JPH0686133U - Trackball coordinate information input device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] (Correction) [Purpose] To provide a trackball coordinate information input device capable of accurately detecting the amount of rotation of a ball, reducing the number of assembly steps, etc., and reducing cost and size. [Structure] Rotating shafts 26a, 2 of a pair of drivers 26, 27
7a are arranged so as to be substantially orthogonal to each other, and are made to oscillate in a direction of approaching and separating from the ball 35 with each one end serving as a fulcrum, and an encoder 30a is provided on each one end side. The other ends of the levers 46, 46 that are attached to each other are held by a pair of levers 46, 46 that are rotatably mounted on a common support shaft 39 that is erected downward on the frame 20. Via a single torsion coil spring 40 through the driver 26,
It is biased in a direction in which 27 is pressed against the ball 35.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a trackball coordinate information input device used as an external input device in a personal computer or the like for easily and sophisticated inputting / instructing operations of information about XY coordinate positions.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, such a trackball coordinate information input device (hereinafter abbreviated as a trackball) is configured as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, for example. That is, the track ball 1 is orthogonal to the ball 3 for coordinate input, which is rotatably supported on the upper surface of the frame 2 with a part thereof exposed and is rotatable in the frame 2. A pair of drivers 4 and 5 that come into contact with each other in two directions, and two displacement detectors 6 and 7 that detect the amount of rotation of the ball 3 as coordinate information of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate via the drivers 4 and 5, respectively. It has and.

The detectors 6 and 7 are connected to a printed wiring board (not shown) provided with a predetermined conductive pattern housed in the frame 2, respectively. Is equipped with a micro switch for determining and releasing the coordinate position, which is operated by a push button integrally formed on the upper lid of the frame 2.

Further, the ball 3 is accommodated in an accommodating portion 8a which is provided at the center of the frame member 8 made of synthetic resin and has an upwardly opening circular section, and the ball 3 is accommodated in the accommodating portion 8a. In order to rotatably support the lifted state, a plurality of (here, five) support spheres 9 are freely rotatable in a state in which a part of the outer surface is exposed inward from the spherical inner wall surface of the accommodation portion 8a. Held in. Reference numeral 15 in the drawing is a retainer.

Therefore, the ball 3 does not come into contact with the spherical inner wall surface of the accommodating portion 8a, but comes into point contact only with the supporting sphere 9, so that the ball 3 can be smoothly rotated with an extremely light operating force.

According to such a trackball 1, the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the ball 3 are detected by the detection units 6 and 7 via the rollers 4 and 5, and the signal from the detection unit is connected to the connection cable or the like. It is input to a personal computer or the like via the, and thus the cursor or the like is moved on the screen of the display connected to the computer. At that time, by pressing the input button on the frame 2, the cursor position at that time is moved. Will be decided or canceled.

By the way, in the trackball coordinate information input device 1, in order to rotatably press the drivers 4 and 5 onto the ball 3, the following measures are taken.

That is, the pair of drivers 4 and 5 are pivotally supported on the upper ends of the bearings 13 and 14 which are erected on the frame member 8 made of synthetic resin, and the lower ends of the swingable ends of the levers 11 and 12 are swingable. It is rotatably suspended on the side by bearings 11a and 12a.

This will be described with respect to one driver 5. As shown in FIG. 8, one end of the lever 12 is fixed near the upper end of the lever 12 and the other end of the frame 12 is connected to the frame member 8 as shown in FIG. A fixed tension spring 12c is stretched, so that the driver 5 attached to the swing end side of the lever 12 is constantly urged toward the ball 3 side.

On one end side of the rotary shaft 5a to which the driver 5 is fixed, a disc-shaped encoder 7a having a large number of radial slits, which constitutes the detection unit 7, is attached. The rotational displacement will be detected as rotational motion of the Y coordinate, for example.

[0011]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 In the conventional trackball coordinate information input device 1 described above, the positional relationship among the lever 12, the driver 5, the encoder 7a, the ball 3 and the like is shown schematically in FIG. As is apparent from this, the rotary shaft 12a of the lever 12 is located at the end opposite to the driver 5 and the encoder 7a attached to the rotary shaft 5a. 5. The encoder 7a is adapted to perform a pendulum motion with the rotary shaft 12a as a pivot shaft and an amplitude corresponding to the eccentric amount of the driver 5 and the rotary shaft 5a.

In this case, the encoder 7a constituting the detection unit 7 is attached to a portion farthest from the rotation shaft 12 of the lever 12, in other words, a portion where the amplitude of the pendulum movement is the largest. Therefore, when the driver 5 or the like is eccentrically rotated, its influence is directly reflected on the encoder 7a as it is, and the encoder 7a is mounted on a photocoupler having a pair of a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit which are arranged so as to sandwich the encoder 7a. On the other hand, a large amount of shaking causes a positional shift. As a result, the detected rotation amount of the ball 3 becomes inaccurate, and there is a problem that reliability is impaired.

In addition to the above, in the conventional trackball coordinate information input device 1, the pair of drivers 4 and 5 for detecting the X coordinate and the Y coordinate are individually supported and biased. The bearing means (11a, 12a, etc.) and the urging means (12c, etc.) are separately required, and the number of parts around the drivers 4, 5 and the installation space, as well as the number of assembling steps, etc. are increased to reduce the cost. There was also a problem that it was difficult to effectively reduce the size.

In view of the above point, the present invention prevents the encoder attached to the rotary shaft of the driver that is pressed against the ball from swinging largely with respect to the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. It is possible to accurately detect the amount of rotation of the ball by making it difficult for the position to be displaced from the parts, and to reduce the number of parts around the driver, the installation space, and the number of assembly steps, etc., resulting in cost reduction and downsizing. It is an object of the present invention to provide a trackball coordinate information input device that can be achieved in a targeted manner.

[0015]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the coordinate information input device according to the present invention basically comprises a coordinate information input ball rotatably housed in a frame and two directions orthogonal to the ball. Detection for detecting the amount of rotation of the ball, which has a pair of drivers in contact with each other, an encoder attached to the rotation shafts of the pair of drivers, and a photocoupler composed of a light emitting portion and a light receiving portion which are arranged to face the encoder. And a section.

The rotating shafts of the pair of drivers are arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other, and are oscillated in a direction toward and away from the ball with one end of each as a fulcrum. At the same time, the encoder is attached to one end of each, and the other end of each is held by a pair of levers rotatably attached to a common support shaft erected on the frame. It is characterized in that a single spring member is urged through the lever in a direction of pressing the driver against the ball.

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pair of levers and spring members are locked by a flanged pin press-fitted on the common support shaft, and the pair of levers and spring members are respectively attached to the outer peripheral portions of the pair of levers. Forming a semicircular fitting groove for holding the other end of the rotary shaft of the driver may be mentioned.

[0018]

[Action]

 In the trackball coordinate information input device according to the present invention configured as described above, the encoder is attached to one end of the rotary shaft of the driver, and the rotary shaft of the rotary shaft to which the encoder is mounted is attached. Since it swings toward and away from the ball with one end as a fulcrum, even if the driver etc. eccentrically rotates and the above-mentioned rotating shaft makes a pendulum motion, the deflection of the encoder will be minimal. Can be suppressed to

Therefore, it is possible to prevent positional deviation between the encoder and the photocoupler including the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, the ball rotation amount is accurately detected, and the reliability of the device can be improved.

Further, the pair of drivers are not individually arranged, but their other ends are held by a pair of levers rotatably mounted on a common support shaft erected on the frame. Moreover, since it is biased by a single spring member via the lever, it is possible to reduce the number of parts around the driver, the installation space, and the assembly man-hours to reduce the cost and size. Can be effectively achieved.

Further, since the pair of levers and the spring member are locked by the flanged pins press-fitted to the common support shaft, compared with the case where they are locked by screws with washers. Assembleability and cost reduction can be achieved.

Further, by forming a semicircular fitting groove for holding the other end of the rotary shaft of the driver on the outer peripheral portions of the pair of levers, for example, the rotary shaft is put in a frame. It can be assembled by placing the lever from above, and the play in the thrust direction of the rotating shaft can be absorbed by the frame side.Therefore, when a "hole" is provided in the lever to hold the rotating shaft, In comparison, the assemblability is improved and the detection accuracy is also improved.

[0023]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 to 5 show an embodiment of a trackball coordinate information input device of the present invention, FIG. 1 is a front perspective view, FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view with a substrate removed, and FIG. 3 is a plan view. FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a bottom view, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

The trackball coordinate information input device 10 of this embodiment shown in the figure basically has a ball 35 for inputting coordinate information and a hemispherical shape that opens upward to accommodate the ball 35. The frame 20 having the accommodating portion 22 provided therein, the annular retainer 15 provided in the upper end accommodating portion 22b attached to the upper surface of the frame 20 to prevent the balls 35 from coming off, and the ball 35 inside the accommodating portion 22. A plurality of support spheres 25 rotatably held with a part of the outer surface exposed inward from the spherical inner wall surface of the accommodating portion 22 so as to be rotatably supported by It is arranged on the back surface side, and a part of the outer surface thereof is exposed from the opening formed in the accommodating portion 22 into the accommodating portion 22 so as to contact the ball 35 in two directions orthogonal to each other. Facing the encoder 30a and the encoder 30a having a large number of disk-shaped radial slits attached to the rotary shafts 26a and 27a of the pair of drivers 26 and 27. A pair of light emitting portions 30b and a light receiving portion 30c which are arranged, and a detecting portion 30 for detecting the rotation amount of the ball 35. Reference numeral 50 in the figure indicates a printed wiring board having a predetermined conductive pattern.

The trackball 10 with respect to the printed wiring board 50 has the lower projections 51 a and 52 a of the two foot portions 51 and 52 protruding from the side portion of the frame 20 and the lower end of the accommodating portion 22. The convex portion 22a provided on the base plate 50 is inserted into the insertion holes 50a, 50b, 50c provided on the substrate 50, and the L-shaped locking piece portion 20a protruding downward on the lower surface of the frame 20 is provided on the substrate. It is fixed by being engaged with a locking hole 50d provided in 50 (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

In the present embodiment, one end of the rotary shafts 26a and 27a of the drivers 26 and 27 is located in the upper right and lower left corners of the frame when viewed from the bottom surface side of the frame 20 (see FIG. 4). 20 are loosely inserted and supported in support holes 36 and 37 formed by a support protrusion 55 and a pressing protrusion 56 that are integrally molded with the frame 20, and the other ends thereof are respectively the upper left corner portion of the frame 20. It is held by a pair of levers 46, 46 that are rotatably mounted above and below a support shaft 39 that stands downward in the vicinity thereof, and through the levers 46, 46 a single torsion coil spring 40 is used to drive the driver 26, It is biased in a direction in which 27 is pressed against the ball 35.

Here, the pair of levers 46, 46 have the same shape, and the other is inverted with respect to the other and is vertically inserted and is externally inserted onto the support shaft 39 in a state of being opened about 90 °. . The levers 46, 46 have a shape as shown in FIG. That is, the lever 46 includes a tubular portion 46a loosely inserted in the support shaft 39, an arm portion 46b extending laterally from the upper half of the tubular portion 46a, and a tip end of the arm portion 46b. A semi-circular fitting groove for holding the other ends of the rotating shafts 26a, 27a of the drivers 26, 27 above and below the outer periphery of the engaging portion 46c. 47a and 47b are formed, and locking piece portions 48a and 48b that receive both ends of the torsion coil spring 40 are provided.

The pair of levers 46, 46 and the torsion coil spring 40 are locked by a flanged pin 49 which is press-fitted into the common support shaft 39 from its lower end.

Therefore, the rotary shafts 26a, 27a of the drivers 26, 27 are made to swing toward and away from the ball 35 with one end as a fulcrum on the side of the support holes 36, 37. At the same time, the other ends of the levers 46, 46 are urged by the action of the torsion coil spring 40 in the direction of pressing the drivers 26, 27 against the balls 35, and the rotary shaft 26a. , 27a are attached to the fulcrum side of the encoder 30a.

In the trackball coordinate information input device 10 of this embodiment having such a configuration, the encoder 30 a is attached to one end side of the rotary shafts 26 a, 27 a of the drivers 26, 27, and the rotary shaft 26a and 27a are configured to oscillate in a direction toward and away from the ball 35 with one end of the rotary shafts 26a and 27a to which the encoder 30a is attached as a fulcrum, so that the drivers 26 and 27 are eccentric. Even if the rotary shaft performs a pendulum motion while rotating, the shake of the encoder 30a is suppressed to a minimum.

Therefore, the positional displacement of the encoder 30a and the light emitting unit 30b and the light receiving unit 30c is less likely to occur, the amount of rotation of the ball 35 is accurately detected, and the reliability of the device can be improved.

Further, the pair of drivers 26 and 27 are not individually arranged, but the other ends thereof are rotatably mounted on a common support shaft 39 erected on the frame 20. Since it is held by a pair of levers 46, 46 and is biased by a single torsion coil spring 40 via the levers 46, 46, the number of parts around the driver, the installation space, and the assembly are further improved. It is possible to reduce man-hours and the like and effectively achieve cost reduction and downsizing.

Further, since the pair of levers 26, 27 and the torsion coil spring 40 are locked by the flanged pin 49 press-fitted into the common support shaft 39, they are screwed with screws. Compared with the case of locking with, the assemblability is improved and the cost down is achieved. Further, by making the flanged pin 49 made of synthetic resin like the frame 20, it can be press-fitted and locked based on the smoothness of the synthetic resin, which contributes to the improvement of the assembling property of one layer and the cost reduction. It will be.

Further, semicircular fitting grooves 47a 47b for holding the other ends of the rotating shafts 26a, 27a of the drivers 26, 27 are formed on the outer peripheral portions of the pair of levers 46, 46, respectively. Therefore, it can be assembled by inserting the rotary shafts 26a and 27a into the frame 20 and placing the levers 46 and 46 from above, and the play in the thrust direction of the rotary shafts 26a and 27a is on the frame 20 side. Since it can be absorbed, the assemblability is improved and the detection accuracy is improved as compared with the case where the levers 46 and 46 are provided with “holes” for holding the rotation shaft.

[0035]

[Effect of device]

 As is clear from the above description, in the trackball coordinate information input device according to the present invention, the encoder attached to the rotary shaft of the driver pressed against the ball is prevented from largely swinging with respect to the light emitting part and the light receiving part. As a result, the positional deviation between the encoder and the light emitting part and the light receiving part is less likely to occur, so that the amount of rotation of the ball can be accurately detected, and the number of parts around the driver, the installation space, and the number of assembly steps are reduced to reduce the number of parts. Cost and size reduction can be effectively achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of an embodiment of a trackball coordinate information input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a rear perspective view of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of FIG.

5 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG.

6A is a plan view, FIG. 6B is a right side view, and FIG. 6C is a sectional view taken along line BB.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of an example of a conventional trackball coordinate information input device.

8 is a sectional view of the conventional example shown in FIG.

9 is a schematic diagram provided for explaining the operation of the conventional example shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 trackball coordinate information input device 20 frame 22 accommodating portion 25 bearing sphere 26, 27 driver 26a, 27a rotation axis of driver 30 detecting portion 30a encoder 30b light emitting portion 30c light receiving portion 35 ball 36, 37 support hole 39 supporting shaft 40 torsion coil Spring 46 Lever 47a, 47b Fitting groove 49 Collared pin

Claims (3)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A ball for inputting coordinate information, which is rotatably accommodated in a frame, a pair of drivers abutting from two directions orthogonal to the ball, and an encoder attached to a rotating shaft of the pair of drivers. And a detection unit for detecting the amount of rotation of the ball, which has a photocoupler including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit which are arranged to face the encoder, and a trackball coordinate information input device comprising: The rotating shafts are arranged so as to be substantially orthogonal to each other, and are made to oscillate in a direction toward and away from the ball with each one end serving as a fulcrum, and the encoder is provided on each one end side. To the pair of levers, each of which is rotatably mounted on a common support shaft that is erected on the frame. Characterized in that it is biased in a direction for pressing on the ball the driver by the lifting by a single spring member through the lever, track ball coordinate information input apparatus. 2. The trackball coordinate information input device according to claim 1, wherein the pair of levers and the spring member are locked by a flanged pin press-fitted to the common support shaft. 3. The semi-circular fitting groove for holding the other end of the rotary shaft of the driver is formed on the outer peripheral portions of the pair of levers, respectively. Trackball coordinate information input device.