JP5186458B2 - Character input device and image forming apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a character input device and an image forming apparatus.

  In recent years, some multifunction peripherals have an electronic mail function as well as a copy function, a print function, a facsimile function, and a scan function. By using this e-mail function, image data can be transmitted to the outside. In other words, by attaching image data created by scanning to an e-mail and transmitting the e-mail to the outside, the image data can be sent from the multifunction peripheral to an external personal computer or the like. The multifunction device is equipped with a software keyboard so that the subject and body of the e-mail can be easily input. In the software keyboard, a character input button for each character is displayed on the touch panel in the same way as a normal keyboard, and the input of characters is accepted by pressing this button.

  The software keyboard can input hiragana, katakana, kanji, alphabets, and various symbols by switching the character input mode. In addition, when the character input mode is the alphabet input mode, the software keyboard can input uppercase and lowercase letters by switching between the uppercase mode and the lowercase mode by button operation. For example, Patent Literature 1 below discloses an image forming apparatus equipped with such a software keyboard. When the user touches the software keyboard of the touch panel, the image forming apparatus moves the input character display area in the vicinity of the touched button, thereby minimizing the movement of the user's line of sight.

JP 2006-31518 A

  By the way, in the above prior art, it is possible to input uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet of the software keyboard by switching between uppercase mode and lowercase mode by button operation. However, since the initial letters of capital English characters are uppercase letters, a complicated operation of switching between uppercase mode and lowercase mode by button operation at the boundary between the initial letters and the other letters is necessary.

  For example, when entering “KyoceraMita”, first enter “K” in uppercase mode, then switch to lowercase mode and enter “yocera”, then switch back to uppercase mode and enter “M”, then enter lowercase mode. You need to switch to and enter "ita". In this way, the number of times to switch between uppercase mode and lowercase mode is relatively small for short sentences. However, when inputting a long sentence, it is necessary to repeat switching between uppercase mode and lowercase mode, which complicates the operation. End up. Further, since the operation becomes complicated, an input error of uppercase letters and lowercase letters of the alphabet occurs.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to reduce input mistakes in uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, as a first solution means for a character input device, an operation display means for displaying a software keyboard and accepting character input when a character input button of the software keyboard is operated. When the software keyboard is in the alphabet input mode, when a predetermined character input button of the software keyboard is pressed in the correction mode, it corresponds to the character input button in the input character display area displayed by the operation display means And an operation display control unit for converting uppercase / lowercase characters.

  In the present invention, as a second solving means related to the character input device, in the first solving means, the operation display control unit is configured to input the input when the character input button is long-pressed or double-clicked in the correction mode. The uppercase / lowercase of the character corresponding to the character input button in the character display area is converted, and when the character input button is pressed for a short time, the conversion target is the next of the input character display area corresponding to the character input button. Use a means of moving to a character.

  According to the present invention, there is provided a character input device that employs the first or second solution means as a first solution means relating to the image forming apparatus, and a character is input by the character input device. adopt.

  According to the present invention, when the MFP A is switched to the correction mode, the uppercase / lowercase of the alphabet in the input character display area corresponding to the character input button is converted by pressing the character input button. As described above, according to the present invention, the uppercase / lowercase mode is not switched every time a character is being input, but the uppercase / lowercase of the desired alphabet is collectively converted after the input of a single alphabet is completed. Therefore, it is possible to reduce input mistakes in uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a multifunction peripheral A according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a top view of the operation display unit 1 of the multifunction machine A according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a software keyboard of a multifunction machine A according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the multifunction peripheral A according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen transition at the time of operation | movement of the multifunctional machine A which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The multifunction peripheral A according to the present embodiment has a copy function, a print function, a scan function, a facsimile transmission / reception function, and an electronic mail transmission function. As shown in FIG. 1, the multi-function device A includes an operation display unit 1, an image reading unit 2, an image data storage unit 3, an image processing unit 4, a paper transport / image forming unit 5, a communication unit 6, and a main control unit 7. It has.

  The operation display unit 1 includes an operation key 11, a touch panel 12, and an operation display control unit 13, and functions as a man-machine interface that relates the user and the multifunction device A. The user operates the operation display unit 1 to cause the multifunction peripheral A to execute a user-desired operation. The operation display unit 1 will be described in detail later.

  The image reading unit 2 is a document automatically fed by an ADF (Auto Document Feeder) or an image of a document placed on a platen glass (document image) based on a control command input from a main control unit 7 described later. Is read by the line sensor and converted into document image data, and the document image data is output to the image data storage unit 3.

  The image data storage unit 3 is a semiconductor memory, a hard disk device, or the like, and receives document image data, print image data, and facsimile image data (received by the communication unit 6 from the outside) based on a control command input from the main control unit 7. The image data is stored and read out and output to the image processing unit 4.

  The image processing unit 4 performs various types of image processing (for example, image processing corresponding to enlargement / reduction copying) on the image data input from the image data storage unit 3 based on a control command input from the main control unit 7 described later. ), And the image data is converted into image data in an image forming format and output to the paper transport / image forming unit 5. When the image reading unit 2 reads a color original, the image data input from the image data storage unit 3 to the image processing unit 4 is RGB image data (color image data) corresponding to the three primary colors of light. Reference numeral 4 denotes image data corresponding to the image forming format using such RGB image data, for example, YMCK image data, that is, an image using Y (yellow), M (magenta), C (cyan), and K (black) as reference colors. The data is converted and output to the paper transport / image forming unit 5.

  The paper transport / image forming unit 5 transports recording paper in a paper tray (not shown) based on a control command input from the main control unit 7, and image data in the image forming format input from the image processing unit 4. Then, an image is formed on a recording sheet, and the recording sheet is conveyed to a discharge tray (not shown). The sheet conveying / image forming unit 5 is formed by arranging, for example, four developing devices corresponding to the reference color toner on the secondary transfer belt, and forms an image based on a tandem system.

  The communication unit 6 communicates with an external multifunction device, a facsimile machine, a client computer, or the like using a LAN (Local Area Network) or a telephone line under the control of the main control unit 7. That is, the communication unit 6 has both a communication function compliant with a LAN standard such as Ethernet (registered trademark) and a communication function compliant with a facsimile standard such as G3. The communication unit 6 can send and receive e-mails, for example.

  The main control unit 7 includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), a main body internal memory, the operation display unit 1, an image reading unit 2, an image data storage unit 3, an image processing unit 4, a paper transport / image forming unit 5, and a communication unit 6. And an interface circuit for transmitting and receiving various signals. The main control unit 7 controls the overall operation of the multifunction peripheral A based on a control program stored in advance in the main body internal memory and an operation instruction input from the operation display unit 1. The main control unit 7 transmits and receives various signals in a predetermined communication format with the operation display control unit 13 of the operation display unit 1, thereby grasping and controlling the operation state of the operation display unit 1.

Next, the operation display unit 1 will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 2, the operation display unit 1 includes an operation key 11, a touch panel 12, and an operation display control unit 13 (see FIG. 1). The touch panel 12 is an operation display unit in the present embodiment. And the touch panel 12 and the operation display control part 13 comprise the character input device in this embodiment.

  The operation key 11 is physically provided in the operation display unit 1 as a hardware key. The operation keys 11 include, for example, a power key, a start key, a clear key for canceling operation contents, and a numeric keypad for inputting instructions regarding numbers. When the operation key 11 is pressed by the user, an operation signal of each operation key is output to the operation display control unit 13.

  As is well known, the touch panel 12 is provided with a transparent surface pressure sensor such as a resistive film type on the display surface of the display panel, and the user designates an operation button displayed on the display panel by the operation display control unit 13. When the pressure is pressed, the planar pressure sensor outputs an operation signal indicating the pressed position (pressed coordinate) to the operation display control unit 13.

The operation display control unit 13 is a control device that controls the operation keys 11 and the touch panel 12 under the control of the main control unit 7, and includes an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), an internal memory, the operation keys 11, the touch panel 12, and the main touch panel 12. An interface circuit that exchanges various signals with the control unit 7 is provided.
The operation display control unit 13 displays operation buttons and various screens displayed on the touch panel 12 based on an operation display control program stored in the internal memory under a control command input from the main control unit 7. Then, the operation display control unit 13 determines which operation button or operation key 11 has been operated based on an operation signal input from the operation key 11 or the touch panel 12, and sends it to the main control unit 7 as a user operation instruction. Output.

  The touch panel 12 displays operation buttons and various screens under the control of the operation display control unit 13, and displays a software keyboard as one of them. The software keyboard is used when inputting characters in the same manner as a general keyboard, and is displayed when an e-mail subject and text are input. As shown in FIG. 3, the software keyboard has the same layout (QWERTY layout) as that of a general keyboard, and character input buttons corresponding to the characters are arranged. A character input by pressing the character input button is displayed in the input character display area. By switching the character input mode of the software keyboard, hiragana, katakana, kanji, alphabets, and various symbols can be input.

  When the character input mode is the alphabet input mode, the software keyboard can switch the character type mode with the “upper case” mode button and the “lower case” mode button. When the “uppercase” mode button is pressed, the character type mode is changed to the “uppercase” mode, and the alphabet input by pressing the character input button is displayed in uppercase in the input character display area. When the “lowercase” mode button is pressed, the character type mode is changed to the “lowercase” mode, and the alphabet entered by pressing the character input button is displayed in uppercase in the input character display area. The dot pattern “lowercase” mode button in FIG. 3 indicates that the button is pressed and the character type mode is in the lowercase mode.

 In the software keyboard, a “correction” mode button for switching to the “correction” mode is displayed. The “correction” mode is an operation mode in which a desired character of the input alphabet is converted from uppercase to lowercase. When the “correction” mode button is pressed, the software keyboard switches from the normal mode to the “correction” mode. Details of processing when the “modify” mode button is pressed will be described later.

Next, the operation of the MFP A according to the present embodiment having the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, a user who wants to create an e-mail using the multifunction device A operates the operation display unit 1 to display an e-mail creation screen on the touch panel 9. Then, the user starts inputting the subject and body of the e-mail.

The operation display control unit 13 displays a software keyboard (see FIG. 3) on the touch panel 12 when a text input start instruction is received by an operation of the touch panel 12 by the user. Then, when the character input button of the software keyboard is the alphabet input mode and the character input button is pressed, the operation display control unit 13 displays the alphabet corresponding to the character input button in the input character display area ( Step S1).
For example, when “kyoceramita osaka japan” is input by pressing the character input button in step S1, “kyoceramita osaka japan” is displayed in the input character display area as shown in FIG.

  When the “correction” mode button is pressed after step S1, the operation display control unit 13 switches the software keyboard from the normal mode to the correction mode, and switches the “correction” mode button to the “return” button (step S2). . For example, when the “correction” mode button is pressed in step S2, the “correction” mode button is switched to a “return” button as shown in FIG. 5B.

  When the character input button is pressed after step S2, the operation display control unit 13 places the cursor on the rightmost character in the input character display area corresponding to the character input button (step S3). For example, when the “a” input button is pressed for a short time in step S3, the cursor hits “a” as the seventh character from the left of “kyoceramita” as shown in FIG.

The operation display control unit 13 determines whether or not the character input button has been long-pressed, double-clicked or short-pressed after step S3 (step S4).
If the operation display control unit 13 determines in step S4 that the character input button has been long-pressed or double-clicked, the operation display control unit 13 converts the character on which the cursor corresponds to the character input button from lowercase to uppercase (step S5). For example, when the “a” input button of the character input button is long-pressed or double-clicked in step S5, “a” as the seventh character from the left of “kyoceramita” is lowercase as shown in FIG. To uppercase "A".

If the operation display control unit 13 determines that the character input button is pressed for a short time in step S4, the operation display control unit 13 moves the cursor to the next character in the input character display area corresponding to the character input button (step S6). For example, when the “a” input button is pressed for a short time in step S6, the cursor moves to “a” at the right end of “kyoceramita” as shown in FIG.
When the “k” input button of the character input button is pressed for a short time after step S6, the operation display control unit 13 displays “j” at the left end of “kyoceramita” in the input character display area as shown in FIG. The cursor is moved to “k” (step S7).

  When the “return” button is pressed after step S5 or S7, the operation display control unit 13 converts the character converted to upper case into lower case, switches the software keyboard from the correction mode to the normal mode, and returns the “return” button. Is switched to the “correction” mode button (step S8). For example, when the “return” button is pressed in step S8, the process transitions from (e) and (f) in FIG. 5 to (a) in FIG. 5, and the uppercase letters are lowercase as shown in (a) in FIG. And the “Return” button switches to the “Modify” mode button. Similarly, when the “return” button is pressed, the state transitions from (b) to (d) in FIG. 5 to (a) in FIG. 5.

  As described above, when the MFP A according to the present embodiment is switched to the correction mode after inputting a character, the alphabet corresponding to the character input button is converted from a lowercase character to an uppercase character by pressing the character input button. In this way, the multifunction device A does not switch between the uppercase mode and the lowercase mode each time a character is being input, but instead converts the desired alphabet from a lowercase character to an uppercase character after completing a complete alphabet input. Therefore, it is possible to reduce input mistakes in uppercase and lowercase letters of the alphabet.

As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, For example, the following modifications can be considered.
(1) In the above embodiment, when the character input button is pressed in the correction mode, the lower case letters of the alphabet are converted to upper case letters, but the present invention is not limited to this.
For example, when a capital letter is input in the input character display area and the character input button is pressed in the correction mode, the multifunction device A converts the capital letter of the alphabet corresponding to the character input button to a lower case. You may do it.

A ... MFP, 1 ... operation display unit, 2 ... image reading unit, 3 ... image data storage unit, 4 ... image processing unit, 5 ... paper transport / image forming unit, 6 ... communication unit, 7 ... main control unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Operation key, 12 ... Touch panel, 13 ... Operation display control part

Claims (3)

An operation display means for displaying a software keyboard and displaying a correction mode button on the software keyboard, and receiving a character input when the character input button of the software keyboard is operated,
When the software keyboard is in alphabet input mode, when the correction mode button is pressed, the software keyboard is switched from the normal mode to the correction mode, and when a predetermined character input button of the software keyboard is pressed in the correction mode, A character input device, comprising: an operation display control unit that converts uppercase / lowercase characters of a character corresponding to the character input button in the input character display area displayed by the operation display means.   The operation display control unit performs uppercase / lowercase conversion of characters corresponding to the character input button in the input character display area when the character input button is long-pressed or double-clicked in the correction mode, and the character input button 2. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein when the character is pressed for a short time, the conversion target is moved to the next character in the input character display area corresponding to the character input button. An image forming apparatus comprising the character input device according to claim 1, wherein characters are input by the character input device.

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