JP2000112650A - Pointing device and device using same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate deviation along an X axis when movement along a Y axis is done and to improve the operability by individually inputting X-axial and Y-axial coordinates in different input format. SOLUTION: When front-rear directional rotation input R is supplied to a columnar roller 2, a rotation detection part 5 detects the quantity RA of rotation of the columnar roller 2 and outputs it to an information processor. The information processor moves a cursor indicating an input coordinate position on a screen to a position relative to the current position by the quantity RA of rotation along the Y axis. When right-left directional slide input S is supplied to the columnar roller 2, a slide detection part 6 detects the quantity of movement of a shaft 7 moving accompanying the slide to detect and output the slide quantity SA to the information processor. The information processor moves the cursor indicating the input coordinate position on the screen from the current position along the X axis at a speed proportional to the inputted slide quantity SA.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointing device for inputting coordinates of a screen in an information processing apparatus and the like, and an apparatus using the same, and in particular, to individually input coordinates in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. The present invention relates to a pointing device and an apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a pointing device in an information processing apparatus or the like is provided with a mouse, such as a mouse or a trackball, by moving the mouse in a desired direction or by rotating the trackball. In some cases, a spherical ball such as a ball or a track ball rotates, detects the amount of movement, and outputs the detected amount to an information processing device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mouse. The ball 11 is provided with an X-axis roller 12 that contacts the ball 11 and rotates in the X-axis direction as the ball 11 rotates, and a Y-axis roller 14 that rotates in the Y-axis direction. The X-axis roller 12 is connected to an X-axis encoder 13 having a rotating shaft connected thereto. The X-axis encoder 13 generates a movement signal composed of a pulse signal as the X-axis roller 12 rotates. Similarly, the Y-axis roller 14 has a Y-axis encoder 1
5 is connected to generate a movement signal as the Y-axis roller 14 rotates. Reference numeral 16 denotes an X-axis rightward movement signal output terminal for outputting a movement signal generated when the X-axis rightward movement occurs to the information processing apparatus. Similarly, 17 denotes an X-axis leftward movement signal output terminal, and 18 denotes a Y-axis forward direction. A movement signal output terminal 19 is a Y-axis backward movement signal output terminal. The output movement signal is sent to the information processing device, and moves the cursor indicating the coordinates on the screen.

An example of another pointing device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-151719. In the invention described in this publication, the position on the operation table of the joystick corresponding to the direction in which the operator wants to move the cursor is moved by an amount (moving speed) to be moved.
When the operation table is pressed with a force corresponding to the force, the operation table tilts at an angle proportional to the pressed force, and the amount of the tilt is detected separately in the X and Y directions to determine the movement amount (movement speed).

[0005]

In the above-mentioned conventional pointing device, the input is made over both the X-axis and the Y-axis due to the ball shape, and the cursor is moved only in one of the X-axis and the Y-axis. Even if it is desired to do so, there is a problem that inputs in other axis directions are performed at the same time.

For this reason, when a menu is selected, a document is input, or the like, for example, if the user wants to move only in the Y-axis direction, the camera may shake in the X-axis direction.

An object of the present invention is to provide a pointing device for individually inputting coordinates in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and an apparatus using the pointing device.

[0008]

According to a first pointing device of the present invention, a coordinate input in an X-axis direction and a Y-axis direction is performed.
It is characterized in that the input is made individually by different operation methods.

A second pointing device according to the present invention has a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction, and has a column-shaped roller having a fixed axis, rotating in the front-rear direction, and sliding in the left-right direction. Input the amount of movement in the X-axis direction by sliding the cylindrical roller in the left-right direction,
It is characterized in that the amount of movement in the Y-axis direction is input by rotating in the front-back direction.

A third pointing device according to the present invention has a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the front-rear direction, and has a column-shaped roller which has a fixed axis, rotates in the left-right direction, and slides in the front-rear direction. The amount of movement in the X-axis direction is input by rotating the cylindrical roller in the left-right direction, and the amount of movement in the Y-axis direction is input by sliding in the front-rear direction.

A fourth pointing device according to the present invention, in the second or third pointing device according to the present invention, further comprises a spring on the cylindrical roller, and an operator releases his / her hand after sliding the cylindrical roller. And the cylindrical roller returns to a center position before being slid by the spring.

A fifth pointing device of the present invention has a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction, a first cylindrical roller having a fixed axis and rotating in the front-rear direction, and a column tilted in the front-rear direction. A second cylindrical roller having a fixed shape and rotating in the left-right direction with a fixed axis, and inputting the amount of movement in the Y-axis direction by rotating the first cylindrical roller in the front-rear direction. A pointing device for inputting an amount of movement in the X-axis direction by rotating the second cylindrical roller in the left-right direction.

According to a sixth pointing device of the present invention, in the second to fifth pointing devices of the present invention, a lock button for locking rotation or sliding of the cylindrical roller is further provided.

A keyboard according to the present invention is characterized by mounting any one of the first to sixth pointing devices according to the present invention.

The computer according to the present invention includes the first to the first aspects of the present invention.
It is characterized in that one of the sixth pointing devices is used.

A word processor according to the present invention uses any one of the first to sixth pointing devices according to the present invention.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example in which the pointing device of the present invention is installed on a keyboard.

Referring to FIG. 1, a keyboard 1 is provided with a cylindrical roller 2, a cover 3, and a click button 4.

The cylindrical roller 2 has a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction, and is a cylindrical roller that rotates in the front-rear direction. The surface of the roller 2 is corrugated to improve operability. . The cover 3 covers an opening of the housing of the keyboard 1 provided for sliding the cylindrical roller 2 left and right. The click button 4 is a button used for determining coordinates, displaying a menu, and the like, and is equivalent to a mouse click button. .

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a method of detecting the amount of movement in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, R indicates a rotation input of the cylindrical roller 2 in the front-rear direction, and controls movement in the Y-axis direction. S indicates a slide input of the cylindrical roller 2 in the left-right direction, and controls the movement in the X-axis direction. Reference numeral 5 denotes a rotation detection unit that detects a rotation amount RA when the cylindrical roller 2 rotates.
This is a slide detection unit that detects a slide amount SA when the cylindrical roller 2 slides. 7 is a cylindrical roller 2
Is the axis when rotating or sliding. These cylindrical rollers 2, rotation detection unit 5, slide detection unit 6, and shaft 7
Are built in the keyboard 1 shown in FIG. 1 as a part of the pointing device.

The detection of the Y-axis direction by the rotation detection unit 5 and the detection of the X-axis direction by the slide detection unit 6 are the same as the detection of the X-axis and Y-axis directions of a mouse, a joystick, and the like.
Since it is well known to those skilled in the art and is not directly related to the gist of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 2, when a rotation input R in the front-rear direction is given to the cylindrical roller 2, the rotation detecting section 5 detects the rotation amount RA of the cylindrical roller 2 to process an information processing device (not shown). Output to The information processing device moves the cursor indicating the input coordinate position on the screen to a position relative to the current position,
At the speed proportional to the input speed, the input rotation amount RA,
Move the cursor in the Y-axis direction.

In FIG. 2, when a slide input S in the left-right direction is given to the cylindrical roller 2, the slide detection unit 6
Detects the slide amount SA of the cylindrical roller 2 by detecting the movement amount of the shaft 7 that moves with the slide,
Output to the information processing device. The information processing device moves the cursor indicating the input coordinate position on the screen in the X-axis direction at a speed proportional to the slide amount SA input from the current position.

Although not shown, in the present embodiment, an elastic material such as a spring is connected to the cylindrical roller 2 on the left and right sides, and the cylindrical roller 2 is located at the center position when there is no normal input. It is located in. When the operator slides the cylindrical roller 2 in the left and right sliding directions, the cylindrical roller 2 moves to that position, the slide amount is detected by the slide detection unit 6, and the speed is proportional to the input slide amount SA.
Keep moving the cursor in the X-axis direction.

Thereafter, when the operator releases his / her hand from the cylindrical roller 2, the spring returns the cylindrical roller 2 to the center position before sliding, and the movement of the cursor is stopped.

Although the elastic material has been described as a spring in the above description, rubber may be used.

The cylindrical roller 2 has a shape in which the cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction, and has been described as rotating in the front-rear direction and slides in the left-right direction. Alternatively, it may be installed so as to rotate in the left-right direction and slide in the front-rear direction.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention, and shows an example in which the pointing device of the present invention is installed on a keyboard. Referring to FIG. 3, the keyboard 1 is equipped with a Y-axis input cylindrical roller 8, an X-axis input cylindrical roller 9, and a click button 4.

That is, the difference from the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 is that in the first embodiment, one cylindrical roller is used, the Y-axis direction is rotated by rotation, and the slide is performed by sliding. In contrast to the case where coordinate input in the X-axis direction has been performed, in the present embodiment, two cylindrical rollers are provided, and one roller is placed horizontally and rotated in the front-rear direction to thereby input the coordinate input in the Y-axis direction. Then, the other is placed vertically and rotated in the left-right direction to input coordinates in the X-axis direction. Therefore, in the present embodiment, since there is no slide input, an elastic material such as a spring is not connected to the Y-axis input cylindrical roller 8 and the X-axis input cylindrical roller 9.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

Although an elastic material such as a spring is connected to the cylindrical roller 2 in the above-described first embodiment of the present invention, in this embodiment, the cylindrical roller 2 is The difference is that no elastic material is connected. Therefore, when the operator slides the cylindrical roller in the left-right or front-back sliding direction, the roller moves to that position, and thereafter,
Even if the operator releases his / her hand from the cylindrical roller, it does not return to its original position and maintains the same state.

That is, in the first embodiment of the present invention, when the operator slides the columnar roller 2 by a certain distance, the slide detecting section 6 becomes the same as the conventional detecting section such as a joystick. The cursor on the screen was controlled to move at a proportional moving speed.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, when the operator slides the cylindrical roller 2 by a certain distance, the slide detecting section 6 is, like the detecting section of the conventional mouse, a screen moving at a moving distance proportional to the sliding distance. Move the cursor to stop. Therefore, for example, when the cylindrical roller 2 is slid to both left and right ends, the cursor is moved to both ends of the screen. For this reason, unlike the first embodiment of the present invention, when the operator releases his / her hand from the cylindrical roller 2, it is not necessary to return to the original position and stop the movement of the cursor. There is no need to connect an elastic material such as a spring to the roller 2.

In the above description with reference to FIG. 1 or FIG. 3, it has been described that the cylindrical roller, the click button and the like are mounted on the keyboard 1, but these are configured separately from the keyboard 1 as a pointing device. You may.

Further, a lock button for locking rotation or sliding of the cylindrical roller may be further provided.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, the coordinate input in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction can be performed by sliding and rotating one cylindrical roller, or rotating and rotating the first cylindrical roller. Due to the different input form of rotation of the second cylindrical roller,
Since each of them can be individually input, for example, when the user wants to move only in the Y-axis direction at the time of selecting a menu or inputting a document, it does not shake in the X-axis direction. Is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows an X-axis direction according to the first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting a movement amount in the Y-axis direction.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a conventional mouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Keyboard 2 Cylindrical Roller 3 Cover 4 Click Button 5 Rotation Detector 6 Slide Detector 7 Axis 8 Cylindrical Roller for Y Axis Input 9 Cylindrical Roller for X Axis Input R Rotation Input RA Rotation S Slide Input SA Slide Amount

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A pointing device, wherein coordinate inputs in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are individually input by different operation methods. 2. A cylindrical roller having a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction, a cylindrical roller having a fixed shaft, rotating in the front-rear direction, and sliding in the left-right direction to move. A pointing device for inputting an amount of movement in the X-axis direction by sliding in a direction, and inputting an amount of movement in the Y-axis direction by rotating in the front-rear direction. 3. A cylindrical roller having a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the front-rear direction, and having a shaft fixed to rotate in the left-right direction and slide and move in the front-rear direction. A pointing device for inputting an amount of movement in the X-axis direction by rotation to a direction, and inputting an amount of movement in the Y-axis direction by sliding in the front-back direction. 4. The cylindrical roller further comprises a spring,
When the operator releases his hand after sliding the cylindrical roller,
The pointing device according to claim 2, wherein the cylindrical roller returns to a center position before being slid by the spring. 5. A first cylindrical roller having a shape in which a cylinder is tilted in the left-right direction and having a fixed shaft and rotating in a front-rear direction, and a shape having a shape in which the cylinder is tilted in a front-rear direction and fixing the shaft. A second cylindrical roller that rotates in the left-right direction and inputs a movement amount in the Y-axis direction by rotating the first cylindrical roller in the front-rear direction; A pointing device for inputting an amount of movement in the X-axis direction by rotating the camera in the left-right direction. 6. The pointing device according to claim 2, further comprising a lock button for locking rotation or sliding of the cylindrical roller. 7. A keyboard on which the pointing device according to claim 1 is mounted. 8. A computer using the pointing device according to claim 1. Description: 9. A word processor using the pointing device according to claim 1. Description: