart 2 of the quasi alphabetic letter input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 9 is a flowchart 3 of the quasi alphabetic letter input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 10 is a view showing a display screen for a selection of letter mode according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 11 is a view showing an example of input by means of the quasi Roman letter input method according to the first embodiment of the present invention FIG 12 is a view showing the contents of a letter input pro
34. rations shown in Nos 1 to 4 in the FIG 15 respectively In the case of the appointment by the cursor no influence is given onto the contents of processes until when the setting of the area is completed The area appointed by the cursor is indicated by the letters reversed in black and while The area appointed by the cursor is processed by the key operation next to the completion of input at the second time and is cancelled after the process The appointment of the area cancelled even if the next process is non sense The setting of the quasi alphabetic Roman letter input mode corresponds to head portions in the FIG 7 And then the key inputs are carried out 101 Under the condition where the key inputs are done if the indication thereof can be determined in kana Japanese alphabetic letters 102 no a portion which is inputted but not yet completed on the kana conversion is converted into kana letters 109 on the other hand the portion up to a front of the key inputted Is determined if the kana indication is not yet determined 110 no while the process proceeds to a next step 103 as US 6 870 528 B2 9 it is if it is determined 110 yes and then it is determined whether the key inputted is the letter key alphabet key or not If it is not the letter key 103 no since it is a function processing or an input of a mark the process is directed to separate process block through the connecti
35. reof The 1 dial cursor input is a method wherein letters or characters are selected by means of the cursor among the letters indicated on a display and also an adjustment such as a sonant mark etc is made by selecting the content shown in other part of the display through the cursor thereby selecting This method has an advantage that it can be easily understood since the opera tion can be carried out while being visually ascertained the contents thereof and there is no other matters to remember further if it is learned once The 2 dial key input is a method wherein the each key is pushed down repeatedly until the letter assigned to it appears and it is a basic input method for the portable telephone apparatus This method is common with for all kinds of machines and is applicable in almost all modes thereof since the input can be conducted by means of the dial keys However as the input method of the letters or characters it has a drawback by itself that key operations comes to be large in number thereof on an average The 3 letter code input is a method wherein a letter code of two 2 digits is inputted after selecting the kind of the input such as kana the Japanese syllabary or English and numeral letter and this is widely used in a pager etc It has a drawback that the letter codes must be memo rized in advance and so on An example other than the above is described in Japanese Patent Laying Open No Hei 11 15584 19
36. s inputted After this the decide key Ent18 is inputted so as to determine it and the 1 key is inputted next to the function key Fcn 14 thereby turning back to the hirakana mode And in case of input ting additional hirakana letter after C309H by input ting w and o wo is displayed the display screen sequentially and it is determined Then the message is inputted and then this message is stored in the predeter mined storage file The input method of the voiced consonant should not be restricted to the combination with the un voiced consonant corresponding thereto and p but it may be the combina tion with the corresponding un voiced consonant and a letter other than that if that combination has no possibility to occur in Japanese language However if it is selected within the region of the first consonants mentioned above it is not preferable since it cannot be distinct from the double con sonant As the letters other than the first consonants y is possible to be confused with the input of the contracted consonant therefore it is not preferable Taking the condi tion mentioned above into the consideration as the candi dates for making up the voiced consonants there remain w If the letter 15 for making up the voiced consonant it is sufficient to input kna in the place of the input kpa for obtaining the conversion resul
37. sideration in the present embodiment 1 vowels a i u e o 2 consonants of unvoiced consonants k s t n h m y r W 3 half voiced consonants p 4 decide Ent 5 function Fnc 6 arrows gt lt 7 punctuations and 8 clear To the twenty two 22 keys mentioned above are assigned the alphabets at the right upper portion of each of the keys as shown in the FIG 1 In the explanation mentioned in the above letter keys call the keys to which the alphabets are assigned Also when deciding the key inputted next to the function key Fnc14 a numeral key calls the key to which the numeral of the dial key is assigned Therefore the key to which both the alphabet and the numeral are assigned may be called by separate names in the explanations given below depending upon the situa tion thereof even if they are the same key Only the clear key is used as is used originally The fifteen 15 keys including those for the vowels and the consonants are arranged in a form so that three pieces are added onto the twelve 12 pieces of the dial keys wherein the five 5 pieces of the vowels are disposed in a vertical line at the left hand side end while ten 10 pieces of the consonants are in two lines at the right hand side end With such the disposition the positional difference between the consonants and the vowels can be grasped easily In an ordinal table
38. the power on off key makes an initial screen a waiting screen appear on the display 2 In this condition after inputting the telephone number of a person to be addressed through the dial keys 13 depressin of the send key 12 enables the user to make a telephone call Also when it receives the telephone call from a calling person the said portable telephone apparatus executes the following operations such as bringing the arrival lamp 5 to flash out initiating the vibrator to operate or sounding the arrival melody from the high sound quality speaker etc and when the user depresses the send key 12 the receiver 1 i e the speaker sounds voices of the talking person while the microphone 4 inputs the voices of the user In the present embodiment the various functions of the portable telephone apparatus 200 can be set with through a menu method The structure of the menu function has a hierarchical structure as shown in FIG 4 In the initial condition the display 2 changes into a menu screen when the decide enter key 12 is depressed The menu screen has twelve 12 icons aligned thereon and thereby a desired function group can be selected by depressing a one of the twelve 12 dial keys having the same positional relation ships to those Next explanation will be given on a letter or character input system in the portable telephone apparatus 200 in more details thereof The portable telephone apparatus 200 10 15 20 25
39. to When the input relates to the function selection 151 yes the function Is selected by the input made next to that In a case where the input relates to the letter mode 154 yes it is changed into the selected letter mode i e hirakana katakana both the Japanese alphabets and English letters and numerals and the letters are inputted in accordance with the new letter mode from the next input In a case where the input is for selecting the letter input mode 155 yes it returns back to the screen for the letter input which is same to that when M38 is inputted under the above mentioned waiting con dition Also in a case where the letter input is completed 156 yes the input letter determined is memorized into the contemporary memory and thereafter it turns back to the condition where the letter input is started Summarizing the above it is shown in FIG 12 Next explanation will be given on conversion processes of kana Japanese alphabets in the quasi alphabetic letter input mode by referring to FIGS 7 to 9 Since the number of the keys of the portable telephone apparatus 200 is twenty two 22 it is impossible to assign the letters of alphabets and or the marks which are used at high frequency to each one of the keys respectively like in the word processor Then the alphabets are assigned to the keys in the following principal by taking the characteristics of pronunciations of the Japanese language into the con
40. ts of No 4 as shown in FIG 14 for example Applying the manner of thinking mentioned above into the semi voiced consonants and assuming that the voice consonant is the un voiced consonant corresponding to n and the half voiced consonant is m then the half voiced consonant may be obtained by combining the un voiced consonant corresponding thereto and the m For example for obtaining the conversion result of No 3 as shown in the FIG 14 since the un voiced consonant corresponding thereto is ha it is possible to input hma in the place of the input hpa With doing so as was mentioned in the above the key is not distributed to p the quasi alphabetical letter input is possible by the fourteen 14 pieces of the keys With this method since the input operations of the sonant mark and the half sonant mark each of which is treated by one letter in the space in conventional method can be conducted at the same time in this method the key input can be performed within two 2 times for each of the letters In this case the US 6 870 528 B2 13 steps 113 and 114 in the flowchart in FIG 9 determine whether n or m relates to input of voiced consonant or half voiced consonant instead of determining whether the input key is p or not Therefore the steps included in determination procedure come to be high in number in the flowchart However it does not differ greatly in it s theor
41. ut through the connection point 5 If the letters inputted are not yet determined 146 no the process done just before is deleted and it proceeds to the next input through the connection point 5 If the key inputted at the present is not the clear key 143 no since it means that it is not any one of those key inputs and it is impossible to occur however if it occurs the process proceeds to the next input through the connection point 5 with nothing done Explanation will be given on an example of the input of a simple sentence including a relationship with the letter input mode other than the quasi alphabetic letter input by referring to FIG 11 Now a case is considered when a message 9 4 0 9 H Today is C309H is inputted into the message storage file Under the waiting screen M38 is inputted so as to turn it into the screen for selecting the letter input method and the quasi alphabetic letter input method is selected by means of upward arrow key or downward arrow key Then the screen is turned into the screen of the quasi alphabetic letter input Assuming that no letter is inputted before when keys k y o u h and a are inputted they are converted into kana and displayed as shown in the FIG 11 a After this if the decide key Ent18 is inputted two 2 times consecutively they are converted into Chinese letters As shown in the FIG 11 5 a first candidate f
42. utputting information to said display portion and a memory portion for storing data necessary for the processing in said processing portion wherein said input portion has at least fourteen 14 pieces of input keys five 5 alphabetic letters of indicative vowels of Japanese language are assigned to five 5 input keys of said fourteen 14 pieces of input keys and nine 9 alphabetic letters indicative of un voiced conso nants in consonants of Japanese language are assigned to nine 9 input keys further comprising an input key being assigned with one of the alphabets indicative of the un voiced consonants in the consonants of Japanese language and a function of bringing the un voiced consonant into a voiced consonant wherein input of the voiced consonant is conducted by combining the alphabetic letter indicative of said un voiced consonant the alphabetic letter assigned to said function of bringing into a voiced consonant and the alphabetic letter indicative of said vowel US 6 870 528 B2 3 According to the present invention it is possible to conduct the alphabetic letter input of Japanese language with the less number of the key operations thereby obtaining the portable mobile unit which can be used easily BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG 1 is a front view showing distribution of letters or character onto keys of a portable mobile unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention FIG 2 is a
43. y therefore there is no problem in the realization on the terminal apparatus However from a viewpoint of the user she he must remember which key is for the voiced conso nant and which key is for the half voiced consonant and might feel somewhat troublesome therefore it is preferable to distribute p to the key from a viewpoint of practical use thereof Other combinations which differ from that of the embodi ment explained in the above may be possible and in particular there is a large number of choices in the functions assigned to the combinations of the function key Fnc14 and other letter keys For example in the input method within the alphanumeric input mode in the place of the embodi ment mentioned above it is also possible to consider pro vision of a key for changing to the above mentioned dial key method directly In the embodiment mentioned above the input of the voiced consonant is made by inputting p after the first consonant but except for however on the contrary to this it is possible to input the first consonant but except for after the In the embodiment mentioned in the above it is constructed so that the comma and the period and the brackets and can be inputted through the soft key R20 or L19 however it is also possible to distribute the function for changing to other input modes etc According to the present embodiment it is possible to
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search