JPH05298018A - Cursor controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the cursor controller with high operability by calculating the moving amount of a cursor based on a modified value for conversion into the moving amount of the cursor and the detecting signal of a tablet. CONSTITUTION:When an operator fits the tip of a finger to an operating plane 7 of a tablet 5 and moves this position in a prescribed direction for a prescribed amount, for a pointing device 1 pulled in front of a keyboard case, the detecting signal of the tablet 5 and the signal of pressure received from the tip of the finger through the tablet 5 to a pressure-sensitive sensor 3 are outputted through a flat cable 6 to a computer in the keyboard case so as to control the position of the cursor displayed on a display. At such a time, the moving amount and the pressure for the tip of the finger on the operating plane 7 is detected, when the value of the pressure is smaller than a prescribed threshold value, as a coefficient in the case of converting the moving amount for the tip of the finger to the moving amount of the cursor, the modificated value is decided corresponding to the pressure, and the cursor moving amount is calculated by multiplying the moving amount to the modified value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a cursor control device using a pointing device, and more particularly to a cursor control device for controlling the position of a cursor by moving a finger or the like on an operation surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a cursor control device of this type, there is widely known a device using a tablet capable of detecting the coordinate position of an operating body such as a finger on an operating surface by, for example, a change in received light amount or a capacitance. Has been. A tablet is a plate-shaped detection device that detects the coordinate position of the operating tool at every predetermined minute sampling time and outputs the detection signal to the computer body. The position of the cursor displayed on the display can be controlled by running a person's fingertip). That is, when the operator wants to move the cursor on the display, the operator presses the fingertip against the operation surface of the tablet, and if the fingertip is moved by a predetermined amount in the same direction as the direction in which the cursor is desired to be moved, the operator can move it through the computer body. A control signal for moving the cursor on the display is output, and at this time, the moving direction and the moving amount of the cursor are determined according to the coordinate change of the fingertip on the operation surface.

By the way, since the operating surface of the tablet is generally much smaller than the display screen of the display, the moving amount of the cursor is determined by multiplying the moving amount of the operating body (fingertip) by a predetermined modifying value. Is constant, the operation on the operation surface becomes complicated when it is desired to move the cursor largely or slightly on the display. Therefore, a recent cursor control device using a tablet detects the moving speed of the operating body from the coordinate change of the operating body for each sampling time, and when the moving speed is high, the modification value is set to a large value to change the moving speed. When it is small, the modifier value is also set small. In this way, when the modification value, which is a coefficient when converting the movement amount of the operating body into the movement amount of the cursor, increases or decreases according to the moving speed of the operating body, the operator moves the cursor on the display. When you want to move a large amount, you can control the cursor position with a movement amount much larger than the movement amount of the fingertip by moving the fingertip on the operation surface quickly, and when you want to move the cursor slightly. By slowly moving the fingertip on the operation surface, it is possible to control the cursor position with a movement amount similar to the movement amount of the fingertip.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional cursor control device in which the modification value (conversion coefficient) is changed according to the moving speed of the operating body on the operation surface of the tablet, the modification value does not change. Although the operability is improved than in the case of, it is not easy to change the moving speed of the operating body such as the finger on the operating surface appropriately, that is, it is surprising to control the speed of the operating body. Since it was difficult, the operability was not always good. Especially when the operating surface of the tablet gets smaller due to space constraints,
Despite the need to change the modifier value significantly, it is more difficult to control the speed of the operating body, so
Operability will be hindered.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object thereof is to provide a cursor control device having good operability.

[0006]

An object of the present invention described above is to provide a tablet having an operating surface for detecting the coordinate position of the operating body, and a tablet arranged on the bottom side of the tablet for operating the operating body. An operation pressure detector for detecting the pressing force, and a modifier value for converting the moving amount of the operating body into the moving amount of the cursor are calculated according to the pressing force of the operating body, and the modifying value and the tablet This is achieved by including an arithmetic circuit that calculates the amount of movement of the cursor based on the detection signal.

[0007]

[Operation] When the operating body such as a finger pressed against the operating surface is moved quickly, it is easier to operate by weakening the pressing force of the operating body, and conversely, when operating the operating body slowly, it is better to increase the pressing force. Since it is easy to do, the modification value (conversion coefficient) is set so that the value increases as the pressing force of the operating body decreases.
By setting, the operator's natural motion can be reflected in the modifier value, and the pressing force of the operating body can be subtly changed, making it easy to control even when the operating surface is small. Therefore, the operability is improved as compared with the conventional product in which the modification value is determined according to the moving speed of the operating body.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the cursor control device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Here, FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the pointing device according to the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pointing device, FIG. 3 is an external view of a portable personal computer incorporating the pointing device, and FIG. 4 is a calculation in the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a calculation processing path of the circuit, and FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram in which a modification value calculated from the pressing force of the operating body in the calculation circuit is graphed.

A pointing device 1 shown in FIGS.
On the metal plate 2 as a support plate, the pressure-sensitive sensor 3
The flexible printed circuit board 4 on which the above are mounted is fixedly mounted, and the tablet 5 is further mounted on the pressure-sensitive sensor 3. The flat cable 6 extending from the flexible printed circuit board 4 is connected to a computer (not shown). To be done. The tablet 5 has an operation surface 7 set as a rectangular area on which an operator presses an operation body such as a finger to run, and a face sheet 8 is attached to the operation surface 7. The pressure sensor 3 is installed just below the center of the operation surface 7, and the tablet 5 is supported by the pressure sensor 3. It should be noted that guide rails 9 are provided on both sides of the pointing device 1 so that the pointing device 1 can be inserted into and removed from a keyboard case described later.

That is, the pointing device 1
Can project in front of a keyboard case 11 in which a large number of key switches 10 are arranged on the top surface, as shown in FIG.
In addition, the keyboard case 11 is mounted so as to be able to be retracted, and the entering / exiting operation is performed along the guide rail 9. Specifically, keyboard case 1
By pressing the lock release button 12 exposed on the front surface of 1, the locking mechanism (not shown) is released, and the pointing device 1 is projected to the front side of the keyboard case 11 by the elastic force of the biasing spring (not shown), and is also projected. When the pointing device 1 is pushed in along the guide rail 9, the lock mechanism operates and the pointing device 1 is stored in the keyboard case 11. In other words, the pointing device 1 can be stored inside the keyboard case 11 when it is not needed, so that there is no fear of hindering downsizing of the portable personal computer.

The pointing device 1, which is pulled out in front of the keyboard case 11 when necessary, detects the tablet 5 when the operator presses his fingertip against the operation surface 7 of the tablet 5 and moves it in a predetermined direction by a predetermined amount. The signal and the signal of the pressing force that the pressure sensor 3 receives from the fingertip via the tablet 5 are output to the computer in the keyboard case 11 via the flat cable 6 and the position control of the cursor displayed on the display 13 is performed. You can do it.

Next, a method of controlling the cursor position using the pointing device 1 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

Now, when the operator presses the fingertip on the operation surface 7, the tablet 5 detects the coordinate position of the fingertip. Therefore, from the coordinate position of the fingertip obtained every predetermined sampling time, the operation of the fingertip is performed. Moving amount s on surface 7
However, it is detected as an orthogonal component that can grasp the moving direction. Further, the pressing force p exerted by the fingertip on the operation surface 7 is p = K × e, where K is a proportional constant and e is an output of the pressure-sensitive sensor 3.
Is required as.

In this way, the movement amount s and the pressing force p of the fingertip on the operation surface 7 are detected, and if the value of the pressing force p is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold value R (see FIG. 5), the movement amount of the fingertip. A modification value U, which is a coefficient for converting s into a moving amount of the cursor, is determined according to the pressing force p, and the value of U obtained for each sampling time is multiplied by the moving amount s to obtain a cursor The movement amount D (= U × s) is calculated. Here, the modification value U is, as shown in the graph of FIG.
Is set to increase with decreasing. Further, the amount of movement D of the cursor is obtained as an orthogonal component capable of grasping the moving direction, and the value of D thus obtained is displayed on the display 1.
Output to 3 and move the cursor.

When the value of the pressing force p is larger than the threshold value R, that is, when the operator consciously strongly pushes the operation surface 7, the select signal is output as apparent from FIG. Then, for example, switching to the drag mode is performed.

As described above, in the above embodiment, the modification value U for converting the movement amount of the operating body into the movement amount of the cursor is set so that the value increases as the pressing force p of the operating body decreases. If the operating body is moved with a weak pressing force, the modification value U becomes large and the cursor can be moved largely on the display 13, and conversely, if the operating body is moved with a strong pressing force, the cursor is displayed on the display 13. Can be moved slightly with. In other words, it is easier for the operator to weaken the pressing force of the operating body when moving the operating body such as a finger quickly, and conversely, it is easier to operate when the operating body is moved slowly when increasing the pressing force. By setting the modifier value U as in the above-described embodiment, the operator's natural motion can be reflected in the modifier value, as in the case of determining the modifier value according to the moving speed of the operating body.
Moreover, the pressing force of the operating body can be subtly changed, and it is easy to control even when the operating surface is small, so compared to the conventional product that determines the modification value according to the moving speed of the operating body, Operability is improved.

Since the moving speed of the operating body is obtained from the detection signal of the tablet 5, the modification value (conversion coefficient) is calculated based on the value determined so as to increase or decrease with the moving speed and the value of U. If determined, the operator's natural motion can be clearly reflected in the modification value, and further improvement in operability can be expected.

[0018]

As described above, the modification value (conversion coefficient) is set so that the value increases as the pressing force of the operating body decreases, and the amount of movement of the cursor is determined based on the modification value. According to the present invention, not only the operator's natural motion can be reflected in the modified value, but also the pressing force of the operating body can be easily controlled even when the operation surface is small.
It has an excellent effect that the operability is improved as compared with the conventional product.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pointing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the pointing device.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a portable personal computer incorporating the pointing device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an arithmetic processing path of the arithmetic circuit in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram in which a modification value calculated from the pressing force of the operating body in the calculation circuit is graphed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 pointing device 3 pressure sensor 4 flexible printed circuit board 5 tablet 7 operation surface 13 display

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cursor capable of controlling a position of a cursor displayed on a display by outputting a signal corresponding to a moving direction and a moving amount of the operating body such as a finger on the operating surface to a computer body. In the control device, a tablet having the operation surface to detect the coordinate position of the operating body, an operation pressure detector arranged on the bottom surface side of the tablet to detect the pressing force when the operating body is operated, A modifier value for converting the movement amount of the operation body into a movement amount of the cursor is calculated according to the pressing force of the operation body, and the movement amount of the cursor is calculated based on the decoration value and the detection signal of the tablet. A cursor control device comprising: an arithmetic circuit for performing an arithmetic operation.