Physical keyboard and its application method on touch screen and POS device

Abstract

The present invention discloses a physical keyboard, an application method thereof on a touch screen, and a POS device. This solution cleverly adopts an elastic material to make the keyboard body, so that when it is used on a touch screen attached to a touch device, the first surface can better fit and contact the touch screen. At the same time, keys are arranged on the second surface of the keyboard body, and Braille marks are arranged on the keys, and recessed portions and touch portions are arranged on the first surface corresponding to the keys, so that when the user presses the keys, the recessed portions can deform and the elastic feedback force can realize key pressing feedback, thereby improving the use experience of the visually impaired. The flange is arranged on the edge of the second surface of the keyboard body, which helps to improve the edge structural strength and reliability of the keyboard body made of elastic material. In addition, in order to improve the reliability of physical anti-peeping, this solution also provides a mask on the keyboard body, which can improve the safety of the keyboard body in scenarios where confidentiality is required.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the fields of touch device auxiliary devices and POS devices, and in particular to a physical keyboard and an application method thereof on a touch screen and a POS device. Background Art

[0002] With the increasing popularity of smart terminals and the diversification of control signal acquisition components, devices with touchscreens have become an indispensable interactive device in people's daily lives. Touchscreens offer advantages such as ease of operation, intuitive interfaces, and responsiveness, providing rich visual information and tactile feedback. However, due to the limited diversity of tactile feedback, touchscreen devices are difficult to use or require high training costs for most visually impaired people. They are unable to visually perceive graphics and text on the touchscreen, nor can they effectively input text using the virtual keyboard on the touchscreen.

[0003] When entering sensitive data like passwords, most devices and applications fail to consider the security needs of blind or visually impaired users. Passwords, as sensitive information used to verify identity or authorize access, typically need to be kept confidential and protected from prying eyes. Ordinary users can protect their passwords from prying eyes by observing their surroundings, choosing appropriate times and locations, and using methods such as masking or altering gestures. However, blind or visually impaired users cannot visually determine if anyone is watching them. They also cannot enter passwords using virtual or Braille keyboards on touchscreens, as these keyboards use voice or tactile feedback to indicate the characters being entered, exposing the password to others. Consequently, blind or visually impaired users feel more insecure and anxious when entering their passwords, which impacts their input efficiency and accuracy.

[0004] POS machines are common devices used in financial payments. Traditional payment devices have physical buttons, which can be used by visually impaired individuals by referring to the Braille symbols on the buttons. With the continuous innovation and development of technology, the intelligent application of mobile terminals is becoming increasingly widespread. When many payment devices evolve into smart devices, they often eliminate traditional physical buttons and switch to touchscreen operation. Although some literature and commercially available products have disclosed auxiliary keyboards for touchscreens, existing smart screen devices often require precise positioning of the blind keypad on the device touchscreen, ensuring that the silicone keypad and the user interface are fully aligned in a pre-set position to enable blind users to enter passwords. However, if the device UI is oriented towards the cash register and the blind keypad is also facing the cashier, this can be inconvenient. If the UI is adjusted to face consumers, the additional blind keypad will need to be precisely positioned on the housing, which can hinder use by those who do not need a blind keypad.

[0005] Therefore, how to provide a touch screen auxiliary device that can meet the security needs of blind or visually impaired people when entering passwords, and at the same time, can facilitate touch position positioning and adaptation when needed, improve the docking and debugging efficiency of the touch screen and keyboard, and reduce its dependence on a specific installation location, will have positive practical significance for the application of additional keyboards. Summary of the Invention

[0006] In view of this, the object of the present invention is to provide a physical keyboard with simple structure, flexible application and reliable implementation, and an application method thereof on a touch screen and a POS device.

[0007] In order to achieve the above technical objectives, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is:

[0008] A physical keyboard is applied to a touch device, wherein the touch device includes a touch screen, and the physical keyboard includes:

[0009] The keyboard body is made of an elastic material and has a first surface and a second surface facing each other. The first surface is configured to be in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen. The second surface is provided with a plurality of raised keys. The first surface is provided with recessed portions corresponding to the plurality of keys. The center of the recessed portions is provided with a touch portion that is raised outward and does not protrude above the first surface. The touch portion is configured to stimulate touch signals on the touch screen.

[0010] The button has an initial state and a pressed state.

[0011] In the initial state, the touch portion is spaced apart from the touch area of ​​the touch screen;

[0012] When in a pressed state, the button is pressed to cause the inner concave portion to deform, so that the touch portion in the inner concave portion contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen.

[0013] As a possible implementation manner, further, the touch screen described in this solution is a capacitive touch screen.

[0014] As a possible implementation manner, further, the second surface edge of the keyboard body described in this solution is provided with an upwardly protruding flange.

[0015] As a possible implementation manner, further, the upper surface of the button described in this solution is provided with a marking layer with Braille.

[0016] As a possible implementation, further, in this solution, at least one positioning portion for stimulating a touch signal of the touch screen is provided on the first surface. When the first surface of the keyboard body is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen, the positioning portion contacts the touch area.

[0017] As a possible implementation, the physical keyboard of this solution further includes:

[0018] The cover is a shell structure with a ∩-shaped cross-section. The cover is arranged at one end of the keyboard body, and the two sides of the lower part are respectively fixedly connected to the two sides of one end of the keyboard body. The side of the cover close to one end of the keyboard body is a closed structure, and the side away from one end of the keyboard body is an open structure. An operating space for key operation is formed between the cover and the second surface of the keyboard body.

[0019] As a preferred implementation option, preferably, the side surface of the cover away from one end of the keyboard body in this solution is an inclined structure, and the projection of the inclined structure on the keyboard body is located within the shielding area of ​​the cover on the keyboard body.

[0020] Based on the above, the present invention further provides a POS device having a touch screen and also including the physical keyboard described above.

[0021] Based on the above, the present invention further provides a method for docking an external keyboard, comprising the physical keyboard described above, wherein at least two positioning portions for stimulating touch signals from a touch screen are provided on a first surface of the keyboard body, and when the first surface of the keyboard body is brought into contact with a touch area of ​​the touch screen, the positioning portions come into contact with the touch area; the docking method comprises:

[0022] S01: The touch device generates two or more touch signals simultaneously in response to two or more positioning portions on the first surface of the keyboard body being in contact with a touch area of ​​the touch screen;

[0023] S02, acquiring two or more touch signals, locating their positions in the touch area according to preset conditions, and generating a positioning result;

[0024] S03. Determine, based on the positioning result, the position where the positioning portion contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen, set the position as a reference point, and then load a preset operation area on the touch area using the reference point as a relative position reference;

[0025] S04. Loading instruction points corresponding to the touch portions corresponding to the keys in the operation area, so that when the keys are pressed, the corresponding touch portions contact the touch area of ​​the touch screen, triggering the instruction points to generate corresponding input signals.

[0026] As a preferred implementation option, preferably, in this solution S01, there are three positioning parts, and the three positioning parts are not located on the same virtual line. When the first surface of the keyboard body is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen, three touch signals are generated simultaneously.

[0027] Based on the above, the present invention also provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores at least one instruction, at least one program, code set or instruction set. The at least one instruction, at least one program, code set or instruction set is loaded and executed by a processor to implement the above-mentioned external keyboard docking method.

[0028] By adopting the above-mentioned technical solution, the present invention has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art: the present solution cleverly adopts an elastic material to make the keyboard body, so that when it is used on a touch screen attached to a touch device, the first surface can better fit and contact the touch screen. At the same time, keys are arranged on the second surface of the keyboard body, a marking layer with Braille markings is arranged on the keys, and a concave portion and a touch portion are arranged on the first surface corresponding to the keys, so that when the user presses the key, the deformation of the concave portion and the characteristics of the elastic material of the keyboard body can realize the key pressing feedback through the elastic feedback force, thereby improving the use experience of the visually impaired. The flange is provided on the edge of the second surface of the keyboard body, which helps to improve the edge structural strength and reliability of the keyboard body made of elastic material. In addition, in order to improve the reliability of physical anti-peeping, the present solution also provides a mask on the keyboard body, which can further improve the safety of the keyboard body in scenarios where confidentiality is required. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying any creative work.

[0030] Figure 1 This is one of the three-dimensional perspective diagrams of one of the implementation structures of the physical keyboard of this solution;

[0031] Figure 2 This is the second 3D perspective diagram of one of the implementation structures of the physical keyboard of this solution;

[0032] Figure 3 This is a three-dimensional perspective diagram of one of the implementation structures of the physical keyboard of this solution when applied to the touch screen on a POS machine;

[0033] Figure 4 This is one of the three-dimensional perspective diagrams of another implementation structure of the physical keyboard of this scheme;

[0034] Figure 5 This is the second three-dimensional perspective diagram of another implementation structure of the physical keyboard of this scheme;

[0035] Figure 6This is one of the two-dimensional perspective diagrams of another implementation structure of the physical keyboard of this scheme;

[0036] Figure 7 This is a two-dimensional cross-sectional diagram of another embodiment of the physical keyboard of the present invention and an enlarged diagram of its local structure;

[0037] Figure 8 This is one of the operation area loading diagrams in the docking method of this solution;

[0038] Figure 9 This is the second schematic diagram of the operation area loading in the docking method of this solution;

[0039] Figure 10 This is the third operation area loading diagram in the docking method of this solution. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0040] The present invention will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples. It is particularly noted that the following examples are intended only to illustrate the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. Similarly, the following examples are only some embodiments of the present invention and are not intended to be exhaustive. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art without creative effort are intended to fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0041] like Figures 1 to 7 One embodiment of the present invention provides a physical keyboard, which is applied to a touch device 1. The touch device 1 includes a touch screen 11. The physical keyboard includes:

[0042] The keyboard body 2 is made of an elastic material and has a first surface 21 and a second surface 22 facing each other. The first surface 21 is configured to mate with the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11. The second surface 22 is provided with a plurality of raised keys 221. The first surface 21 has recessed portions 211 corresponding to the plurality of keys, one-to-one with the positions of the keys 221. A touch portion 212 is provided at the center of the recessed portions 211, which is convex and does not protrude above the first surface. The touch portion 212 is configured to stimulate touch signals from the touch screen 11.

[0043] The button 221 has an initial state and a pressed state.

[0044] In the initial state, the touch portion 212 is spaced apart from the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11;

[0045] When in the pressed state, the button 221 is pressed to cause the inner concave portion 211 to deform, so that the touch portion 212 in the inner concave portion 211 contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11 .

[0046] In this solution, the touch screen 11 is a capacitive touch screen, and the touch portion 212 generates a touch signal to stimulate the touch screen 11 by changing the local current of the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11 it contacts or changing its capacitance. This is a prior art and will not be described in detail here.

[0047] Since the keyboard body 2 is made of elastic material in this solution, if its edge is damaged, the damage to the edge may spread due to stress concentration and other physical reasons. Therefore, in this solution, in order to improve the structural reliability and strength of the keyboard body 2, as a possible implementation method, the edge of the second surface 22 of the keyboard body 2 in this solution is further provided with an upward protruding flange 23.

[0048] When the keyboard of this solution is used by a dedicated person, the user can learn the corresponding function of each key 221 by adapting to the positions of different keys 221 in advance. In order to improve its universality and reduce the cost of education and learning, as a possible implementation method, the upper surface of the key 221 described in this solution is further provided with an identification layer 222 with Braille.

[0049] When the device of this solution is used as an additional tool for the touch screen 11 of a specific device, the corresponding software program can be pre-loaded directly in the device, and the software program can be used to recognize the signal of the keyboard body 2 attached to the touch screen 11 to adaptively call out the software and pair it with it. As a possible implementation method, further, the first surface 21 of this solution is also provided with at least one positioning portion 213 for stimulating the touch signal of the touch screen 11. When the first surface 21 of the keyboard body 2 is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11, the positioning portion is in contact with the touch area.

[0050] Focus on combining 4 to Figure 7 As shown in one of the figures, in order to improve the anti-peeping effect of the external environment, as a possible implementation method, the physical keyboard of this solution further includes:

[0051] The mask 3 is a shell structure with a ∩-shaped cross-section. The mask is arranged at one end of the keyboard body 2, and the two sides of the lower part are respectively fixedly connected to the two sides of one end of the keyboard body 2. The side of the mask 3 close to the end of the keyboard body 2 is a closed structure, and the side away from the end of the keyboard body 2 is an open structure. An operating space 31 for key operation is formed between the mask 3 and the second surface 22 of the keyboard body 2.

[0052] In order to reduce the possibility of collision when the user's hand is placed in the operating space 31, as a better implementation option, preferably, the side of the cover 3 away from the keyboard body 2 in this solution is an inclined structure, and the projection of the inclined structure on the keyboard body 2 is located in the shielding area of ​​the cover 3 to the keyboard body 2.

[0053] This solution reduces the probability of the operator's hand colliding with the upper end of the shield 3 when the operator's hand enters the operating space 31 by setting the upper end of the shield 3 to be inclined relative to the lower end thereof in a direction away from the operator's hand.

[0054] Combine Figure 3 As shown, based on the above, the physical keyboard of this embodiment can be used in a POS device having a touch screen, which uses the physical keyboard as an additional functional component.

[0055] exist Figures 1 to 7 Based on one of the above, further combining Figure 8 、 Figure 9 、 Figure 10 In order to improve the docking flexibility of the physical keyboard and the touch screen 11 in the above-mentioned solution and avoid the need for multiple position adjustments, this embodiment further provides a method for docking an external keyboard, wherein at least two positioning portions 213 for stimulating touch signals from the touch screen 11 are provided on the first surface 21 of the keyboard body 2. When the first surface 21 of the keyboard body 2 is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11, the positioning portions 213 contact the touch area. The docking method includes:

[0056] S01, the touch device generates two or more touch signals simultaneously in response to the contact between two or more positioning portions 213 on the first surface 21 of the keyboard body 2 and the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11;

[0057] S02, acquiring two or more touch signals, locating their positions in the touch area according to preset conditions, and generating a positioning result;

[0058] S03. Determine the position where the positioning unit 213 contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen based on the positioning result, set it as a reference point 111, and then load the preset operation area 112 on the touch area using the reference point 111 as a relative position reference;

[0059] S04. Load the instruction points corresponding to the touch parts 212 corresponding to the buttons 221 in the operation area 112. When the buttons 221 are pressed, the corresponding touch parts 212 contact the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11, triggering the instruction points to generate corresponding input signals.

[0060] The operation area mentioned in this solution is preset in the touch device. After one debugging, the specification or range of the virtual operation area can be determined, and then the positioning reference formed by the positioning unit 213 is matched with the operation area one by one. Figure 8 、 Figure 9As shown, it can be known that when there are only two positioning parts 213, the reference points formed therein can only be connected by one line, which will result in two possible adaptation positions of the preset virtual operation area 112. In this case, the user needs to press the button 221 to trigger another point (which is not in a straight line with other reference points) to form three points in order to complete the secondary positioning determination. This method still has some inconveniences.

[0061] Therefore, combined Figure 10 As shown, in order to reduce the probability of secondary calibration when the keyboard is attached to the touch screen 11, as a better implementation option, preferably, in this solution S01, there are three positioning parts 213, and the three positioning parts 213 are not located on the same virtual line. When the first surface 21 of the keyboard body 2 is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11, three touch signals are generated at the same time. Through the three-point positioning method, the position of the virtual operation area 112 to be constructed can be directly determined when the physical keyboard is attached to the touch screen 11 for use, and each command point can also be directly pre-debugged and directly called out without the need to re-debug one by one. That is, this solution can debug the physical keyboard when it is used for the first time (determine the characteristic relationship formed between the positioning points), and then Determine the position of the touch portion 212 of the key 221, and finally embed these data into the touch device that needs to use a physical keyboard. Alternatively, the physical keyboard can have its debugging program embedded when it leaves the factory, and then the corresponding program can be downloaded and installed in the touch device that needs to use the physical keyboard. In addition, since the keyboard body 2 will block part of the touch area of ​​the touch screen 11 when it is attached to the touch screen 11, and the positioning portion 213 is also in this area, the signal of the area contacted by the positioning portion 213 can be temporarily shielded, or the information of the positioning portion 213 can be stripped off when parsing the input information of the physical keyboard, so as to avoid the positioning portion 213 from interfering with the subsequent normal data interaction of the physical keyboard due to its contact with the touch screen 11.

[0062] The above descriptions are only some embodiments of the present invention and do not limit the scope of protection of the present invention. Any equivalent device or equivalent process transformation made by using the contents of the description and drawings of the present invention, or directly or indirectly applied in other related technical fields, are also included in the patent protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A physical keyboard, applied to a touch device, wherein the touch device includes a touch screen, characterized in that: The physical keyboard includes: The keyboard body is made of an elastic material and has a first surface and a second surface facing each other. The first surface is configured to be in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen. The second surface is provided with a plurality of raised keys. The first surface is provided with recessed portions corresponding to the plurality of keys. The center of the recessed portions is provided with a touch portion that is raised outward and does not protrude above the first surface. The touch portion is configured to stimulate touch signals on the touch screen. The button has an initial state and a pressed state. In the initial state, the touch portion is spaced apart from the touch area of ​​the touch screen; When in a pressed state, the button is pressed, causing the inner concave portion to deform, so that the touch portion in the inner concave portion contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen; The first surface is also provided with three positioning parts for stimulating touch signals of the touch screen. The three positioning parts are not located on the same virtual line. When the first surface of the keyboard body is in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen, the positioning parts are in contact with the touch area.

2. The physical keyboard according to claim 1, wherein: The touch screen is a capacitive touch screen.

3. The physical keyboard according to claim 1, wherein: An upwardly protruding flange is provided on the edge of the second surface of the keyboard body.

4. The physical keyboard according to claim 1, wherein: The upper surface of the button is provided with a marking layer with Braille.

5. The physical keyboard according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The physical keyboard further includes: The cover is a shell structure with a ∩-shaped cross-section. The cover is arranged at one end of the keyboard body, and the two sides of the lower part are respectively fixedly connected to the two sides of one end of the keyboard body. The side of the cover close to one end of the keyboard body is a closed structure, and the side away from one end of the keyboard body is an open structure. An operating space for key operation is formed between the cover and the second surface of the keyboard body.

6. The physical keyboard according to claim 5, wherein: The side surface of the mask away from one end of the keyboard body is an inclined structure, and the projection of the inclined structure on the keyboard body is located in the shielding area of ​​the mask on the keyboard body.

7. A POS device having a touch screen, characterized in that: It also includes the physical keyboard according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A method for docking an external keyboard, characterized in that: It comprises the physical keyboard according to any one of claims 1 to 6, and the docking method comprises: S01: The touch device generates three touch signals simultaneously in response to the three positioning portions on the first surface of the keyboard body being in contact with the touch area of ​​the touch screen; S02, acquiring three touch signals, locating their positions in the touch area according to preset conditions, and generating a positioning result; S03. Determine, based on the positioning result, the position where the positioning portion contacts the touch area of ​​the touch screen, set the position as a reference point, and then load a preset operation area on the touch area using the reference point as a relative position reference; S04. Loading instruction points corresponding to the touch portions corresponding to the keys in the operation area, so that when the keys are pressed, the corresponding touch portions contact the touch area of ​​the touch screen, triggering the instruction points to generate corresponding input signals.

Images