JPH09319502A - Information equipment provided with display integrated type coordinate input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To share the area of a soft keyboard for a character recognition input picture and to unnecessitate the switching operation of any use. SOLUTION: The data of a coordinate dot sequence inputted to the coordinate input picture of a display integrated type coordinate input device 11 by a user while using a pen 111 are stored in a hand coordinate storage part 12. A hand coordinate position discriminating part 13 reads out the coordinate dot sequence stored in the storage part 12 for each stroke. When the starting point of that stroke exists inside the area of the soft keyboard and the starting point and ending point of that stroke exist in the same key, a key input operation is discriminated, the relevant coordinate dot sequence is sent to a soft keyboard control part 15 by a hand sending destination switching part 14, and key input processing is performed. In the other case, a handwritten character input using the area of the soft keyboard as the character recognition input picture is discriminated, the relevant coordinate dot sequence is sent to a character recognition processing part 16, and character recognition processing is performed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information device provided with a display-integrated coordinate input device and capable of both key input on a soft keyboard displayed on the screen and handwriting input with character recognition. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information devices, such as portable information devices, which can present various kinds of information to a user through a display screen of a display-integrated coordinate input device or can input information on the screen using a pen or the like, have been developed. Attention has been paid. In this type of portable information device, for example, when a text input to a text input area (user input area) displayed on the screen is performed using a pen, a so-called soft keyboard that is a virtual keyboard is used. A method of inputting a key or inputting a handwritten character accompanied by character recognition is generally used.

In the conventional information equipment, only one of a soft keyboard input screen (keyboard pattern screen) and a character recognition input screen (input screen for handwritten character input accompanied by character recognition) is changed by the user. It is general that they are selectively displayed or both are displayed in different areas, and the input positions are different.

The place where the soft keyboard or the character recognition input screen pops up is randomly selected by the system. If the user wants to change the display position of the soft keyboard or the like, it is necessary to perform a multi-step operation of, for example, selecting a window moving menu and then giving a movement instruction to a desired position.

If the system randomly selects a pop-up position on a soft keyboard or the like, the pop-up screen may hide the text input area.
In such a case, the user needs to perform the above-described multi-step operation in order to move the display position of the pop-up screen (the display position of the soft keyboard or the like) to a position that does not overlap the text input area.

[0006]

As described above, various types of information can be presented to the user through the display screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device, and information input operation can be performed on the screen by using a pen or the like. In the conventional information equipment represented by the information equipment, when the user wants to selectively use the soft keyboard and the character recognition input screen, it is necessary to switch between them. In addition, in the conventional information equipment, a multi-step operation is required to move the soft keyboard. Furthermore, in the conventional information equipment, when the text input area is hidden by popping up the soft keyboard and the character recognition input screen, if the user tries to move the soft keyboard or the like to a position that does not hide the text input area, the user has multiple steps. I had to do a move operation.

As described above, in the conventional information equipment, there is a problem that the thinking during the input work is hindered because the work which has nothing to do with the input work originally desired is required.

The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to share a display area of a soft keyboard with a character recognition input screen, and switch between the soft keyboard and the character recognition input screen. It is to provide information equipment that does not require operation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an information device capable of quickly moving a soft keyboard by a simple operation. Still another object of the present invention is to provide an information device capable of popping up a soft keyboard at a position where a text input area is not hidden.

[0010]

An information device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a display-integrated coordinate input device having a common display screen and coordinate input surface, and coordinate input of the display-integrated coordinate input device. In an information device capable of inputting from a surface, a handwriting coordinate storage means for storing coordinate data input from a coordinate input surface, and a character for handwriting input involving character recognition on a virtual keyboard A soft keyboard that doubles as a recognition input screen is displayed on the screen, the key on the soft keyboard at the position indicated by the coordinate data string is detected based on the given coordinate data string, and the detected key is input. A soft keyboard control means for controlling,
Character recognition processing means for performing character recognition processing of the handwriting indicated by the coordinate data string based on the given coordinate data string, and the coordinate data string stored in the handwriting coordinate storage means is read for each stroke, and the start point of the stroke Is in the area of the soft keyboard, whether the stroke start point and the end point are in the area of the same key on the soft keyboard, it is the coordinate data string input by the key input operation, or the character data. Based on the handwriting coordinate position determining means for determining whether the coordinate data string is input by a handwriting input operation involving recognition, and the determination result of the handwriting coordinate position determining means, the coordinate data string used for the determination is And a handwriting destination switching means selectively provided to the soft keyboard control means or the character recognition processing means.

In such an information device, when the user performs handwriting input with a pen or the like in the display area of the soft keyboard, the stroke of the handwriting (coordinate data from when the pen touches the coordinate input surface to when it leaves the coordinate input surface). The starting point and the ending point of the (column) generally do not exist in the same key as in the case of the key input operation, and therefore the handwriting coordinate position determining unit determines that the input is a handwriting input operation, and the coordinate data sequence that constitutes the stroke. Is passed to the character recognition processing means and provided for character recognition processing.

As described above, in the present invention, the soft keyboard can be used as an area of the character recognition input screen (input screen for handwriting input) in addition to the key input operation which is the original purpose. Moreover, there is no need to perform a switching operation as to whether to use the soft keyboard or the character recognition input screen. Therefore, in the conventional information equipment, since the soft keyboard and the character recognition input screen are displayed respectively, the movement distance of the pen becomes large when using both of them, which is a burden on the writing operator. In the information device of the present invention, even if the user wants to use character recognition input (handwriting input) while using the soft keyboard, there is no need for extra button operation or menu operation, and operations that are not originally related to text input are eliminated. It becomes possible to do.

By the way, when inputting characters by handwriting, it is possible to take care so that the start point and the end point of the first stroke do not fall within the area of the same key. Consideration is difficult. In such a case, the information device according to the first aspect may erroneously determine that a key input operation has been performed while handwriting is being performed.

Therefore, in the information device according to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the information device according to the first aspect, a character is input when the handwriting coordinate position determining means determines that the handwriting input operation is performed. A second state which is set to the first state indicating that the character recognition processing is in progress, and which indicates that the character recognition processing is not in progress when the input operation is not performed for a certain time in the first state
The state holding means for character recognition processing set to the state is added, and while the state holding means is set to the first state, the coordinate data string read from the handwriting coordinate storage means is input by handwriting input operation. It is characterized in that it is judged by the handwriting coordinate position judging means.

An information device according to a third aspect of the present invention sets, in the configuration of the information device according to the first or second aspect, a character type determined by the type of soft keyboard displayed by the soft keyboard control means. A character type setting means is added, and the character recognition processing means performs character recognition processing within the range of the character type set by the character type setting means.

In such an information device, a character type that should not be input is excluded from the target of character recognition processing by the character recognition processing means (search target of the recognition dictionary), and therefore the time required for the recognition processing. In addition to shortening, the degree of occurrence of recognition error can be reduced.

An information device according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the information device according to any one of the first to third aspects, in which a display position of a soft keyboard is set based on a given coordinate data string. When a soft keyboard moving means to be changed is added and the end point of the stroke extends beyond the area of the soft keyboard, it is the coordinate data string of the stroke input by the moving operation of the soft keyboard (instead of the handwriting input operation). And the coordinate data string used for the judgment by the handwriting coordinate position judging means is given to the soft keyboard moving means by the handwriting destination switching means.

In such an information device, the movement instruction and the movement operation of the soft keyboard can be performed only by inputting a stroke that extends from the soft keyboard area to the outside of the soft keyboard area. In contrast,
In the conventional information equipment, when the user tries to move the soft keyboard, it is necessary to perform a multi-step operation such as, for example, selecting a window moving menu and then giving a moving instruction. Therefore, in the information device of the present invention, the operation can be simplified and the operation time can be shortened as compared with the conventional information device.

An information device according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the information device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, wherein a user input area is provided on a display screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device. When it is instructed to pop up the soft keyboard in the opened state, the pop-up position is determined to be a position outside the user input area, and the soft keyboard control means is requested to pop up the soft keyboard to that position. Soft keyboard position determining means to be activated, and is activated when there is no soft keyboard pop-up area at a position outside the user input area, the soft keyboard display position is determined based on the given coordinate data sequence, and Request the soft keyboard control means to pop up the soft keyboard to the position If there is no soft keyboard pop-up area outside the user input area, the coordinate data string read from the handwriting coordinate storage means is input to indicate the display position of the soft keyboard. It is determined that the handwriting coordinate position determining means determines that the coordinate data string used for the determination is given to the display position instructing means by the handwriting destination switching means.

In such an information device, when the user performs a pop-up instruction operation on the soft keyboard, if the user input area is relatively small, the soft keyboard pop-up position is set to the user input area on the soft keyboard. A position that is not hidden is automatically determined, and the soft keyboard is popped up at the determined position, so that the user can promptly perform the input operation after the soft keyboard popup instruction operation. Further, since the user input area is large, when the soft keyboard pops up, there is no area where the user input area is not hidden by the soft keyboard, that is, the pop-up position cannot be determined by the soft keyboard position determining means. In this case, the mode is automatically set to accept the operation for instructing the display position of the soft keyboard by the user, so that the user only needs to perform the operation for instructing the display position and input operation to the user input area is possible. The soft keyboard can be displayed at the position where it seems to have the least effect.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. [First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The information device of FIG. 1 is, for example, a portable information device, and mainly includes a display-integrated coordinate input device 11, a handwriting coordinate storage unit 12, a handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13, a handwriting destination switching unit 14, and a soft keyboard control. It is composed of a unit 15, a character recognition processing unit 16, and a recognition dictionary 17. A control unit for controlling the entire device is omitted.

The display-integrated coordinate input device 11 includes a pen 111 for writing and a coordinate input unit having a coordinate detection / input function for inputting a character string or the like written by using the pen 111 as a series of coordinate values. 112 and a display unit 113. The coordinate input unit 112 and the display unit 113 are laminated and integrated.

Display-integrated coordinate input device 11 (display unit 1)
In 13), for example, when a text is input, a text input area 21 is secured and a soft keyboard 22 is displayed as shown in FIG. Soft keyboard 22
A keyboard type selection unit 23 in which the keyboard type can be selected is displayed in the vicinity of. The keyboard type selection unit 23 has, for example, an icon (selection button) for selecting and designating an English keyboard and an icon (neither is shown) for selecting and designating a JIS keyboard.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the handwriting coordinate storage unit 1
2 is the coordinate input unit 11 of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11
It is used to store the series of coordinate values of the handwriting input by 2).

The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines the pen 11 based on the coordinate point sequence stored in the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12.
The relationship between the coordinate position and the position on the soft keyboard when 1 touches the coordinate input surface (tablet) of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11 and leaves the position is determined. The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 recognizes whether the character recognition processing unit 16 is continuing the character recognition process by recognizing a flag (F).
n) Perform 18 set / reset operations.

The handwriting destination switching unit 14 switches and outputs the coordinate point sequence to either the soft keyboard control unit 15 or the character recognition processing unit 16 based on the determination result of the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13.

The soft keyboard control unit 15 determines the pressed key based on the coordinate point sequence given from the handwriting destination switching unit 14 and the coordinate range of each key top of the soft keyboard, and determines the key code. It is output to the display unit 113.

The character recognition processing section 16 carries out recognition processing of the handwriting indicated by the coordinate point sequence given from the handwriting destination switching section 14. The recognition dictionary 17 stores a dictionary pattern used in the character recognition processing by the character recognition processing unit 16.

Next, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flow chart of FIG. Now, with the screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11 (the display unit 113 thereof) being as shown in FIG. 2, the user uses the pen 111 to display the soft keyboard 22 on the tablet of the coordinate input device 11.
It is assumed that the input operation is performed within the area of.

The coordinate point sequence data input by the user into the display-integrated coordinate input device 11 using the pen 111 is stored in the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 by the coordinate input unit 112 in the coordinate input device 11. Here, the data of the coordinate point sequence is arranged in chronological order, and the pen 11 is assigned to each coordinate point (coordinate value).
An on / off flag indicating whether 1 is touching the tablet or moving away from the tablet (whether the tablet is separated by a certain height or more within a range where coordinates can be detected) is attached.

The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines the coordinate point sequence stored in the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 for each coordinate point sequence from when the pen 111 touches the tablet until it leaves the tablet, that is, for each stroke (on / off flag). For each stroke, the coordinates at the time when is turned on are the starting point coordinates, and the coordinates at the time when the on / off flag is turned off are the ending point coordinates)
The soft keyboard 2 and the coordinate position when the pen 111 touches the tablet (the start point coordinate of the stroke) and the coordinate position when the pen 111 moves away from the tablet (the end point coordinate of the stroke).
The relationship with the position on 2 is determined as follows.

The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 first checks the value of the recognition processing flag (Fn) 18 (step S).
1). If Fn = 0, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines that the character recognition process is not in progress and performs the following coordinate determination process. On the other hand, if Fn = 1, it is determined that the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 is performing character recognition processing, and the handwriting destination switching unit 14 unconditionally recognizes the coordinate point sequence read from the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12. It is sent to the processing unit 16 (step S2).

In the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13, the coordinate values (xsi, ys) when the pen 111 touches the tablet.
The key on the soft keyboard 22 (pressed at the start point of the stroke) is determined from i) and the coordinate range of each key top of the soft keyboard 22, and the key is stored (steps S3 and S4). The coordinate range of each key top of the soft keyboard 22 is defined by a diagonal coordinate value of the display area of the key top, for example, a pair of an upper left corner coordinate value (xts, yts) and a lower right corner coordinate value (xte, yte). It is represented by the soft keyboard controller 15. Where xts
A key having a coordinate set satisfying <xsi <xte and yts <ysi <yte is stored as the selected key.

Next, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines the pen 11
Coordinate value (xei, yei) when 1 moves away from the tablet
And the coordinate range of the display area of the key selected earlier,
It is checked whether xts <xei <xte and yts <yei <yte (step S5).

If xts <xei <xte and yts <yei
If yte, that is, if the end point (xei, yei) of the stroke also exists in the area of the key where the start point (xsi, ysi) of one stroke read from the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 exists, The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines that the user has operated a key on the soft keyboard 22. Then, the handwriting destination switching unit 14 receives the determination result of the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 and sends the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence to the soft keyboard control unit 15 (step S
6).

On the other hand, xts <xei <xte and yts <
If at least one of yei <yte is not satisfied, that is, the end point (xei, yei) of the stroke exists in the area of the key where the start point (xsi, ysi) of one stroke read from the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 exists. If not, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 determines that the user has input a handwritten character using the display area of the soft keyboard 22 as a character recognition input screen, and the recognition processing is performed to indicate that character recognition processing is in progress. The middle flag (Fn) 18 is set to "1" (step S7). The handwriting destination switching unit 14 receives the determination result of the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 and sends the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence to the character recognition processing unit 16 (step S8).

As described above, for example, when the user clicks the key position of "T" on the soft keyboard 22 with the pen 111 as shown in FIG. 4A, as shown in FIG. The coordinate position (xsi, ysi) when the pen 111 touches the tablet is the coordinate set (xts, yts), (x
(xs1, y in the key area of "T" indicated by te, yte)
s1), and the coordinate position (xei, yei) when the pen 111 is separated from the tablet is also (x) in the key area of “T”.
Since it is (e1, ye1), the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence is sent to the soft keyboard controller 15 by the handwriting destination switching unit 14.

The soft keyboard control section 15 sends the key code of the key "T" indicated by the data of the coordinate point sequence sent by the handwriting destination switching section 14 to the display section 113 of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11. As a result, the text character “T” is displayed in the text input area 21 on the screen of the display unit 113. The text character "T" (key code thereof) is stored in a text storage unit (not shown).

On the other hand, for example, as shown in FIG. 4B, the pen 111 strokes the user from the "T" key position to the "V" key position on the soft keyboard 22.
When inputting with the pen 1, as shown in FIG.
The coordinate position (xsi, ys) when 11 touches the tablet
Although i) is (xs2, ys2) in the key area of "T" indicated by the coordinate set (xts, yts), (xte, yte), the coordinate position (xei when the pen 111 is separated from the tablet) , Yei) is (xe2, ye) outside the key area of "T".
2), Fn = 1 is set, and the corresponding coordinate point sequence (handwriting coordinate point sequence) is the handwriting destination switching unit 1
4 is sent to the character recognition processing unit 16. After that, F
During the period of n = 1, the coordinate point sequence of the stroke input by the user with the pen 111 is continuously sent to the character recognition processing unit 16. Then, if the user does not perform an input operation for a predetermined period of time, for example, for one second (if the pen 111 is away from the tablet), the flag (Fn) 18 is set to "0" by the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13. Will be cleared. At this time, the character recognition processing unit 16 executes the recognition process of the handwriting indicated by the handwriting coordinate point sequence sent from the handwriting destination switching unit 14 by then referring to the recognition dictionary 17, and recognizes the character of the recognition result. It is sent to the display unit 113. As a result, the display unit 11
The recognized character is displayed in the text input area 21 on the screen of No. 3. It is also possible to cause the character recognition processing unit 16 to perform an operation of clearing the flag (Fn) 18 to "0". [Second Embodiment] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information device according to a second embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

The configuration of FIG. 6 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that a recognition character type setting unit 28 for setting the character type to be recognized in the character recognition process is newly provided and the soft keyboard control unit 15 in FIG. Instead of the function of the soft keyboard control unit 15, the recognition character type setting unit 28 is notified of information indicating the type of the currently displayed soft keyboard 22 (keyboard type such as alphabetic keyboard, JIS keyboard, etc.). The soft keyboard control unit 25 having a function is replaced with the character recognition processing unit 16 in FIG. 1, and a character recognition processing unit 26 for performing character recognition processing within the range of the character type set by the recognized character type setting unit 28 is provided. They are provided respectively.

The operation of the configuration shown in FIG. 6 will be described mainly for the points different from the configuration shown in FIG. First, the soft keyboard control unit 25 is the current display-integrated coordinate input device 1
The information (character type information) indicating the type of the soft keyboard 22 displayed on the display screen No. 1 is recognized.
To notify. In response to this, the recognized character type setting unit 28 sets the character type to be recognized by the character recognition processing unit 26.

When the user inputs a handwritten character with the pen 111 using the display area of the soft keyboard 22 as the character recognition input screen, the handwriting destination switching unit 14 displays the coordinate point sequence for each stroke of the handwriting input by the user. It is sent to the character recognition processing unit 26. The character recognition processing unit 26 performs recognition processing of the handwriting indicated by the coordinate point sequence for each stroke sent from the handwriting destination switching unit 14 within the character type range set by the recognized character type setting unit 28. Refer to and execute. [Third Embodiment] FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information device according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In addition,
The same parts as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof is omitted.

The configuration of FIG. 7 is different from the configuration of FIG. 1 in that the soft keyboard moving unit 39 for changing the display position of the soft keyboard 22 based on the position determination result in the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 described below and A soft keyboard moving flag (Fi) 40 indicating whether or not the soft keyboard moving process is in progress is newly provided, and instead of the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 in FIG. 1, a stroke starting point is located on the key. When there is no end point of the stroke, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 which determines whether the end point of the stroke is within the display area of the soft keyboard 22 (is outside the display area) is also used for the handwriting in FIG. Instead of the destination switching unit 14, the output destination of the data of the coordinate point sequence is determined by the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 33 based on the position determination result. Parts 16 and handwriting destination switching unit 34 to switch to either the soft keyboard mobile unit 39 is that provided, respectively.

Here, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 7 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 8 for the part different from the configuration of FIG. The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 reads out the coordinate point sequence stored in the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 for each stroke, and detects when the pen 111 touches the tablet at the coordinate position (start point coordinate of the stroke) and when the pen 111 moves away from the tablet. The relationship between the coordinate position (the end point coordinate of the stroke) and the position on the soft keyboard 22 is determined as follows.

The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 first determines Fn = 1.
If it is (step S11), the character recognition processing unit 16
Since the character recognition process is in progress, the handwriting coordinate storage unit 1
The coordinate point sequence read from 2 is sent to the character recognition processing unit 16 by the handwriting destination switching unit 34.

On the other hand, if Fn = 0 (and Fi = 0), the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 determines the coordinate values (xsi, ysi) when the pen 111 touches the tablet and the soft keyboard 22. From the coordinate range of the key top, the key on the soft keyboard 22 (pressed at the start point of the stroke) is determined and the key is stored (steps S11 and S2).
2, S13, S14).

Next, the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 33 causes the pen 11
Coordinate value (xei, yei) when 1 moves away from the tablet
And the coordinate range of the display area of the previously selected key (here,
Upper left coordinate (xts, yts) and lower right coordinate (xte, yte)
(Coordinate range indicated by) and it is checked whether xts <xei <xte and yts <yei <yte (step S15).

If xts <xei <xte and yts <yei
If yte, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 determines that the user has performed a key operation on the soft keyboard 22. In this case, the handwriting destination switching unit 34 sends the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence to the soft keyboard control unit 15 (step S16).

On the other hand, xts <xei <xte and yts <
If at least one of yei <yte is not satisfied, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 determines whether or not a stroke that sticks out from the inside of the display area of the soft keyboard 22 is input, that is, the stroke end point (xei, yei). ) Is outside the display area of the soft keyboard 22 (step S17).

The determination in step S17 is made by determining the coordinates of the upper left end point of the display area of the soft keyboard 22 as (x
ss, yss) and the coordinates of the lower right corner are (xse, yse), (condition 1) the x coordinate xei of the end point of the stroke is smaller than xss or larger than xse (xei <xss or x
ei> xse) (Condition 2) The y coordinate yei of the end point of the stroke is smaller than yss or larger than yse (yei <yss or y
It is performed by checking whether or not at least one of the two conditions (ei> yse) is satisfied.

If the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 33 determines in step S17 that the stroke does not extend from the inside to the outside of the display area of the soft keyboard 22, the user recognizes the display area of the soft keyboard 22 by character recognition. It is determined that handwritten characters have been input using the input screen. In this case, the handwriting destination switching unit 34
Performs a flag operation of Fn = 1 to indicate that the character recognition process is being performed (step S18), and sends the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence to the character recognition processing unit 16 (step S1).
9).

If the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 33 determines that the stroke is such that the soft keyboard 22 extends from the inside to the outside of the display area of the soft keyboard 22, the user moves the soft keyboard 22 in the protruding direction. Determined as instructed. In this case, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 sets the soft keyboard moving flag (Fi) 40 to "1" to indicate that the soft keyboard is moving (step S20), and sends the data of the corresponding coordinate point sequence to the handwriting. The destination switching unit 34 sends it to the soft keyboard moving unit 39 (step S21).

When the soft keyboard moving unit 39 receives from the handwriting destination switching unit 34 the data of the coordinate point sequence, that is, the data of the coordinate point sequence having a stroke that extends outside the display area of the soft keyboard 22. The soft keyboard D in the dragged state is displayed based on the data of the stroke coordinate point sequence. Here, the display position of the soft keyboard D in the dragged state is the soft keyboard D.
It is assumed that the relative position of the end point of the stroke in is matched with the relative position of the start point of the stroke in the soft keyboard 22.

Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 9A, the user moves from a position (xs3, ys3) in the display area of the soft keyboard 22 to a position (xe3, ye) outside the display area.
When the stroke up to 3) is input, the soft keyboard D in the dragged state is displayed as shown in FIG. 9B. Here, the user can use the pen 111 to move the dragged soft keyboard D to a desired position. Therefore, the user moves the pen 111 from the tablet to a desired position without touching the tablet within a certain height range, and then moves the pen 111 to the desired position at the desired position.
Down the tablet.

The coordinate point sequence detected and input by the coordinate input unit 112 in accordance with the moving operation of the pen 111 by this user, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 3 via the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12.
Read in 3. The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 33 determines that Fi =
During the period of 1, the handwriting destination switching unit 34 sends the read coordinate point sequence to the soft keyboard moving unit 39 regardless of the coordinate values (steps S22 and S23).

The soft keyboard moving section 39 is a coordinate point sequence of the previous stroke (a coordinate point sequence of strokes that extends from the inside to the outside of the display area of the soft keyboard 22).
Then, the soft keyboard D in the dragged state is moved according to the coordinate point sequence sent by the handwriting destination switching unit 34. Then, the soft keyboard moving unit 39 moves the pen 111
Detects the coordinate position when touching the tablet, erases the dragged soft keyboard D at that position, moves and displays the soft keyboard 22 at that position, and sets the flag (Fi) 40 to "0". clear. [Fourth Embodiment] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information device according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The same parts as those in FIG.

The configuration of FIG. 10 differs from that of FIG. 1 in that
A soft keyboard display state flag (Fh) 51, which is set when an icon (not shown) for popping up the soft keyboard and is reset when the soft keyboard 22 is popped up, and this flag (Fh) 51 It is started by being set and the soft keyboard 22 is moved from the coordinate range of the text input area 21.
Soft keyboard position determining section 52 for automatically determining the pop-up position of the soft keyboard 22 and a display position instruction that is activated when the pop-up position cannot be determined by the soft keyboard position determining section 52 and that receives a user instruction for the display position of the soft keyboard 22. 1, a handwriting coordinate position determining unit 43 is provided in place of the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 13 in FIG. 1, and a handwriting destination switching unit 14 in FIG.
Instead, a handwriting destination switching unit 44 is provided, and a soft keyboard control unit 45 is provided instead of the soft keyboard control unit 15 in FIG.

The handwriting coordinate position determination unit 43 determines the flag (Fh
) 51 is in the reset state (“0”), the sequence of coordinate points read from the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 in FIG.
When the flag (Fh) 51 is in the set state (“1”), the same handwriting coordinate position determination unit 13 as the inside is determined, and the coordinate point sequence is displayed at the display position of the soft keyboard 22 designated by the user. It has a function of determining that the coordinate point sequence is.

The handwriting destination switching unit 44 displays the coordinate point sequence read from the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12 according to the determination result of the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 43, the character recognition processing unit 16, the soft keyboard control unit 45, and the display. It has a function of selectively sending to any of the position designating parts 53.

The soft keyboard control unit 45 has a function for popping up the soft keyboard 22 at the position determined by the soft keyboard position determination unit 52, in addition to the function of the soft keyboard control unit 15 in FIG.
It has a function of popping up the soft keyboard 22 at the display position of the user instruction accepted by the display position instruction unit 53.

Now, the operation of the configuration of FIG. 10 will be described mainly for the points different from the configuration of FIG. First, in this embodiment, it is assumed that the soft keyboard 22 is not displayed in the initial state. Further, it is assumed that an icon for popping up the soft keyboard is displayed on the display screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11.

In such a state, it is assumed that the user operates the pen 111 and clicks the icon for the soft keyboard pop-up. The coordinates of the clicked position are read by the icon operation determination unit (not shown) via the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12, and it is determined that the inside of the icon for the soft keyboard popup has been clicked. As a result of this determination, the soft keyboard display state flag (Fh) 51 is set. When the flag (Fh) 51 is set, the soft keyboard position determining unit 52 is activated. The soft keyboard position determination unit 52 determines whether or not the soft keyboard 22 can be popped up at a position that does not hide the text input area 21 from the coordinate range of the currently opened text input area 21. In this embodiment, the position, size, etc. of the text input area 21 are determined by the application program.

The soft keyboard position determining section 52 does not hide the text input area 21 and
If there is a position capable of popping up, the position (area) is determined as the position (area) where the text input area 21 is popped up, and the position information is notified to the soft keyboard control unit 45, and the flag (Fh) 51 To reset.

The soft keyboard control unit 45 receives the position information notification from the soft keyboard position determination unit 52,
The soft keyboard 22 is displayed at the screen position of the display unit 113 indicated by the position information.

On the other hand, for example, when the text input area 21 is large and there is no position where the soft keyboard 22 can be popped up without hiding the input area 21 as shown in FIG. The display position instruction unit 53 is activated.

Then, the display position instructing section 53 instructs the soft keyboard control section 45 to display the soft keyboard D in the dragged state, and becomes ready to receive the soft keyboard moving instruction from the user. The soft keyboard control unit 45 displays the dragged soft keyboard D as shown in FIG. 11 on the display screen of the display unit 113 according to an instruction from the display position instruction unit 53.

In the state where the soft keyboard D in the dragged state is displayed, the user uses the pen 111 to move the soft keyboard D to a desired position (for example, the text input operation to the text input area 21 has the least influence). You can move it to the desired position). Therefore, the user moves the pen 111 to a desired position (here, the upper left end position of the area of the soft keyboard that the user wants to display) without touching the tablet within a certain height range from the tablet, Pen 1 at its desired position
The operation of lowering 11 to the tablet is performed.

The coordinate point sequence detected / input by the coordinate input unit 112 in accordance with the moving operation of the pen 111 by this user, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 4 via the handwriting coordinate storage unit 12.
Read in 3. While the flag (Fh) 51 is in the set state, the handwriting coordinate position determination unit 43 determines the handwriting destination switching unit 4 regardless of the coordinate value of the read coordinate point sequence.
4 to send to the display position instructing section 53.

The display position designating section 53 sequentially notifies the soft keyboard control section 45 of the destination of the dragged soft keyboard D according to the coordinate point sequence sent by the handwriting destination switching section 44. As a result, the soft keyboard control unit 45 moves the dragged soft keyboard D (to the upper left end of the dragged soft keyboard D so that the upper left end of the dragged soft keyboard D coincides) with the destination sequentially notified by the display position instruction unit 53.

In this way, when the dragged soft keyboard D is moved to the position desired by the user, the user lowers the pen 111 onto the tablet at that position. When the display position instructing unit 53 detects the coordinate position when the pen 111 touches the tablet from the coordinate point sequence sent by the handwriting destination switching unit 44, the display position instructing unit 53 instructs to fix the display position of the soft keyboard 22 to that position. The flag (F
h) Reset 51.

When the soft keyboard control unit 45 receives the confirmation instruction from the display position instruction unit 53, the soft keyboard D in the dragged state is erased and the soft keyboard D concerned is deleted.
Is displayed, that is, the position where the user has lowered the pen 111 (the relevant soft keyboard 22 is positioned so that the upper left end of the soft keyboard 22 is located).

On the other hand, when the flag (Fh) 51 is reset, the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 43 performs the same handwriting coordinate determination as the handwriting coordinate position determining unit 13 in FIG.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

For example, applied in the second embodiment,
It is also possible to apply the character type setting and the technique of performing character recognition processing within the set character type range to the third or fourth embodiment. Also, the soft keyboard moving technique applied in the third embodiment can be applied to the fourth embodiment. Further, the technique of performing character recognition processing within the set character type range can be applied to an information device in which a soft keyboard and a character recognition input screen are independently displayed.

[0075]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the display area of the soft keyboard can be shared also with the character recognition input screen, and it is unnecessary to switch between the soft keyboard and the character recognition input screen. It is not necessary to perform various button operations and menu operations, and it is possible to eliminate operations that are not originally related to text input.

Further, according to the present invention, since the movement instruction of the soft keyboard and the movement operation to the desired position can be performed only by the stroke input operation, the operation can be simplified and the operation time can be shortened.

Further, according to the present invention, the soft keyboard can be automatically popped up in the area where the text input area is not hidden, and when there is no area where the text input area is not hidden, the display position of the soft keyboard by the user can be changed. Since the soft keyboard can be displayed at the position instructed by the user in a state where the command can be accepted, the user can quickly perform an input operation using the soft keyboard.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a text input area 21, a soft keyboard 22 and the like are displayed on the screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device 11 in FIG.

3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a determination method when a key input operation of the soft keyboard 22 is performed in the configuration of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a determination method when a stroke input operation is performed with the display area of the soft keyboard 22 as a character recognition input screen in the configuration of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the configuration of FIG. 7;

9 is a diagram for explaining a soft keyboard movement process when a stroke that extends from the inside to the outside of the display area of the soft keyboard 22 is input in the configuration of FIG. 7.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of an information device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a view showing that the text area 21 is large and therefore the soft keyboard 22 is used in the embodiment.
The figure which shows the example which does not have the position which is not hidden by.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Display-integrated coordinate input device, 12 ... Handwriting coordinate storage unit, 13, 33, 43 ... Handwriting coordinate position determination unit, 14, 34, 44 ... Handwriting destination switching unit, 15, 25, 45 ... Soft keyboard control unit , 16, 26 ... Character recognition processing unit, 17 ... Recognition dictionary, 18 ... Recognition processing flag (Fn, character recognition processing state holding means), 21 ... Text input area, 22 ... Soft keyboard, 28 ... Recognition character type setting unit , 39 ... Shift keyboard moving unit, 40 ... Soft keyboard moving flag (Fi), 51 ... Soft keyboard display state flag (Fh), 52 ... Soft keyboard position determining unit, 53 ... Display position instructing unit, 111 ... Pen, 112 ... Coordinate input section, 113 ... Display section.

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information device comprising a display-integrated coordinate input device having a display screen and a coordinate input surface in common, wherein information can be input from the coordinate input surface of the display-integrated coordinate input device. Handwriting coordinate storage means for storing coordinate data input from the coordinate input surface of the coordinate input device, and a handwriting input with character recognition on the screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device, which is a virtual keyboard. A soft keyboard that also functions as a character recognition input screen is displayed to detect the key on the soft keyboard at the position indicated by the coordinate data string based on the given coordinate data string and input the detected key. Soft keyboard control means for controlling, character recognition processing means for performing character recognition processing of handwriting indicated by the coordinate data string based on a given coordinate data string, and the handwriting The coordinate data string stored in the mark storage means is read for each stroke, and when the starting point of the stroke is within the area of the soft keyboard, the starting point and the end point of the stroke are within the area of the same key on the soft keyboard. Handwriting coordinate position determining means for determining whether the coordinate data sequence is a coordinate data sequence input by a key input operation or a coordinate data sequence input by a handwriting input operation involving character recognition, and A handwriting destination switching means for selectively giving the soft keyboard control means or the character recognition processing means the coordinate data string used for the judgment based on the judgment result of the coordinate position judging means. And information equipment. 2. When the handwriting coordinate position determination unit determines that the input operation is a handwriting input operation, the character recognition processing is set to a first state, and the input operation is performed for a certain period of time in the first state. When the character recognition processing is not performed, the character recognition processing state holding means is set to a second state indicating that the character recognition processing is not being performed.
2. The information apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the coordinate data string read from the handwriting coordinate storage means is determined to have been input by a handwriting input operation during the period set in the state. 3. A character type setting unit for setting a character type determined by the type of the soft keyboard displayed by the soft keyboard control unit, wherein the character recognition processing unit is set to the character type set by the character type setting unit. The information device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein character recognition processing is performed within the range. 4. The soft keyboard moving means for changing the display position of the soft keyboard based on a given coordinate data string is further provided, and the handwriting coordinate position judging means has an end point of the stroke in an area of the soft keyboard. If it protrudes,
It is determined that the coordinate data string of the stroke input by the moving operation of the soft keyboard, at the time of this determination, the handwriting destination switching means, the coordinate data string used for the determination to the soft keyboard moving means. The information device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information device is provided. 5. When it is instructed to pop up the soft keyboard in a state where a user input area is opened on the display screen of the display-integrated coordinate input device,
A soft keyboard position determining unit that determines the pop-up position of the soft keyboard to a position outside the user input area, and requests the soft keyboard control unit to pop up the soft keyboard to that position; and a position outside the user input area. It is activated when there is no area in which the soft keyboard can be popped up at the specified position, the display position of the soft keyboard is determined based on the given coordinate data sequence, and the soft keyboard is popped up to that position. The handwriting coordinate position determining means further includes a display position designating means for requesting the soft keyboard control means, and when there is no area in which the soft keyboard can be popped up at a position outside the user input area, the handwriting coordinate position determining means Read from coordinate storage The coordinate data string is determined to be a coordinate data string indicating the display position of the soft keyboard, and at this time, the handwriting destination switching means gives the corresponding coordinate data string to the display position designating means. The information device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. An input control applied to an information device comprising a display-integrated coordinate input device having a display screen and a coordinate input surface in common, and capable of performing input from the coordinate input surface of the display-integrated coordinate input device. In the method, a soft keyboard that is a virtual keyboard and also serves as a character recognition input screen for handwriting input with character recognition is displayed on the screen of the display integrated coordinate input device, The sequence of coordinate data input from the coordinate input surface of the coordinate input device is captured for each stroke, and when the start point of the stroke is within the area of the soft keyboard, the start point and end point of the stroke are on the soft keyboard. Depending on whether it is within the area of the same key, it is a coordinate data string input by key input operation, or handwriting input operation with character recognition. If it is determined that the coordinate data string has been input by a key input operation, the key on the soft keyboard at the position indicated by the coordinate data string is detected. The detected key is input, and when it is determined that the coordinate data string was input by handwriting input operation, the coordinate data string is treated as a part of the handwriting that is the target of character recognition. Input control method. 7. A string of coordinate data input from the coordinate input surface during a period from when it is determined that the handwriting input operation is performed to when it is detected that the input operation is not performed for a certain period of time. The input control method according to claim 6, wherein the input control method is handled as a handwriting to be recognized.