Electronic device, display control method, and program

Abstract

This provides a new input interface that enables high usability even on electronic devices with small display screens. [Solution] The printing device 100 includes a keyboard 103 including character keys 110 and selection keys 130, a display 104 separate from the keyboard 103, and a control unit that controls the display 104 in response to user operation on the keyboard 103. In response to a first operation on the character key 110, the control unit causes the display 104 to display a first character that is pre-associated with the character key 110. In response to a second operation on the character key 110 that is different from the first operation, the control unit causes the display 104 to display a plurality of selection key information indicating selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The disclosure of this specification relates to an electronic device, a display control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes a technology related to an input interface that can achieve high usability even in a small electronic device with a display screen by supporting a swipe operation.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The device described in Patent Document 1 supports a swipe operation by including a touch panel, but an electronic device does not necessarily include a touch panel. Based on the above situation, an object according to one aspect of the present invention is to provide a new input interface that can achieve high usability even in a small electronic device with a display screen.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] An electronic device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a key input unit including a character key and a selection key, a display unit different from the key input unit, and a control unit that controls the display unit in response to a user operation on the key input unit. The control unit causes the display unit to display a first character pre-associated with the character key in response to a first operation on the character key, and causes the display unit to display a plurality of selection key information indicating the selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters pre-associated with the first character in response to a second operation different from the first operation on the character key. [Effects of the Invention]

[0006] According to the above embodiment, it is possible to provide a new input interface that can achieve high usability even on electronic devices with small display screens. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This diagram illustrates the configuration of an electronic device according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the electronic device shown. [Figure 3] Figure 1 shows an example of a display on an electronic device's screen. [Figure 4] This figure shows another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 5] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 6] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 7] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 8] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 9] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 10] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 11] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Figure 12] This figure shows yet another example of the display of the electronic device shown in Figure 1. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following, embodiments of the present invention will be described using a printing device as an example, which is an electronic device equipped with a key input unit and a display unit, capable of printing characters, images, etc., on a tape that is a printing medium, and cutting the printed tape (label) to discharge it outside the device. In this specification, tape is a long, thin, strip-shaped printing medium made of plastic, paper, or any other material. Tape typically has an adhesive layer and can be attached. However, tape does not have to have an adhesive layer. A label is something on which some information is printed using tape as a printing medium. The printing method of the printing device according to the embodiment is not particularly limited. The printing device may be, for example, a thermal printer that performs printing by thermal transfer or heat-sensitive method, an inkjet printer, or a laser printer.

[0009] The printing device 100 shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a processor 101, a storage device 102, a keyboard 103, a display 104, and a printing unit 105. The processor 101, the storage device 102, and the printing unit 105 are housed inside the device housing 106. The device housing 106 also houses a roll of tape 2 (hereinafter referred to as "tape roll 1"). The width of the tape 2 is, for example, 9 mm, but tapes of various widths such as 3.5 mm, 6 mm, 12 mm, 18 mm, 24 mm, and 36 mm can be used. The display 104 is provided on the surface of a lid 107 that is attached to the device housing 106 so as to be openable and closable, and the keyboard 103 is provided on the surface of the device housing 106 so as not to interfere with the lid 107 when it is in the closed position.

[0010] Keyboard 103 is a key input section that accepts user input and includes multiple physical keys. Keyboard 103 is, for example, a QWERTY keyboard. As shown in Figure 1, Keyboard 103 includes character keys 110 (character keys 111 to 120) and selection keys 130 (selection keys 131 to 134). Character keys 110 are physical keys to which at least one character (first character) is pre-associated depending on the input mode (hiragana input, katakana input, alphanumeric input, etc.). In this example, each of the character keys 110 is a key that corresponds to the first hiragana character of each row of the 50-sound system ("あ", "か", "さ", "た", "な", "は", "ま", "や", "ら", "わ") in hiragana input mode. Selection keys 130 are physical keys used to select an object from multiple candidates. In this example, each of the selection keys 130 corresponds to the up, down, left, and right arrow keys.

[0011] The display 104 is a display unit that displays characters entered by operating the keyboard 103, and is, for example, a liquid crystal display. In the following explanation, we will use the example where the display 104 is relatively small in both size and pixel count, and there is a limit to the number of characters that can be displayed by operating the keyboard 103, specifically, the case where the maximum number of characters that can be displayed is 6, as shown in Figures 3 to 12. Figures 3 to 12 show an example in which the display 104 has 6 display areas (display area R1 to display area R6), each capable of displaying one character.

[0012] The processor 101 is a control unit that controls the printing device 100 by executing a program 102a stored in the storage device 102, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 101 controls the display 104 in response to user input on the keyboard 103, for example. The storage device 102 is a non-temporary computer-readable medium and includes, for example, any semiconductor memory. The storage device 102 may include a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, or other types of storage devices. The printing unit 105 is a mechanism for printing information onto the tape 2 and includes, for example, a thermal head and a platen roller.

[0013] The printing device 100, configured as described above, can display information to be printed on tape 2 on the display 104 by having the user input the necessary information using the keyboard 103. Furthermore, the printing device 100 can print the information displayed on the display 104 onto tape 2 to create a label by having the user input a print command using the keyboard 103. In addition, the printing device 100 is configured to achieve operability similar to flick input used in touch panel devices using physical keys. More specifically, the printing device 100 achieves operability similar to flick input by performing predetermined display control on the display 104 in response to user operations on the keyboard 103, which includes character keys 110 and selection keys 130. The changes in the display on the display 104 in response to user operations on the keyboard 103 will be described in detail below with reference to Figures 3 to 12.

[0014] When the user presses the character key 110, the processor 101 causes the display 104 to display, as the determined character, the first character that has been pre-associated with the pressed character key 110 in response to the pressing of the character key 110. Here, the pressing of the character key 110 is an example of the first operation on the character key 110, and the first character that has been pre-associated with the character key 110 is the first hiragana character in each row of the 50 sounds. FIG. 3 shows a state in which, as a result of the user pressing the character key 111, the first character "a" corresponding to the character key 111 is displayed in the display area R1 of the display 104. That is, FIG. 3 shows a state in which the input character "a" input by the user operation is displayed in the display area R1.

[0015] When a user long-presses character key 110, processor 101 displays the first character as an unconfirmed character on display 104 in response to the long-press on character key 110, and further displays multiple selection key information in the area adjacent to the first character on display 104. Here, long-pressing character key 110 is an example of a second operation on character key 110. The multiple selection key information indicates the selection key for selecting each of the multiple second characters that are pre-associated with the first character, and the multiple second characters pre-associated with the first character are hiragana characters other than the first character that belong to the same row as the first character. Figure 4 shows the result of a user long-pressing character key 111, where the first character "あ" corresponding to character key 111 is displayed in display area R2 of display 104, and a total of four selection key information items are displayed, two each in display areas R3 and R4 adjacent to display area R2. More specifically, display area R2 displays the first character "あ" along with a cursor C indicating the current position so that the user can recognize that the first character "あ" is an unconfirmed character. Display area R3 displays the first selection key information, consisting of the second character "い" which is pre-associated with the first character "あ" and the symbol "←" which indicates the left key (arrow key) used to select the second character "い". Second selection key information consists of the second character "う" which is pre-associated with the first character "あ" and the symbol "↑" which indicates the up key (arrow key) used to select the second character "う". Furthermore, display area R4 displays a third selection key information consisting of the second character "e" pre-associated with the first character "a" and the symbol "→" indicating the right arrow key, which is the selection key for selecting the second character "e". It also displays a fourth selection key information consisting of the second character "o" pre-associated with the first character "a" and the symbol "↓" indicating the down arrow key, which is the selection key for selecting the second character "o". Thus, each selection key information contains the second character.

[0016] When a plurality of selection key information is displayed on the display 104 and the user presses any one of the selection keys, the processor 101 causes the second character selected by the pressed selection key to be displayed as a confirmed character on the display 104. In FIG. 5, as a result of the user pressing the selection key 131 which is the left key, the selection key information becomes non-displayed, and the second character "i" selected by the selection key 131 is shown to be displayed in the display area R2 of the display 104. That is, FIG. 5 shows the state where the input characters "a" and "i" input by the user operation are displayed in the display area R1 and the display area R2.

[0017] After that, from the state shown in FIG. 5, the user further performs a long press of the character key 111 followed by pressing the selection key 132, and a long press of the character key 111 followed by pressing the selection key 133. As shown in FIG. 6, "u" and "e" are displayed as confirmed characters on the display 104. That is, FIG. 6 shows the state where the input characters "a", "i", "u", and "e" input by the user operation are displayed from the display area R1 to the display area R4.

[0018] As described above, in the printing device 100, the processor 101 displays on the display 104 multiple selection key information indicating selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters pre-associated with the first character, in response to a second operation that is different from the first operation on the character key 110. Furthermore, in response to a press of a selection key, the processor 101 displays on the display 104 the second character selected by the selection key. In other words, the printing device 100 can accept a two-stage operation to input characters, and can achieve operability similar to the flick operation (a combination of touch operation and slide operation) used in devices equipped with a touch panel. Hereafter, this two-stage operation will be referred to as a pseudo-flick operation. Furthermore, the printing device 100 is configured to accept pseudo-flick operations at a key input unit separate from the display unit. For this reason, it can be applied even when the display unit does not have a touch panel, or when the display unit is small and unsuitable for flick operations on the display unit. Therefore, the printing device 100 provides a new input interface that offers high usability, even for electronic devices with small display screens, and is easy for users accustomed to flick operations to use. In particular, as described in this embodiment, if the second operation is a long press and the selection key is a directional key, it is possible to achieve operability that is very similar to flick operations. Furthermore, since the selection key information is displayed in the area adjacent to the first character displayed at the current position, the user can select the second character without moving their eyes significantly, which also contributes to high operability. Moreover, since it is possible to input more types of characters than the number of keys through pseudo-flick operations, it can be used even with keyboards that have a small number of keys and can be applied to small electronic devices.

[0019] If the processor 101 detects a long press on the character key 110 when there is not enough unused area on the display 104 to display multiple selection keys, it may display at least a portion of the multiple selection key information in the used area of ​​the display 104. For example, as shown in Figure 7, the processor 101 may display all the selection key information in the used area (display area R3, display area R4) where input characters prior to the current position where the cursor C is displayed were already displayed. Alternatively, if there is unused area remaining on the display 104, the processor 101 may display a portion of the multiple selection key information in the unused area (display area R6) behind the current position where the cursor C is displayed, and the remaining portion of the multiple selection key information in the used area (display area R4) prior to the current position, for example, as shown in Figure 8. In other words, if the second operation is performed on the character key 110 when the number of input characters displayed on the display 104 is greater than or equal to a predetermined number, the processor 101 may display at least a portion of the multiple selection key information in the area on the display 104 where the input characters were displayed. This makes it possible to input characters using a simulated flick gesture, up to the maximum number of characters that can be displayed on the display 104.

[0020] The processor 101 only needs to display multiple selection key information on the display 104 in response to a long press on the character key 110, and therefore it is not necessary to display the first character as an unconfirmed character on the display 104 in response to a long press on the character key 110. For example, as shown in Figure 9, the processor 101 may display multiple selection key information in the current position where the cursor C is displayed (display area R5) and in an unused area (display area R6). Alternatively, the processor 101 may display multiple selection key information in the current position where the cursor C is displayed and in a used area. This minimizes changes to the display of the used area. Figure 10 shows the result when the user presses the down arrow key, selection key 134, the selection key information is hidden, and the second character "お" selected by selection key 134 is displayed in the display area R5 of the display 104.

[0021] The embodiments described above are specific examples provided to facilitate understanding of the invention, and the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, but should be understood as encompassing various modifications and alternative forms of the embodiments described above. For example, although a printing device was exemplified in the embodiments described above, the electronic device to which the present invention applies may be any electronic device having a key input unit and a display unit, and is not necessarily limited to a printing device. For example, it can be applied to other electronic devices such as electronic dictionaries. Also, although an electronic device without a touch panel on the display unit was exemplified in the embodiments described above, it can also be applied to electronic devices having a touch panel. Furthermore, although a QWERTY keyboard was exemplified as the key input unit in the embodiments described above, since it is possible to input more types of characters than the number of physical keys through pseudo-flick input, the key input unit may include fewer physical keys. Also, although pressing as the first operation and long-pressing as the second operation were exemplified in the embodiments described above, the first and second operations may be different operations on the character keys. For example, the first operation may be pressing and the second operation may be double-pressing. Alternatively, the first operation may be double-pressing and the second operation may be pressing. Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment showed an example in which the selection key information includes a second character and a symbol, it is desirable that the selection key information includes at least a second character. For example, if the display unit is capable of color display, multiple second characters may be displayed in different colors so that the color-displayed second characters themselves indicate the corresponding selection key (a key with a pre-assigned color). Also, although the above-described embodiment showed an example in which the selection key is a directional key, the selection key may be, for example, a number key. In that case, each selection key information only needs to include a combination of a second character and a number. Also, although the above-described embodiment showed an example in which the input character (confirmed character) is not converted further, the input character may be converted to a different character by kana-kanji conversion or other means through additional user operation.

[0022] In the embodiment described above, the predetermined number compared to the number of input characters displayed on the display 104 is exemplified as 4. However, this predetermined number can be determined based on the number of input characters that can be displayed on the display 104 and the number of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character. This allows for effective use of the area on the display 104 regardless of the specifications of the display 104. If the number of input characters that can be displayed on the display 104 is larger, the predetermined number may also be larger. On the other hand, if the number of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character is larger, the predetermined number may be smaller. Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, an example was shown in which selection key information for two second characters is displayed in the area of ​​one input character. However, the number of selection key information for two second characters displayed in the area of ​​one input character is arbitrary. For example, as shown in Figure 11, selection key information for four second characters may be displayed. The predetermined number described above may also be determined by considering how many selection key information for two second characters is displayed in the area of ​​one input character.

[0023] The printing device 100 may further have an input assistance function. The processor 101 may predict the next character to be entered and display it as a candidate character on the display 104. The method for predicting candidate characters is not particularly limited, and any existing technology can be used. For example, as shown in Figure 12, the processor 101 may, in response to the pressing of the selection key 130 in a pseudo-flick operation, display the second character selected by the selection key 130 and the character that is predicted to be entered following the second character on the display 104. This reduces the burden on the user in character input. The process of predicting the next character to be entered and displaying it as a candidate character on the display 104 may be performed not only when the selection key 130 is pressed following the second operation, but also during the first operation. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 100: Printer, 101: Processor, 103: Input device, 104: Display device, 111-120: Character keys, 131-134: Selection keys

Claims

1. A key input section including character keys and selection keys, A display unit different from the aforementioned key input unit, The system comprises a control unit that controls the display unit in response to user operations on the key input unit, The control unit, In response to a first operation on the character key, the display unit displays a first character that has been pre-associated with the character key. In response to a second operation on the character key that differs from the first operation, the display unit displays a plurality of selection key information indicating the selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character. electronic equipment.

2. In the electronic device described in claim 1, When the second operation is performed on the character key while the number of input characters displayed on the display unit is greater than or equal to a predetermined number, the control unit causes at least a portion of the plurality of selection key information to be displayed in the area of ​​the display unit where the input characters were displayed. electronic equipment.

3. In the electronic device according to claim 2, The predetermined number is determined based on the number of input characters that can be displayed on the display unit and the number of the plurality of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character. electronic equipment.

4. In the electronic device according to claim 1 or claim 2, The control unit, in response to the second operation on the character key, causes the first character to be displayed on the display unit and the plurality of selection key information to be displayed in the area adjacent to the first character on the display unit. electronic equipment.

5. In the electronic device according to claim 1 or claim 2, The second operation is a long press, The aforementioned selection key is a directional key. electronic equipment.

6. In the electronic device according to claim 1 or claim 2, In response to the pressing of the selection key, the control unit causes the second character selected by the selection key and the character expected to be entered following the second character to be displayed on the display unit. electronic equipment.

7. In the electronic device according to claim 1 or claim 2, The electronic device is a printing device that prints the information displayed on the display unit. electronic equipment.

8. A display control method for an electronic device comprising a key input unit including character keys and selection keys, and a display unit different from the key input unit, In response to a first operation on the character key, the display unit displays a first character that has been pre-associated with the character key. In response to a second operation on the character key that differs from the first operation, the display unit displays a plurality of selection key information indicating the selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character. Display control method.

9. A computer in an electronic device having a key input section including character keys and selection keys, and a display section different from the key input section, In response to a first operation on the character key, the display unit displays a first character that has been pre-associated with the character key. In response to a second operation on the character key that differs from the first operation, the display unit displays a plurality of selection key information indicating the selection keys for selecting each of a plurality of second characters that are pre-associated with the first character. A program that executes a process.

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