WO2001015411A1

WO2001015411A1 - Operating device

Info

Publication number: WO2001015411A1
Application number: PCT/JP2000/005350
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kouichi Aihara
Original assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.
Priority date: 1999-08-23
Filing date: 2000-08-10
Publication date: 2001-03-01
Also published as: AU6592400A; JP2001060999A

Abstract

Provided on a major surface of a case (101) are an LCD (103) for displaying various information, an input unit (104) for inputting various information according to the contents of a menu displayed on the LCD (103), and a microphone (110) for inputting a voice. Push buttons (107-109) are provided in portions with which the second finger, the third finger, and the little finger of the user are in contact when the user grips the case (101) and places the thumb on a joy key (105). Operation functions having high frequencies of use by the user are assigned to the push buttons.

Description

Details Operation device ί Technical field

The present invention relates to an operating device, and more particularly to an operating device mounted on a portable communication terminal device that can use various applications by using a graphic design interface having excellent visibility. Background art

The following describes an example of a conventional operation device mounted on a portable communication terminal device. Conventional mobile communication terminals have been used mainly for talking to a communication partner using voice. The above-mentioned conventional mobile communication terminal devices have recently been used for various purposes such as sending and receiving e-mails and bank transfers, and in the future, will be used for various services such as sending and receiving moving images. It will be able to respond.

In general, mobile communication terminals must be of a size and weight that can be used on the palm of the hand. For this reason, information input means such as buttons mounted on the mobile communication terminal device is subject to certain restrictions in terms of physical or functional aspects. Therefore, the overall operability of the mobile communication terminal such as information input, information display, information output, and information processing, that is, the man-machine interface, is important in determining the usefulness of the mobile communication terminal. Factors.

The operation method of the conventional portable communication terminal device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of a conventional portable communication terminal device.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a conventional portable communication terminal device, a joy key 11 and a push button 12 are mainly provided as information input means used at the time of operation. The user can use the joystick 1 and the push button 12 to By moving the cursor displayed on the device and determining the function to be executed, various functions provided in the apparatus main body can be used.

However, the above-described conventional mobile communication terminal has the following problems. That is, in the above-described conventional mobile communication terminal device, when performing normal communication, the user may feel inconvenience due to the operation using only the information input means such as the joy key 11 and the push-type button 12 described above. And can enter information.

However, when complicated functions such as video transmission / reception and a browser are installed, the opportunity to input more information increases, so that the user can operate smoothly with only the information input means described above. Difficult to do.

Furthermore, when using various functions using the information input means described above, the user performs a pressing operation only with the thumb, so it is necessary to always check whether the input means to be pressed is the correct one. There is. For this reason, the user must alternately look at the LCD 13 and the joy keys 11 and the press-type buttons 12, so that not only the operability is reduced but also the number of input errors increases. Will do.

As a method for solving the above-mentioned problem, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-224284, a method of inputting using a thumb and forefinger using a jog dial is known. It is considered. However, in this method, the position where the jog dial operated by the index finger is located near the antenna is likely to have some influence on the reception characteristics. Disclosure of the invention

An object of the present invention is to provide a portable communication terminal device provided with an operation device capable of smoothly and easily operating a complicated function without affecting reception characteristics.

This object is achieved by providing an input unit at a place where each finger of the user comes into contact when the user grips the operation device main body. Sa Further, this object is achieved by assigning operation functions frequently used by the user to the respective input units. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a front view showing the appearance of a portable communication terminal device having a conventional operation device; FIG. 2 is a front view showing the appearance of a portable communication terminal device having an operation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. ;

FIG. 3 is a side view showing an appearance of a mobile communication terminal device including the operation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a rear view showing the appearance of the mobile communication terminal device including the operation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a case will be described in which the operation device according to the present invention is mounted on a mobile communication terminal device.

(Embodiment 1)

FIG. 2 is a front view showing an appearance of a portable communication terminal device including the operation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a side view showing an external appearance of a mobile communication terminal device including the operation device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a back view showing the appearance of the portable communication terminal device provided with the operating device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIGS. 2 to 4, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals.

As shown in FIG. 2, the housing 101 of the mobile communication terminal device including the operating device according to the present embodiment has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. The main surface of the housing 101 includes an LCD 103 that displays information such as characters, still images and moving images, and information such as menus for selecting various functions provided in the main body of the apparatus. , LC An input unit 104 for inputting various information in accordance with the menu content displayed on D103 and a microphone 110 for inputting voice are mainly provided. Further, an antenna unit 102 for receiving a radio wave from the air is provided on an upper surface of the housing 101.

Specifically, the input unit 104 mainly includes a joy key 105 for moving a cursor, a pointer, and the like displayed on the LCD 103, and a telephone number, a name of a communication partner, and the like. And a plurality of press-type buttons 106. The joystick 105 is operated by the user's thumb as shown in FIG.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3 in addition to FIG. 2, a further input unit is provided on a side surface of the housing 101 of the portable communication terminal device including the operation device according to the present embodiment. Push-type buttons 107 to 109 are provided. These push-type buttons 107 to 109 are used when the user (user) grips the main body of the apparatus with the thumb on the joystick 105, the middle finger, and the middle finger, respectively. It is provided near the place where the ring finger and the little finger abut.

In addition, the above-mentioned press-type button is, for example, a shape in which the center of a surface on which a finger is placed is depressed, or a finger is placed so that the user can press accurately without visual confirmation. The shape is marked on the surface. That is, the push-type button has a recognition unit formed in a shape that can be recognized by the user by touch, in other words, a recognition unit formed in a shape that can be recognized by touch. Here, it is assumed that each of the push buttons 107 to 109 has a recognition unit formed as described above. Anything that can be recognized may be used. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, a push-type button 301 as a further input unit is provided on the rear surface of the housing 101 of the portable communication terminal device provided with the operation device according to the present embodiment. Is provided. The push-type button 301 is provided near the place where the index finger touches when the user grips the main body with the thumb resting on the joy key 105 (see FIG. 2). . Also, this push The press-type button 301 can be tactilely recognized in the same shape as the above-mentioned press-type buttons 107 to 109 so that the user can press it accurately without visual confirmation. It has a recognition part formed by various shapes.

According to the portable communication terminal device provided with the operation device having the above-described configuration, when the user grips the device body with the thumb placed on the joystick 105, the vicinity of a place where other fingers come into contact with the device. Since the push button is provided, the user does not need to confirm every time whether the button to be pressed at the time of operation is correct. For this reason, the user can perform an operation while paying attention to only the LCD 103, so that operability can be improved and input errors can be reduced. In addition, the push-type button, which is pressed by a finger other than the thumb, has a recognition unit formed in a tactilely recognizable shape so that the user can press accurately without looking, so that the user can more reliably Operations can be performed.

Further, since the above-mentioned press-type button is provided on the surface other than the main surface of the housing 101, that is, on the side surface and the back surface, when the user grips the housing 101, However, it is possible to reliably recognize that each finger is placed on the above-mentioned push-type button in distinction from the input unit 104 on the main surface.

Furthermore, since each of the above-mentioned press-type buttons is provided at a position distant from the antenna, the possibility of affecting the reception characteristics is reduced.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an input unit such as a push button is provided in the vicinity of a place where each finger contacts when the user grips the main body of the apparatus, and further, the input unit is provided with the input unit. However, since the recognition unit is formed in a tactilely recognizable shape that allows the user to input information reliably without visual confirmation, complicated functions can be performed smoothly and easily without affecting the reception characteristics. It is possible to provide a mobile communication terminal device provided with an operation device that can be operated at any time.

Note that, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which one press-type button is provided for each finger, but the present invention is not limited to this. It corresponds to each finger as long as it can be pressed accurately regardless of the This is applicable to the case where two or more push buttons are provided.

Further, in the present embodiment, the case where the joy key is assigned as the input unit mainly pressed by the thumb and the case where the thumb which is the reference finger when holding the apparatus main body is used as the input unit have been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to any case where an input unit that is mainly pressed by the thumb is assigned, and the reference finger when holding the device body is a finger other than the thumb. Is also applicable.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which a press-type button is provided so as to correspond to a finger other than the thumb, but the present invention is not limited to this, and any type of button may be assigned to each finger. It is also applicable to:

Further, in the present embodiment, a case has been described in which a push button is used as an input unit provided on a surface other than the main surface of housing 101, but the present invention is not limited to this. The present invention can be applied to a case where an input means other than the formula is used.

(Embodiment 2)

The second embodiment is such that, in the first embodiment, when a more complicated function is provided as compared with the normal voice communication, the operation can be performed smoothly and easily. Hereinafter, as an example, a case will be described in which a mobile communication terminal device including an operation device according to the present embodiment uses a browser such as an in-net explorer to browse WWW (World wide Web).

The basic configuration of a mobile communication terminal device including the operation device according to the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment. Hereinafter, the present embodiment will be described focusing on only the points different from the first embodiment.

Various functions are assigned to the push-type buttons 107 to 109 and the push-type button 301 so as to improve the usability for the user. That is, operation functions that are frequently used by users are assigned to the above-mentioned press-type buttons. You. That is, for example, a function corresponding to a right click by a mouse connected to the personal computer is assigned to the push-type button 107. In addition, a function for selecting a candidate to be converted when a character input by the microphone 110 is converted into a kanji is assigned to the push button 108. Further, a function corresponding to a return (decision) key in the personal computer is assigned to the press-type button 109.

This allows the user to reduce the frequency of finger movement for selecting an input unit to be pressed. In other words, the user can easily and smoothly browse the WWW with little movement of his or her hands and fingers while paying attention to LCD103.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, an input unit such as a push button is provided in the vicinity of a place where each finger comes into contact when the user grips the main body of the apparatus. By assigning frequently used functions to each part of the department, users can operate more complex functions smoothly and accurately.

Note that, in the present embodiment, as an example, a case in which WWW browsing is performed as a complicated function provided in the apparatus main body has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is also applicable when executing functions. Further, in the present embodiment, a case where various functions are assigned to the input unit has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is applicable to a case where any function is assigned to the input unit. It is possible.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the operating device according to the present invention is mounted on the mobile communication terminal device has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is applicable even when installed. That is, the present invention can be applied to a case where it is mounted on various devices having complicated functions.

For example, not only the mobile communication terminal described in the above embodiment, but also T V, CATV, videophones, etc. may be equipped with complicated functions such as video transmission / reception and browser in the future. For this reason, complicated operations are required even in a remote device (remote control) for operating these devices. Therefore, by applying the operation device according to the present invention to the remote control device, the user can smoothly and easily operate complicated functions provided in TV, CATV, videophone, and the like.

(1) The operating device of the present invention has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a housing provided with a display screen and an operating section on a specific surface, and a housing which is provided when a user grips the housing below the housing. And input means provided at a portion where a finger other than the user's thumb abuts.

According to this configuration, the input means is provided at a portion where a finger other than the user's thumb abuts when the user grips the housing, so that the user can perform an input operation at the time of operation. Since various operations can be performed without confirming whether the function is correct, it is possible to provide an operating device that can smoothly and easily operate complicated functions.

(2) The operation device of the present invention employs a configuration in which the input means is provided at a portion where at least two fingers other than the user's thumb abut.

According to this configuration, since the input means is provided corresponding to at least two fingers other than the user's thumb, the user can smoothly and easily operate more complicated functions.

(3) The operating device according to the present invention employs a configuration in which a plurality of input means are provided at respective portions where fingers other than the thumb abut.

According to this configuration, since a plurality of the input means are provided for each finger other than the user's thumb, the user can smoothly and easily operate more complicated functions.

操作 In the operating device of the present invention, the input means is provided on a surface other than a specific surface of the housing. Take the configuration that has been

According to this configuration, since the input means is provided on a surface other than the specific surface of the housing, when the user grips the housing, the user distinguishes the input unit from the operation unit on the specific surface. Since it is possible to reliably recognize that each finger is placed on the means, it is possible to reliably operate complicated functions.

操作 The operation device of the present invention employs a configuration in which the input means has a recognition unit formed in a shape that can be recognized by tactile sensation.

According to this configuration, by providing a recognition unit formed in a tactilely recognizable shape in the input means, the user can reliably recognize the location of the input means without visual confirmation. Various operations can be performed by focusing only on the display screen.

操作 The operating device of the present invention adopts a configuration in which the input means is assigned an operating function frequently used by the user.

According to this configuration, since the input unit is assigned an operation function that is frequently used by the user, the user needs to reduce the frequency of moving his or her finger to select the input unit to be operated. Can be lower. This makes it possible to operate more complicated functions smoothly and accurately.

携帯 The mobile communication terminal device of the present invention has a configuration including an operation device, the operation device has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a housing having a display screen and an operation unit on a specific surface, and the housing And input means provided at a portion where a finger other than the user's thumb abuts when the user grips the housing below.

According to this configuration, it is possible to provide a portable communication terminal device that can perform good communication by a simple operation by providing an operation device that can smoothly and easily operate a complicated function. . As described above, according to the present invention, when the user grips the apparatus main body, the input unit is provided at a place where each user's finger contacts, A mobile communication terminal device equipped with an operating device that can smoothly and easily operate complicated functions without affecting the reception characteristics because the operating functions that are frequently used by users are assigned to the units. Can be provided. The present specification is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-231 189 89 filed on Aug. 23, 1999. This content is included here. Industrial applicability

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention is suitable for use in a field of an operation device mounted on a portable communication terminal device capable of using various applications by using a graphical user interface having excellent visibility.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. A housing having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a display screen and an operation unit on a specific surface, and a finger other than the user's thumb when the user grips the housing below the housing. An input device provided at a portion where the input device contacts.

2. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the input means is provided at a portion where at least two fingers other than the user's thumb abut.

3. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of input means are provided at respective portions where the fingers other than the thumb abut.

4. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the input means is provided on a surface other than a specific surface of the housing.

5. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the input means has a recognition unit formed in a shape capable of tactile recognition.

6. The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the input means is assigned an operating function frequently used by the user.

7. A portable communication terminal device provided with an operation device, wherein the operation device has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, a housing provided with a display screen and an operation unit on a specific surface, and a lower portion of the housing. Input means provided at a portion where a finger other than the user's thumb abuts when the user grips the housing.