System and method for data input

• US 7,190,351 B1
• Filed: 05/10/2002
• Issued: 03/13/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/10/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nuance Communications, Inc. (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Michael Goren
• Inventors: Goren, Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Eisen, Alexander
• Application Number:
  US10/142,506
• Time in Patent Office: 1,768 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345169-173, 715/840, 715/841, 715/854, 715/713, 715/864, 455/556.1, 455/556.2
• US Class Current: 345/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/1626 with a single-body enclosure integrating a flat display, e.g. Personal Digital Assistants [PDAs]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0233 Character input methods
• 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

The invention provides a system and a method for data input that can be used with or incorporated into electronic, computer, and portable devices. The interface includes a small set of control buttons or keys that are used to provide access to an associated set of secondary keys, from which the user can select a character for input into the device. Intelligent ordering and grouping of the control and secondary keys allows the user to input information in a manner conducive to speed, accuracy, and ease of use, while the interface can be minimized to require less real estate than traditional keyboards. In accordance with one embodiment, a set of characters or symbols is divided into subsets, each subset being represented by a control button. Selecting a control button displays a secondary set of buttons representing actual characters or symbols that can be selected, stored, or displayed.

Claims

1. A portable information or data device that allows a user to input data in the form of text or other information as a series of characters, text, numbers, punctuation, or other symbols, comprising:

a touch sensitive screen for entry and display of the data;

a plurality of control buttons within a region of the touch sensitive screen, and accessible by the touch of the screen, wherein each of said control buttons is associated with a single datum and with a set of secondary data entry buttons;

a plurality of secondary data entry buttons, that replace some or all of the plurality of control buttons on the touch sensitive screen when one of the control buttons is selected, wherein each secondary data entry button represents a single datum; and

,

wherein the user can first select a control button, followed by selection of any of the secondary data entry buttons associated with that control button, to enter the represented datum into the portable information or data device and wherein said control buttons and said secondary data entry buttons represent all the letters of the alphabet and fewer than all such letters being displayable on said touch sensitive screen at any one time.

2. The portable information or data device of claim 1, wherein the plurality of secondary data entry-buttons replace only some of the control buttons.

3. The portable information or data device of claim 1, wherein the text, characters, numbers, and symbols entered appear on the touch sensitive screen and/or on a separate display area of the device.

4. A method of using a portable information or data device that allows a user to input data such as text or other information as a series of characters or other symbols, comprising the steps of:

providing a touch sensitive display screen for entry and display of the data including a plurality of control buttons arranged within a region of the touch sensitive display screen, and accessible to the user by touch of the screen, wherein each of said control buttons is associated with a single datum and with a set of secondary data entry buttons;

receiving by touch of the screen a user selection of one of said control buttons;

displaying on said touch sensitive display screen, in response to said user selection of one of said control buttons, a secondary data entry input including a plurality of secondary data entry buttons, wherein each said secondary data entry button represents a single datum that by touch of the screen can be input into the system;

receiving a user selection of one of said secondary data entry buttons; and

entering into the portable information or data device the datum represented by the selected secondary data entry button.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the control buttons are comprised respectively of the vowels A, E, I, O, U, and the secondary data entry buttons for each such vowel are the consonants following each of said vowels and preceding the next vowel in the alphabet.

6. A method, according to claim 5, further comprising displaying, in response to selective user inputs, all the letters of the alphabet on the touch sensitive display screen, in which fewer than all the letters are displayed at any one time.