EP0294518A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Keyboard keys located on the computer screen
Assignee: Laitram LLC
•
Filing: 1987-12-30
•
Granted: —
•
Expires: 2007-12-30
Abstract
Abstract The conventional keyboard is replaced by a virtual keyboard pattern on the computer screen by this invention. Selection of keystrokes is made by a mouse, or the like, positioning a cursor at a desired key for keyswitch selection. This manner of selection of pre-formed patterns available from the computer, such as alphanumeric characters and computer commands is particularly advantageous in a computer aided drafting and design system. Thus, notations and lettering need not be formulated by analog movement of the mouse, but can be selected digitally from the computer store by keyswitching. The resulting equipment therefor eliminates the conventional keyboard but not its operational advantages thereby permitting full computer operation with a mouse or the equivalent. Several features of the invention are provided for more convenient and more rapid operation, such as the replacement of the keyboard arrays as the computer changes modes of operation, and the placement of more frequently used keystrokes on the keyboard arrays for selection by minimized movements of the mouse.
Inventors
- 👤 James Martial Lapeyre
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-09 15:11
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/01; G06F3/02; G06F3/0202; G06F3/0219; B; B41; B41J; B41J5/00; B41J5/08; B41J5/10; B41J5/28; G06F3/023; G06F3/0233; G06F3/0235; G06F3/0236; G06F3/0238; G06F3/027; G06F3/048; G06F3/0484; G06F3/04842; G06F3/04845; G06F3/0487; G06F3/0488; G06F3/04886; G11; G11B; G11B15/00; G11B15/60; G11B15/66; H; H03; H03M; H03M11/00; H03M11/02; H03M11/04; H03M11/06; H03M11/08; H01; H01H; H01H3/00; H01H3/02; H01H3/12; H01H2003/127; H01H2217/00; H01H2217/036; H01H2219/00; H01H2219/002; H01H2219/01; H01H2219/011
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
84 words
A computer system having a visible display screen, characterized by: means for displaying on a portion of the screen a virtual keyboard array presenting a plurality of virtual key locations having thereat symbols identifying a set of computer reproducible patterns and computer instructions to be selected by the respective virtual keys, and manually positionable keystroking means for selecting a desired one of the virtual keys on said screen and initiating a computer operation corresponding to the symbol identified at the selected virtual key location.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
84 words
A computer system having a visible display screen, characterized by: means for displaying on a portion of the screen a virtual keyboard array presenting a plurality of virtual key locations having thereat symbols identifying a set of computer reproducible patterns and computer instructions to be selected by the respective virtual keys, and manually positionable keystroking means for selecting a desired one of the virtual keys on said screen and initiating a computer operation corresponding to the symbol identified at the selected virtual key location.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system of Claim 1 further characterized by: means displaying a cursor on said screen, and means responsive to the keystroking means to move the cursor to the position of a displayed virtual key location on the screen.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of Claim 2 further characterized by: means for detecting the location of the cursor position on the screen at the different virtual key locations, and means responsive detection of the cursor position at the virtual key locations to initiate selection of a pre-formed pattern or computer instruction.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
44 words
The system of Claim 1 further characterized by: means for producing a plurality of computer operation modes that change the functions initiated by the keyboard keys, and means responsive to mode changes in the computer to display different virtual keyboard patterns on the screen.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of Claim 1 further characterized by: means for operating the computer in a mode requiring two keystrokes per entry thereby to reduce the number of virtual keys required on the computer screen.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of Claim 5 further characterized by: means for displaying one set of virtual keys on the screen for the first keystroke, and another set of virtual keys on the screen for the second keystroke.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
61 words
The system of Claim 6 further characterized by a set of patterns reproducible by said computer and displayed on the virtual keyboard for selection by respective keys in said two keystroke sequence, and means positioning the symbols in a pattern for selecting a set of the most frequently used patterns without movably repositioning the manual keystroking means for the second keystroke.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
18 words
The system of Claim 7 further characterized by: means for establishing as patterns in said set the alphabet.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system of Claim 8 further characterized in having no more than sixteen virtual keys.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
34 words
The system of Claim 1 further characterized in that the keystroking means comprises a mouse, and means for positioning a cursor on the screen to a key selection position responsive to the mouse position.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of Claim 10 further characterized by means for formulating patterns on the screen by positioning of the mouse to supplement patterns selectable by means of the virtual keyboard.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
145 words
The system of Claim 1 further characterized by: a multi-function data processing computer system having a computer generated display screen presenting patterns selected by manually operated analog cursor positioning input means, means for selecting with the analog input means keystrokes for a wide range of pre-formed patterns and manually selected computer command signals thereby constituting said keystroking means and including analog manual input means operable to move manually in analog movement patterns the position of a cursor on the computer screen to the different positions within said keyboard array for designating keystrokes to thereby select by the cursor position a desired keystroke entry from the patterns and commands identified on the screen, and keystroke switching means for entering a computer input signal from a selection made in response to the position of the cursor at any one of the respective keystroke areas within said chart.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
76 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 12, further characterized by: a computer interconnecting system coupling the computer screen and the manual entry means into a computer aided drafting and design system operable to generate patterns on the computer screen by analog manual movement of the analog entry means and to select preformed patterns for placement on the computer screen along with the manually generated patterns in a keyboard selection mode of the computer operation.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
68 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 12, further characterized by: computer means establishing a plurality of modes of operation, each configuring the keys on the keyboard to produce different sets of functions, and pattern generating means responsive to the existing modes of computer operation automatically displaying a virtual keyboard configuration on the computer screen chart with symbols identifying the functions of keys in the respective modes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
42 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 14, further characterized by: means in said computer system establishing a virtual keyboard configuration on the computer screen operational in a two-stroke-per-entry mode with selections of keyboard keys from two successively presented keyboard configurations.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
55 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 15, further characterized by: means in said computer system configuring the second successively presented keyboard in an alphabetic selection mode having the most frequently used alphabetic characters selectable from the second keyboard configuration at the same location as for the first keystroke on the first keyboard configuration.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
66 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 12, further characterized by: means providing for said keyboard array to present an alphanumeric set of pre-formed characters, means for forming the preformed characters on said screen in response to the selection made by said keystroke switching means, and means for moving the characters on said screen in response to manual movement of said analog manual input means.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
35 words
The improved computer system as defined in Claim 12, further characterized by: means responsive to manual movement of the analog input means to position patterns on said screen after selection by said keystroke switching means.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
Maintenance schedule is calculated for granted US utility patents.