JP2006127338A - Input device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device capable of properly stopping a pointer (cursor) displayed on a screen in a target position without any overrun when a stick is tilted for moving the pointer (cursor) and stopping it in the target position. <P>SOLUTION: This input device is provided with a buffer part 21 capable of storing a plurality of sensor variations and a data control part 22. When the sensor variation stored in the buffer part 21 is reduced under a predetermined condition, subtraction computing and the like of the stored sensor variation is carried out, and the subtracted sensor variation is transmitted to a mobile data processing part. In this way, overshooting of the pointer beyond the target stopping position is reduced in comparison with a conventional one, and the pointer can be effectively stopped in the target position easily. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a stick-type input device mounted on, for example, a notebook-type computer, and particularly, when a pointer (cursor) displayed on a screen is stopped from a moving state to a target position, the target position is excessively exceeded. The present invention relates to an input device that can appropriately stop at the target position without any problems.

  As an input device of a conventional notebook type computer, for example, a pad type or a stick type is used.

  By the way, in the stick type input device, a small-diameter stick is provided in the vicinity of the center part of the keyboard key arrangement, and the pointer displayed on the screen is moved by tilting the stick in a desired direction with a finger. Information to be moved in the Y-axis direction can be input.

  A problem with the stick type is that when the pointer is moved by operating the stick and stopped at the target position, it is difficult to stop the pointer at the desired position.

In the stick type, the pointer displayed on the screen is moved by tilting the stick in a desired direction with the finger as described above, and when the pointer reaches the target position, the finger is released or the load on the stick However, even if you release the finger when you think that the pointer has reached the target position, the cursor movement data will continue to be generated while the tilted stick returns to its original position. Based on the data, the pointer passes the position where it should originally stop. The following Patent Document 1 discloses means for solving the above problems.
JP-A-8-212008

  In the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, an attempt is made to solve the above-mentioned problem of the stick type by giving a “negative inertia” and causing the pointer to go back beyond the position to be stopped.

  However, the problem of Patent Document 1 is that it is necessary to appropriately change the return amount of the pointer depending on the operation speed of the pointer (the larger the stick inclination amount, the faster the pointer moves). Is quite complicated. In addition, although the operator recognizes that the pointer moves in the same direction as the operation direction of the stick, the operator tends to feel uncomfortable if the pointer moves back when the finger is released.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and in particular, when the pointer (cursor) displayed on the screen is moved by tilting the stick and stopped at the target position, the target position is obtained. An object of the present invention is to provide an input device that can appropriately stop at the target position without going too far.

The input device in the present invention is
A sensor unit, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor change amounts, and a data control unit, wherein the sensor change amounts are transmitted from the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit in the order of storage;
In the data control unit, when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition, the stored sensor change amount is subtracted, and the subtracted sensor change amount is converted into the movement data processing unit. It is characterized by transmitting to.

  In addition to the above, the number of sensor change amounts to be transmitted to the movement data processing unit when it becomes smaller under the predetermined condition may be reduced.

The input device in the present invention is
A sensor unit, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor change amounts, and a data control unit, wherein the sensor change amounts are transmitted from the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit in the order of storage;
The data control unit is characterized in that when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition, the number of sensor change amount data to be transmitted to the movement data processing unit is reduced.

  In the present invention, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor variation amounts, and a data processing unit capable of transmitting the sensor variation amounts stored in the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit when a predetermined condition is satisfied, The sensor change amount is not sent to the movement data processing unit in real time as in the prior art.

  In the present invention, when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition, for example, it is determined that the operation is finished by moving a finger away from the sensor unit, and the stored sensor change amount is subtracted. Since the sensor change amount subjected to the subtraction process is transmitted to the movement data processing unit, it is possible to relax the pointer (cursor) past the position that should be originally stopped and to stop the pointer effectively compared to the conventional case. It can be easily stopped at the position.

  In the present invention, when a predetermined condition is satisfied, it is preferable to delete a predetermined number of data in the storage order from the sensor change amount immediately before being transmitted to the movement data processing unit among the stored sensor change amounts.

  In the present invention, under the predetermined condition, when the stored sensor change amount is smaller than the previous stored sensor change amount, the latest sensor change amount DT1 received is stored. When the sensor change amount DT2 becomes smaller than the sensor change amount DT1 by comparing the sensor change amount DT2 immediately before being transmitted to the movement data processing unit. For example, when the latest sensor change amount received is zero. When operating the sensor unit, the operator unconsciously weakens the load applied to the sensor unit by the finger when approaching the position to be stopped, and the received sensor change amount is reduced. However, in the above case, since the operator is still willing to move the pointer, if the sensor variation is subtracted as soon as the sensor variation is small, the pointer cannot be moved smoothly.

  Therefore, not only has the sensor change amount decreased, but by adding more conditions, the pointer can be moved smoothly in a normal operation state, and the pointer can be reliably stopped when it is desired to stop the pointer. It becomes possible to make it.

  In the present invention, the sensor unit is preferably a strain sensor. In such a case, the effect of the present invention can be further exhibited.

  In the present invention, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor variation amounts, and a data processing unit capable of transmitting the sensor variation amounts stored in the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit when a predetermined condition is satisfied, The sensor change amount is not sent to the movement data processing unit in real time as in the prior art.

  In the present invention, when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition, for example, it is determined that the operation is finished by moving a finger away from the sensor unit, and the stored sensor change amount is subtracted. Since the sensor change amount subjected to the subtraction process is transmitted to the movement data processing unit, it is possible to relax the pointer (cursor) past the position that should be originally stopped and to stop the pointer effectively compared to the conventional case. It can be easily stopped at the position.

  1 is a perspective view showing the appearance of a notebook computer incorporating the input device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged perspective view showing the appearance of a stick pointer (controller), and FIG. 3 is a partial plan view showing a substrate of the stick pointer. Figure.

  In the notebook computer 1 shown in FIG. 1, a keyboard 6 is disposed on the top surface of a housing 8, and the surface of the stick portion (operation unit) 10 of the stick pointer 3 is exposed near the center of the keyboard 6. . Further, a square flat pad type input device 2 is provided in front of the keyboard 6.

  The housing 8 is provided with a display unit 5 composed of a liquid crystal panel that can be opened and closed, and coordinate data for moving a pointer (cursor) 7 displayed on the display unit 5 is used to operate the stick unit 10 of the input device 3. It is possible to input by pressing the head of the part with a finger or the like in a desired direction.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the stick pointer 3 includes a stick unit (operation unit) 10 and a substrate 11. The operation unit 10 includes, for example, a columnar operation body formed of plastic or the like and a knob formed of rubber or the like, and is provided on the substrate 11 on the fixing plate 12 and the fixing plate 12 as shown in FIG. A flexible printed circuit board 13 is provided. As shown in FIG. 3, four resistance parts 15-18 are provided in the part of the base 14 to which the said operation part 10 is attached. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, when the operation unit 10 is tilted with a finger, resistance values that change in the respective resistance units 15 to 18 are captured as voltage changes. As shown in FIG. 1, if it is desired to move the pointer 7 to the left (X-direction) of the screen, for example, the operation unit 10 is tilted with the finger in the same direction. Then, since the resistance value changes between the resistance unit 15 and the resistance unit 16 shown in FIG. 3, the X output value (voltage change) shown in FIG. 4 changes. The X output value and the Y output value output from the distortion sensor unit 3a of the stick pointer 3 are sent to a coordinate input processing unit (processing unit) 23 as shown in FIGS.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the X output value and the Y output value, which are voltage change values output from the strain sensor unit 3a, are amplified and converted into digital signals through an A / D converter. The digital signal is subjected to various processes by the microcomputer 32 or the like. The amplified output value and Y output value are converted into relative coordinate data (sensor variation) in the relative coordinate data generation unit 20 shown in FIG. 6 which is one of the processing circuits of the microcomputer 32. The relative coordinate data is movement amount data in which the movement amount of the pointer 7 is expressed as a relative value (vector value) of coordinates. For example, the movement amount in the X + direction is 1, and the movement amount in the Y + direction is 0.5. Is expressed by the relative movement amount. The relative coordinate data is represented as (ADXn, ADYn, ADZn) (n = 0, 1, 2,...) In the drawings of the present invention.

  The relative coordinate data is sent to a driver (mouse driver) 30 in the host computer 25. A FIFO buffer unit 21 is provided in the driver 30, and the relative coordinate data is stored in the FIFO buffer unit 21. The FIFO buffer unit 21 has a plurality of storages. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the FIFO buffer unit 21 is provided with three storages (buffer 1, buffer 2, buffer 3). The most recently generated relative coordinate data (received data a) is first examined by the data control unit 22 shown in FIG. 6 to what extent the relative movement amounts of the X component, Y component, and Z component are. . The Z component is the coordinate height direction, but in the following description, only the X component and Y component of the plane coordinate are considered. In the following description, the vector value refers to the vector sum of the X component and the Y component unless otherwise specified. However, the present invention is not limited to the evaluation of the size of the relative coordinate data by the vector sum, and the size of the relative coordinate data may be evaluated by the vector value in each component of the X component or the Y component.

  If the vector value of the relative movement amount data received by the data control unit 22 is 0, no voltage change occurs in the sensor unit 3a, that is, the operation unit 10 is not operated with a finger. In such a case, the data control unit 22 does not store the relative coordinate data in the buffer unit 21.

  If the vector value of the newly generated relative coordinate data (received data a) is greater than 0, the data control unit 22 sends the received data a to the buffer unit 21 for storage.

  It is determined whether or not the vector value of the relative coordinate data newly generated in this way is 0. If the vector value is not 0, the relative coordinate data is successively sent to the buffer unit 21 and stored.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the relative coordinate data is stored in each of the buffer 1, the buffer 2, and the buffer 3, but these relative coordinate data are not yet transmitted to the movement data processing unit 31. As shown in FIG. 9, when the relative coordinate data (received data a) is newly received in the state where the buffers 1 to 3 are all filled with the relative coordinate data, the vector value of the received data a is changed as described above. The data processing unit determines whether or not it is 0. If it is not 0, the received data a is sent to the buffer 1. Then, the relative coordinate data d of the buffer 3 stored from the oldest in the buffer unit 21 is sent to the movement data processing unit 31 shown in FIG. Then, the relative coordinate data c of the buffer 2 is sent to the buffer 3 to become the relative coordinate data d, the relative coordinate data b of the buffer 1 is sent to the buffer 2 and becomes the relative coordinate data c, and the received data a is sent to the empty buffer 1. The received data a becomes relative coordinate data b.

  Since the relative coordinate data is output every predetermined time (for example, about several msec to several tens msec), the size of the relative coordinate data can be evaluated at a speed obtained by dividing the vector value by the time. .

  The movement data processing unit 31 converts the cursor movement data into the cursor movement data based on the relative coordinate data d transmitted from the buffer unit 21, and sends the cursor movement data to the operating system (OS) 27. In the operating system 27, the cursor movement data received from the driver 30 is displayed on the display unit 5 as mouse cursor data, so that the pointer 7 moves on the display unit 5 in a predetermined direction.

  The operator moves the pointer 7 to the target position while looking at the display / display unit 5 shown in FIG. 1, and releases the finger from the operation unit 10 when the operator thinks that the pointer 7 has reached the target position. At this time, since the strain resistance change also occurs during the transition period until the operation unit 10 returns to the original position, relative coordinate data is generated based on the change.

  The vector value of the relative coordinate data that is output during the transition period from when the finger is released until the operation unit 10 returns to the original position gradually decreases to 0, but until the operation unit 10 returns to the original position. If the relative coordinate data generated in the transition period is transmitted to the movement data processing unit 31, the conventional problem that the pointer 7 passes the position where it should originally stop occurs, so that the present invention will be described below. As described above, the relative coordinate data to be sent to the movement data processing unit 31 is controlled.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining a series of flow from reception of relative coordinate data from the relative coordinate data generation unit 20 to transmission of cursor movement data to the operating system 27, and FIG. 9 is a buffer process shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining specific buffer processing.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the relative coordinate data a is received from the relative coordinate data generation unit 20 (step ST1), the buffer processing described in FIG. 9 is performed (step ST2). At this time, the data control unit 22 performs the following data management.

  That is, it is first diagnosed whether or not the vector value of the newly received relative coordinate data (reception data a) is 0 (step ST5 in FIG. 10). If the vector value is 0, the operation unit 10 is completely returned to its original position. Therefore, if the operation unit 10 is not yet completely returned to its original state, the vector value of the relative coordinate data is small although it is not. A value larger than 0 is output.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 10, in the data control unit 22, whether the vector values of the three relative coordinate data b, c, d stored in the buffer unit 21 are gradually decreased from the oldest stored order, For example, relative coordinate data b <relative coordinate data c <relative coordinate, such that the vector value of relative coordinate data b is 0.3, the vector value of relative coordinate data c is 0.5, and the vector value of relative coordinate data d is 1. It is diagnosed whether or not the data d is in order (step ST6 in FIG. 10). In this diagnosis, the vector value may be evaluated at a speed obtained by dividing the vector value by the generation time of the relative coordinate data (several milliseconds to several tens of seconds). In FIG. 10, the expression (deceleration) is used, and this evaluates relative coordinate data as a velocity value.

  If the vector values of the relative coordinate data b, c, d gradually decrease from the stored oldest order (that is, decelerate), the operation unit 10 gradually returns to the original position from the tilted state. It can be seen that this is a transition period.

  As in step ST6 shown in FIG. 10, when the relationship of relative coordinate data b <relative coordinate data c <relative coordinate data d is satisfied, it may be determined that the finger has moved away from the operation unit 10. Since the load on the unit 10 may only be small (that is, the operator is still trying to move the pointer 7), when step ST6 in FIG. The vector values of (reception data a) and the oldest relative coordinate data d among the relative coordinate data stored in the buffer unit 21 are compared (see FIG. 9).

  As shown in step ST7 of FIG. 10, when the relative coordinate data data a and the relative coordinate data d satisfy 1 − {(da) / d}> 0.3, that is, the relative coordinate data. When viewed from d, when the vector value of the relative coordinate data a falls below 30% (that is, when the vehicle decelerates 30% or more), the data control unit 22 determines that the finger has moved away from the operation unit 10, and proceeds to step ST8. To do.

  In step ST8, subtraction processing is performed on the oldest relative coordinate data d among the relative coordinate data stored in the buffer unit 21.

  In the subtraction process, for example, each vector value of the X component and the Y component of the relative coordinate data d is multiplied by 0.1. As a result, the X and Y components of the relative coordinate data d are reduced to 1/10. Then, the relative coordinate data d reduced to 1/10 is transmitted to the movement data processing unit 31, and the relative coordinate data d is converted into cursor movement data in step ST3 shown in FIG. 8, and the step shown in FIG. In ST4, the cursor movement data is output to the operating system 27.

  Conventionally, since the relative coordinate data is directly sent from the relative coordinate data generation unit 20 to the movement data processing unit 31 in real time, the operation unit 10 returns to the original position after the finger is released from the operation unit 10. As a result of the relative coordinate data output during the transition period being sent to the movement data processing unit 31 as it is, the pointer 7 moves even after the finger is released from the operation unit 10, and the pointer 7 is stopped on the target position. However, in the present invention, the buffer unit 21 is provided, a plurality of relative coordinate data is stored in the buffer unit 21, and the vector value of the stored relative coordinate data is the same as in steps ST5 to ST7 shown in FIG. When the conditions of each step are satisfied, the data control unit 22 determines that the finger has been released from the operation unit 10, and subtracts the relative movement amount data in the transition period, as described later. To equal to cut the relative coordinate data as can appropriately easily stop the pointer 7 on target position as compared with the prior art.

  After subtracting the relative coordinate data d as shown in FIG. 10, in step ST9 shown in FIG. 10, the relative coordinate data c stored in the buffer 2 shown in FIG. Then, the relative coordinate data b stored in the buffer 1 is transferred to the buffer 2 as the relative coordinate data c, and it is determined whether or not the vector value of the newly received relative coordinate data a is 0 (FIG. 10). In step ST5), if it is not 0, the process proceeds to the buffer 1 to obtain the relative coordinate data b.

  Then, the relative coordinate data d in the buffer 3 is subtracted in the same manner as above (step ST8 in FIG. 10), the relative coordinate data d subtracted is output to the host computer 25, and the above steps ST5 to ST9 are repeated.

  When the operation unit 10 returns to the original position, the vector value of the relative coordinate data a transmitted from the relative coordinate data generation unit 20 becomes zero. When the received relative coordinate data a is 0 (step ST5), the operation unit 10 is no longer completely returned to the original position, so that it is not necessary to perform steps ST6 and ST7. In step ST8, Subtraction processing to reduce the relative coordinate data d stored in the buffer 3 to 1/10 is transmitted to the movement data processing unit 31, and the process proceeds to step ST9, where one piece of relative coordinate data is stored in the buffer. Then, the process proceeds to step ST8 again, and the subtraction process is performed. If the relative coordinate data received in this way is 0, steps ST8 and ST9 are repeated. Since the relative coordinate data stored in the buffer unit 21 will eventually disappear (or because the vector value of the relative coordinate data is filled with 0), the data control unit 22 will not send any signal to the movement data processing unit 31 there. finish.

  When the relationship of step ST7 is satisfied, in the above control step, the process of subtracting the relative coordinate data d is performed. For example, data control is performed to reduce the number of relative coordinate data to be transmitted to the movement data processing unit 31. May be.

  For example, if it is determined that the relationship of step ST7 is satisfied, the data control unit 22 manages the relative coordinate data stored in the buffer unit 21 and the received relative coordinate data a so as to be deleted. As a result, the data control unit 22 does not send any relative coordinate data to the movement data processing unit 31 and can be stopped by applying a sudden brake to the pointer 7. Alternatively, even if all the relative coordinate data b, c, d stored in the buffer unit 21 are deleted, for example, the newly received relative movement amount data a is left without being deleted, and the relative coordinate data a Then, the subtraction process of step ST8 is performed, and thereafter, the subtraction process is performed on all the received relative movement amount data a and the relative movement amount data subjected to the subtraction process is sent to the movement data processing unit 31. Good. Alternatively, for example, only a predetermined number of data, for example, two pieces of relative coordinate data d and c are temporarily deleted in order of old storage. Since the relative coordinate data d and c have a large vector value in the stored relative coordinate data, as can be seen from the relationship in step ST6, the stored relative coordinate data d and c are deleted. Thus, the relative coordinate data b of the buffer 1 remaining in the buffer is transferred to the buffer 3 to obtain the relative coordinate data d, and the relative coordinate data d is subtracted in step ST8 and then received. Subtraction processing may be performed on all relative movement amount data a, and the subordinate relative coordinate data may be sent to the movement data processing unit 31. If it does so, the relative coordinate data sent to the movement data processing part 31 will become a smaller value, and it will become easy to stop the said pointer 7 on a target position.

  By the way, since the buffer unit 21 for storing a plurality of relative coordinate data is provided in the present invention, the relative coordinate data is temporarily stored in the buffer unit 21 from the stage of first operating the operation unit 10 with a finger. Only when a “No” signal is output in step ST 6, the process of moving to step ST 9 is performed, and the relative coordinate data d is sent to the movement data processing unit 31. For this reason, the relative coordinate data is not sent to the movement data processing unit 31 in real time from the initial operation start stage, but the first stage of operating the operation unit 10, that is, the vector value of the relative coordinate data gradually increases. In the transition period until the relative movement amount data settles to a certain size, it is not necessary to pass the relative coordinate data through the buffer unit 21 specially. That is, as in the prior art, the relative coordinate data may be transmitted directly to the movement data processing unit 31 without passing through the buffer unit 21.

  Alternatively, even if the buffer unit 21 is passed, the relative coordinate data is not directly stored in the buffer 1 but directly in the buffer 3 so that the relative coordinate data d is immediately transmitted from the buffer 3 to the movement data processing unit 31. You may control. Such control can be performed by the data control unit 22.

  In FIG. 6, the stick pointer 3 is provided with a distortion sensor unit 3a and a coordinate input processing unit 23 having a relative coordinate data generation unit 20, and a FIFO buffer unit 21, a data control unit 22, and a movement data processing unit 31 are separately incorporated. A driver (mouse driver) 30 is prepared, and the driver 30 is installed in the host computer 25, whereby the relative coordinate data transmitted from the coordinate input processing unit 23 is processed by the driver 30 in the host computer 25. Is doing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, it is efficient and preferable to perform complicated calculation processing with high-speed CPU power on the host computer 25 side.

  Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, the FIFO buffer unit 21 and the data control unit 22 may be incorporated in the stick pointer 3 as a device. In the case of such a configuration, processing can be performed using OS-standard mouse driver software 26 incorporated in the host computer 25 side.

The perspective view which shows the external appearance of the notebook computer incorporating the input device of this invention, The partial expansion perspective view which shows the appearance of a stick pointer (controller), Partial plan view showing a substrate of the stick pointer, Circuit diagram of sensor unit, A circuit diagram of the coordinate input processing unit incorporated in the stick pointer, Block diagram of the input device of the present invention, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a different input device of the present invention, The flowchart figure for demonstrating a series of flow until it transmits cursor movement data to an operating system, after receiving relative coordinate data from a relative coordinate data generation part, Explanatory drawing for demonstrating the buffer process shown in FIG. The flowchart figure for demonstrating a concrete buffer process,

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook computer 3 Stick pointer 10 Operation part 20 Relative coordinate data generation part 21 FIFO buffer part 22 Data processing part 23 Coordinate input processing part 25 Operating system 26 Mouse driver software 27 Operating system 30 Driver 31 Movement data processing part

Claims (8)

A sensor unit, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor change amounts, and a data control unit, wherein the sensor change amounts are transmitted from the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit in the order of storage;
In the data control unit, when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition, the stored sensor change amount is subtracted, and the subtracted sensor change amount is converted into the movement data processing unit. An input device characterized by transmitting to.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the number of sensor change data to be transmitted to the movement data processing unit when it becomes smaller under the predetermined condition is reduced. A sensor unit, a buffer unit capable of storing a plurality of sensor change amounts, and a data control unit, wherein the sensor change amounts are transmitted from the buffer unit to the movement data processing unit in the order of storage;
The data control unit reduces the number of sensor change amount data to be transmitted to the movement data processing unit when the received sensor change amount becomes small under a predetermined condition.   4. The method according to claim 2, wherein when a predetermined condition is satisfied, a predetermined number of data is deleted in the storage order from the sensor change amount immediately before being transmitted to the movement data processing unit among the stored sensor change amounts. Input device.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is when the stored sensor change amount is smaller than the previously stored sensor change amount.   The predetermined condition is that the latest sensor change amount DT1 received is compared with the sensor change amount DT2 immediately before being transmitted to the movement data processing unit among the stored sensor change amounts. 6. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input device is when the sensor change amount DT1 is reduced by a predetermined amount.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined condition is when the latest sensor change amount received is zero.   The input device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor unit is a strain sensor.