BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a schematic, front view of a hand-held device with a character input rotary wheel according to a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware infrastructure of the hand-held device of FIG. 1; and
FIG. 3 is a schematic, front view of a hand-held device with a character input rotary wheel according to a second preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Referring to FIG. 1, a hand-held device of a first preferred embodiment according to the present invention is disclosed. The hand-held device 10 includes a display 20 and a rotary wheel 30. The rotary wheel 30 has fifteen positioning inputs and three character regions 41, 42, 43 thereon. The character regions 41, 42, 43 each have fifteen icons 44, 45, 46 corresponding to the positioning inputs. The icons 44, 45, 46 are respectively arranged in the form of a circle. Each icon 44, 45, 46 may have a corresponding graphical label. The corresponding graphical label can be any character, for example, a number, a letter, or a symbol. In this exemplary embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the corresponding graphical label of the icon 44 is an alphabet letter, the corresponding graphical label of the icon 45 is an alphabet letter or a symbol, and the corresponding graphical label of the icon 46 is a number or a symbol.
The hand-held device 10 further has an indicator 34. The indicator 34 is positioned between the display 20 and the rotary wheel 30 to indicate the positioning input of the rotary wheel 30, i.e., positioning inputs corresponds to resting positions of the rotary wheel with/without rotating the rotary wheel.
The hand-held device 10 further has three switches 31, 32, 33 for selecting characters. The switches 31, 32, 33 can be any appropriate input device. For example, in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 1, the switches 31, 32, 33 are in forms of buttons. The switches 31, 32, 33 are positioned on the rotary wheel 30 as shown in FIG. 1. The switches 31, 32, 33 correspond to the character regions 41, 42, 43 respectively. Regarding the selection operation on the switches 31, 32, 33, it is described in detail below.
Referring to FIG. 2, a hardware infrastructure of the hand-held device 10 is disclosed. The hand-held device 10 further includes a controller 50, an encoder 51, and a memory 60. The controller 50 is connected to the switches 31, 32, 33, the encoder 51, the display 20, and the memory 60. The encoder 51 is further connected to the rotary wheel 30 and generates a positioning code corresponding to the positioning input of the rotary wheel 30. The memory 60 stores three input modes corresponding to the three character regions 41, 42, 43 respectively. Each input mode includes character codes of a character region 41, 42, 43. In response to a press input of a switch 31, switch 32, or switch 33, the controller 50 selects a character of the corresponding input mode from the memory 60 according to the positioning code the encoder 51 outputs, and sends the character to the display 20.
Referring to FIG. 3, a hand-held device of a second preferred embodiment according to the present invention is disclosed. The hand-held device 70 includes a display 80, three character regions 71, 72, 73, and a rotary wheel 90. The three character regions 71, 72, 73 form three circles that enclose the rotary wheel 90. The content of the character regions 71, 72, 73 is the same of the character regions 41, 42, 43. The hand-held device 70 further has three switches 91, 92, 93 for selecting characters.
The switches 91, 92, 93 can be any appropriate input device. For example, in the embodiment as shown in FIG. 3, the switches 91, 92, 93 are in form of buttons. The switches 91, 92, 93 are positioned on the rotary wheel 90 as shown in FIG. 3. The switches 91, 92, 93 correspond to the character regions 71, 72, 73 respectively. The hand-held device 70 further has three indicators 94, 95, 96 corresponding to the three character regions 71, 72, 73 respectively. The indicators 94, 95, 96 are positioned on the rotary wheel 30. The indicators 94, 95, 96 are used for selecting and inputting characters with the switches 91, 92, 93. For example, while the indicator 94 points to a character “A” of the character region 71, a press input on the switch 91 is performed, a character “A” is inputted.
Other features of the hand-held device 70 is similar to the hand-held device 10. Descriptions to them are omitted here.
It is understood that the invention may be embodied in other forms without departing from the spirit thereof. Thus, the present examples and embodiments are to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and the invention is not to be limited to the details given herein.
Patent Application
20070279257
