KEYBOARD DEVICE FOR INPUTTING ORIENTAL CHARACTERS BY TOUCH

This invention relates to a keyboard device for typing and inputting characters in Chinese and other oriental languages. In particular, the keyboard device of this invention comprises a plurality of keys representing selected strokes, combinations of strokes, radicals and some characters, collectively called the configurations, which are arranged in a particular way and thus makes it possible to type and to input Chinese and oriental characters entirely by touch. By dividing each oriental character into components which resemble the special configurations on the keys, the typing and inputting can be carried out by depressing the keys representing the component configurations without the need of any "menu" selection step. The keyboard device and method of this invention can be used in typewriters, word processors, computers, typesetting machines, teletype machines, telecommunication machines and other machines that use or require a keyboard to input characters in Chinese or other oriental languages. The keys individually and in combination, generate digital codes which are interfaced by an electronic unit to a Chinese character generator, thereby converting the codes into CRT display or printed output form. Shift, ditto, and image keys are provided which modify the codes selected by the other keys, thereby causing the output of shifted or uppercase characters, selected combination characters, or selected mirror image characters respectively.