Keyboard arrangement for easy acquisition of typing skills

• US 6,632,038 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2001
• Issued: 10/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Douglas Trotman
• Original Assignee: Douglas Trotman
• Inventors: Trotman, Douglas
• Primary Examiner(s): Colilla, Daniel J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hamdan, Wasseem H.
• Application Number:
  US10/027,953
• Publication Number:
  US 20030143009A1
• Time in Patent Office: 664 Days
• Field of Search: 400/489, 400/485, 400/486, 400/484, 400/472, 400/100, 400/473, 400/487, 400/479, 345/168, 341/22, 341/20
• US Class Current: 400/489
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0219 Special purpose keyboards
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0234 using switches operable in different directions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0238 Programmable keyboards key guide holders G06F3/0224

Abstract

A keyboard arrangement that assigns alphanumeric and special character symbols to keys based upon the shapes of the symbols in order to facilitate learning to type. Attribute classes are defined according to the number, position, direction, or contours of the line segments that comprise the symbols. As an aid to memorization of a keyboard arrangement, symbols are assigned to keys such that a substantial number of keys in a column of keys belong to the same attribute class. To convert any prior art or other kind of electronic keyboard to a keyboard arrangement within the scope of the invention, hardware and/or software components are provided that reassign the keys so that substantially all keys within the same column will correspond to symbols within the same attribute class. The scope of the invention includes keyboard arrangements that dispense with keys entirely and substitute therefor devices that are each capable of coding for as many symbols as two or more conventional keyboard keys; each of the devices is made to correspond to symbols within the same attribute class.

Claims

1. A keyboard arrangement comprising:

a plurality of manually actuable keying means in a fixed array, each keying means being capable of being placed into any of three or more states by slight movement of a single finger of a typist, and at least some of said states are selected electronically or by software selection means to correspond to symbols such as letters, numbers, punctuations and special characters in a given language;

wherein information corresponding to said symbols is to be conveyed to information receiving means associated with the keyboard arrangement, and wherein at least some of the symbols that correspond to the keying means are assigned to at least one of a plurality of attribute classes according to the number, position, direction or contours of the lines within the symbols such that either

(A) there are at least five keying means, each keying means corresponds to at least three symbols within the same attribute class, and wherein the attribute classes include a first class of symbols having a top right oblique line and exemplified by K, k, W, w, X, x, V, v, Z, z, /, %;

a second class of symbols having a centrally-disposed, horizontal line and exemplified by A, E, F, H, +;

a third class of symbols having a straight line intersected by a straight line extending leftwardly and exemplified by X, x, Z, z, y, T, t, A, H, 4, #, +;

a fourth class of symbols having a left convex curve and exemplified by C, c, G, O, o, a, d, e, q, g, S, s, 6, 0, (, @, &

;

a fifth class of symbols having a partial or complete loop and exemplified by U, u, C, c, G, Q, o, O, @, %;

a sixth class of symbols having a double curve and exemplified by S, s, B, m, g, 3, 8, $, &

, {tilde over ( )};

a seventh class of symbols having a right convex curve and exemplified by B, b, D, P, p, R, S, s, O, o, 0, 2, 3, 9, 5, );

an eighth class of symbols having a horizontal line and an intersecting, downward extending line, exemplified by T, t, Z, z, E, 4, 7, F, +, #;

a ninth class of symbols having a single vertical line and exemplified by L, l, I, J, j, T, t, P, p, D, d, E, F, f, K, k, B, b, q, l, !, ¦

; and

a tenth class of symbols having a top left oblique line and exemplified by K, k, W, w, M, N, V, x, \;

a eleventh class of symbols having a straight vertical line with a line projecting at a right angle and exemplified by E, F, H, T, f, t, +;

a twelfth class of symbols having a curve open at the bottom and exemplified by h, m, n;

a thirteenth class of symbols having lines converging superiorly and exemplified by K, k, W, w, X, x, M, N, A, {circumflex over ( )};

a fourteenth class of symbols having lines converging inferiorly and exemplified by K, k, V, v, W, w, X, x, Y, y, M, N;

a fifteenth class of symbols having lines converging to the left and exemplified by K, k, X, x, Z, z, <

;

a sixteenth class of symbols having lines converging to the right and exemplified by X, x, Z, z, 7, >

;

a seventeenth class of symbols having two, vertically-separated, horizontal lines and exemplified by Z, z, E, F, =, #;

an eighteenth class of symbols having two, horizontally-separated, vertical lines and exemplified by H, h, M, m, N, n, U, u, #;

a nineteenth class of symbols having a line and a closed loop at one end of said line, and exemplified by b, d, P, p, q, R, 6, 9;

a twentieth class of symbols having a closed loop on the top and exemplified by P, p, q, B, R, 9, 8, %, &

;

a twenty-first class of symbols having a closed loop on the bottom and exemplified by B, b, d, 6, 8, %, &

;

a twenty-second class of symbols having a closed loop on the left and exemplified by d, g, G, q, %, &

;

a twenty-third class of symbols having a closed loop on the right and exemplified by B, b, P, R, 6, %;

a twenty-fourth class of symbols having a curved line constituting an incomplete loop and exemplified by C, c, G, j, m, n, U, u, 2, 3, 5, ?, (,) a twenty-fifth class of symbols having a line that projects below the line of writing and exemplified by j, p, q, y;

a twenty-sixth class of symbols having a straight horizontal line exemplified by e, E, f, F, t, T, z, Z, 2, 4, 5, 7, −

, _, A, F, H, L, #, B;

or

(B) there are a curved class of symbols, each of said symbols having a curved line, and a noncurved class of symbols, each of said symbols lacking a curved line, such that each there are at least four keying means that correspond to either an upper or lower case form of a letter symbol in the curved class and at least one other keying means that corresponds to an upper or lower case form of a letter symbol that is assigned to the curved class, and there are at least five keying means that corresponds to either an upper or lower case form of a letter symbol in the noncurved class and at least one other keying means that corresponds to an upper or lower case form of a letter symbol that is assigned to the noncurved class;

or

(C) a first keying means corresponds to the upper or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a left convex curve exemplified by a, c, C, d, e, g, o, O, s, S;

a second keying means corresponds to the uppercase or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a right convex curve exemplified by b, B, D, i, J, o, O, p, P, O, R, s, X;

a third keying means corresponds to letter symbols in a third column all correspond to the uppercase or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a vertical, straight line exemplified by b, B, d, D, E, f, F, h, E, i, I, k, K, l, L, m, M, n, N, p, P, r, R, t, T, u, U;

a fourth keying means corresponds to the uppercase or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a horizontal straight line exemplified by A, B, e, E, f, F, H, t, T;

a fifth keying means corresponds to the uppercase or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a top-left oblique line exemplified by k, K, w, W, M, N, v, V, x; and

a sixth keying means corresponds to the uppercase or lowercase form of a letter symbol that contains a top-right oblique line exemplified by k, K, w, W, x, X, v, V, z, Z.