JPH05265653A - Multi-item input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve workability by previously storing guidance information, help information, or the like constituted of the information such as display positions, display characters from a host device to a storage means. CONSTITUTION:Command information from the host device is inputted to a command data generating means 38 through an input data inputting means 40. The means 38 compares the guidance information number data of the inputted data with data stored in a command data storage means 39 storing guidance information 42 displayed on a display unit 6 at present, and when both the data are coincident with each other, a guidance information erasing command is sent to a screen display data selecting means 12. Receiving the command, the means 12 uses data stored in a screen display data storage means storing the (M+1)th display screen data for displaying the (M+1)th screen on the display unit 6 by a display unit driving means 10. Thereby, the displayed screen display data are left without being erased until an operator outputs a guidance information erasing command.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multi-item input device having a transparent touch panel mounted on the front surface of a display.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a structural conceptual diagram of a general information input system. In FIG. 7, this system includes a host device 1 including a host device control unit 2 and a host device display 3, and a multi-item input device 5 connected to the host device 1 via a connection cable 4. It is configured.

Further, the multi-item input device 5 is provided with arbitrary characters,
Display 6 that can freely display numbers, figures, etc. (see Fig. 8)
A transparent touch panel 7 arranged to cover the front surface of the display device 6 and capable of detecting the input coordinates when pressed (pressed) with a finger or the like; and a screen switching keyboard 8 for switching the display content of the display device 6, It has a structure including a function keyboard 9 which is a group of function keys including numeric keys.

FIG. 8 is an overall block diagram of the multi-item input device 5. In FIG. 8, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7 denote the same parts as those in FIG. 7. The multi-item input device 5 includes a display drive unit 10, a screen display data storage unit 11, a screen display data selection unit 12, a first display data storage unit A13, a second display data storage unit B13, and a second display data storage unit B13. N display data storage means N13, screen switching key detection means 16, display screen No. Generating means 17, display screen No. Storage unit 18, key code generation unit 19, function key detection unit 20, touch panel key detection unit 21, input coordinate generation unit 22, input data generation unit 2
3, the transmission data output means 24 and the like.

Further, in this configuration, the display 6 is driven by the display driving means 10, and when the display data is inputted to the display driving means 10 from the screen display data storage means 11, this data is changed. The images are sequentially displayed on the screen on the front surface of the display unit 6. Further, when the screen switching keyboard 8, the transparent touch panel 7, and the function keyboard 9 are respectively pressed, the following operations are performed.

First, when the screen switching keyboard 8 is pressed, this is detected by the screen switching key detecting means 16,
This detected key address is displayed on the screen No. It is output to the generation means 17. Then, this display screen No. The key address input to the generation means 17 will be displayed on the display unit 6 from now on.
Input display screen No. showing the screen to be displayed It is converted into data and is output to the screen display data selection means 12. This input display screen No. The screen display data selection means 12 that has received the data selects one from the first to Nth screen display data storage means A13 to N13 based on this data.
Screen display data storage means 1
1 to the display screen No. Display screen No. Output the data.

Next, when a key on the transparent touch panel 7 is pressed, this pressing is performed on the touch panel key detecting means 21.
The key address detected by the above is output to the input coordinate generation means 22. Further, the key address input to the input coordinate generation means 22 is the host device 1 (see FIG. 7).
Input coordinate data to be sent to the input data generating means 23. Further, in the input data generating means 23, the display screen No. is added to the input coordinate data. The display screen No. input from the storage unit 18 is displayed. Input data to be sent to the host device 1 is generated, and this input data is output to the sending data output means 24. Then, this data is output from the transmission data output means 24 to the host device 1.

Next, when the key of the function keyboard 9 is pressed, this is detected by the function key detecting means 20, and the key address detected here is output to the key code generating means 19. Further, the key address input to the key code generating means 19 is converted into a key code to be sent to the upper level device 1 and sent to the sending data output means 24, and this data is further sent from the sending data output means 24 to the higher level device 1. Is output to.

Therefore, in the information input system provided with the multi-item input device 5 thus constructed, when the key of the screen switching keyboard 8 in the multi-item input device 5 is operated, predetermined data is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 6. Can be displayed on top. When a key of the transparent touch panel 7 arranged on the display screen of the display 6 is touched and pressed, the input coordinate value and the display screen No. It is possible to send each of the above data to the host device 1. On the other hand, in the host device 1, the received input coordinate value and the display screen No. The desired function can be exerted by the data and the like.

FIG. 9 is a control circuit block diagram of the multi-item input device 5. In FIG. 9, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 7 denote the same parts as those in FIG. 7. In this control circuit, the microprocessor 25 is provided with an address bus 26
A control line group 26 including a, a data bus 26b, and a control signal line 26c is connected.

In the control line group 26, the image display data selecting means 12 and the first to Nth screen display data storing means A are provided.
13 to N13, display screen No. ROM (read-only memory) as the storage unit 18 and the input data generation unit 23
27, a RAM (random access memory) 28, and a character generator 29 are connected. Further, a refresh memory 32 as a screen display data storage means 11 is connected to the control line group 26 via MPX (multiplexers) 30 and 31, and a display control as a display drive means 10 is made to the refresh memory 32. Part 3
3 are connected via MPXs 30 and 31. Further, in the control line group 26, the touch panel key detection means 2
1, the touch panel key control unit 34 as the input coordinate generation unit 22 is connected, the screen switching key detection unit 16, the display screen No. The screen switching key control unit 35 as the generation unit 17, and the function key detection unit 2
0, and the function key control section 36 as the key code generating means 19 is connected to each.

In addition, the transparent touch panel 7 is connected to the touch panel key control unit 34, and the screen switching key control unit 35.
The screen switching keyboard 8 and the function key controller 36 are connected to the function keyboard 9 respectively.

With this configuration, the microprocessor 25
Can know the input information of each of the transparent touch panel 7, the screen switching keyboard 8 and the function keyboard 9, and is required by the host device transmission / reception control unit 37 as the transmission data output means 24 connected to the control line group 26. The information can be sent to the host device 1. If guidance information or help information for the operator is required, the information sent from the host device transmission / reception control section 37 of the multi-item input device 5 may be displayed on the host device display 3 on the host device 1 side. Also, it is designed to be shown using voice or the like.

[0014]

As described above, in the conventional multi-item input device, many items are simply displayed on the display screen and the input coordinate values are displayed by pressing the transparent touch panel 7 on the front surface. Screen No. If only guidance information or help information for the operator is needed and the higher-level device 1 can be transmitted as data, it is displayed on the higher-level device display 3 of the higher-level device 1, Moreover, it is designed to be shown by using a voice or the like.
Therefore, when the guidance information or the help information is needed, the operator must interrupt the work on the way and look at another screen provided on the higher-level device 1 side, or use the nerve to hear the voice. There was a problem like that.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to confirm when guidance information, help information or the like is needed without hindering the flow of input work by an operator. It is to provide a multi-item input device capable of improving workability.

[0016]

To achieve the above object, a multi-item input device according to the present invention is provided with a display, a transparent touch panel mounted on the front surface of the display, and a depressible key. Keyboard, the transparent touch panel and control means for processing data input from the keyboard to display information corresponding to the data on the display, display information of the display and the transparent touch panel And storage means for storing switch information of the keyboard, capable of transmitting / receiving data to / from a higher-level device, and providing guidance information, help information, and the like composed of information such as the display position and display characters. Means for inputting from the host device, means for storing the information input from the host device, display position and display text from within the information Means for determining a like, the position on the display corresponding to the indexed display position, is provided with a means for displaying characters and the like corresponding to the information.

[0017]

According to this structure, if the guidance information and the help information including the information such as the display position and the display characters are stored in advance in the storage means from the host device, the operator can enter the input items on the same operation screen. Confirmation, guidance information,
You can receive help information. Therefore, when you need guidance information or help information, you can check without interrupting the flow of input work on the spot, and various information can be displayed at any position on the display screen. Confirmation of input items, guidance information, help information, etc. can be received on the same operation screen.

[0018]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a block diagram of the entire configuration of a multi-item input device showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the device shown in FIG. 1 and 2
In FIG. 7, the same reference numerals as those in FIGS. 7 and 9 indicate the same parts as those in FIGS.

The major difference between the conventional multi-item input device shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 and the multi-item input device of this embodiment is that the multi-item input device of this embodiment is different from the conventional multi-item input device. 1, a command data generation means 38, a command data storage means 39, an input data input means 40, and a guidance information memory 41 shown in FIG. 2 which are not provided in the item input device are provided. It is in the point that
Others are configured the same.

3 to 6 are operation state diagrams of the multi-item input device of this embodiment. The operation of the multi-item input device of this embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. The operations shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 exemplify a case where an operator uses the multi-item input device to make a reservation for a conference room.

In this case, the operator first presses the "meeting room" key 9a and the "reservation" key 9b of the function keyboard 9 in the state of FIG. 3 to enter the reservation mode for the meeting room. Then, this information is detected by the function key detecting means 20 shown in FIG. 1, and this is input to the key code generating means 19. That is, it is processed by the function key control unit 36 shown in FIG. 2 and input to the microprocessor 25. Then, the microprocessor 25 converts the information of the pressed function key 9a, 9b into a key code for sending to the host device 1, and this information is sent to the host device 1 through the host device transmission / reception control unit 37.

On the other hand, the host device 1 receiving this information confirms from the received data that it will enter the conference reservation mode,
"Meeting room reservation" registered in advance in the multi-item input device 5
An instruction is issued to display the screen (in this case, the Mth screen [1 <M <N]). The instruction from the host device 1 is input to the host device transmission / reception control unit 37 of the multi-item input device 5, processed there, and then sent to the microprocessor 25. That is, in FIG. 1, the input data is input to the input data input means 40 which is a component of the host device transmission / reception control unit 37.

Further, the input data input means 40 converts the input data so as to match the formation of the multi-item input device 5, and sends it to the command data generation means 38.
The command data generation means 38 confirms that this data is a screen display, sends it to the command data storage means 39, and at the same time inputs a display instruction of the Mth screen to the screen display data selection means 12. Screen display data selection means 12
Reads the screen data of "meeting room reservation" from the Mth screen display data storage means (not shown) from the input data, processes the data, and then processes the screen data.
The M-th screen N is stored at the same time, and is further input to the display device driving means 10 in order to actuate the display device driving means 10 to display on the screen of the display device 6.
o. Display data No. as data. It is sent to the storage means 18. Then, the display device driving means 10 displays the "meeting room reservation" screen on the display device 6 based on the display data of the Mth screen (see FIG. 4).

Further, when the operator further reserves, for example, "C conference room" from the state in which the "conference room reservation" screen is displayed on the display device 6, the P1 key 8a of the screen switching keyboard 8 is then depressed. To do. Then, the screen switching key detecting means 16 shown in FIG. 1 detects the pressing information of the key 8a and displays this information on the display screen No. It is sent to the generation means 17. In other words, this is the pressing information detected by the screen switching key control unit 35 shown in FIG.
It has been sent to 5. Further, the display screen No. The generation means 17 displays N of the screen to be displayed from the input information.
o. (Here, M + 1 [1 <M + 1 <N]) is generated, and this information is sent to the screen display data selection means 12. Then, the screen display data selection means 12 displays the input screen No. Based on the information, the display data of the (M + 1) th screen display data storage means (not shown) is read and processed and sent to the screen display data storage means 11, and at the same time, the display screen No. Display screen No. Send (M + 1).

The series of operations are mainly performed by the microprocessor 25 shown in FIG. That is, the microprocessor 25 receives the information of the push key 8a of the screen switching keyboard 8 and reads the display data of the (M + 1) th screen from the RAM 28. Furthermore, the calculation of the position to be displayed and the characters to be displayed are read from this data from the character generator 29 and sent to the display control unit 33 as display information. Then, the display control unit 33 stores the input screen display data in the refresh memory 32 via the MPXs 30 and 31. Further, the display control unit 33 is the display driving means 10 in FIG.
The display control section 33 causes the display 6 to display the screen display data. This allows
A "reservation menu" screen as shown in FIG. 5 is displayed.

Next, the operator looks at the "reservation menu" screen as shown in FIG.
When making a reservation from "4:00 to 15:30", "A meeting room", "14: 00-1" displayed on the display 6
The keys 7a, 7b, 7c of the transparent touch panel 7 above "5:00" and "+30 minutes" are sequentially pressed. Then, when the operator wants to make a reservation, the operator continues to press the "confirm" key 7d of the transparent touch panel 7, and the reservation process is executed.

During the reservation processing operation, the touch panel key detecting means 21 sequentially detects the pressing information of the transparent touch panel 7 associated with this operation, and the key address information is sent to the input coordinate generating means 22. Furthermore, the key address information input to the input coordinate generation means 22 is
Exchanged with the input coordinate data to be sent to the host device 1,
It is sent to the input data generating means 23. In FIG. 2, the touch panel key control unit 34 is the transparent touch panel 7
The information of the pressing keys 7a to 7d is sequentially sent to the microprocessor 25. Then, the microprocessor 25 exchanges the key information corresponding to the pressed keys 7a to 7d with data that can be sent to the host device 1.

Further, here, the microprocessor 25 is
Display screen No. From the RAM 28 corresponding to the storage means 18, the screen No. (M + 1) is read and the attribute of the key on the (M + 1) th display screen stored in the RAM 28 in advance is checked. This is performed to confirm whether or not the operator's processing has been completed on the (M + 1) th display screen. Here, the microprocessor 25 checks the attributes of the key information 7a to 7c of the transparent touch panel 7 that are sequentially input. At this time, since the data input attributes are included, it is only necessary to sequentially store the converted data in the RAM 28. To do.

Next, the key information 7d of the transparent touch panel 7
When is input, data is exchanged and the attribute is checked.
Since this is a key attribute indicating "confirmation", which means the end of processing, the microprocessor 25 sends the data of the key information 7a to 7d and the data of the current key information 7d that have been sequentially stored to the host device 1. For display screen No. Data is added and sent to the host device transmission / reception control unit 37. In FIG. 1, the display screen No. Display screen N from storage means 18
o. This means that the input data generating means 23 that has read the data has sent it to the send data output means 24 together with the data of the key information 7a to 7d.

Next, based on the information input from the multi-item input device 5, the higher-level device 1 performs a "meeting room reservation" process.
Here, suppose that in the "A conference room", "14: 00-15: 3"
It is assumed that the time zone of "0" has already been reserved. Then, the higher-level device 1 uses the guidance information for indicating to the operator that the reservation has been made as a command to the multi-item input device 5
Send to. The guidance information includes, for example, character data to be displayed, position data to be displayed, display on (O
N) Instruction data and guidance information No. Etc.

Further, the multi-item input device 5 to which the guidance information is input from the host device 1 has the command data generation means 3 via the input data input means 40 shown in FIG.
After being input to 8, the command is stored as data in the command data storage means 39, and the display request to the display 6 is sent to the screen display data selection means 12 together with the character and position information. Then, the screen display data selection means 12 converts this into data for displaying the inputted characters and position information, and sends it to the display device drive means 10 without going through the screen display data storage means 11, and this display device The drive unit 10 causes the display 6 to display guidance. That is, FIG.
In the above, the microprocessor 25 uses the guidance information received from the higher-level device 1 to create characters and position data from the RAM 28 and the character generator 29, and requests the display controller 33 to display on the display 6. At the same time, the attribute of the command and the information that the guidance is being displayed are added to the created data and stored in the guidance information memory 41. By this operation, the guidance information 42 as shown in FIG. 6 is displayed on the display 6. This allows the operator to confirm that the reservation has been made.

On the other hand, the operator confirms the guidance information 42, and then presses the "cancel" key 7e in the items displayed on the transparent touch panel 7. Then, by the above-mentioned operation, the microprocessor 25 creates the conversion data of the "cancel" key 7e and examines the attribute of this key.
Since the attribute of this key also means the end of the processing, the multi-item input device 5 passes through the transmission data output means 24 shown in FIG. 1 and the host device transmission / reception control unit 37 shown in FIG. "Cancel" key 7e conversion,
No change in display screen No. The data (M + 1) is sent to the host device 1.

The host device 1 receiving this data,
It is interpreted that the operator has confirmed, and then the command information indicating the display off (OFF) of the guidance information displayed on the display 6 is sent to the multi-item input device 5. This information includes display-off instruction data and guidance information No. It is composed of That is, in FIG. 1, command information from the higher-level device 1 is input to the command data generation means 38 through the input data input means 40. Then, in the command data generation means 38, the guidance information No. of this data. The data and the guidance information 42 currently displayed on the display 6 are compared with the data in the command data storage means 39 in which the guidance information 42 is stored, and if it is confirmed that they are the same guidance information, the guidance information is displayed in the screen display data selection means 12. Send an erase instruction. Upon receiving this instruction, the screen display data selection means 12 uses the data of the screen display data storage means in which the (M + 1) th display screen data is stored, and the display drive means 10 causes the display 6 to display the (M +) th display data.
1) Display the screen. That is, in FIG. 2, the data received by the microprocessor 25 is stored in the guidance information memory 4
1, the display control unit 33,
The (M + 1) th screen shown in FIG. 5 is displayed again on the display 6 via the MPXs 30, 31 and the refresh memory 32. Then, the operator can search for another conference room again and perform the reservation process.

Therefore, in the multi-item input device 5 of this embodiment, the screen display data displayed on the display 6 will not disappear until the operator gives an instruction to delete the guidance information. As a result, the operator does not miss the guidance information, and since the operator can perform processing and confirmation on the same operation surface, the operator is not burdened. Further, since the multi-item input device 5 has a memory for guidance information (guidance information memory 41), it is also possible to create arbitrary guidance information on the higher-level device 1 side and use it. It will be easy to create and manage.

In this embodiment, the guidance information is 1
However, it is also possible to display a plurality of pieces of guidance information or conversely delete the plurality of pieces of guidance information displayed one by one. Further, the information is not limited to the guidance information, and help information or the like may be displayed as needed.

[0036]

As described above, according to the multi-item input device of the present invention, guidance information, help information, etc., which is composed of information such as display positions and display characters, is stored in advance in the storage means from the host device. If this is done, the operator will be able to confirm the input items and receive guidance information, help information, etc. on the same operation screen. When guidance information, help information, etc. are needed, the operator can perform input work on the spot. Since it is possible to confirm the flow without disturbing the flow and various information can be displayed at an arbitrary position on the display screen, improvement in workability can be expected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration block diagram of a multi-item input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the device of this embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation state diagram of the device of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation state diagram of the device of this embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation state diagram of the device of this embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an operation state diagram of the device of this embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a conventionally known information input system.

FIG. 8 is an overall configuration block diagram of a conventional multi-item input device.

FIG. 9 is a control circuit block diagram of a conventional multi-item input device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Upper device 2 Upper device control unit 3 Upper device display 4 Connection cable 5 Multi-item input device 6 Display 7 Transparent touch panel 8 Screen switching keyboard 9 Function keyboard 25 Microprocessor 37 Upper device transmission / reception control unit 38 Command data generation means 39 Command Data storage means 40 Input data input means 41 Guidance information memory

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A display unit, a transparent touch panel mounted on the front surface of the display unit, a keyboard provided with depressible keys, a process for processing data input from the transparent touch panel and the keyboard, and Control means for displaying information corresponding to the data on the display,
In a multi-item input device capable of transmitting and receiving data to and from a host device, comprising a storage unit for storing the display information of the display unit and the switch information of the transparent touch panel and the keyboard, in the information such as the display position and display characters. Means for inputting structured guidance information, help information, etc. from the higher-level device, means for storing the information input from the higher-level device, and for determining display position, display character, etc. from the information And a means for displaying a character or the like corresponding to the information at a position on the display corresponding to the indexed display position.