JP2009003608A - Pen input device, and pen input method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily switch functions of an electronic pen by varying an inclined angle of a pen input part. <P>SOLUTION: A pen input device includes: a pen input part 100; an acceleration sensor 140 detecting, at any time, an acceleration generated due to movement of the input part 100; a transmission circuit 110 transmitting a value of the acceleration detected by the sensor 140 as an acceleration signal; a reception circuit 210 receiving the acceleration signal; an angle calculation unit 231 calculating the inclined angle of the pen input part 100, based on the acceleration signal received by the reception circuit 210; a storage unit 250 storing a correspondence table 251 in which a plurality of angle ranges and one function included in a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of angle ranges are defined; and a function execution unit 232 extracting functions corresponding to the angle range including the inclined angle from the corresponding table 251 to execute the extracted function. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pen input device and a pen input method for drawing characters and figures with an electronic pen or the like.

  Electronic pens usually detect the pressure of the pen tip by sliding the tip of the pen on the tablet that detects the position of the pen tip, and send the position information to the display system to display the pen tip handwriting. Let Alternatively, as shown in Patent Document 1, for example, an acceleration sensor or an angular velocity sensor is incorporated in an electronic pen, and the speed or movement amount is detected, so that the electronic pen can be moved on ordinary paper or a desk even when there is no dedicated tablet. Thus, characters and pictures can be drawn on the display system.

  When drawing a character or a picture with such an electronic pen, it is necessary to switch a plurality of functions such as a function for writing (drawing a picture) and a function for erasing. In order to switch between these functions, there are conventional methods such as selecting a function from a menu of the display system or pressing a function button on the tablet, but there is a problem that the flow of work is interrupted.

  In order to solve this problem, for example, Patent Document 2 describes a method of recognizing a line drawing state or a line erasing state by changing the operation speed of the electronic pen. Patent Documents 3 and 4 describe a method in which a gesture for switching to each function is determined and registered, and a gesture is analyzed to determine an operation.

JP 2000-268130 A (FIG. 2) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-199591 JP-A-60-75980 JP-A-9-270022

  However, in the conventional method, the line drawing state and the erasing state are switched depending on the pen operating speed. For example, the speed when erasing the line must be increased, which is inconvenient when erasing a small area. was there. Further, in the case of using a gesture, there is a problem that a gesture must be determined and registered for each function, and the registered gesture must be reproduced in order to switch to each function.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to solve at least a part of the problems described above, and the invention can be implemented as the following forms or application examples.

[Application Example 1]
A pen input unit; an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration generated by movement of the pen input unit as needed; a transmission circuit that transmits the acceleration value detected by the acceleration sensor as an acceleration signal; and reception that receives the acceleration signal A circuit, an angle calculation unit that calculates an inclination angle of the pen input unit based on the acceleration signal received by the reception circuit, and a plurality of angle ranges and a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of angle ranges. A storage unit that stores a correspondence table that defines a function; and a function execution unit that extracts the function corresponding to the angle range including the tilt angle from the correspondence table and executes the extracted function. A pen input device characterized by that.

  According to this configuration, a plurality of functions can be selected and executed only by changing the tilt angle of the pen input unit without interrupting the work flow by selecting a menu or the like during drawing by the pen input unit.

[Application Example 2]
In the pen input device, the plurality of angle ranges and the plurality of functions stored in the storage unit can be arbitrarily set.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to assign a function corresponding to the angle range in accordance with how to write the user who uses the pen input unit.

[Application Example 3]
An acceleration detecting step for detecting acceleration generated by movement of the pen input unit as needed, a transmitting step for transmitting the detected acceleration value as an acceleration signal, a receiving step for receiving the acceleration signal, and the received acceleration signal An angle calculation step for calculating an inclination angle of the pen input unit based on the above and a correspondence table defining a plurality of angle ranges and one function included in a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of angle ranges are prepared and calculated in advance. And a function execution step of extracting the function corresponding to the angle range including the tilt angle from the correspondence table and executing the extracted function.

  According to this configuration, a plurality of functions can be selected and executed only by changing the tilt angle of the pen input unit without interrupting the work flow by selecting a menu or the like during drawing by the pen input unit.

  DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
<Configuration of pen input device>
First, the configuration of the pen input device according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the pen input device according to the first embodiment. In the present embodiment, the pen input device will be described assuming a drawing system including an electronic pen, a personal computer, and a display.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the pen input device 1 includes an electronic pen 100 that is a pen input unit including a transmission circuit 110 and an acceleration sensor 140, a personal computer (PC) 200 including a reception circuit 210, a display 300, It is composed of

  The electronic pen 100 includes a transmission circuit 110, an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) 120, an oscillation circuit 130, an acceleration sensor 140, and a bus 150. The acceleration sensor 140 measures the X-axis, Y-axis, and Z-axis accelerations as needed based on the clock signal output from the oscillation circuit 130, and outputs the acceleration value to the bus 150 as an acceleration signal. The MPU 120 transmits an acceleration signal from time to time by the transmission circuit 110.

  The PC 200 includes a receiving circuit 210, a CPU 220, an EEPROM 250 that is a storage unit, a ROM 230 that stores a control program including an angle calculation unit 231 and a function execution unit 232, a RAM 240, and a bus 260. Yes.

  The receiving circuit 210 receives an acceleration signal transmitted from the transmitting circuit 110 as needed. The CPU 220 calculates the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 from the acceleration signal received by the angle calculation unit 231 read from the ROM 230. Further, the CPU 220 calculates the moving distance and moving direction of the electronic pen 100 from the acceleration signal.

  The pen input device 1 can assign a plurality of functions to the moving distance and moving direction of the electronic pen 100. For example, a drawing mode for drawing a line according to the locus of the electronic pen 100, or an erasing mode for erasing a line according to the locus of the electronic pen 100 can be assigned.

  The EEPROM 250 stores a correspondence table 251 in which functions corresponding to a plurality of angle ranges for changing functions according to the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 are defined.

<Configuration of correspondence table>
Next, the configuration of the correspondence table will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the correspondence table.

  FIG. 2A illustrates a correspondence table 251 in which the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 is divided into two equal parts from horizontal (0 °) to vertical (90 °), and functions are defined respectively. A drawing mode is assigned to the correspondence table 251 as a function corresponding to the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 in the angle range (A-1) of 45 ° to 90 °, and the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 is 0 ° to 45 °. An erasing mode is assigned as a function corresponding to the angle range (A-2). Note that it is not always necessary to determine the angle range at 45 ° that is obtained by dividing 0 ° to 90 ° into two equal parts, and an arbitrary angle (for example, 60 °, etc.) depending on how the user of the electronic pen 100 holds the pen. May be set.

  FIG. 2B illustrates a correspondence table 251 in which the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 is divided into three equal parts from 0 ° to 90 ° and functions are defined respectively. A non-drawing mode is assigned to the correspondence table 251 as a function corresponding to the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 in the angle range (B-1) of 60 ° to 90 °, and the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 is 30 ° to 60 °. A drawing mode is assigned as a function corresponding to an angle range (B-2) of 0 °, and an erase mode is assigned as a function corresponding to an angle range (B-3) of the electronic pen 100 in an angle range (B-3) of 0 ° to 30 °. Has been assigned. The non-drawing mode is a mode in which nothing is drawn when trying to draw with the electronic pen 100. For example, since the user's way of holding the pen is an angle close to vertical, and the non-drawing mode is set for an angle range where the user does not hold the pen, it is impossible to draw, so the way of holding the pen can be corrected .

<Operation of pen input device>
Next, the operation of the pen input device will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the pen input device. FIG. 3 illustrates a case where the correspondence table 251 illustrated in FIG. 2A is stored in the EEPROM 250.

  The electronic pen 100 repeats the following steps S100 to S102.

  First, in step S <b> 100, in the electronic pen 100, the acceleration sensor 140 periodically acquires acceleration based on the clock signal of the oscillation circuit 130 and outputs the acceleration signal to the bus 150 as an acceleration signal.

  Next, in step S102, the MPU 120 transmits the output acceleration signal by the transmission circuit 110, and proceeds to step S100.

  On the other hand, the PC 200 repeats the following steps S110 to S120.

  First, in step S110, the receiving circuit 210 receives the acceleration signal transmitted from the transmitting circuit 110.

  Next, in step S112, the angle calculation unit 231 calculates the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 from the acceleration signal.

  Next, in step S114, the moving direction and moving distance of the electronic pen 100 are calculated from the acceleration signal.

  Next, in step S116, the angle range of the correspondence table 251 stored in the EEPROM 250 is compared with the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100. If the tilt angle is included in 45 ° to 90 °, the process proceeds to step S118, and the tilt is performed. When the angle is included in 0 ° to 45 °, the process proceeds to step S120.

  Next, in step S118, the function of the electronic pen 100 is switched to the drawing mode, drawing is performed based on the moving direction and the moving distance, and the process proceeds to step S110.

  On the other hand, in step S120, the function of the electronic pen 100 is switched to the erasing mode, erasing is performed based on the moving direction and moving distance, and the process proceeds to step S110.

  According to the embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

  In the present embodiment, a plurality of functions can be selected and executed simply by changing the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100 without interrupting the work flow by selecting a menu or the like while drawing with the electronic pen 100.

  Although the embodiments have been described above, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and can be implemented in various forms without departing from the spirit of the invention. Hereinafter, a modification will be described.

  (Modification 1) Modification 1 of the pen input device will be described. In the first embodiment, the case where the transmission circuit 110 and the reception circuit 210 are used for wireless transmission and reception as a means for transmitting the acceleration signal from the electronic pen 100 to the PC 200 has been described. However, as shown in FIG. Also good. In that case, the output circuit 111 may be set instead of the transmission circuit 110, the input circuit 211 may be set instead of the reception circuit 210, and the output circuit 111 and the input circuit 211 may be connected by the wiring 112.

  (Modification 2) Modification 2 of the pen input device will be described. In the first embodiment, the case where the drawing mode, the erasing mode, and the non-drawing mode are assigned as functions assigned to the electronic pen 100 has been described. However, other functions may be used. For example, the mode may be switched to a mode for drawing a thin line, a mode for drawing a normal line, a mode for drawing a thick line, or the like in accordance with the tilt angle of the electronic pen 100. Also, the mode may be switched to a mode for drawing a solid line, a mode for drawing a point difference line, a mode for drawing a dotted line, or the like, or may be switched to a mode for drawing a black line, a mode for drawing a blue line, a mode for drawing a red line, or the like. Further, the angle range is not limited to 0 ° to 90 °. For example, an angle range of 0 ° to 180 ° may be used.

  (Modification 3) Modification 3 of the pen input device will be described. In the first embodiment, the case where the electronic pen 100 is used as the pen input unit has been described. However, for example, the pen input unit may be applied to a laser pointer, a remote control of a game machine, a mobile phone, or the like.

The block diagram which shows the structure of the pen input device which concerns on 1st Embodiment. The figure which shows the structure of a correspondence table. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of a pen input device. The block diagram which shows the structure of the pen input device which concerns on the modification 1. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pen input device, 100 ... Electronic pen which is a pen input part, 110 ... Transmission circuit, 111 ... Output circuit, 112 ... Wiring, 120 ... MPU, 130 ... Oscillation circuit, 140 ... Acceleration sensor, 150 ... Bus, 200 ... PC, 210 ... receiving circuit, 211 ... input circuit, 220 ... CPU, 230 ... ROM, 231 ... angle calculation unit, 232 ... function execution unit, 240 ... RAM, 250 ... EEPROM as a storage unit, 251 ... correspondence table, 260 ... bus, 300 ... display.

Claims (3)

A pen input unit;
An acceleration sensor for detecting at any time acceleration generated by movement of the pen input unit;
A transmission circuit that transmits the acceleration value detected by the acceleration sensor as an acceleration signal;
A receiving circuit for receiving the acceleration signal;
An angle calculation unit that calculates an inclination angle of the pen input unit based on the acceleration signal received by the reception circuit;
A storage unit for storing a correspondence table defining one function included in a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of angle ranges and the plurality of angle ranges;
A function execution unit that extracts the function corresponding to the angle range including the tilt angle from the correspondence table and executes the extracted function;
including,
A pen input device characterized by that. The pen input device according to claim 1,
The plurality of angle ranges and the plurality of functions stored in the storage unit can be arbitrarily set.
A pen input device characterized by that. An acceleration detection step for detecting at any time the acceleration generated by the movement of the pen input unit;
A transmission step of transmitting the detected acceleration value as an acceleration signal;
A receiving step of receiving the acceleration signal;
An angle calculating step of calculating an inclination angle of the pen input unit based on the received acceleration signal;
A correspondence table defining a plurality of angle ranges and one function included in a plurality of functions corresponding to the plurality of angle ranges is prepared in advance, and the function corresponding to the angle range including the calculated tilt angle is A function execution step of extracting from the correspondence table and executing the extracted function;
including,
A pen input method characterized by that.

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