JPH0481917A - Keyboard device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To constitute this device so that a key operation can be executed exactly even by a person being unfamiliar with a keyboard operation by constituting the data key part of plural data keys on which plural characters are written, and turning on an inputtable character, when a function key is depressed. CONSTITUTION:The keyboard device KB is constituted of a keyboard 1, a elective function key discriminating part 2, an inputtable character table 3, an inputtable character selecting part 4, an inputtable character turn-on part 5 and a code converting part 6, and this keyboard device KB is connected to a computer main body 7. In such a state, plural characters are written in one data key, a light emitting element is provided in accordance with each character, and by turning on only the light emitting element corresponding to the character which can be inputted by operating a function key part 12, the inputtable character is displayed visually. In such a manner, even in the case of a person being unfamiliar with the keyboard operation, an input miss is decreased, and the key operation can be executed exactly.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a keyboard device, which is one of computer peripheral devices, and particularly relates to a keyboard device that can input a plurality of characters from one data key.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, this type of keyboard device has a plurality of data keys, each of which has a plurality of different types of characters written on it, and function keys such as a shift key, camp key, and kana key that specify the type of character to be input. The character code corresponding to the combination of data key and function key is output. In addition, in conventional keyboard devices, a light emitting means is provided for each function key, and each time a function key is pressed, only the light emitting means corresponding to the pressed function key is lit. I am trying to display the following characters.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As mentioned above, conventionally, characters that can be input are input using the shift key,
Since it is only displayed by lighting the cap key or kana key, it is not possible to determine at a glance which of the characters written on the data key is currently available for input. There was a problem in that people who were not familiar with keyboard operations were more likely to make input errors.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a keyboard that allows even a person inexperienced with keyboard operations to perform accurate key operations.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of data keys each having a plurality of characters of different types written thereon, and a plurality of function keys, and a character corresponding to a combination of a pressed data key and a function key. A keyboard device for outputting a code includes a light-emitting means provided corresponding to each character written on each data key, and an input device storing inputtable characters corresponding to each function key. a character table; a selected function key determining means for detecting a pressed function key; and a character table stored in the human-operable character table corresponding to the function key detected to have been pressed by the selected function key determining means. An inputtable character selection means for selecting a character; and an inputtable character lighting means for lighting a light-emitting means corresponding to a character selected by the inputtable character selection means among the plurality of light-emitting means. .

Further, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a plurality of data keys each having a plurality of different types of characters written thereon, and a plurality of function keys, and corresponds to the combination of the pressed data key and function key. a keyboard device that outputs a character code written on each data key, comprising: a light emitting means provided corresponding to each character written on each data key; a selected function key determining means for detecting a pressed function key; Among the light emitting means, a manually operable character lighting means is provided for lighting the light emitting means corresponding to the type of character indicated by the function key detected to have been pressed by the selected function key discriminating means.

[For production]

When the operator presses a function key, the selected function key discrimination means detects the pressed function key, and the inputtable character selection means selects one of the characters stored in the inputtable character table. The character corresponding to the function key detected to have been pressed is selected, and the inputtable character lighting means corresponds to the character selected by the inputtable character selection means among the light emitting means corresponding to each character written on the data key. The light emitting means is turned on.

In addition, when the operator presses a function key, the selected function key determination means detects the pressed function key, and the inputtable character lighting means selects a function among the light emitting means corresponding to each character written on the data key. The light emitting means corresponding to the type of character indicated by the function key detected to have been pressed by the key determining means is turned on.

〔Example〕

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, and the keyboard tiWKB includes a keyboard 1, a selection function key discriminator 2, an inputtable character table 3, and a manual character selection section 4. , an inputtable character lighting section 5, and a code conversion section 6. Further, the keyboard device KB is connected to the computer main body 7.

The keyboard 1 is composed of a data key section 11 and a function key section 12. As shown in FIG. 2, the data key section 11 is composed of a plurality of data keys each having a plurality of characters written on them, and the function key section 12 is composed of function keys 12-- which are pressed when inputting alphabento lowercase letters. 1, a function key 12-2 that is pressed when inputting symbols, and a function key 12-3 that is pressed when inputting kana characters. FIG. 3 (al, (bl) is a perspective view and a sectional view taken along the line x-x' of the data key 11-1 provided in the data key part 11;
A light emitting element 11-2 such as a light emitting diode is fixed to the back side of the part where the letters -1 rAJ are written. Furthermore, a light emitting element (not shown) such as a light emitting diode is fixed to the back side of the part where other characters raJ, r i, and < are written.

Furthermore, at least the character portion of the data key 11-1 is made of a transparent material, and the characters whose corresponding light emitting elements are lit are brightly illuminated and can be distinguished from other characters. .

Further, other data keys also have the same configuration as the data key 11-1.

The selected function key determination unit 2 determines whether or not the function keys 12-1 to 12-3 provided in the function key part 12 have been pressed, and if they have not been pressed, outputs a signal indicating that they have not been pressed. It has a function of outputting a signal indicating the pressed function key when the function key is pressed.

The inputtable character table 3 is a device that stores inputtable characters, and stores inputtable characters corresponding to function keys and data keys.

The inputtable character selection unit 4 has a function of selecting inputtable characters based on the signal from the selection function key determination unit 2 and the contents of the inputtable character table 3.

The inputtable character lighting unit 5 has a function of lighting up the light emitting element corresponding to the character selected by the inputtable character selection unit 4 among the light emitting elements provided corresponding to each character written on the data key. There is.

The code conversion unit 6 determines the character to be input based on the signal sent from the keyboard 1 indicating the pressed data key, the output signal of the selection function key determination unit 2, and the contents of the input rotation character table 3. , has a function of outputting to the computer main body 7 a character code that indicates the determined character and can be processed by the computer main body 7.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing example of FIG. 1, and the operation of this embodiment will be explained below with reference to each figure.

First, the operation when no function key provided in the function key portion 12 is pressed will be described.

Since the function key provided in the function key portion 12 is not pressed, the selected function key determination unit 2 outputs a signal indicating that the function key is not pressed.Step 31
．． S2) Among the characters stored in the inputtable character table 3, the inputtable character selection unit 4 passes the character corresponding to the function key not being pressed to the inputtable character lighting unit 5 (step S3).

The characters corresponding to no function key being pressed are the characters included in the character group 31 shown in FIG. Inputable character lighting section 5
When a corresponding character is passed from the inputtable character selection section 4 without pressing a function key, the inputtable character selection section 4 selects one of the light emitting elements provided corresponding to the character written on each data key. As a result, as shown in FIG. 6, the characters that can be input are illuminated when the function key is not pressed, and the user can see that the character he or she is trying to input is illuminated (step S4). It becomes possible to easily determine whether input is possible.

If the character that the user is trying to enter is lit,
The data key containing the character to be input is pressed (step S5). As a result, part 1 of the data
1 outputs a signal indicating the pressed data key, and the code conversion section 6 creates an inputtable character table based on the signal output from the data key section 11 and the signal output from the selection function key determination section 2. By searching for 3,
Step S6) Find the inputted character and convert it into a character code that can be processed by the computer main body 7.
, and then outputs the character code to the computer main body 7 (step 57)0. For example, if the data key 11-1 in FIG. 2 is pressed in step S5, the character code 32 in FIG.
The character “A” indicated by is converted into a character code and output to the computer main body 7.

Next, an explanation will be given of the operation when the desired character is not included in the characters that are lit without any function key being pressed, that is, among the characters that are lit in FIG. In this case, the user selects the function key 12-1 provided in the function key part 12.
- 12-3, press the function key corresponding to the type of character you wish to input (step Sl). Now, for example, if the character to be input is the alpha-het lowercase letter raJ, the user presses the function key 12-1.

When the function key 12-1 is pressed, the selected function key discrimination unit 2 outputs a signal indicating the pressed function key (step S2), and the inputtable character selection unit 4 outputs a signal indicating the pressed function key.
By adding a signal indicating that the function key 12-1 has been pressed, a character that can be input when the function key 121 is pressed is selected by referring to the inputtable character table 3, and the selected character is input. The characters are passed to the inputtable character lighting section 5 (step S3). At this time, the characters passed to the inputtable character lighting section 5 are each of the characters included in the character group 33 shown in FIG.

When the inputtable character lighting section 5 receives each character included in the character group 33 from the inputtable character selection section 4, it lights up the light emitting elements provided on the data keys corresponding to those characters. As a result, as shown in FIG.
When 1 is pressed, the characters that can be entered light up. Thereafter, when the user presses the data key 11-1 shown in FIG. 2, the same operation as described above is performed and a character code indicating the character "a" is output to the computer main body 7.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the present invention, in which an inputtable character lighting section 81 controls the lighting of the light emitting element provided in the data key based on the output signal of the selection function key discrimination section 2. It is provided.

In this figure, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 represent the same parts.

When a signal indicating that a function key is not pressed is output from the selected function key determination unit 2, the inputtable character lighting unit 81 lights up the light-emitting elements provided corresponding to each character written on the data key. Among them, when the function key is not pressed, all the light-emitting elements provided corresponding to the characters that can be input are turned on, and the selected function key discriminator 2 selects the function key 12.
If a signal indicating that -1 to 12-3 is pressed is output, the function keys 12-1 to 12-3 are provided corresponding to the characters that can be input when pressed. Turn on all the light emitting elements.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the present invention provides a keyboard device in which a plurality of characters are written on one data key, in which a light emitting means is provided for each character, and the characters can be input by operating a function key. Only the corresponding light-emitting device is lit, and it is possible to visually display the characters that can be entered, reducing input errors and making it easier for people who are not familiar with keyboard operations to enter. It has the effect of allowing key operations to be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of a keyboard, Fig. 3 is a perspective view and a sectional view showing an example of the structure of a data key, and Fig. 4 is a character that can be input. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing in Figure 1, Figure 6 is a diagram showing the lighting state when the function key is not pressed, Figure 7 is a lowercase letter for alpha. The figure showing the lighting state when the indicated function key is pressed, and the eighth panel are block diagrams of other embodiments of the present invention. In the figure, KB: Keyboard device, 1: Keyboard, 2: Selection function key discriminator, 3: Inputable character table, 4: Inputable character selection unit, 5, 8
1... Inputable character lighting section, 6... Code conversion section,
7... Computer body.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) A keyboard device that is equipped with multiple data keys each having a plurality of different types of characters and multiple function keys, and outputs a character code corresponding to the combination of the pressed data key and function key. a light emitting means provided corresponding to each character written on each of the data keys; an inputtable character table storing inputtable characters corresponding to each of the function keys; a selection function key determination means for detecting a function key; and an inputtable character for selecting a character stored in the inputtable character table corresponding to the function key detected to have been pressed by the selection function key determination means. A keyboard device comprising: a selection means; and an inputtable character lighting means for lighting a light-emitting means corresponding to a character selected by the inputtable character selection means among the plurality of light-emitting means. (2) A keyboard device that is equipped with multiple data keys each having a plurality of different types of characters and multiple function keys, and outputs a character code corresponding to the combination of the pressed data key and function key. A light emitting means provided corresponding to each character written on each of the data keys; a selection function key discriminating means for detecting a pressed function key; A keyboard device comprising inputtable character lighting means for lighting a light emitting means corresponding to the type of character indicated by the function key detected to have been pressed by the key determination means. (3) The keyboard device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the types of characters include alphanumeric characters, kana characters, and symbols.