A Novel Mobile Computer Keyboard Structure and Arrangement for Mobile Devices that Enables Unrestricted Touch Typing Assisted by Software.
The source of this problem is rooted in the fact that in order for a computer to be considered mobile, it must have a small form factor. This small form factor can include a miniaturized cpu, motherboard, screen display and even keyboard. It is well known that it is difficult to input information into miniaturized keyboards designed for mobile computing devices. In particular, the manufacturers of these mobile computing devices often create several workarounds to solve the input problem of text into these mobile computing devices that would traditionally be handled with ease by a larger desktop keyboard which allows for unrestricted touch typing. Please see the figure below for a typical desktop QWERTY English keyboard.
Whereas a keyboard is a traditional hardware input device consisting of an array of keys, arranged in a very specific order as shown above, that the user presses in order to enter text, numbers and punctuation into the computer, mobile computing manufacturers often adapt the traditional desktop keyboard to work more favorably with a mobile device.
The reason for this keyboard adaptation is due to the fact that traditional desktop keyboards are several times larger than a typical mobile computer device and therefore cannot be used with mobile computing solution without removing the mobile feature of the total solution.
As such, mobile computer manufacturers redesign their keyboards to work more favorably with their mobile computers. Some of these redesigns include: (1) miniaturizing the entire keyboard in physical form. Please see
below:
Once this redesign is completed there is often software written to improve the input of this redesigned keyboard so data input is easier, more accurate and able to overcome any of the drawbacks of the redesigned keyboard.
The problem with miniaturizing the entire keyboard is that in doing so, the individual keys are also miniaturized making input more difficult than a traditional desktop keyboard. Specifically, on traditional desktop keyboards end users often utilize traditional touch typing techniques where eight fingers are placed in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and has them reach for other keys from this position. Please see below:
In traditional desktop keyboards, one finger comfortably fits on each key where the width of any finger is similar to the width of any key making typing comfortable. On the contrary on miniaturized keyboards adapted for mobile computing devices the width of one finger is much wider than any key on the keyboard making it difficult to pinpoint and press any key. In traditional desktop touch typing, the four fingers of the left hand hover over the “A S D F” keys of the left side of the keyboard and the four fingers of the right hand hover over the “J K L ;” on the right side of the keyboard. From this strategic position, any key on the keyboard can be reached where each finger is responsible for pressing specific keys that are near to it. This method of touch typing where each finger is responsible for pressing specific keys that are near it contribute to the efficiency of touch typing.
In using traditional touch typing, end users enjoy the ability to utilize all the fingers in both of their hands for the purpose of inputting type into the computer through the keyboard; making typing very fast and efficient.
On the contrary, with a miniaturized keyboard, end users cannot place eight fingers in a horizontal row along the middle of the keyboard (the home row) and reach out for other keys from this position to implement traditional touch typing. The reason for this is because a miniaturized keyboard is simply too small to accommodate this style of touch typing most end users are used to. As a work around, most end users resort to using two thumbs at a time only (while the mobile computing device is cradled in the palms of the end user’s hands) or sometimes even only one finger at a time only to manually type on miniaturized keyboards.
In some cases mobile computer manufacturers increase the size of the actual keys on a mobile keyboard while decreasing the total quantity of total keys on the mobile keyboard. In doing so, they assign multiple letters to each key to make up for the eliminated keys. End users are forced to use the same key for more than one letter by pressing the key more than once in an effort to toggle between the multiple letters assigned to any specific key.
In other cases mobile computer manufacturers miniaturize the size of the mobile keyboard to coincide with the exact size of the mobile computer display and install the mobile keyboard directly underneath the mobile computer display allowing it to slide out where the keys face up the same direction as the mobile computing display. Please see below:
When an end user wishes to utilize the keyboard, they slide it out from underneath the display and begin typing. The shortcomings of this slide out keyboard is that after sliding out the keyboard the size of the mobile device doubles as the keyboard is still attached to the mobile computer. In addition, it is impossible to enable traditional desktop-style touch typing on a slide out miniaturized keyboard for two reasons.
First, the keys and the size of the total keyboard are most probably too small for the average person's hands to rest eight fingers across in the "home row" side-by-side to each other, the traditional starting point for touch typing, and comfortably type. Second, the system of touch typing using traditional desktop keyboards requires an object for the keyboard, hands and arms to rest on such that the pressing of any key prevents the moving of the key and the whole keyboard away from the touch typist. This stationary object that the keyboard rests on provides force-feedback that enables a key on a keyboard to be pressed and the entire keyboard to maintain its stationary position during traditional touch typing.
Were an end user to place a mobile computing device and its mobile keyboard solution on a stationary object for this element of force feedback needed for traditional touch typing, the mobility feature of the mobile computing device would be lost as the end user would be bound to the stationary object. The only other way an end user could use the slide out miniaturized keyboard of a mobile computing device while being mobile (that is not resting the mobile computing device on a stationary object) is to place the mobile computing device in one hand of the end user while using the other hand to input information into the mobile keyboard. The drawback in doing so is that the end user loses the ability to use both hands in an effort to use the mobile keyboard; potentially decreasing their typing efficiency.
The present invention offers a solution to the previously mentioned problems by rearranging the physical keys of a traditional desktop computing keyboard to a specific combination, rotation and position relative to the mobile computing display such that the average person's hands can comfortably rest each of four fingers from each hand across the "home row" of this newly arranged keyboard to initiate traditional touch typing where force feedback is maintained and mobility while typing is preserved.
By dividing a computer keyboard in half down the middle one ends up with a left side and a right side. Please see below for details:
Traditionally, in touch typing the left hand controls the keys on the left side of the keyboard whereas the right hand controls the keys on the right side of the keyboard. If we take the keys on the ride side of a keyboard as a group and rotate them 180 degrees counter-clockwise and translate the group of keys (the right side of the keyboard) so it sits adjacent and on top of the left side of the keyboard (please see below:)
and you flip the newly oriented keyboard upside down, one has a newly shaped keyboard where the newly arranged keys are ideally suited to be installed behind or underneath a mobile computing display facing outward in the opposite direction of the display.
In order to install the newly shaped keyboard to work with a mobile computing device, it may be advantageous to eliminate or repurpose some of the less important keys that would be found on a traditional desktop keyboard so the newly shaped keyboard fits onto the form of the mobile computing device where the most important keys occupy the vast majority of the space.
Furthermore, because the newly shaped keyboard is installed behind and underneath the mobile computing display with the actual keys of the keyboard facing outward, the display part of the mobile computer is ideally suited to rest both thumbs of an end user's hands where the physical body of the mobile computing device could cradle in the palms of an end user while the remaining four fingers on each end user's hands rest on the outwardly facing keys of the keyboard.
In fact the resting of the two thumbs on the outwardly facing display could be used as an input mechanism to alert the touch-sensitive display of the mobile computing device display to activate and turn on the newly designed keyboard for input. In one embodiment of the present invention, it would be advantageous to keep the keyboard off unless this “resting of two thumbs” position were assumed to eliminate the input of unwanted keystrokes.
The switch of each key on the outwardly facing keyboard would have to be resistant to the typical pressure resulting from the gravity of the mobile computing device cradling in one’s hand with the keys face down and resting in the palms of one’s hands.
This way of holding the phone allows the end user's right hand full access to all the keys on the right side of the keyboard that they would normally have on a desktop keyboard. In addition, this way of holding the phone allows the end user's left hand full access to all the keys on the left side of the keyboard that they would normally have on a desktop keyboard. In addition, this new arrangement offers another unique benefit where the thumbs pressing on the display of the mobile computing device offers an anchor point or the force feedback necessary to enable the other fingers on each of an end user's hands to comfortably press the keys on the keyboard.
The Novel Mobile Computer Keyboard Structure and Arrangement for Mobile Devices that Enables Unrestricted Touch Typing featured in this document can be installed directly into the physical body of the back side of a mobile computing device or it can be installed onto an attachment piece that snaps onto the physical body of the back side of a mobile computing device.
In the case that the keyboard is installed as an attachment piece or “snap on keyboard” that snaps onto the physical body of the back side of a mobile computing device, the “snap on keyboard” would communicate and transfer input captured from the end user’s interaction with the “snap on keyboard” to the mobile computing device using either (1) a direct physical wired connection or (2) wireless connection through a transmitter installed into the “snap on keyboard” that transfers input captured from the end user to a receiver installed into the mobile computing device.
It is customary that software is written to improve the input of a redesigned mobile computing keyboard so data input is easier, more accurate and able to overcome any of the drawbacks of the redesigned keyboard. For example, since the redesigned keyboard is mounted on the back side of the mobile computing device one drawback may be that the keys of the redesigned keyboard of the device are not visible to the end user while they are typing.
The present invention uses software as an option to help the end user determine the location of these not visible keys by offering several modes or options where an image of the newly designed keyboard is composited with the content (i.e., web page, word document, etc…) display of the mobile computing device. In this way, end users would have access to what they were working on while having the assistance of the image of the newly designed keyboard on their display at the same time. In another embodiment of the present invention an image of the newly designed keyboard is shown on the display without compositing the image of the keyboard with the contents of the display.
The display of the image of an onscreen keyboard using the above two methods is used to assist in allowing end users to locate the keys of the newly designed keyboard without flipping the device over and seeing the physical keys/keyboard. Should the end user depress a key on the newly designed keyboard, the image of the onscreen keyboard will adapt to highlight the depressed key in the image that corresponds to the physical key being depressed. In this way end users could switch back and forth between the documents they are working on and the on screen keyboard. The on screen keyboard features its own output display of what is being typed. Once the end user is finished typing, the software would capture the typed text in the output dispaly of the onscreen keyboard and place it into the document that the end user was working on where it is needed.
