Character input device and character input method

• US 8,860,665 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2011
• Issued: 10/14/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Original Assignee: Kyocera Corporation
• Inventors: Sudo, Tomohiro
• Primary Examiner(s): SHAH, PRIYANK J
• Application Number:
  US13/320,628
• Publication Number:
  US 20120056814A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,267 Days
• Field of Search: 345/156, 345168-184, 382181-189, 715/863, 715/810
• US Class Current: 345/168
• 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

According to one embodiment, a character input device includes a touch panel and a control unit. The touch panel detects contact with respect to a surface thereof. The control unit performs, when detection of contact is started on the touch panel, character recognition processing based on a trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected. The control unit displays, when a character is recognized by the character recognition processing, a virtual keyboard on a display surface of the touch panel to receive input of a character from the virtual keyboard.

Claims

1. A character input device comprising:

a touch sensor for detecting contact with respect to a surface thereof;

a display for displaying a screen on which one or more objects each corresponding to a predetermined processing are arranged so as to be selected; and

a control unit configured to

perform, when detection of contact is started on the touch sensor, character recognition processing based on a trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected,

upon a character being recognized by the character recognition processing, perform processing related to the recognized character, and

upon no character being recognized by the character recognition processing, select an object corresponding to the trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected, wherein the selected object corresponds to the position at which the contact is detected first, and the control unit is configured to perform a processing corresponding to only the selected object.

2. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein,

upon the character being recognized by the character recognition processing,

the control unit is configured to

receive the character recognized by the character recognition processing, and

display a virtual keyboard on the display for inputting a plurality of characters in a consecutive manner, based on the trajectory connecting each position at which the contact was detected.

3. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein

the control unit is configured to

defer, while the character recognition processing is performed, performing the processing corresponding to the object arranged at the position at which the contact is detected first, and

perform the processing thus deferred when no character is recognized by the character recognition processing.

4. The character input device according to claim 1, wherein the trajectory overlaps more than one of the objects displayed on the display.

5. The character input device according to claim 2, wherein,

when the input of the character from the virtual keyboard is completed,

the control unit is configured to display a screen for receiving selection of processing performed by using the character recognized by the character recognition processing and the character input from the virtual keyboard.

6. The character input device according to claim 2, wherein,

when the input of the character from the virtual keyboard is completed,

the control unit is configured to perform processing corresponding to the character recognized by the character recognition processing and the character input from the virtual keyboard.

7. The character input device according to claim 2, wherein,

when one of the objects displayed on the display has been selected in advance,

the control unit is configured to save a character string obtained by combining the character recognized by the character recognition processing and the character input from the virtual keyboard as attribute information of the object that has been selected in advance.

8. The character input device according to claim 2, wherein,

when a character is recognized by the character recognition processing,

the control unit is configured to adjust a position at which the virtual keyboard is displayed depending on a position at which the contact is last detected by the touch sensor.

9. The character input device according to claim 2, wherein,

when the touch sensor detects a gesture in which contact is started at a first position on the surface of the touch sensor and is terminated at a second position on the surface of the touch sensor while the virtual keyboard is being displayed on the display,

the control unit is configured to receive a character string including characters corresponding to buttons of the virtual keyboard displayed on a consecutive input trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected from when the contact is started at the first position to when the contact is terminated at the second position as input from the virtual keyboard.

10. The character input device according to claim 9, wherein the control unit is configured to receive the character string including a character corresponding to a button displayed at a position where a specific gesture is detected among the characters corresponding to the buttons displayed on the consecutive input trajectory as the input from the virtual keyboard.

11. A character input method performed by a character input device including a touch sensor for detecting contact with respect to a surface thereof, a display for displaying a screen on which one or more objects each corresponding to a predetermined processing are arranged so as to be selected, and a control unit, the character input method comprising:

performing, when detection of contact is started on the touch sensor, character recognition processing by the control unit based on a trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected;

upon a character being recognized by the character recognition processing, performing processing related to the recognized character, and

upon no character being recognized by the character recognition processing, selecting an object corresponding to the trajectory connecting each position at which the contact is detected, wherein the selected object corresponds to the position at which the contact is detected first, and the method further comprises performing a processing corresponding to only the selected object.