Patent Publication Number: US-11042291-B2

Title: Text input method in touch screen terminal and apparatus therefor

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) AND CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
     The present application is a continuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 15/894,366, filed on Feb. 12, 2018, which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,459,626 on Oct. 29, 2019; which is a continuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 15/399,629, filed on Jan. 5, 2017, which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,921,744 on Mar. 20, 2018; which is a continuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 13/678,323, filed on Nov. 15, 2012, which has issued as U.S. Pat. No. 9,569,091 on Feb. 14, 2017; and was based on and claimed priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119(a) of a Korean patent application filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Nov. 15, 2011 and assigned Serial No. 10-2011-0118958, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a text input method in a touch screen terminal and an apparatus therefor. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Portable terminals such as mobile terminals (cellular phones), electronic schedulers, and personal complex terminals have become necessities of current society based on development of electronic communication industries. The portable terminals have developed into important means of information transmission, which are quickly changed. 
     As everyone knows, recently, because utilization of a touch screen portable terminal is enhanced, the trend in a text input type is toward a text input method through a touch screen. 
       FIG. 1  illustrates interface pictures for text input in a conventional touch screen portable terminal. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the touch screen portable terminal provides a keyboard interface picture and a cursive character recognition interface picture. The keyboard interface picture includes a keyboard  11  and an input window  13  for displaying characters received through the keyboard  11 . Also, the cursive character recognition interface picture includes a cursive character recognizer  14  for receiving touch drag and an input window  15  for reading out the touch drag and displaying a deduced character. 
     In general, a user must convert and use the keyboard interface picture and the cursive character recognition interface picture. Therefore, this results in an inconvenience to the user. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, it is a primary object to provide a method and apparatus for permitting text input using a keyboard and cursive character recognition. 
     Another aspect of the present disclosure is to provide a method and apparatus for permitting text input using cursive character recognition on a keyboard interface display or picture. 
     In accordance with an aspect of the present disclosure, a text input method in a touch screen terminal is provided. The text input method includes designating a certain region on a keyboard interface display or picture, not permitting text input through a keyboard when touch drag started from the designated region is sensed and acquiring a path of the touch drag, acquiring a path of following touch drag when at least the one or more following touch drag are sensed, and reading out at least the acquired one or more paths by cursive character recognition, deducing a character, determining the deduced character as an input target, and permitting the text input through the keyboard. 
     In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, a text input apparatus in a touch screen terminal is provided. The text input apparatus includes a controller for designating a certain region on a keyboard interface display or picture, not permitting text input through a keyboard when touch drag started from the designated region is sensed, and acquiring a path of the touch drag, wherein the controller acquires a path of following touch drag when at least the one or more following touch drag is sensed and wherein the controller reads out at least the acquired one or more paths by cursive character recognition, deduces a character, determines the deduced character as an input target, and permits the text input through the keyboard. 
     Before undertaking the DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION below, it may be advantageous to set forth definitions of certain words and phrases used throughout this patent document: the terms “include” and “comprise,” as well as derivatives thereof, mean inclusion without limitation; the term “or,” is inclusive, meaning and/or; the phrases “associated with” and “associated therewith,” as well as derivatives thereof, may mean to include, be included within, interconnect with, contain, be contained within, connect to or with, couple to or with, be communicable with, cooperate with, interleave, juxtapose, be proximate to, be bound to or with, have, have a property of, or the like; and the term “controller” means any device, system or part thereof that controls at least one operation, such a device may be implemented in hardware, firmware or software, or some combination of at least two of the same. It should be noted that the functionality associated with any particular controller may be centralized or distributed, whether locally or remotely. Definitions for certain words and phrases are provided throughout this patent document, those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that in many, if not most instances, such definitions apply to prior, as well as future uses of such defined words and phrases. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure and its advantages, reference is now made to the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like parts: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates interface pictures for text input in a conventional touch screen portable terminal; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of a portable terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a process of inputting characters according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; and 
         FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E  illustrate interface displays or pictures for text input according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 2 through 4E , discussed below, and the various embodiments used to describe the principles of the present disclosure in this patent document are by way of illustration only and should not be construed in any way to limit the scope of the disclosure. Those skilled in the art will understand that the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented in any suitably arranged system or device. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be described herein below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. Also, the terms used herein are defined according to the functions of the present disclosure. Thus, the terms may vary depending on user&#39;s or operator&#39;s intension and usage. That is, the terms used herein must be understood based on the descriptions made herein. 
     The present disclosure described hereinafter relates to a method and apparatus for permitting text input using a keyboard and cursive character recognition without converting an interface picture. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates a block diagram of a portable terminal according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the portable terminal includes a touch screen unit  21 , a storage unit  22 , and a controller  23 . 
     The touch screen unit  21  receives an output signal and outputs the received output signal as an image under control of the controller  23 . In addition, the touch screen unit  21  receives touch of a user and outputs an input signal to the controller  23 . The controller  23  performs an operation according to the input signal. 
     The storage unit  22  stores programs for controlling an overall operation of the portable terminal and a variety of data items input and output when a control operation of the portable terminal is performed. 
     The controller  23  controls an overall operation of the portable terminal. 
     Hereinafter, a method of inputting characters in the controller  23  according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates a process of inputting characters according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 3 , the controller  23  designates a certain region on a keyboard interface display or picture in step  301 . The controller  23  may allow a user to determine a range or position of the region. 
     When touch drag started from the designated region is sensed in step  303 , the controller  23  proceeds to step  305 , does not permit text input through a keyboard, and acquires and displays a path of the touch drag. For example, the touch drag started from the designated region may or may not be gotten out of the designated region. 
     When release of the touch drag is sensed in step  307 , the controller  23  proceeds to step  309  and verifies whether there is following touch drag within a threshold time. When the following touch drag is sensed within the threshold time in step  309 , the controller  23  proceeds to step  315  and acquires and displays a path of the following touch drag. The controller  23  performs the processing from step  307 . 
     When the following touch drag is no longer sensed within the threshold time in step  309 , the controller  23  proceeds to step  311 , reads out at least the one or more acquired paths by cursive character recognition, deduces a character, and determines the deduced character as an input target. For example, the controller  23  displays the deduced character on an input window of the keyboard interface display or picture in step  311 . 
     The controller  23  releases at least the one or more displayed paths and permits text input through the keyboard in step  313 . 
     When the path of the touch drag is displayed, the controller  23  displays the path of the touch drag on the keyboard interface picture. For example, the controller  23  may display the path of the touch drag on an overlay display or picture or may display the path of the touch drag on the keyboard interface display or picture itself. 
       FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E  illustrate interface displays or pictures for text input according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2  and  FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, 4D, and 4E , the controller  23  provides a keyboard  41  and an input window  42  for displaying characters input through the keyboard  41 . In addition, the controller  23  provides a designated region  43  arranged with the keyboard  41  and the input window  42 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 4A , a user starts touch drag  411  from the designated region  43 . The controller  23  does not permit text input through a keyboard and performs cursive character recognition. 
     As shown  FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C , when the cursive character recognition is performed, the controller  23  acquires at least one or more paths of the touch drag, reads out the acquired paths, and deduces a character. The controller  23  acquires at least one or more paths of the touch drag until the previous touch drag is released and there are no longer touch drag within a threshold time. Particularly, the controller  23  displays a sensed path of the touch drag on a picture of the display of the keyboard  41 , the input window  42 , and the designated region  43 . After  FIG. 4A , the controller  23  provides the entire picture as a region of the touch drag for the cursive character recognition. 
     As shown in  FIG. 4D , when there is no longer touch drag within the threshold hold after the previous touch drag is released, the controller  23  reads out at least the one or more acquired paths, deduces the character, and displays the deduced character  431  on the input window  42 . In addition, the controller  23  permits text input through the keyboard  41  again. As shown in  FIGS. 4D and 4E , when a button  421  is touched, the controller  23  displays a mapped corresponding character  432  on the input window  42 . 
     In conclusion, because text input using cursive character recognition is permitted on a keyboard interface picture, a text input method and an apparatus therefor according to one embodiment of the present disclosure solve the trouble of converting the keyboard interface display or picture into the cursive character recognition interface picture or converting the cursive character recognition interface picture into the keyboard interface picture. 
     While the present disclosure has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the appended claims.