Capacitive information input device and method for electronic device

Abstract

The device of inputting information includes following parts: capacitance type keyboard touch-control unit in use for detecting operation input from user, and generating corresponding signal; keyboard controller connected to the capacitance type keyboard touch-control unit; unit for switching input modes is connected to the keyboard controller. The keyboard controller detects states of the unit for switching input modes. Based on the detected state, selectivity of signal of the said capacitance type keyboard touch-control unit is switched to keyboard mode for inputting information or to touch-control mode for inputting information. The invention also discloses capacitance type information input method for electronic devices.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to position and character input technology of portable electronic equipment, in particular to a capacitive information input device and method for electronic equipment. Background technique [0002] During the rapid development of computer technology, the invention of keyboard and mouse has brought a lot of convenience to people, and they have been fully applied, and the technology of keyboard and mouse itself has also changed thereupon. For the earliest keyboards derived from mechanical English alphabet typewriters, although there are not many changes in their basic layout and principles, for example, the main principle is XY array scanning, or mechanical contact or capacitive sensing, but in Great changes have taken place in terms of volume, usability, lifespan, lightweight, and cost. For the mouse that originated from the XY-axis image input device, from the initial X / Y-axis mechanical mouse to the photoelectric reflective mou...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

But there are some defects in these existing technologies: on the one hand, it is different from existing keyboards and mouse usage habits, so it is difficult for users to accept; on the other hand, traditional mouse needs a relatively flat piece of plane to allow the mouse to move on it , so there are many restrictions when working in a mobile office. For example, when waiting for a plane at the airport, passengers in the general airport are not equipped with a small platform on the waiting seat, which greatly affects the application of scrolling and moving mouse positioning devices; in addition, keyboard and mouse To be connected together, a wired connection with the host is still required. If all of them are wireless, the cost will be relatively high

[0016] Although touchpads are the most popular on notebook computers, in terms of handling, there are indeed some places that are not as good as ordinary mice. This is also a very important reason why many notebook computers randomly give a mouse during the sales process.

[0017] The poor controllability of the touchpad mainly comes from the following factors: First, the location problem. The touchpad is generally located below the keyboard, near the space bar, and the space bar is generally operated by the thumb. During operation, the thumb is easy to touch the touchpad, causing the position of the cursor to move, and because the touchpad is relatively sensitive, if you do not pay attention, it is easy to cause misoperation and input in the wrong position, which affects the efficiency of keyboard input; secondly It is not easy to operate with one hand, because the position between the buttons and the touchpad is not suitable for one-handed operation, and the usage habits are different from ordinary mice, so I want to use the touchpad to complete some more complicated cursor buttons The operation is more difficult, such as playing games, drawing, etc., is still not as convenient and flexible as a normal mouse; again, the positioning part is too far away from the keyboard, and the moving distance is relatively long when the keyboard and touchpad are frequently operated alternately, and every time it is used from When the trackpad is moved to the keyboard, the fingers need to be repositioned, such as finding the F and J keys with raised marks on the keyboard keys, so it is still very troublesome

[0018] In addition, the cooperation between the touchpad and the keyboard is not as good as that of the trackbar, and the volume arrangement is not as good as that of the trackstick. It will be more difficult to further reduce the size

[0019] see Figure 4 , a kind of prior art can refer to the patent literature of application number WO 03041049, in this input device, the keyboard is disassembled into two parts 100 and 110, and the touch panel 120 is placed in the middle of the two parts of the keyboard 100 and 110, which can be To a certain extent, it saves space and improves the convenience of switching between keyboards and mouse-like devices; but the problem is that it cannot save space on notebook computers, and you will not find the right keyboard in terms of usage habits, and some combination keys, For example, the commonly used Cntrl+Alt+Del keys can be input with one hand, but now they must be input with both hands, so this method is not suitable for portable computers such as notebooks.

Images