Patent ID: 6857800

Claim:
A method for inputting different characters by multi-directionally pressing one of a plurality of keys of a keypad of a portable electronic device more than one time, each key having a pair of protuberances on an underside and a circuit board of the portable electronic device having a plurality of pads equal in number to the number of said protuberances and disposed correspondingly thereto, the method comprising: determining the conduction periods of time by a control circuit of the portable electronic device, while one key is multi-directionally pressed a plurality of times to cause the protuberances to contact the corresponding pads at different conduction periods of time; and reading a corresponding character sequentially from a built-in character database by a storage device of the portable electronic device based on a longer one of the conduction periods of time, wherein said plurality of pads includes a first pad and a second pad, said first and second pads being disposed correspondingly to respective left and right protuberances of said pairs of protuberances such that a right portion of said one key moves upwardly when a left portion thereof is pressed and, in response, the left protuberance contacts the first pad for a first duration and the right protuberance contacts the second pad for a second duration which is shorter than the first duration, thereby generating a first conduction period of time of the first pad that is longer than a second conduction period of time of the second pad, said corresponding character being sequentially read from the built-in character database by the storage device of the portable electronic device based on the first conduction period of time.