Data inputting devices

• US 6,034,685 A
• Filed: 05/27/1998
• Issued: 03/07/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 02/24/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Intellectual Ventures Holding 81 LLC (Intellectual Ventures LLC)
• Original Assignee: Casio Computer Company Limited
• Inventors: Kashiwagi, Motoyuki, Sugihara, Masaki, Kaneko, Katsuyoshi, Kuriyama, Yuji, Moriya, Koji
• Primary Examiner(s): Shalwala, Bipin
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEWIS, DAVID LEE
• Application Number:
  US09/085,726
• Time in Patent Office: 650 Days
• Field of Search: 345/173, 345/179, 345/169, 345/145, 345/156, 345/341, 382/186, 382/189, 382/309, 364/705.03, 364/705.06
• US Class Current: 715/784
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04883 for inputting data by handwriting, e.g. gesture or text
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04886 by partitioning the display area of the touch-screen or the surface of the digitising tablet into independently controllable areas, e.g. virtual keyboards or menus

Abstract

When data is keyed in by operating a keyboard K displayed in a touch panel input area 14a, its character code is stored in a real data memory 46b of a RAM 23 and data on its attribute, pointer and data length is stored as management data. When handwritten data is input by manipulating a handwriting board P displayed in the input area 14a, coordinate data corresponding to the locus of the input handwritten data is stored in the real data memory, and data on its attribute, pointer and data length is stored as management data. The keyed-in data including the character code and the handwritten data including image data are both displayed in an output area 14b on the basis of the real data and its management data. Data edition including data erasure can be dealt with in a unified manner.

Claims

1. A data input device for displaying on a display screen input handwritten data which is inputted by a user with a pen on the display screen, comprising:

a tablet-type data generator device provided on said display screen for generating coordinate data in accordance with a locus of input handwritten data;

an input image display device for displaying a locus of an image representing the handwritten data on said display screen on the basis of the coordinate data output from said coordinate data generator device;

a detecting device for detecting whether coordinate data contained in a predetermined area provided at a right hand end position of the display screen is obtained while the handwritten data is being input;

a determining device for determining when the pen is detached from said display screen and hence when input of the handwritten data is interrupted; and

a scrolling device, responsive to said determining device determining that the pen is detached from said display screen, for scrolling leftward the display screen on which the displayed locus of the handwritten data is displayed so that a next handwritten data may be input, on the condition that said detecting device has detected that coordinate data contained in a predetermined area provided at a right-hand end position of the display screen is obtained.

2. The data input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a memory device for storing as locus data, the coordinate data generated by said tablet-type data generator device;

a correcting device for correcting the coordinate data output by said tablet-type data generator device after said scrolling device has scrolled the display screen, depending on a quantity of scrolling of the display screen; and

a storage device for storing in said memory device the coordinate data corrected by said correcting device.

3. The data input device according to claim 2, further comprising:

a counting device for counting the number of times scrolling occurs on the display screen; and

wherein said correcting device determines a quantity of corrections made to the coordinate data on the basis of the number counted by said counting device.

4. The data input device according to claim 1, wherein said display screen is scrolled such that a part of a right-hand end portion of a locus of an image represented by the input handwritten data is displayed.

5. A data input device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a second display screen provided beside said coordinate data generator device;

a fixing device for fixing the handwritten image displayed by said input image display device; and

a control device, responsive to said fixing device fixing the handwritten image, for clearing the handwritten image and for causing said second display screen to display the handwritten data fixed by said fixing device.

6. A data input device according to claim 5, wherein said display control device includes a size adjusting device for adjusting a size of the handwritten image displayed by said input image display device to a size of said second display screen.

7. A data input device according to claim 5, further comprising:

a text data input device; and

a display control device for displaying the text data inputted by said text input device and the handwritten image data fixed by said fixing device in a mixed manner on said second display screen.