Home Row Embedded Cursor Control for Compact Touch Keyboards
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional compact keyboards face challenges in maintaining effective touch-typing efficiency due to small key sizes and the need for dedicated cursor keys, which occupy valuable space and disrupt the home row, leading to slower typing and increased manufacturing costs.
Innovation Solution
A compact keyboard design with three layers of functions, where alphanumeric characters, numbers, and special functions are integrated onto larger keys, and cursor control functions are embedded in the home row, allowing for efficient finger spacing and tactile identification, eliminating the need for dedicated cursor keys.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated cursor keys are added to the keyboard, then cursor control function is improved, but keyboard size and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The home row keys are designed to serve dual purposes: alphanumeric input during typing and cursor control during navigation. By implementing context-sensitive key functionality, the same physical keys perform different functions based on the active mode, eliminating the need for dedicated cursor keys while maintaining both typing and navigation capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the cursor control function with the home row alphanumeric keys. The cursor control capabilities are integrated into the existing home row key structure, combining two previously separate functions (typing and cursor control) into a unified key system that reduces overall keyboard footprint
2Adaptability or versatility
If dedicated cursor keys are added to the keyboard, then cursor control function is improved, but typing speed decreases due to frequent home row departure
Solution Approach 1:
The home row keys serve as both alphanumeric input keys and cursor control keys, allowing typists to maintain home row position while performing cursor navigation. This eliminates the need to leave the home row for cursor control operations, maintaining typing rhythm and speed
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of having cursor keys separate from the home row, the invention inverts the traditional layout by embedding cursor control functions within the home row keys themselves. This reversal of the conventional approach allows cursor control to be performed without breaking the home row typing position
3Area of stationary object
If key spacing is reduced to make keyboard smaller, then keyboard size is improved, but touch-typing effectiveness deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The invention resolves the spacing conflict by adding a temporal/dimensional layer to key functionality. Instead of physically expanding the keyboard to provide both adequate spacing and dedicated cursor keys, the solution uses multiple functional layers activated through different key press patterns, allowing sufficient physical spacing to be maintained while providing enhanced functionality through context-sensitive operations
Data Source
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AI summary
A touch-type keyboard having shifted functions accessed by a concurrent combination of multiple home row keys. Cursor control keys embedded in the home row of a touch-type keyboard. Cursor key functions are mapped to a location on a home row and an immediately adjacent location. Access to the cursor control functions is provided by concurrently actuating at least one other home row key. One embodiment includes key configurations to reduce hand motion, and labeling configurations to reduce visual clutter. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.