JP2002297300A - Electrostatic capacity coupling type coordinate input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrostatic capacity coupling type coordinate input device capable of measuring handwriting pressure vertical to the sliding direction of the pen top of a signal detecting pen. SOLUTION: In this electrostatic capacity coupling type coordinate input device, an electrostatic capacity between the pen top of a signal detecting pen and an electrode arranged in the surrounding of the pen top is detected so that a handwriting pressure vertical to the sliding direction of the pen top is detected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coordinate input device of a capacitive coupling type for measuring a writing habit, and more particularly to a measurement of a pen pressure of an input pen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when inputting a character such as a signature on a tablet, the input is performed while pressing an input pen. At this time, the pen pressure is measured in a direction in which the pen tip of the input pen slides. It has been measured by a sensor (for example, a pressure sensor or the like) that measures the pen pressure provided.

[0003]

In the conventional input pen described above, the force in the direction in which the pen tip of the input pen slides, that is, in the direction parallel to the sliding of the pen tip, is measured by a sensor for measuring the pen pressure. I was measuring. Therefore, the force applied to the pen tip of the input pen and perpendicular to the direction in which the pen tip slides has not been measured.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the conventional problems, and has a tablet composed of a plurality of electrode lines arranged in a coordinate axis direction and sequentially applying a signal to each electrode line of the tablet. A control circuit for applying the signal, a signal detection pen for electrostatically coupling the signal to the applied electrode line, and a detection sensor for detecting a writing pressure in a sliding direction of the signal detection pen and the pen tip. A coupling type coordinate input device, comprising: a capacitive coupling type coordinate input device having means for detecting a writing pressure perpendicular to a sliding direction of a pen tip of the signal detection pen, wherein the pen tip of the signal detection pen slides. The means for detecting the pen pressure perpendicular to the direction is a capacitive coupling type coordinate input device for detecting a capacitance between a pen tip and an electrode arranged around the pen tip. Performs coordinate detection and is located around the pen tip. The electrode is a capacitive coupling type coordinate input device that performs the second coordinate detection, and the signal detection pen is an electrode that can estimate the direction of the signal detection pen on the tablet from the first coordinate detection and the second coordinate detection. The present invention proposes a capacitive coupling type coordinate input device.

[0005]

The first pen pressure sensor measures pen pressure parallel to the direction in which the pen tip of the input pen of the coordinate input device slides. A second pen pressure sensor for measuring pen pressure is arranged. With these two sensors, the pen pressure can be accurately measured. Also, together with the first coordinate detection on the tablet at the pen tip of the input pen,
A second coordinate detection on the tablet can be performed using the sensor arrangement. The direction of the pen tip of the input pen on the tablet can be estimated by the first coordinate detection and the second coordinate detection.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The pen pressure of an input pen of a coordinate input device can be measured and the pen tip direction of the input pen on a tablet can be estimated.

[0007]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of an input pen according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. The input pen 1 that stabilizes the pen substrate 5 with the tail plug 9 inside the outer cylinder 2 has screws 2a and 2b engraved on the inner peripheral surfaces at both ends of the outer cylinder 2, and is provided on one end surface of the outer cylinder 2. Is formed with a pen tip 11 for detecting a coordinate signal, and an end face of a slider 4 holding the pen tip 11 is brought into contact with a tip 3 screwed to one end 2 a of the outer cylinder 2. I have.

The nib 12 of the nib portion 11 is formed of a material which changes its bending rate in response to a force in a direction perpendicular to the sliding direction, restores the material when no force is applied, and is coated with a non-conductive resin. Metal that is easily conducted.

A protective rubber 10 for protecting a cable (not shown) from bending is inserted into the tail plug 9. A projection rib 9a is formed on the inner peripheral portion of the tail plug 9 and is press-fitted and fixed so as to match the groove 8a on the outer periphery of the tail plug mounting ring 8, so that the tail plug 9 and the tail plug mounting ring 8 are integrated.
Also, the tail plug mounting ring 8 integrated with the tail plug 9 is
Is screwed to the screw 2a at the other end. The spacer 7 urged inward in the shaft cylinder by screwing the tail plug mounting ring 8 holds the other of the pen substrate 5 described above.

The slider 4 and the spacer 7 for holding the pen substrate 5 are inserted into the outer cylinder 2, and the tail plug 9 is screwed with the end screw 2 b of the outer cylinder 2 to stably hold the slider 4 and the spacer 7. Have been. At this time, the slider 4 sandwiching the pen board 5 and the spacer 7 are integrally set inside the outer cylinder 2.
The spring 6 is disposed between the tail plug mounting ring 8 and the spacer 7 so as not to rattle inside the spring.
L-shaped part 6a at the end of the pen board 5 is grounded (not shown).
Are electrically connected by soldering.

A gap is provided between the end of the tail plug mounting ring 8 and the stepped portion of the spacer 7 and between the end of the protective rubber 10 and the end of the spacer 7. When a load is applied, the pen tip 12 and the pen substrate 5 can be moved toward the tail plug 9 as a whole. The load in the sliding direction of the pen tip 12 can be measured by a first pen pressure sensor 13 (such as a pressure sensor) mounted on the pen board 5. A tilt angle sensor 14 that measures the tilt angle of the input pen 1 is mounted on the pen board 5. Then, it is connected via a cable (not shown) to the pen tip 12 for performing the first coordinate detection.

A metal pipe 16 coated with a non-conductive resin is fitted with a non-conductive resin pipe 15. The metal pipe 16 and the resin pipe 15 are arranged inside the tip 3, but a part of the metal pipe 16 projects outside the tip 3. The nib 12 is a metal pipe 16
And the length protruding outside from the tip 3 is longer than the metal pipe 16. The resin pipe 15 is a portion serving as a fulcrum when the pen tip 12 is bent. Metal pipe 16 is pen board 5
And a cable (not shown).

Next, the electrical block diagram of FIG. 3 will be described. In this embodiment, the input pen 1 and the tablet 1
7, and a control unit 18. The control unit 18 includes:
An interface 22 is provided for communication between the CPU 19 and the outside, and the CPU 19 and the interface 22 are connected. The CPU 19 includes a ROM, a RAM, a plurality of AD converters, a plurality of output I / O ports, and a port (not shown) for connection to an interface.

The tablet 17 comprises a driver 17a, a driver 17b, an electrode line group 17c, an electrode line group 17d, and an input panel 17e. The driver 17a is connected to an output port group 19g of the CPU 19, and the driver 17b is connected to the CPU 17b.
Nineteen output port groups 19h are connected. The driver 17a is connected to the electrode wire group 17c, and the driver 17b
And the electrode wire group 17d are connected.

A pen board 5 is arranged on the input pen 1. The pen board 5 includes the tilt angle sensor 14 and the pen pressure sensor 1
3 are mounted, and A / D converters 19a and 19 of the CPU 19 of the control unit 18 via the amplifiers 21a and 21b.
b. The pen tip 12 is the amplifier 2 of the pen board 5
It is connected to the A / D converter 19c of the CPU 19 via 1c. The metal pipe 16 is connected to the switch 20 of the pen board 5.

If the output port 19f of the CPU 19 is high, the state of the terminal 20b of the switch becomes high,
0a and the terminal 20b are short-circuited, and the signal from the metal pipe 16 is connected to the A / D converter 19d of the CPU 19 via the amplifier 21d. Output port 19f of CPU 19
Is low, the state of the terminal 20b of the switch becomes low, the terminals 20a and 20c are short-circuited, and the CPU 1
The pulse signal from the I / O 19e is output to the metal pipe 16 via the amplifier 21e and the switch 20.

Subsequently, FIG. 3, FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG.
The operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an electrical block diagram. 4 and 8 show the tablet 1
FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the main part of the input pen on FIG. 7, FIG. Represents the state in which. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a capacitor between the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the electrode line of the tablet 17 electrically. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a capacitor electrically between the metal pipe 16 of the input pen 1 and the electrode line of the tablet 17. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an electrical capacitor between the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the metal pipe 16.

First, the operation principle will be described with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. FIG. The pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 is placed on the tablet 17. The contents of the tilt angle sensor 14 and the pen pressure sensor 13 mounted on the pen board 5 of the input pen 1 are sequentially transmitted to the control unit 1 via the amplifiers 21a and 21b.
8 to the A / D converters 19a and 19b of the CPU 19, and saves them in a RAM (not shown) built in the CPU 19 to execute an operation.

When the output port 19f of the CPU 19 is high, the output port group 19g of the CPU 19,
From 19h, a pulse is sequentially applied to each of the electrode lines 17c and 17d via the driver 17a and the driver 17b, and the voltage of the pulse signal is applied to the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the metal tip. The signals are sequentially received by the pipe 16 and output to the A / D converters 19c and 19d of the CPU 19 via the amplifiers 21c and 21d. The CPU 19 executes A /
RA incorporating the contents of D converters 19c and 19d
After storing the data in M and a predetermined amount, the calculation is performed and the coordinates of the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16 are derived.

FIG. 5 shows the state of the capacitor between the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the electrode line of the tablet 17 at this time. FIG. 6 shows the state of the capacitor between the metal pipe 16 of the input pen 1 and the electrode line of the tablet 17.
It is.

When the output port 19f of the CPU 19 is low, the output of the pulses from the output port groups 19g and 19h is stopped, and the output port 19e of the CPU 19 is output while the switches 20a and 20c of the switch 20 are short-circuited. The pulse is output to the metal pipe 16 via the amplifier 21e and the switch 20. The pulse signal output from the metal pipe 16 is received by the pen tip 12 and output to the A / D converter 19c of the CPU 19 via the amplifier 21c. The CPU 19 saves the content of the A / D converter 19c in the built-in RAM, and after saving a certain amount, performs an operation and measures the voltage between the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16.

The displacement of the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16 due to the displacement of the distance between the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16 due to the bending of the pen tip 12 at this time makes the displacement of the voltage between the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16 perpendicular to the sliding direction of the pen tip. The displacement at this time is taken as the characteristic of the second pen pressure sensor. Also,
FIG. 7 shows the state of the condenser between the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the metal pipe 16 at this time.

In FIG. 8, the pen tip 1
2 shows the state of the load applied to the input pen 1 being gripped by the operator's finger (not shown) from the direction of the arrow 23a. At this time, the pen tip 12 is moved in the direction of the arrow 23b. This shows a state in which a bending force and a force applied to the pen pressure sensor 13 in the direction of the arrow 23c are generated. Here, an example of the performance improvement of the second pen pressure sensor between the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16 in the embodiment will be described. Metal pipe 1
6 is divided equally into four so as to be parallel to the sliding direction of the pen tip as shown in FIG. 9, and metal pieces 24a, 24b, 24c each coated with a non-conductive resin.
24d, and fitted to the non-conductive resin pipe 15. Then, each of the metal pieces 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d is connected to the pen board 5 via a cable (not shown).

Metal pieces 24a, 24b, 24
A switch and an amplifier corresponding to each of c and 24d are added. This electrical block is shown in FIG. CPU
The switch is set so as to sequentially apply pulses to the metal pieces 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d, and the voltage displacement between the metal pieces 24a, 24b, 24c, and 24d received by the pen tip 12 is measured. I do. If a pattern representing the highest potential is found between each metal piece and the pen tip 12, it can be found that a force is acting from the direction of the metal piece to the pen tip 12.

[0025]

According to the present invention, the force applied to the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 in the direction perpendicular to the sliding direction of the pen tip can be measured, so that the second writing pressure parameter can be given to the writing recognition device, and the pen tip 12 can be measured. When used in combination with the normal first writing sensor that measures the force in the direction parallel to the sliding of the writing, more accurate writing identification can be performed. In addition, tablet 17
The first coordinate and the second coordinate can be detected by the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 and the metal pipe 16, respectively, and the input pen on the tablet 17 can be detected by the first coordinate detection and the second coordinate detection. The direction of the pen tip can be estimated. Therefore, if the first coordinates of the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 are on the left side of the second coordinates of the metal pipe 16, the user is right-handed,
The first coordinate of the pen tip 12 of the input pen 1 is a metal pipe 16
If the user is on the right of the second coordinates, it can be determined that the user is left-handed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of an input pen according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of the input pen of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an electrical block diagram

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part in a state where writing pressure is not applied to an input pen.

FIG. 5 is an electrical state between the pen tip 12 and the electrode wire of the tablet 17;

FIG. 6 shows an electrical state between the metal pipe 16 and the electrode wire of the tablet 17;

FIG. 7 shows an electrical state between the pen tip 12 and the metal pipe 16.

FIG. 8 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a main part in a state where pen pressure is applied to an input pen.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view of a metal piece.

FIG. 10 is an electrical block diagram.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Input pen 2 Outer cylinder 2a Screw part 2b Screw part 3 Tip 4 Slider 5 Pen board 6 Spring 6a L-shaped part 6b Seat surface 7 Spacer 8 Tail plug attachment ring 8a Groove part 9 Tail plug 9a Projection rib 10 Protective rubber 11 Pen tip Unit 12 pen tip 13 writing pressure sensor 14 tilt angle sensor 15 resin pipe 16 metal pipe 17 tablet 17a driver 17b driver 17c electrode wire group 17d electrode wire group 18 control unit 19 CPU 19a A / D converter 19b A / D converter 19c A / D converter 19d A / D converter 19e output port 19f output port 19g output port group 19h output port group 20 switcher 20a terminal 20b terminal 20c terminal 21a amplifier 21b amplifier 21c amplifier 21d amplifier 21e amplifier 22 interface Over the scan 23a arrow 23b arrow 23c arrow 24a metal piece 24b metal piece 24c metal piece 24d metal pieces

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A tablet comprising a plurality of electrode lines arranged in a coordinate axis direction, a control circuit for sequentially applying a signal to each electrode line of the tablet, In a capacitive coupling type coordinate detecting device comprising a signal detecting pen for capacitively coupling and a detection sensor for detecting a writing pressure in a sliding direction of the signal detecting pen and the pen tip, the pen tip of the signal detecting pen is moved. An electrostatic capacitive coupling type coordinate input device comprising means for detecting a pen pressure perpendicular to a moving direction. 2. A means for detecting a writing pressure perpendicular to a sliding direction of a pen tip of a signal detecting pen detects an electrostatic capacitance between the pen tip and electrodes arranged around the pen tip. The coordinate input device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The capacitive coupling system according to claim 2, wherein the signal detection pen performs first coordinate detection, and the electrode disposed around the pen tip performs second coordinate detection. Coordinate input device. 4. The electrostatic capacitance coupling type coordinate input device according to claim 3, wherein the signal detecting pen can estimate the direction of the signal detecting pen on the tablet from the first coordinate detection and the second coordinate detection. .