WO2003075145A2

WO2003075145A2 - Apparatus for inputting alphanumeric text

Info

Publication number: WO2003075145A2
Application number: PCT/GB2002/005278
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kevin Thomson
Original assignee: Kevin Thomson
Priority date: 2002-03-06
Filing date: 2002-11-22
Publication date: 2003-09-12
Also published as: AU2002343074A1; WO2003075145A3; GB2386097B; GB0205314D0; GB2386097A

Abstract

Apparatus for inputting alphanumeric text comprises a keypad having a plurality of keys each bearing a representation of a plurality of characters to be input by that key, a display, key input detecting means for detecting key pressing operations, and key input processing means for outputting to the display signals representative of characters associated with the keys, wherein each of first, second, third, fourth and fifth of the keys bears a representative of a respective one of the vowels ('A', 'E', 'I', 'O' amd 'U') as the sole letter character of that key, the arrangement being such that the key input processing means outputs signals representative of the first four vowels in preference to outputting signals representative of the other characters associated with the respective first to fourth keys, and wherein said five keys are positioned and/or configured for rapid location and actuation by a user.

Description

Apparatus for Inputting Alphanumeric Text

This invention relates to input apparatus for inputting alphanumeric text, and in particular, to a keypad for a mobile telephone.

It is well known to use a keyboard, such as a typewriter keyboard or a computer keyboard for inputting text. Typically, such a keyboard has a large number of keys, there being one key for each letter of the alphabet and each digit, as well as keys for symbols, punctuation etc.

In order to reduce the cost and size of a keyboard for other devices such as mobile phones, it is known to reduce the number of keys for inputting alphanumeric text. It is well known, for example, for the keypad of a mobile phone to have keys which are used for inputting a plurality of different characters (alphanumeric text characters, symbols and punctuation marks). Thus, it is common for the numeral "2" and the letters "A", "B" and "C" to be input using a single key. The choice of which these characters is to be input can be determined by a number of ways. For example, the key can be depressed to cycle through the four characters, which are shown on the display of the mobile phone, and the key is released when the character to be input is displayed. Alternatively, the key can be pressed a different number of times to choose the required character to be input. Further choices can be made, for example to alternate between upper and lower case letters, via the use of a separate function key.

An increasingly important feature of modern mobile phones is the ability to send SMS messages (text messaging). Unfortunately, the usual mobile phone keypad is difficult to operate and the inputting of text messages is slow. This is mainly due to each of the keys representing a plurality of characters (alphanumeric text characters, symbols and punctuation marks), and the need to cycle through the different character options for each key if a desired character is not the first character in the displayed cycle. The current keypad configurations lead to what is known as "txt mssgs", that is to say messages with shortened words, chopped phrases and hacked off sentences invented by users. In particular, the current keypad configurations lack the ability to permit inputting of the vowels in every word easily and quickly, so that we end up with a "crzy txt systm". Although many such shortened words are easily understandable, some text messages, at least to some recipients, are difficult to understand. More importantly, particularly for important business and personal communications, such shortened text messaging can lead to misunderstanding and errors.

Thus, while "txt mssgs" is usable for some, it leads to a loss in the richness and variety of our language, and it also creates a generational divide as younger people tend to use this type of shortened messaging, whilst the older generation do not. Most importantly, "txt mssgs" lose clarity when any important or detailed information is to be sent.

The current keypad is also prone to mistakes, the character layout is difficult to remember, it lacks punctuation marks that are visible and readily available, and most important of all, it lacks the ability to use the vowels in every word easily and quickly. This latter disadvantage follows from the fact that the standard mobile phone keypad layout has only the vowel "a" as the first character on a key. This is because the layout of the current mobile phone keypad is based on the layout of the old telephone dial.

The aim of the invention is to provide a keyboard input apparatus which is quicker and easier to operate than known apparatus and whose key/character layout is easier to learn.

The present invention provides apparatus for inputting alphanumeric text, the apparatus comprising a keypad having a plurality of keys each bearing a representation of a plurality of characters to be input by that key, a display, key input detecting means for detecting key pressing operations, and key input processing means for outputting to the display signals representative of characters associated with the keys, wherein each of first, second, third, fourth and fifth of the keys bears a representation of a respective one of the vowels ("A", "E", "I", "O" and "U") as the sole letter character of that key, the arrangement being such that the key input processing means outputs signals representative of the first four vowels in preference to outputting signals representative of the other characters associated with the respective first to fourth keys, and wherein said five keys are positioned and/or configured for rapid location and actuation by a user.

Preferably, the fifth key has a representation of a "space bar", and the key input processing means is such as to output a signal representative of the space bar in preference to outputting signals representative of the other characters associated with the fifth key, and such as thereafter to output a signal representative of the letter "U" in preference to outputting signals representative of any of the other characters associated with that key other than the space bar.

In a preferred embodiment, the keypad has twelve keys arranged in four rows, each row having three keys. Preferably, said first to fifth keys are arranged in a Y-shaped configuration, the first and second keys being constituted by the first and third keys of the first row, and the third to the fifth keys being the middle keys of the remaining three rows. Conveniently, the first key of the first row bears a representation of the vowel "A", the third key of the first row bears a representation of the vowel "E", the middle key of the second row bears a representation of the vowel "I", the middle key of the third row bears a representation of the vowel "O", and the middle key of the fourth row bears a representation of the vowel "U".

Advantageously, the third key of the fourth row carries a representation of the letter "Y". Preferably, the third key of the fourth row also bears representations of the letters "V", "W", "X" and "Z", and the arrangement is such that depression of said key outputs a signal representative of the letter "Y" in preference to outputting signals representative of the other letters associated with that key.

Each of said first to fifth keys may present a user identifiable characteristic that is different from the remaining keys. Advantageously, first to fifth keys and the third key of the fourth row present a user identifiable characteristic that is different from the remaining keys. In either case, said user identifiable characteristic may be the colour red or some other colour that stands out, the remaining keys being coloured differently. Preferably, each of the keys bears a representation of at least one letter of the alphabet.

Preferably, the key input processing means is such as to output signals representative of characters associated with each key in dependence upon the number of times that key is depressed. Alternatively, the key input processing means is such as to output signals representative of characters associated with each key in dependence upon the length of time that key is depressed.

The invention also provides a keypad for alphanumeric text inputting apparatus, the keypad being as defined above.

The invention will now be described in greater detail, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, in which: - Figure 1 is a plan view of a mobile phone handset; and

Figure 2 is a schematic representation of an alternative keypad layout for the handset of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 shows a mobile phone handset 1 including a microphone 2, an earpiece 3, an antenna 4, a display 5, and a keypad indicated generally by the reference numeral 6. The keypad 6 is constituted by twelve keys 6a to 61. Each of the keypads 6a to 61 bears representations indicative of characters and/or functions which can be input by that key.

The key 6a carries a representation of the numeral "1", and the representation U in an upper row, and representations of the letter "A", an ampersand and a plus sign in a lower row. The representation U is a symbol assigned to the voicemail number of the mobile phone 1, and so provides a simple and easy way to access voicemail without requiring the user to remember the voicemail number.

The key 6b carries a representation of the numeral "2" in an upper row, and representations of the letters "B", "C" and "D" in a lower row. The key 6c carries a representation of the numeral "3" in an upper row, and representations of the letter "E" and the punctuation marks for a full stop, a question mark, an exclamation mark and a forward slash in a lower row.

The key 6d carries a representation of the numeral "4" in an upper row, and representations of the letters "F", "G" and "H" in a lower row.

The key 6e carries a representation of the numeral "5" in an upper row, and representations of the letter "I" and the punctuation marks for a comma, a semicolon and a colon in a lower row.

The key 6f carries a representation of the numeral "6" in an upper row, and representations of the letters "J", "K" and "L" in a lower row.

The key 6g carries a representation of the numeral "7" in an upper row, and representations of the letters "M" and "N" in a lower row.

The key 6h carries a representation of the numeral "8" in an upper row, and representations of the letter "O" and the legend "caps" in a lower row. The tliree alternatives depicted by this legend are symbols assigned to the functions for one capital (that is to say the first letter subsequently input is a capital letter and subsequent letters are lower case), caps lock, and caps unlock.

The key 6i carries a representation of the numeral "9" in an upper row, and representations of the letters "P", "Q" and "R" in a lower row.

The key 6j carries a representation of an asterisk in the upper row, and representations of the letters "S" and "T" in a lower row.

The key 6k carries representations of the numeral "0" and a space bar in an upper row, and representations of the letter "Q" and a legend "num" in a lower row. The symbol for the space bar indicates how a space can be input into a text message using the keypad 6. The symbol "num" indicates the function of alternating between the inputting of characters from the upper row and the lower row, that is to say the number pad lock.

The key 61 carries a representation of a hash in the upper row, and the legend "N-Z" in a lower row, this legend representing the letters "V", "W", "X", "Y" and "Z". It should be noted, however, that the order through which these letters are cycled is "Y", "V, , "X" and "Z".

This keypad 6 is arranged to operate, using hardware and software (not shown) within the handset 1, in known fashion by depressing the keys 6a to 61 a different number of times to choose the required characters to be input. In particular, the handset 1 includes key input detecting means for detecting the number of consecutive key pressing operations which occur for each key 6a to 61, and key input processing means for controlling the display 5 to show the appropriate character corresponding to the number of pressing operations of a particular key. The configuration of the keypad 6 is such as to reduce the number of key depressions (raps) needed to input text messages. In particular, each of the vowels "A", "E", "I", "O", and "U" is the first character in the lower row of the respective key 6a, 6c, 6e, 6h and 6k. Thus, when the keypad 6 is configured to operate with characters in the lower row (by use of the number pad lock key 6k), each of the vowels can be input by a single rap of the appropriate key. The five keys 6a, 6c, 6e, 6h and 6k are coloured red, and define a 'Y' shape. This red 'Y' shape highlights the positions of the vowels, making them easy to see, and facilitating remembering their locations.

The key 61 is also coloured red to highlight the letter "Y" which is frequently used as a vowel in such words as "why", "try" etc. Moreover, as described above, the letter "Y" is positioned first in the cyclic order in the lower row of the key 61, so that, here again, only a single rap is needed to input the letter "Y". Alternatively or additionally, the letter "Y" itself may be coloured red to achieve the desired highlighting. Other advantages of the layout of the keypad 6 are that other frequently used letters such as "M", "N", "S", and "T" are positioned two per key (on the keys 6g and 6j), thereby minimising the number of raps for their input, and also facilitating remembering their positions on the keypad 6.

Other advantages of the keypad 6 are:-

(1) the use of the key 6a to input the voicemail symbol U provides simple and easy access to voicemail;

(2) the representations of the punctuation marks for a full stop, a question mark, an exclamation mark and a forward slash are positioned at the right-hand side of the keypad 6, this end positioning of these symbols being appropriate for punctuation marks that are usually positioned at the end of a sentence;

(3) the symbols for the punctuation marks for a comma, a semicolon and a colon are positioned on the key 6e, this key being a middle key which is appropriate for punctuation marks that are normally positioned in the middle of a sentence;

(4) many of the symbols, such as the ampersand and the commonly-used punctuation marks, are represented on the keypad 6 which is to be contrasted with known keypads which tend to represent, at most, one such a symbol per key;

(5) the keypad 6a carries the first numeral "1" and the first letter "A", this being a logical arrangement of character representations, and is to be contrasted with standard keypads which juxtapose the numeral "2" with the letter "A" (and of course the letters "B" and "C");

(6) the keypad 6, despite its rearrangement to provide other advantages, has all the letters of the alphabet in order, apart from the re-positioning of the letter "Y" on key 61. Moreover, the vowels "A", "E", "I", "O" and "U" are all in alphabetical order, and so are logically positioned and easy to locate.

Figure 2 shows an alternative layout for the keypad, this being a modification of the layout of the keypad 6 of Figure 1. Accordingly, like reference numerals will be used for like parts, and only the modifications will be described in detail. Thus, the key 6a carries a representation of the numeral "1" in an upper row; and representations of the letter "a", an ampersand (&), the "at" symbol (@), and a plus sign (+) in a lower row.

The key 6b carries the same representations as the key 6b of Figure 1.

The key 6c carries the same representations as the key 6c of Figure 1, but additionally carries a representation of the equals sign (=) at the end of the lower row.

The key 6d carries the same representations as the key 6d of Figure 1.

The key 6e carries a representation of numeral "5" in an upper row, and representations of the letter "i", the punctuation marks for a comma (,), an apostrophe ('), quotation marks ("), and symbols representing the opening and closing of brackets (( )) in a lower row.

The key 6f carries the same representations as the key 6f of Figure 1.

The key 6g carries the same representations as the key 6g of Figure 1, and additionally the symbols for pound (£), euro (€), and dollar ($) at the end of the lower row.

The key 6h carries the same representations as the key 6h of Figure 1.

The key 6i carries the same representations as the key 6i of Figure 1.

The key 6j carries the same representations as the key 6j of Figure 1, and an additional representation of a smiley face at the end of the lower row. This symbol is one very commonly used in text messaging.

The key 6k carries the same representations as the key 6k of Figure 1.

The key 61 carries the same representations as the key 61 of Figure 1. The keypad of Figure 2 has all the advantages of the keypad of Figure 1, but has additional advantages in that further symbols (such as the pound, euro, dollar and equal signs) are displayed on the keypad, and so are easier to input than is the case with known keypads which do not display such symbols.

It will be apparent, therefore, that each of the keypads 6 described above has many advantages when compared with traditional keypads. In particular, each has a memorable configuration, the vowel based layout providing the basis for easy-to-remember placing of letters and numbers, thereby creating a much simpler system for inputting text messages with or without the user having to look at the keypad. The inputting of vowels is also extremely easy, the configuration ensuring that all vowels are struck first. This is to be contrasted with inputting vowels on known keypads. Another advantage is the ease of inputting the "most used" consonants, the configuration of each keypad 6 ensuring that these are struck either first or second, again unlike the case with known keypads. Each keypad 6 further facilitates use of punctuation, its configuration ensuring that all the most-used punctuation symbols are readily visible, memorable, and readily available. Again this is to be contrasted with known keypads. A further advantage is that all twelve keys are used for inputting the letters of the alphabet, thereby facilitating and speeding up text entry. This is to be contrasted with known keypads which use only eight keys for inputting letters of the alphabet.

Although each keypad 6 described above has keys 6a to 61 that are mechanical in operation, that is to say they are physical entities that must be mechanically actuated to operate the key input detecting means, it will be apparent that the invention is equally applicable to other types of keypad such as a touchscreen keypad, and the terms keypad and key as used throughout this specification should construed accordingly.

Claims

1. Apparatus for inputting alphanumeric text, the apparatus comprising a keypad having a plurality of keys each bearing a representation of a plurality of characters to be input by that key, a display, key input detecting means for detecting key pressing operations, and key input processing means for outputting to the display signals representative of characters associated with the keys, wherein each of first, second, third, fourth and fifth of the keys bears a representation of a respective one of the vowels ("A", "E", "I", "O" and "U") as the sole letter character of that key, the arrangement being such that the key input processing means outputs signals representative of the first four vowels in preference to outputting signals representative of the other characters associated with the respective first to fourth keys, and wherein said five keys are positioned and/or configured for rapid location and actuation by a user.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the fifth key has a representation of a "space bar", and the key input processing means is such as to output a signal representative of the space bar in preference to outputting signals representative of the other characters associated with the fifth key, and such as thereafter to output a signal representative of the letter "U" in preference to outputting signals representative of any of the other characters associated with that key other than the space bar.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the keypad has twelve keys arranged in four rows, each row having three keys.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein said first to fifth keys are arranged in a Y-shaped configuration, the first and second keys being constituted by the first and third keys of the first row, and the third to the fifth keys being the middle keys of the remaining three rows.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the first key of the first row bears a representation of the vowel "A", the third key of the first row bears a representation of the vowel "E", the middle key of the second row bears a representation of the vowel "I", the middle key of the third row bears a representation of the vowel "O", and the middle key of the fourth row bears a representation of the vowel "U".

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the third key of the fourth row carries a representation of the letter "Y".

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the third key of the fourth row also bears representations of the letters "N", " ", "X" and "Z", and the arrangement is such that depression of said key outputs a signal representative of the letter "Y" in preference to outputting signals representative of the other letters associated with that key.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 7, wherein each of said first to fifth keys presents a user identifiable characteristic that is different from the remaining keys.

9. • Apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein said first to fifth keys and the third key of the fourth row present a user identifiable characteristic that is different from the remaining keys.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 8 or claim 9, wherein said user identifiable characteristic is the colour red, the remaining keys being coloured differently.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 10, wherein each of the keys bears a representation of at least one letter of the alphabet.

12. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the key input processing means is such as to output signals representative of characters associated with each key in dependence upon the number of times that key is depressed.

13. Apparatus as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the key input processing means is such as to output signals representative of characters associated with each key in dependence upon the length of time that key is depressed.