JPH0659802A - Device for controlling pen input - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the operation not intended by the operator from being caused even when a pen input comes from an area at the outside of a certain area. CONSTITUTION:An area discrimination section 2 and an area storage section 3 are both connected to an area comparison section 4, which compares an area identifier being an output from the area discrimination section 2 with an area identifier stored in the area storage section 3 and gives an output representing whether or not the identifiers are coincident with each other. The area discrimination section 2, the area storage section 3 and the area comparison section 4 are respectively connected to the area decision section 5, and before an entry end discrimination section 6 discriminates it that the coordinate entry is finished when the area comparison section 4 discriminates the difference from the area, the area decision section 5 decides the area stored in the area storage section 4 to be an area to which a current coordinate input belongs.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus having pen input means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Man-machine interfaces for personal computers and workstations have changed from the conventional command input type to GUI (graphical user interface).
We are moving to icon operation and menu operation using. The main input means in the GUI is a mouse or a trackball, and these are used together with a button to move the cursor to the target area on the screen and press the button, or move the cursor while pressing the button, etc. The input coordinates at time have meaning. By the way, recently, as a new form of a computer, a computer which does not have a keyboard and is operated only by a pen has appeared.
In other words, it is an attempt to handle a pointing function such as a mouse / trackball and a character input function of a keyboard by one device called a pen. Here, direct pointing can be mentioned as a feature of input with a pen. In other words, in the case of a mouse or a trackball, a human does not directly point to an object on the screen, but indirectly by moving the cursor displayed on the screen, but the pen directly touches the screen. Since the target object can be pointed out, the operability is improved.

[0003]

However, since the operability is improved, the handwriting input, etc. may be rough and the input area may exceed a predetermined input area. An example is when you are drawing in a window and the pen temporarily moves out of the window and into the scroll bar area. At this time, when the scroll bar processing is executed, the display in the window is scrolled, and when the pen returns to the original window, drawing is performed in a place different from the place where the user was trying to draw, Has the drawback.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a pen that does not cause an operation unintended by the operator even when the input of the pen deviates from an area where the input is made, and more specifically, an operation in which the operation intended by the operator is taken into consideration. It is to provide an input control device.

[0005]

The object is to provide coordinate input means by a pen and area determination means for dividing an area in which input by the coordinate input means is possible and determining to which area the coordinate input belongs. An area storage unit for holding a result of the determination made by the area determination unit with respect to the previous coordinate input,
Area comparison means for comparing the judgment result of the area judgment means with respect to the current coordinate input and the judgment result held in the area storage means, end confirmation means for confirming that the coordinate input by the pen is completed, and the end When the area comparing means determines that the areas are different before the confirming means determines that the coordinate input is completed, the area stored in the area storing means is set as the area to which the current coordinate input belongs. It is achieved by a pen input control device characterized by comprising.

Further, the above-mentioned object is to start the time measuring means when the time measuring means for measuring a fixed time and the area comparing means determine that the areas are different from each other, and to input coordinates until a predetermined time elapses. Pen input, further comprising means for handling as an input belonging to the area held in the area storage means and for handling as an input belonging to the area determined by the area determination means after a lapse of a certain time. It is also achieved by the control device.

Further, the purpose is to determine a distance between the area held in the area storage means and the current input coordinate, and whether the distance determined by the distance measuring means exceeds a certain distance. If it is determined by the distance determining means for determining whether or not the area is different from the area comparing means, and if the distance determining means determines that the area is within a certain distance, the area is stored in the area storage means. A pen input control device, further comprising means for treating the input as an input belonging to a certain area and treating it as an input belonging to the area determined by the area determining means when it is determined that the distance exceeds a certain distance. Also achieved by.

[0008]

In the above structure, when the pen input is performed in a certain area and the pen is pushed out of the area, the area comparison means detects that the pen is out of the area in which the input is made. Until the end confirmation means determines that the coordinate input is completed, it is processed as input to the original area,
It is not processed as input for the newly entered area.

Further, when the time measuring means is provided, the protrusion within a certain period of time is processed as an input to the original area, but when the protrusion exceeds the certain period of time, the end confirming means judges that the coordinate input is completed. Even before it is handled as input to a new area.

Further, when the distance determining means is provided, the protrusion within a certain distance is processed as an input to the original area, but when the distance exceeds the certain distance, the end confirming means determines that the coordinate input is completed. Even before it is handled as input to a new area.

[0011]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below by taking a case where a rectangular window is used as an input device of a display-integrated tablet in which a display element (liquid crystal, EL, etc.) and a tablet are integrated. It will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an example of a block diagram of a pen input control device according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 denotes a pen input section for sampling the input of the pen at a constant time interval and outputting the coordinates of the pen input if any. A body tablet is equivalent. A region determination unit 2 is connected to the pen input unit 1, and the region determination unit 2 determines to which rectangular region the coordinates given by the pen input unit 1 belong to a region setting unit (not shown). Then, the identifier corresponding to the area is output. An area storage unit 3 stores the area identifier determined by the area determination unit 2 under the control of the area determination unit 5, which will be described later. The area determination unit 2 and the area storage unit 3 are both connected to the area comparison unit 4, and the area comparison unit 4 compares the area identifier output from the area determination unit 2 with the area identifier stored in the area storage unit 3. ,
Output whether or not they match. The area determination unit 2, the area storage unit 3, and the area comparison unit 4 are each connected to the area determination unit 5, and the area determination unit 5 is based on the result of the area comparison unit 4 and the input end determination result of the end determination unit 6 described later. The area is determined and the storage of the area in the area storage unit 3 is controlled, while the area identifier stored in the area storage unit 3 is output to the coordinate conversion unit 7 described later. The operation of the area determination unit 5 will be described later in detail.
The pen input unit 1 further includes an end determination unit 6 and a coordinate conversion unit 7.
Are connected to each. The end determination unit 6 is the pen input unit 1
The timer is restarted each time an input is made, an input signal is generated, and an input end signal is generated when a time-out occurs. The coordinate conversion unit 7 converts the output coordinates of the pen input unit 1 into relative coordinates within the area determined by the area determination unit 5, and outputs the relative coordinates.

Further, in general, in the case of protruding, the area does not stay in each area for a long time, so that the protruding within a certain time may be processed as an input to the original area, As a second embodiment of the present invention, the time measuring unit 8a is arranged between the region comparing unit 4 and the region determining unit 5. In this case, the timer unit 8a activates a timer when the area comparison unit 4 determines that the areas do not match, and gives information for the area determination of the area determination unit 5 when the statuses where the areas do not match for a certain time or more continue. When returning to the original area within a certain period of time, or when the information for determining the area of the area determining unit 5 has been given in the state where the areas do not match for a certain time or more continuously, the timer is cleared at that point. .

Further, in general, in the case of protrusion, the protrusion should stay in the vicinity of the original region, so that the protrusion within a certain distance may be processed as an input to the original region. As a third embodiment of
The distance determining section 8b connected to the pen input section 1, the area storing section 3, and the area comparing section 4 is added to the first embodiment. In this case, the distance determination unit 8b determines the distance between the area stored in the area storage unit 3 and the output coordinate of the pen input unit 1, determines whether the distance exceeds a certain distance, and the area determination unit 5 Gives information for area determination.

Next, the operation of the area determining section 5 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, as a precondition, it is assumed that the coordinates given from the pen input unit 1 are guaranteed to belong to any one of the regions set in the region determination unit 2, and the region identifier is 1. To N (N is the number of areas).

First, a description will be given of the first embodiment, that is, a case where neither the time measuring unit 8a nor the distance determining unit 8b is provided.

First, in step 1, the input end state is set. Next, in step S2, the area storage unit 3 is set to 0.
Is set. In this case, the set 0 is not the area identifier of any area and represents that no input has been made yet.

In step S3, it is determined whether or not input is in progress. If it is determined that the input is not in progress, this step is repeated until the input is in progress. When it is determined that the input is in progress (Yes), the process proceeds to step S4, and the result of the comparison between the region identifier of the region determination unit 2 and the region identifier of the region storage unit 3 performed by the region comparison unit 4 is referred to. If it is determined that the areas do not match (No), the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether the value stored in the area storage unit 3 is 0 or not. Step S5 is for determining whether or not the input is the first input after the initial setting or the end of the previous input, and when it is determined to be 0 (Yes), the region identifier from the region determination unit 2 is set to the region. The area identifier stored in the area storage unit 3 is output in step S7. When the area comparison unit 4 determines in step S4 that the areas match from the area identifier from the area determination unit 2 and the area identifier of the area storage unit 3 (Yes), steps S5 and S6 are performed. The process proceeds directly to step S7 without execution and the area storage unit 3
The area identifier stored in is output. Similarly, when it is determined in step S5 that the value stored in the area storage unit 3 is not 0 (No), the process directly proceeds to step S7 without executing step S6 and is stored in the area storage unit 3. Output the area identifier. After the area identifier is output in step S7, the process proceeds to step S8, and it is referred to whether the end determination unit 6 determines that the input is completed. If the end determination unit 6 determines that the input is not yet finished (No), the process returns to step S4 and repeats the subsequent steps, and the end determination unit 6 determines that the input is finished (Yes). If so, the process returns to step S2 and the subsequent steps are repeated.

When the timer 8a is provided as the second embodiment or the distance determination unit 8b is provided as the third embodiment, the value stored in the area storage 3 in step S5 is not 0. If it is determined that step S7
In step S9, if the timer 8a has not been activated yet, the timer 8a is activated. If it has already been activated, it is determined whether it is within a certain time after activation, or the distance determination unit 8b Refer to the determination whether the distance between the area stored in the area storage unit 3 and the output coordinate of the pen input unit 1 exceeds a certain distance, and determine that it is not within a certain time (No), or determine the distance. If it is determined that the portion 8b is not within the constant distance (No), the process proceeds to step S6,
The area identifier from the area determination unit 2 is set in the area storage unit 3, and then the area identifier stored in the area storage unit 3 is output in step S7. As a result, it is possible to switch to a new area even before the end of input. If it is determined in step S9 that the distance is within the fixed distance (Yes) or within the fixed time (Yes), the process proceeds to step S7 without performing step S6, and the area identifier stored in the area storage unit 3 is output. .

The above flow chart will be specifically described by taking a case where a line segment or the like is drawn with a pen on a display screen as shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the display screen has a peripheral area 00, an area 01, an area 02 and an area 03, and a drawing area at the center.
10 and an area 20, an area 30, and an area 40 adjacent to the drawing area 10, and various functions are given to each area. The drawing area 10 at the center functions as a window with respect to the virtual screen, and the area cut out by the window on the virtual screen corresponds. The pen input position in the drawing area 10 corresponds to the relative coordinate value on the virtual screen, and for example, by pen-inputting a line segment or the like in the drawing area 10, a line segment or the like can be drawn on the virtual screen. I can.

A region identifier from 1 to 8 is assigned to each region, 1 for region 00, 2 for region 01, and
3 for 02, 4 for region 03, 5 for region 10, region 20
6 is assigned to the area, 7 is assigned to the area 30, and 8 is assigned to the area 40.

As an initial setting, the timer of the end judging section 6 is stopped so that the input end signal is generated (S
1). In addition, 0 is set in the area storage unit 3 to indicate "no storage area" (S2).

When the initial setting is completed, the system waits for an input (S3), and if the input is made, the area determination unit 2
And the output of the area storage unit 3 are compared (S4). Here, 0 is set in the area storage unit 3 in step S2,
Since the output of the area determination unit 2 is from 1 to 8, the processing always goes to step S5, which is different, and since 0 is set in the area storage unit 3 as described above, the processing proceeds to step S6 and the area at this time is set. The output of the determination unit 2 (for example, 5 when an input is made in the area 10) is saved. Then, in step S7, the output of the area storage unit 3 is set to the determined area,
Output (5 in this example). Until the end determination unit 6 determines that the input is completed (S8), steps S4 to S8 are performed.
As long as the output of the area determination unit 2 does not change, that is, as long as the pen input is performed in the area 10 in this example, the step S4 is Yes and the step S7 is performed to save the area storage unit 3. The output is output as is. Since the output of the area storage unit 3 does not change in this loop, the area at the time when the pen input is started is used as it is, and it can be seen that it operates correctly.

Next, consider a case where the area changes before pen input is completed, for example, the area 10 changes to the area 20. In this case, since the output from the area determination unit 2 is 6 and the output from the area storage unit 3 is 5, the areas do not match in step S4 and the process proceeds to step S5. The output of the area storage unit 3 in the loop of steps S4 to S8 Since 0 is never set to 0, the process exits from step S5 with No. Since the value of the area storage unit 3 is not changed even when passing through this path, the value of the area storage unit 3 set when the pen input is started,
In this example, 5 is the output of the area determination unit 5. Therefore, until the pen input is completed, the output of the area determination unit 5 is the area identifier value 5 of the area when the pen input is started.
Will be kept.

Once pen input is completed, step S
After exiting the loop from S4 to S8, the process returns to step S2, and the output of the area storage unit 3 is cleared to 0.

When the pen input is started again, the step S6 is always passed once. Therefore, the output of the area determination unit 5 always holds the value of the identifier of the area in which the pen is first lowered from the time the pen is lowered to the time it is raised.

Further, the timer unit 8a or the distance judging unit 8b
In the case of No in step S5, that is, when it is determined that the pen lowered in one area has entered another area, the process proceeds to step S9, in which the time measuring unit 8a detects the time within a fixed time or the distance determining unit 8b. If it is determined that the distance is within the fixed distance, the process proceeds to step S7 in exactly the same manner as when the timer 8a or the distance determiner 8b is not operated. When the timer 8a determines that the time exceeds the fixed time or when the distance determiner 8b determines that the time exceeds the constant distance, the process proceeds to step S6, and the output of the region determiner 2 at this time is set as the value of the region saver 3. . In other words, if it is determined that the area has been completely shifted, even if the pen input has not ended, it is considered that a new input has started from that point and the processing is performed.

[0030]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION By using the pen input control device according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce erroneous operation related to input near the boundary between regions.

When a part of a large canvas is cut out in a window like drawing software, even if the pen input jumps out of the window a little, it can be processed as the same window, so the drawing is cut off at the edge of the window. It will not be lost and can be treated as continuous drawing on the canvas.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a pen input control device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the pen input device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship among a display, an area, and a virtual screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Pen input section 2 Area determination section 3 Area storage section 4 Area comparison section 5 Area determination section 6 End determination section 7 Coordinate conversion section 8a Timing section 8b Distance determination section

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A coordinate input unit using a pen, a region determination unit that divides a region in which the coordinate input unit can input and determines which region the coordinate input belongs to, and the region for a previous coordinate input. Area storage means for holding the determination result by the determination means, area comparison means for comparing the determination result of the area determination means for the current coordinate input with the determination result held in the area storage means, and coordinate input by the pen It is held in the area storage means when the area confirmation means confirms the completion and when the area comparison means determines that the areas are different before the completion confirmation means determines that the coordinate input is completed. A pen input control device comprising means for setting a region as a region to which a current coordinate input belongs. 2. The pen input control device according to claim 1, wherein when the time measuring means for measuring a fixed time and the area comparing means determine that the areas are different from each other, the time measuring means is activated and a predetermined time elapses. The coordinate input up to that point is handled as an input belonging to the area held in the area storage means, and is treated as an input belonging to the area determined by the area determination means after a predetermined time has elapsed. A pen input control device characterized by: 3. The pen input control device according to claim 1, wherein the distance determination means for determining the distance between the area held in the area storage means and the current input coordinates, and the distance measured by the distance measurement means. Is determined to be within a certain distance, when the distance determining means for determining whether or not exceeds a certain distance and the area comparing means determines that the areas are different from each other, A means for handling as an input belonging to the area held in the area storage means, and for handling as an input belonging to the area determined by the area determination means when it is determined that a certain distance is exceeded. Characteristic pen input control device.