Keyboard cover and input switching device

Abstract

The utility model discloses a keyboard cover and an input switching device. The keyboard cover comprises a plurality of keys and an input switching device, a plurality of keys form a function key area, a numeric symbol key area, a single letter key area and a vowel key area; the function key area is located on the uppermost line of the keyboard film. The numeric symbol key area is located below the function key area and occupies the second row of the keyboard film; the single letter key area is positioned below the numeric character key area and occupies the third row to the fifth row of the keyboard film; the vowel key area is positioned below the single letter key area and is positioned on the sixth row of the keyboard film; the keyboard cover further comprises a switching key which is located at any position of the lowest line of the keyboard cover to provide switching of Chinese pinyin input, and when the switching key is pressed down, the current keyboard cover mode is switched to the common keyboard mode. The switching device is located on the keyboard cover and corresponds to the switching keys of the keyboard cover. The embodiment of the utility model can effectively improve the input speed and save the learning cost.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This utility model relates to the field of terminal equipment technology, specifically to a keyboard membrane and input switching device. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, the keyboards commonly used in various electronic terminal devices adopt the internationally recognized QWERTY layout, with keys arranged alphabetically. Its design and evolution reflect the complex interaction between technological limitations and user habits. Because the QWERTY keyboard was initially designed to reduce typing speed, frequently used letters (such as "E" and "T") are positioned where fingers are not dominant, affecting input efficiency. Furthermore, its design does not follow the conventional alphabetical order, making it unfriendly to primary and secondary school students learning computers, resulting in a higher learning curve and longer memorization time.

[0003] Especially for Chinese users, who typically use Pinyin input methods, typing long Pinyin characters requires many keystrokes to get the desired character, which is inefficient.

[0004] Patent application number CN201010561410.5 discloses a keyboard membrane, a method for updating the input character layout of a terminal device, and a keyboard membrane recognition device. The keyboard membrane includes a membrane body, a character input area disposed on the membrane body, and a first connection unit that can be signal-connected to the terminal device. The first connection unit corresponds to the character layout type of the character input area and is disposed on the membrane body. This prior art replaces the corresponding character values ​​on the original keyboard with character values ​​on the keyboard membrane, allowing users to choose a keyboard membrane that suits their preferences and usage habits, such as sequential letter arrangement for ease of use by beginners.

[0005] The existing technology has two main problems: First, to recognize the keyboard membrane and switch to the corresponding keyboard layout, the keyboard membrane needs a connection unit (which can be a magnet or a light shield) to establish a signal connection with the terminal device (such as a laptop); and the terminal device (laptop) needs to be equipped with a keyboard membrane recognition device (which can be a magnetic induction component or a photosensitive component) to establish a signal connection with the keyboard membrane. This requires significant modifications to existing terminal devices, increasing costs. Second, this solution does not consider scenarios involving Chinese input via Pinyin input method, which is also inconvenient and slow for inputting Chinese characters using Pinyin input method. Utility Model Content

[0006] One of the objectives of this utility model embodiment is to address the shortcomings of the prior art by proposing a keyboard membrane and input switching device. The keyboard membrane provides a letter layout suitable for Pinyin input, allowing users to easily switch Pinyin input methods and change the layout of keyboard characters at a lower cost, thus facilitating Pinyin input for primary and secondary school students.

[0007] To solve the above-mentioned technical problems, in a first aspect, an embodiment of the present utility model provides a keyboard membrane, the keyboard membrane comprising: a plurality of keys;

[0008] Several keys form a function key area, a number and symbol key area, a single letter key area, and a vowel key area;

[0009] The function key area is located in the top row of the keyboard membrane;

[0010] The numeric keypad is located below the function key area, occupying the second row of the keyboard membrane;

[0011] The single-letter key area is located below the number symbol key area, occupying the third to fifth rows of the keyboard membrane;

[0012] The vowel key area is located below the single letter key area and in the sixth row of the keyboard membrane;

[0013] The keyboard membrane also includes a switching key located at any position on the bottom row of the keyboard membrane to provide switching for Chinese Pinyin input. When the switching key is pressed, the current keyboard membrane mode is switched to the normal keyboard mode.

[0014] Preferably, the function key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface indicating its function.

[0015] Preferably, the number symbol key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface that identifies numbers or symbols.

[0016] Preferably, the vowel key area includes at least one key with a marking layer on its surface indicating a compound vowel or a nasal vowel.

[0017] Preferably, the keyboard membrane further includes a retroflex consonant key area, which is located around the vowel key area. The retroflex consonant key area includes at least one key with an identification layer of the retroflex consonant on its surface.

[0018] Preferably, the single-letter key area includes: ten keys arranged in sequence in the third row (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J); nine keys arranged in sequence in the fourth row (K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S); and seven keys arranged in sequence in the fifth row (T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).

[0019] Preferably, the single-letter key area includes: ten keys arranged in sequence in the third row (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J); nine keys arranged in sequence in the fourth row (K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S); and seven keys arranged in sequence in the fifth row (T, U, ü, W, X, Y, Z) and three retroflex consonant keys (zh, ch, sh).

[0020] Preferably, the vowel key area is arranged from left to right as follows: ai, ao, an, ang, en, ei, eng, ie, iu, ian, iang, iong, ua, ue, uo, ün, ong.

[0021] On the other hand, this application also provides an input switching device located on the ordinary keyboard of a terminal device, corresponding to a switching key on the ordinary keyboard. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to switch between keyboard membrane mode and ordinary keyboard mode, so that when the user performs key input on the keyboard membrane, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard membrane, or when the user performs key input on the ordinary keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the ordinary keyboard.

[0022] On the other hand, this application also provides an input switching device located on the keyboard membrane as described above, corresponding to a switching key on the keyboard membrane. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to switch between keyboard membrane mode and normal keyboard mode, so that when the user performs key input on the normal keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the normal keyboard, or when the user performs key input on the keyboard membrane, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard membrane.

[0023] Compared with the prior art, the keyboard membrane and input switching device provided by the present invention have at least the following beneficial effects: the present invention can effectively improve input speed and save learning costs. Attached Figure Description

[0024] The preferred embodiments will be described below in a clear and easy-to-understand manner, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, to further explain the above-mentioned characteristics, technical features, advantages and implementation methods of this utility model.

[0025] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the structure of a common bottom-layer keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of a keyboard membrane in conjunction with a regular keyboard, according to an embodiment of this utility model.

[0027] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of a keyboard membrane structure according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of another ordinary keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the use of a keyboard membrane in conjunction with a regular keyboard, according to another embodiment of this utility model.

[0030] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of another keyboard membrane structure according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0031] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this utility model or the prior art, the specific implementation methods of this utility model will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this utility model. For those skilled in the art, other drawings and other implementation methods can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative effort.

[0032] To keep the drawings concise, each figure only schematically shows the parts relevant to the utility model, and these do not represent the actual structure of the product. Furthermore, for ease of understanding, in some figures, only one of the components with the same structure or function is schematically depicted, or only one is labeled. In this document, "one" not only means "only one," but can also mean "more than one."

[0033] The following detailed description of the implementation of the technical solution of this utility model will be based on some specific embodiments.

[0034] In order to achieve the utility model objective of this utility model, such as Figure 3 As shown, the keyboard membrane provided in this embodiment of the present invention includes: a plurality of keys;

[0035] Several keys form a function key area, a number / symbol key area, a single letter key area, and a vowel key area; the function key area is located in the top row of the keyboard membrane.

[0036] The numeric keypad is located below the function key area, occupying the second row of the keyboard membrane;

[0037] The single-letter key area is located below the number symbol key area, occupying the third to fifth rows of the keyboard membrane;

[0038] The vowel key area is located below the single letter key area and in the sixth row of the keyboard membrane;

[0039] The keyboard membrane also includes a switching key located at any position on the bottom row of the keyboard membrane to provide switching for Chinese Pinyin input. When the switching key is pressed, the keyboard membrane mode and the normal keyboard mode are switched between each other.

[0040] like Figure 1-3 As shown, Figure 1 The layout of the Pinyin keys is reserved for the existing keyboard at the bottom layer. Figure 2 The keyboard membrane is used to cover an existing keyboard. It can be used directly on the underlying keyboard, and the number of keys and their layout (or input area) of the keyboard membrane should be consistent with the underlying keyboard. Figure 3 It is a keyboard membrane.

[0041] Preferably, the function key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface indicating its function.

[0042] Preferably, the number symbol key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface that identifies numbers or symbols.

[0043] The vowel key area includes at least one key with a marking layer on its surface indicating a compound vowel or a nasal vowel.

[0044] Furthermore, the keyboard membrane also includes a retroflex consonant key area, which is located around the vowel key area. The retroflex consonant key area includes at least one key with an identification layer of the retroflex consonant on its surface.

[0045] Preferably, the single-letter key area includes: ten keys A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J arranged in the third row; nine keys K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, and S arranged in the fourth row; and seven keys T, U, V, W, X, Y, and Z arranged in the fifth row.

[0046] Preferably, the single-letter key area includes: ten keys arranged in sequence in the third row (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J); nine keys arranged in sequence in the fourth row (K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S); and seven keys arranged in sequence in the fifth row (T, U, ü, W, X, Y, Z) and three retroflex consonant keys (zh, ch, sh).

[0047] Preferably, the vowel key area is arranged from left to right as follows: ai, ao, an, ang, en, ei, eng, ie, iu, ian, iang, iong, ua, ue, uo, ün, ong.

[0048] This invention relates to a keyboard membrane that can be directly applied to a standard keyboard on a terminal device, providing a letter layout suitable for Pinyin input. When a user needs to use Pinyin input for Chinese input, the keyboard membrane is placed over the original keyboard, and then the user switches to the keyboard layout of the membrane using a preset switching method.

[0049] This keyboard membrane is suitable for student laptops used by primary and secondary school students, and can effectively improve typing speed and save on learning costs.

[0050] like Figure 1 As shown, the keyboard layout of the terminal device adopts the traditional American QWERTY keyboard layout. However, in the original keyboard layout, positions are reserved for keys for compound vowels or nasal vowels. These compound vowels or nasal vowels include: ai, an, ao, ang, ui, ei, en, eng, ou, ie, iu, ian, iang, iong, ua, ue, uo, ün, ong. Depending on the size of the keyboard, key layouts for other vowels that are not included can be added, such as üe, un, er, in, ing.

[0051] Based on this, the key layout of the keyboard membrane of this utility model differs from that of the keyboard of the terminal device, such as... Figure 2 As shown, the letter key area uses the 26 single letters of Pinyin in sequence. The first row of letters is ABCDEFGHIJ, the second row of letters is KLMNOPQRS, and the third row of letters is TUVWXYZ.

[0052] The fourth row below the letter key area is the compound vowel area, including but not limited to: ai, ao, an, ang, en, ei, eng, ie, iu, ian, iang, iong, ua, ue, uo, ün, ong. The layout of the keyboard membrane can also be set according to the keyboard layout to facilitate users to input compound vowels in a faster way and improve the typing speed of Chinese characters.

[0053] Each compound vowel in the compound vowel area of ​​the keyboard membrane corresponds one-to-one with each compound vowel in the reserved compound vowel area of ​​the keyboard. When inputting Chinese, if the user switches to the keyboard membrane to input keys, the obtained key value matches the compound vowel displayed on the keyboard membrane.

[0054] In another embodiment, key positions for retroflex initials such as ch, zh, and sh can be reserved as needed, for example... Figure 4 , 5 6. Remove the original shift key, such as Figure 4 Adding key positions for retroflex initials such as ch, zh, and sh, yields results like... Figure 5 , Figure 6The keyboard film includes: In the third row, ten keys A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J are arranged in sequence; in the fourth row, nine keys K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S are arranged in sequence; in the fifth row, seven keys T, U, ü, W, X, Y, Z and a key area for three retroflex initial consonants zh, ch, sh are arranged in sequence.

[0055] This technical solution is suitable for people who input in pinyin, especially primary school students who are beginners in pinyin. In pinyin, there are initial consonants, final consonants, and medial vowels (i, u). The design of this utility model is based on the characteristics of pinyin itself, aiming to only require two taps when inputting Chinese characters, regardless of the length of the final consonant, that is: one tap for the initial consonant and one tap for the final consonant (including the medial vowel in the final consonant). For example, for "liang", only need to tap the initial consonant key "l" and the final consonant key "iang", and complete the input by tapping the keyboard twice.

[0056] On the other hand, as Figure 2 shown, this application also provides an input switching device. The switching device is located on the ordinary keyboard of the terminal device, corresponding to the switching key of the ordinary keyboard. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to perform mutual switching between the keyboard film mode and the ordinary keyboard mode, so that when the user inputs keys on the keyboard film, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard film, or when the user inputs keys on the ordinary keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the ordinary keyboard.

[0057] On the other hand, as Figure 2 shown, this application also provides an input switching device. The switching device is located on the keyboard film as described above, corresponding to the switching key of the keyboard film. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to perform mutual switching between the keyboard film mode and the ordinary keyboard mode, so that when the user inputs keys on the ordinary keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the ordinary keyboard, or when the user inputs keys on the keyboard film, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard film.

[0058] In terms of the keyboard mode switching method, it can be selected to set an input switching key at a preset position on the keyboard film, and an input switching key is also provided at the corresponding position on the computer keyboard. One implementation is that the switching key is at the lower left corner of the keyboard.

[0059] A switching interface can also be set. By embedding a keyboard switching module in the terminal device, the user can select keyboard film input or keyboard input through the switching interface.

[0060] Compared with the prior art, the keyboard film and the input switching device provided by the embodiments of this utility model have at least the following beneficial effects: The embodiments of this utility model can effectively improve the input speed and save the learning cost.

[0061] The embodiments of this application have been described in detail above. Specific examples have been used to illustrate the principles and implementation methods of this application. The description of the above embodiments is only for the purpose of helping to understand the method and core ideas of this application. At the same time, for those skilled in the art, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods and application scope based on the ideas of this application. Therefore, the content of this specification should not be construed as a limitation of this application.

[0062] It should be noted that the above embodiments can be freely combined as needed. The above are merely preferred embodiments of this utility model. It should be pointed out that for those skilled in the art, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of this utility model, and these improvements and modifications should also be considered within the protection scope of this utility model.

Claims

1. A keyboard membrane, characterized in that The keyboard membrane includes: a plurality of keys; Several keys form a function key area, a number and symbol key area, a single letter key area, and a vowel key area; The function key area is located in the top row of the keyboard membrane; The numeric keypad is located below the function key area, occupying the second row of the keyboard membrane; The single-letter key area is located below the number symbol key area, occupying the third to fifth rows of the keyboard membrane; The vowel key area is located below the single letter key area and in the sixth row of the keyboard membrane; The keyboard membrane also includes a switching key located at any position on the bottom row of the keyboard membrane to provide switching for Chinese Pinyin input. When the switching key is pressed, the keyboard membrane mode and the normal keyboard mode are switched between each other.

2. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The function key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface indicating its function.

3. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The number symbol key area includes at least one key with an identification layer on its surface that identifies numbers or symbols.

4. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The vowel key area includes at least one key with a marking layer on its surface indicating a compound vowel or a nasal vowel.

5. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The keyboard membrane also includes a retroflex consonant key area, which is located around the vowel key area. The retroflex consonant key area includes at least one key with an identification layer of the retroflex consonant on its surface.

6. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The single-letter key area includes: ten keys arranged in order in the third row (A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J); nine keys arranged in order in the fourth row (K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S); and seven keys arranged in order in the fifth row (T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z).

7. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The single-letter key area includes: the third row with ten keys A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, and J arranged in sequence; the fourth row with nine keys K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, and S arranged in sequence; and the fifth row with seven keys T, U, ü, W, X, Y, and Z arranged in sequence, as well as the key area for three retroflex consonants zh, ch, and sh.

8. The keyboard membrane of claim 1, wherein, The vowel key area is arranged from left to right as follows: ai, ao, an, ang, en, ei, eng, ie, iu, ian, iang, iong, ua, ue, uo, ün, ong.

9. An input switching device, characterized by The switching device is located on the ordinary keyboard of the terminal device and corresponds to the switching key of the ordinary keyboard. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to switch between keyboard membrane mode and ordinary keyboard mode, so that when the user performs key input on the keyboard membrane as described in any one of claims 1-8, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard membrane, or when the user performs key input on the ordinary keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the ordinary keyboard.

10. An input switching device, characterized by The switching device is located on the keyboard membrane as described in any one of claims 1-8, corresponding to the switching key of the keyboard membrane. When the switching key is pressed, the switching device is activated to switch between keyboard membrane mode and normal keyboard mode, so that when the user performs key input on the normal keyboard, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the normal keyboard, or when the user performs key input on the keyboard membrane, the terminal device receives the key value corresponding to the key operated on the keyboard membrane.

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