This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Taiwan Patent Application No. 101142688 filed on Nov. 15, 2012, in the Taiwan Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
The invention relates to a keyboard, and more particularly to a keyboard which switches different user interfaces of an operation system.
As remarkable advances of technology, the popularity of smart phones, tablets, and many types of information appliances is driving the demand of common touch panels for portable and functional electronics in replacement of conventional keyboards. Also, Graphical User Interface (GUI) that allows users to interact with electronic devices using images rather than text commands has been introduced into the operating system of the computers for example. A user may operate the touch panel to make selections or move a cursor by simply touching the display surface via a finger or stylus pen. In this way, the computer interprets the touch and thereafter performs an action based on the touch event such as switching between different GUIs.
It should be noted that the event of switching between different GUIs is distinct from that of flipping pages of an electronic book or file. The former refers to a change or switch from a first operating system in conjunction with a first GUI to a second operating system in conjunction with a second GUI, while the latter refers to a browse through a single electronic file.
As prior art, a virtual keyboard will be shown on the display of the touch panel for the user to input characters, symbols, or the like. However, it is almost impossible for the virtual keyboard to provide a similar sense of touch to the real keyboard, and it occurs frequently for the user to make mistakes in typing since the finger often blocks his view. Therefore, significant part of users prefers substantial keyboards.
Besides, although the operating systems of the laptop PC or the desktop PC are GUI-based, the touch panel technology has not been combined therewith commercially. Hence, keyboards are still used as the main input devices for laptop or desktop PCs.
However, the conventional keyboard still cannot, for example, switch directly, promptly, and intuitively between different operating systems in conjunction with respective user interfaces in the same way as the control panel, which is not convenient for the user and needs further improvement.
In view of the foregoing prior art defect, the objective of the present invention is to provide a keyboard to resolve the problems of the used keyboard failing to switch different GUIs as the touched-panel mode.
The present invention is provided with a keyboard being applicable to an electronic device, and an operation system of the electronic device has a plurality of user interfaces. The keyboard comprises a main body, a plurality of keycaps, a circuit board (Printed Circuit Board) and at least one interface switching button, wherein the keycaps are disposed respectively on the main body and move along up and down directions with respect to the main body when pressed. The circuit board is disposed inside the main body and electrically provided with a plurality of trigger switches and a controller configured for outputting an operating signal to the electronic device when one of the trigger switches is triggered. When at least one of the trigger switches is triggered by the corresponding keycaps, the controller outputs an operating signal to the electronic device. The interface switching button is disposed on the main body to move along an up and down direction with respect to the main body when pressed and corresponding to one of the trigger switches. When the corresponding trigger switch is triggered by the interface switching button, the controller outputs a switching signal to the electronic device, so as to switch and execute one of the user interfaces.
The present invention is further provided with a keyboard being applicable to an electronic device, and an operation system of the electronic device has a plurality of user interfaces. The keyboard comprises a main body, a plurality of keycaps, a circuit board (Printed Circuit Board) and a function switching button, wherein the keycaps are disposed respectively on the main body and move along up and down directions with respect to the main body when pressed. The circuit board is disposed inside the main body and electrically provided with a plurality of trigger switches corresponding to the keycaps respectively and a controller configured for outputting an operating signal to the electronic device when one of the trigger switches is triggered. When the trigger switches are triggered by the corresponding keycaps, the controller outputs an operating signal to the electronic device. The function switching button is disposed on the main body to move along an up and down direction with respect to the main body when pressed and corresponding to one of the trigger switches. When the corresponding trigger switch is triggered by the function switching button, and one of the keycaps is once pressed at the same time to trigger the corresponding trigger switch, the controller outputs a switching signal to the electronic device, so as to switch and execute one of the user interfaces.
The objective of the present invention is to add the interface switching button or the function switching button to the keyboard, and to embed the firmware of switching user interfaces into the controller as the touched-panel mode. By means of integrating the hardware and the firmware, the users can rapidly switch different user interfaces via pressing the interface switching button or the function switching button of the keyboard.
A detailed description is given in the following embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The invention can be more fully understood by referring to the following detailed description and examples with references made to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
In addition, the keyboard 100 according to the embodiments of the present invention is applicable to various electronic devices 300, which includes but not limited to a cell phone, a tablet PC, a laptop PC or a desktop PC, and the operation system of the electronic device 300 is configured of system architectures of the user interfaces 320a, 320b and the like, which are graphical user interfaces and comprise a plurality of icons. The users can switch different user interfaces 320a, 320b by means of the keyboard 100, and display the selected user interface on the monitor 310, and then click the wanted icons of said selected user interface, such as the first user interface 320a, via a mouse, or further touch the wanted icons of the current user interface, such as the first user interface 320a, via a finger directly. Therefore, an application program corresponding to the clicked/touched icon is executed no matter via the mouse or finger.
The following description is taken a desktop PC as the best-contemplated mode of carrying out the invention. This description is made for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention and should not be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the invention is best determined by reference to the appended claims.
As shown in
When the users press at least one keycap 120, the keycap 120 is forced to shift downwards and suppresses to trigger the corresponding trigger switches 131 to generate a trigger signal to the controller 132, the controller 132 judges which predetermined functionality of the received trigger signal is by its firmware, and further outputs an corresponding operating signal to the electronic device 300, so as to execute the predetermined functionality on the operation system of the electronic device 300. The present invention is exemplified with that the controller 132 is a MCU (Microcontroller Unit) which can be functioned to rapidly execute the memory and estimation, but should not be taken in a limiting sense.
It's worth noting that the keyboard 100 according to the present invention can output the operating signal to the electronic device 300 by ways of wired or wireless transmission. Furthermore, the present invention discloses that the keycaps 120 trigger the corresponding trigger switches 131 and the controller 132 outputs the corresponding operating signal via the trigger signal of the trigger switches 131, which is similar to the signal processing of the keyboard current existing. On the other hand, the keycaps 120 revert automatically to the original unforced position via an elastic pad of the main body 110 after the pressed force is released, which is also similar to the mechanism of the keyboard current existing.
As shown in
Moreover, as shown in
To be emphasized is that the present invention is exemplified with various quantities of the interface switching buttons 140 to enhance the convenience of switching different user interfaces 320 for the users.
Please refer to
When the users press at least one keycap 220, the keycap 220 is forced to shift downwards and suppresses to trigger the corresponding trigger switches 231 to generate a trigger signal to the controller 232, the controller 232 judges which predetermined functionality of the received trigger signal is by its firmware, and further outputs an corresponding operating signal to the electronic device 300, so as to execute the predetermined functionality on the operation system of the electronic device 300. The present invention is exemplified with that the controller 232 is a MCU (Microcontroller Unit) which can be functioned to rapidly execute the memory and estimation, but should not be taken in a limiting sense.
It's worth noting that the keyboard 200 according to the present invention can output the operating signal to the electronic device 300 by ways of wired or wireless transmission. Furthermore, the present invention discloses that the keycaps 220 trigger the corresponding trigger switches 231 and the controller 232 outputs the corresponding operating signal via the trigger signal of the trigger switches 231, which is similar to the signal processing of the keyboard current existing. On the other hand, the keycaps 220 revert automatically to the original unforced position via an elastic pad of the main body 210 after the pressed force is released, which is also similar to the mechanism of the keyboard current existing.
As shown in
In addition, the keyboard 200 is more convenient for the users because the function switching buttons 240 further associate with the certain keycaps 220, such as the direction keys 221, and when the function switching buttons 240 and any direction keys 221 are pressed at the same time, such that the controller 232 is controlled to output switching signals of different switching directions (such as horizontal or vertical) to the electronic device 300, so as to control the operation system to switch different user interfaces upward, downward, leftward and rightward respectively.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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101142688 | Nov 2012 | TW | national |