JP3105100B2 - Character input device and character input method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a character input device and a character input method for inputting characters and figures by hand using a stylus pen on an input device stacked and integrated on a display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a character input device of this type has a configuration in which a display device such as an LCD and an input device such as a transparent tablet are laminated and integrated, and a character or a graphic is input using a stylus pen. Because you can enter as if you were writing on a piece of paper,
Recently, it has been used in various fields. Along with this, a device that conventionally used a keyboard as an input device to input characters and the like also inputs information in the form of a sequence of coordinate points using a stylus pen or the like without using a keyboard, and converts this sequence of coordinate points. It has come to be recognized and input as characters.
The input of such handwritten characters is performed while the handwriting is displayed on the display device, so that there is an advantage that it is visually easy to understand.
However, when a handwriting input device is used for security check of a computer system or the like, there is a problem that handwriting remains when inputting handwritten characters, and the input is recognized by a third party watching from the side. . In order to avoid this, conventionally, a character input method is substituted by a button method, or a handwriting input is performed without displaying any handwriting at all. However, if no handwriting is displayed at the time of input, it is difficult for a third party to recognize the input, but the input user may not be able to understand the input state. Also, if handwriting is not displayed at the time of input, the pattern written by the input user will be messy, or it will be input slowly to write correctly, so the former will adversely affect the character recognition process, and the latter will There is a risk that an adverse effect will occur, in that the third party will be more easily recognized.

[0003]

In a conventional character input device for inputting various information such as characters and figures by hand using the stylus pen as described above, handwriting remains when inputting handwritten characters. However, there is a problem that the input items are recognized by a third party who is looking at the information. In order to avoid this, conventionally, a character input method is substituted by a button method, or handwriting input is performed without displaying any handwriting at all. However, if no handwriting is displayed at the time of input, it is difficult for a third party to recognize the input, but the input user may not be able to understand the input state. Also, if handwriting is not displayed at the time of input, the pattern written by the input person will be messy, or it will be input slowly, in order to write accurately, so the former will adversely affect the character recognition process, and the latter will There is a risk that an adverse effect will occur, in that the third party will be more easily recognized instead.

Accordingly, the present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks, and makes the input person understand the input state and the third person who looks at the side.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a character input device and a character input method that make it difficult for a user to recognize input items.

[0005]

A character input device according to the present invention.
When you enter characters into the input device by handwriting with a pen,
In a character input device that displays the handwriting of the input character on a display device that is provided integrally with the input device based on the coordinate point sequence obtained from the input device, the handwriting that is input from the input device is the handwriting. A timer for measuring the elapsed time from the input time of each stroke forming a character displayed on the display device; and, from the display device, the strokes in which the fixed time has elapsed from the input time by the timer device. And an erasing means for erasing. In addition, the character input method according to the present invention provides
Detected stroke and the corresponding input stroke
To display the handwriting of the input character composed of
In the character input method, from the time of inputting the stroke
A method for measuring the elapsed time, the counting of the elapsed time binding
As a result, the stroke after a certain time
Comprising a step of controlling so as to cancel the display Te
It is characterized by the following.

[0006]

In the character input device according to the present invention, the timing means measures the elapsed time from the input time of each stroke which is input from the input device and whose handwriting forms a character displayed on the display device. The erasing means sequentially erases, from the display device, the strokes of which a predetermined time has elapsed from the time of input by the timing means. Thereby, a part of the handwriting of the input character or pattern is displayed in accordance with the input, and all the handwriting is erased at the end of the input. In addition, the character input method of the present invention allows
The time elapsed since the input of the
As a result of the stroke, the stroke after a certain time has passed since the input
The display is stopped for.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the character input device of the present invention. The character input device includes an input device 1 for inputting information of a two-dimensional coordinate point sequence, a control device 2 mainly including a microprocessor, information of a coordinate point sequence input via the input device 1, and the control device. And a dictionary for handwritten character recognition 41 which is referred to when the control device 2 recognizes information input from the coordinate input device 1 as characters. It mainly comprises an external storage device 4.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the external structure of the character input device shown in FIG. The character input device includes a transparent tablet 1a as shown in FIG. 2 and a stylus pen 1b for indicating a coordinate position on the transparent tablet 1a. A switch is provided at the tip of the stylus pen 1b, and the switch is turned on and off by handwriting written at the time of character input. The display device 3 is composed of a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like. The liquid crystal display 3 and the transparent tablet 1a are stacked and integrated to form the same coordinate plane having the same dimensions. Furthermore,
The control unit 2 includes a control unit 22 for controlling various functions and a storage unit 28.

Next, the function of the control device 22 shown in FIG. 1 will be briefly described. The input unit 21 performs an input process of the coordinate information input from the input device 1. The control unit 22 displays handwriting on the display device 3 when performing input for dividing information of the coordinate point sequence input from the input device 1 via the input unit 21 into units of one character or number, After the elapse of a certain time, the control of handwriting erasure is performed. The recognition unit 23 recognizes the information input by the control unit 22 as characters or numbers. The storage unit 28 includes a coordinate information buffer 281 for storing the coordinate information fetched by the input unit 21 from the coordinate input device 1 and a character coordinate buffer 2 for temporarily storing coordinate point sequence information as character information from the contents of the coordinate information.
82, an area information buffer 283 for storing information for specifying an area on the display device 3, a registration pattern buffer 284 for reading information of the handwritten character recognition dictionary 41, the character coordinate buffer 282, and the registration pattern buffer 2
It comprises a recognition result buffer 285 for temporarily storing characters or numbers recognized by the recognition unit 23 from the information 84. The character coordinate buffer 282 includes a character input start position coordinate storage area 83 indicating the head of the storage destination of character information, a character coordinate input position storage area 84, a stroke point input position storage area 85 for storing the number of strokes, Stroke display start position storage area 8 indicating the position where the start coordinates of the stroke are stored
6. A stroke display end position storage area 87 indicating the position where the end coordinates of the stroke being displayed is stored, and a stroke erasure start counter storage area 88 storing time information until the stroke erasure processing is started. I have.

Hereinafter, the flow of processing relating to handwriting / erasing of input characters of the character input device shown in FIG. 1 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the entire flow of the character input process. First, the control unit 22 shown in FIG.
The coordinate information designated by the stylus pen 1b is read out from the CPU, and the information is stored in the coordinate information buffer 281. The coordinate information is stored in the format shown in FIG. 4, and the x-coordinate Cx and y-coordinate Cy indicating the position of the stylus pen, the switch state information Csw indicating the on / off state of the switch, and the change of the switch from the state read immediately before. It is composed of switch state transition information St indicating presence / absence. Subsequently, in step 302, the control unit 22 compares the pen state item shown in FIG. 5 with the corresponding switch information Csw and switch state transition information St. The pen state is the following four states,
That is, the pen switch at the tip of the stylus pen 1b is classified into a state where the pen switch changes from off to on, a state where the switch changes from on to off, a state where the switch remains on, and a state where the switch remains off. . The control unit 22 shown in FIG.
Steps 302, 303,
The processing is performed in steps 304 and 305, and one process for the coordinate information ends.

That is, the control unit 22 determines in step 302 whether or not the pen switch at the tip of the stylus pen 1b has changed from off to on.
02, and if so, to step 306.
In step 306, the control unit 22 sets Csw to 1, St
Is set to 1 and the process ends. When proceeding to step 303, the control unit 22 determines whether or not the pen switch at the tip of the stylus pen 1b has changed from on to off, and if not, proceeds to step 304, and if so, proceeds to step 307. . The control unit 22 determines in step 307 that C
The process is terminated by setting sw to 0 and St to 1. Step 3
When the process proceeds to step 04, the control unit 22 determines whether or not the pen switch at the tip of the stylus pen 1b is in an ON state. If not, the process proceeds to step 305. If so, the process proceeds to step 308. The control unit 22 sets Csw to 1 and St to 0 in step 308, and ends the process. When proceeding to step 305, the control unit 22 sets Csw to 0 and St to 0, and ends the processing. These four stylus pen states are as follows: at the time of character input, the start of a character stroke (from switch off to on), the continuation of the stroke (switch on), the end of the stroke (from switch on to off), and the no input ( Switch off).
On the other hand, the timer unit 24 shown in FIG. 1 is set so as to call the control unit 22 at every preset time. The control unit 22 repeatedly executes the above-described operation at regular time intervals by calling the timer unit 24, and a character input process is executed by a series of processes of the control unit 22.

Next, the processing contents classified as above will be described with reference to specific examples. The input area displayed on the display device 3 includes a character input area 600, a character input start button 601, a character input end button 602, and an area 603 indicating a character recognition result, as shown in FIG. The crosses in the figure indicate input coordinate points input by the coordinate input device 1,
The down arrow indicates the start of the stroke, the up arrow indicates the end of the stroke, and the solid line connecting the input coordinate points indicates the continuation of the stroke.
Hereinafter, in the example shown in FIG.
, The start of the character input is instructed, and then, at point a1, the start of the stroke of the first stroke, points a2, a3, and a4
To continue the stroke, end the stroke of the first stroke at point a5, similarly start the stroke of the second stroke at point b1,
The processing in FIG. 3 will be described in detail for an example in which the character input is ended by inputting the point e in the end button 602 after reaching the points b2 and b3 and ending at the point b4.

FIG. 7 shows the detailed processing of step 301 shown in FIG. The input of the point s shown in FIG. 6 is performed based on the position information stored in the coordinate information buffer 281 and the area information stored in the area information buffer 283 in step 70.
The determination is made by the control unit 22 at 1. As a result, if the input point is within the area, the control unit 22 performs input preparation processing in step 708. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the input preparation processing. That is, the control unit 22 sets the input start position 83 in the character coordinate buffer 282 that stores the coordinate information of the input character in step 801, sets the coordinate input position 84 in step 802,
In step 03, a stroke display start position 286 and a stroke display end position 287 are set. Step 801-
In the position setting in the processing of 803, the position 901 in the character coordinate buffer 282 is stored as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, when the point a1 shown in FIG. 6 is inputted, the control unit 22 determines whether or not there is a display stroke at step 70.
In step 70, if there is no display stroke, a count value indicating the time from the input / display of the stroke to the erasure of the stroke is stored in the stroke erasure start counter 88.
9, the position information indicated by the coordinate input position 84 in FIG.
Is set as the input point 1 at the position indicated by the stroke point input position 85 and a stroke point identifier is set. Thereafter, the control unit 22 writes and updates the coordinate input position 84 in the next position 902 shown in FIG. 9 where the coordinate information can be stored in the character coordinate buffer 282 in step 705. Subsequently, the control unit 22 proceeds to step 70
6, the coordinate point cx stored in the character coordinate buffer 281 at the position indicated by the coordinate input position 84 as shown in FIG.
cy is stored and a coordinate identifier is set. Finally, control unit 2
In step 707, the coordinate input position 84 is updated by writing the coordinate input position 84 to the next position 903 shown in FIG. 9 where the coordinate information in the character coordinate buffer 282 can be stored, and the process ends.

FIG. 9 shows the contents of the character coordinate buffer 282 when the input processing of the point a1 shown in FIG. 6 is completed. As shown in FIG. 10, the coordinate information stored in the character coordinate buffer 282 includes a collection of stroke points / coordinate identifiers p and an information part q. Number of stroke points / coordinate identifier p
Distinguishes the number of stroke coordinate points or the xy coordinates of the coordinate points. In FIG. 9, the number of stroke points / coordinate identifier 90
0 is 1 when it is a stroke number identifier, and 0 when it is a coordinate identifier. If it is determined in step 702 that there is a display stroke, the control unit 22 proceeds to step 703 to determine whether or not the end button 602 shown in FIG. 6 has been pressed. The process ends. However, if it has not been pressed, the process proceeds to step 704 to perform the above-described processing.

Next, details of the handwriting display and erasure processing performed in response to the input of the coordinate points a2 to a5 in FIG. 6 executed in steps 307 and 308 in FIG. 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. In step 1101, the control unit 22 stores the coordinates of the point a2 in a position 903 (see FIG. 9) shown in the character coordinate input position storage area 84 shown in FIG.
In step 1102, the number of strokes stored in the position 901 (see FIG. 9) shown in the stroke point input position storage area 85 is set to 2. Subsequently, the control unit 22 performs the handwriting erasure process executed in step 1103 according to the flowchart of FIG. That is, the control unit 22 determines whether the stroke display start position storage area 86 and the stroke display end position storage area 87 are the same in step 12.
01, and if they are the same, it is determined that there is no display stroke, and the process ends without doing anything. Next, FIG.
Returning to step 1, in step 1104, the control unit 22 controls the position 902 (see FIG.
The handwriting is displayed by connecting the coordinates stored in the position 903 (see FIG. 9) shown in the character coordinate input position storage area 84 from the coordinates stored in the character coordinate input position storage area 84. Then step 1
In 105, the control unit 22 updates the stroke display end position storage area 87 to the position 903 (see FIG. 14), and in step 1106, the character coordinate input position storage area 284
Is updated to the position 904 (see FIG. 14).

When the coordinates of the point a3 shown in FIG. 6 are processed, the processing is performed according to the flowchart of FIG. 11 showing the specific processing executed in step 305 of FIG. First, in step 1102, the control unit 22 stores coordinates and updates the number of strokes. The contents of the character coordinate buffer 282 in this state are as shown in FIG. 14, the character coordinate input position storage area 84 is the position 904, the stroke point input position storage area 85 is the position 901 and the stroke display start position storage area 86 is the position 902. The stroke display end position storage area 87 indicates a position 903.
In such a state, the handwriting erasure process shown in step 1103 of FIG. 11 is executed as follows. First, the control unit proceeds to 12, the control unit 22 determines in step 1201 that the stroke display start / end positions are different, and proceeds to step 1202 assuming that there is a display stroke,
Subsequently, in step 1202, a stroke erasure start counter comparison process is performed.
The process proceeds to the erasing process 204 and thereafter, and if not, the process proceeds to step 1203 to decrease the value of the stroke erasure start counter storage area 88. Next, in the input process of the point d2 shown in FIG. 6, when the control unit 22 determines that the value of the counter is 0 in step 1203, the process proceeds to the process of specifying the erased portion in step 1204. This process is performed according to the flowchart of FIG.

This stroke erasure processing is performed by operating the stroke display start position storage area 86. The stroke display start position storage before and after the points s to a1, a2, a3 and the handwriting erasure processing shown in FIG. The manner in which the area 86 and the stroke display end position storage area 87 are changed is as shown in FIG. The state before the point a3 is input and the erasure portion is specified is as shown in FIG. Returning to the description of the processing flow of FIG. 15 with the contents of the character coordinate buffer 282 shown in FIG. 14, first, in step 1501, the control unit 22 sets the coordinate information shown in the stroke display start position storage area 86 in FIG. In step 1502, the controller 22 advances the stroke display start position storage area 86 in step 1502, and further checks the stroke display start position storage area 86 in step 1503.
Let Ds be the start position of the handwriting from which the coordinate information is erased. Subsequently, the control unit 22 advances the stroke display start position storage area 86 in step 1504, and proceeds to step 1505.
It is checked again whether or not the identifier 900 of the coordinate information indicated by the stroke display start position storage area 86 is the number of strokes. If the number is the number of strokes, it is determined in step 1506 that there is no handwriting to be erased, and the process is terminated. When the coordinate data is represented in step 1505 instead of the number of strokes, the control unit 22 sets the end position of the handwriting for deleting the coordinate information in the stroke display start position storage area 86 in step 1507, and sets Ds and De in step 1508.
The interval is specified as a portion of the handwriting to be erased, and the process ends. Subsequently, returning to FIG.
The handwriting in the section specified in 05 is erased, and the handwriting erasing process shown in step 1103 of FIG. 11 is ended. Subsequently, returning to FIG. 11, the control unit 22 displays the handwriting by connecting the coordinates indicated by the coordinate input position 905 to the coordinates indicated by the stroke display end position storage area 87 in step 1104. Thereafter, in step 1105, the stroke display end position storage area 87 is updated, and in step 1106, the character coordinate input position storage area 84 is updated. FIG. 16 shows an example in which the stroke position information is updated by the above processing.

Next, the processing of step 306 shown in FIG. 3 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. In this process, if no input has been made, the control unit 22 performs a handwriting erasure process in step 1701. The flow of this processing is the same as that of FIG. Finally, in response to the input of the point e shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 22 causes the steps 709 and 71 shown in FIG.
0 is executed, and FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the details of the procedure. That is, the control unit 22 writes the end code in the position indicated by the character coordinate input position storage area 84 shown in FIG.
02, a character input area 600 for deleting all handwriting
Clear FIG. 19 shows an example of the contents of the character coordinate buffer 282 shown in FIG. 1 in a state where the input of the stroke is completed as shown in FIG.

After the above processing, the recognizing unit 23 shown in FIG. 1 extracts necessary information from the handwritten character recognition dictionary 41 to the registered pattern buffer 284, and stores it in the character coordinate buffer 28.
The input coordinate point sequence is recognized as a character or a number by comparing with the coordinate point sequence in 2. The recognition method is, for example, to normalize the coordinate point sequence stored in the character coordinate buffer 282 to a certain score, and to coordinate the point sequence and the coordinate of the point sequence for each character registered in the extracted registered pattern buffer 284. The calculated pattern is determined to be the same as the registered pattern if the distance is equal to or less than a specific value. Otherwise, the input is performed again. On the other hand, in inputting a pattern, handwriting is displayed so that only the input person can understand it, and is erased, and all input patterns can be erased within a very short time after the completion of pattern input. As a result, it is possible to expect an effect that the input pattern is hardly recognized by anyone other than the input user.

According to this embodiment, the control unit 22 performs the erasing process and the displaying process of the handwriting by the processes of steps 304 and 305 shown in FIG. However, by performing the handwriting erasing process, and when the input end instruction is given, the input area is immediately cleared in step 1802 shown in FIG. 18 so that the input user can use the stylus pen 1b to input the transparent tablet 1a. The handwriting of the characters to be entered on the LCD display 3
After a certain period of time has passed since the display, the handwriting display can be erased, so that the input person can understand what is being input, but the third person watching from the side has input. It is difficult to understand the information, and the same effect as the password input check using the conventional keyboard can be realized by the handwriting input device. Further, the stroke erasure start counter storage area 88 shown in FIG. 1 is stored in the step 709 shown in FIG.
Is set at the beginning of the stroke, but this counter value acts as time information until the start of the handwriting erasure process. If the counter value is set to 0, after the handwriting is displayed, the next coordinate input process In the above, the handwriting can be erased, or if the counter value is set to an appropriate value, the handwriting can be tailed. Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. For example,
In this embodiment, the method of displaying the handwriting is described only for the input of one character. However, a plurality of character input areas may be prepared so that a plurality of characters can be input. The stroke may be erased by designating an area within the rectangle. Also, the method of recognizing the input coordinate point sequence information as a character or a number is not a matching based on the distance from the character registered in the dictionary, but a method of converting the input information into a basic form of the character. It may be converted to a shape and look for similarity with the characters in the dictionary.

[0022]

As described above , according to the present invention, in inputting a handwritten pattern, the handwriting is displayed and erased at the same time so that only the handwriting person can understand, and within a very short time from the completion of the input of the pattern. Since all the input patterns can be erased, the effect that the input pattern is hard to be recognized by the person other than the input person is produced, and the same effect as the password input check by the conventional keyboard can be realized by the handwriting input device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of a character input device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an external structure of the character input device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an overall operation when characters are input by the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a view showing an example of a data format stored in a coordinate information buffer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a relationship between a switch state of the stylus pen shown in FIG. 2 and a satisfaction condition.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of a handwriting stroke displayed on the screen of the display device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing details of the processing of step 303 in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the processing in step 708 shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of position information stored in the character coordinate buffer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a view showing an example of coordinate information stored in a character coordinate buffer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a detailed example of the processing of steps 304 and 305 shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a detailed example of a process of step 1103 shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a view showing another example of position information stored in the character coordinate buffer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing still another example of position information stored in the character coordinate buffer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a detailed example of the process of step 1204 shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of updating the coordinate input position, the stroke display start position storage area, and the stroke display end position shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing an example of the content of processing in step 306 shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an example of the contents of processing in steps 702 and 709 shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a stroke input end state of the character coordinate buffer shown in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

Reference Signs List 1 coordinate input device 1a transparent tablet 1b stylus pen 2 control device 3 display device 4 external storage device 21 input unit 22 control unit 23 recognition unit 24 timer unit 28 storage unit 41 handwritten characters Recognition dictionary 83 ... Character input start position coordinate storage area 4 ... Character coordinate input position storage area 85 ... Stroke point input position storage area 86 ... Stroke display start position storage area 87 ... Stroke display end position storage area 88 ... Stroke erasure start counter storage Area 281, coordinate information buffer 282, character coordinate buffer 283, area information buffer 284, registered pattern buffer 285, recognition result buffer

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuo Koyama 1381 Shinmachi, Ome-shi, Tokyo Toshiba Computer Engineering Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-1-251125 (JP, A) JP-A-61- 272869 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model Showa 60-184153 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06K 9/62 G06F 3/03 380

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] When a character is input to an input device by handwriting with a pen, a handwriting of the input character is displayed on a display device provided integrally with the input device based on a coordinate point sequence obtained from the input device. In a character input device for displaying, a handwriting input from the input device, the handwriting of which forms a character displayed on the display device. A character input device comprising: a deletion unit for sequentially deleting, from the display device, strokes for which a predetermined time has elapsed from an input time by a timing unit. 2. The character input device according to claim 1, further comprising means for changing a value of the fixed time measured by said time measuring means to an arbitrary value. 3. An input stroke is detected and a corresponding input is detected.
Displays handwriting of input characters composed of strokes
In a character input method for controlling a stroke to indicate
As a result of measuring the time and the elapsed time,
Control to stop displaying the stroke
And a character input method comprising the steps of :