JP2001056740A - Input equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input equipment capable of maintaining the state of continuously pressing an input button by receiving input signals from plural input buttons and outputting a signal for maintaining the state of pressing the input buttons by simultaneously turning on/off the plural input buttons. SOLUTION: A user operates a pointer displayed on a monitor screen with buttons A3 and B4 and a ball 5 in a user interface part 2. The ON/OFF information of the buttons A3 and B4 in the user interface part 2 of a pointing device 1 is transmitted by switching the level of an input signal to a control part 6. The input signals of the buttons A3 and B4 are turned into H level when the buttons A3 and B4 are pressed, and turned into L level when these buttons are not pressed. Besides, when both the buttons A3 and B4 are simultaneously pressed, these buttons are turned into H level. Thus, the state of pressing the input buttons A3 and B4 can be maintained without newly adding a button having a dedicated function.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device, in particular, an on / off state of an input button, which is determined by an output signal H (high level) / L.
(Low level) to an input device for transmitting to an information processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus such as a computer, an input device is used for dialogue with an operator (operator), that is, input of data and instructions.

[0003] As an input device to such an information processing apparatus, there is a pointing device (position indicating device) such as a mouse. In such an input device, ON / OFF of an input button is transmitted to an information processing device by switching an H / L level of an output signal.
For this reason, in the drag operation using the mouse, a special (complex) operation of rotating the ball while holding down the input button is required.

[0004] In some cases, other operations must be performed while operating the input device while pressing the input button. In order to facilitate such an operation, various devices for maintaining a state in which a button input is performed have been proposed. For example, JP-A-9-258892 and JP-A-6-59808 disclose such conventional techniques. That is, in the former, a drag button is added outside of a normal mouse. When the mouse button is input and the drag button is also on, the output signal indicating the on / off of the input button is held at the same level as in the on state until the drag button is turned off. On the other hand, the latter adds a mechanism switch for fixing a button to a normal mouse. When the mouse button is pressed, the mechanism switch is pressed to fix the mouse button, thereby maintaining the mouse button pressed.

As a related technique, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-17 / 1998
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 7455 discloses a "pointing system and a recording medium", and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-3177 discloses a "mouse drag device".

[0006]

However, in these prior arts, the number of buttons increases because it is necessary to add buttons to the conventional mouse. In particular, with a pointing device such as a trackball or thumb mouse that is operated with one hand and the ball is rolled with the thumb, the operation becomes difficult (complicated) due to an increase in the number of buttons.

[0007] Further, buttons are not suitable for small information processing devices such as palm-top type personal computers (PCs) because the operability is poor unless they have a certain size.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to keep the input button pressed down by keeping the output signal level representing the on / off state of the input button at the same level as the on state even when the finger is released from the input button of the pointing device. To provide an input device capable of maintaining the state of the input device.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, an input device according to the present invention employs the following characteristic configuration.

(1) In an input device having an input button for appropriately moving a pointer or the like of an information processing apparatus, a plurality of input buttons which are turned on / off by being pressed or released, and an input signal from the plurality of input buttons are inputted. An input device comprising: a control unit that receives a signal to maintain the input button in a pressed state by simultaneously turning on / off the plurality of input buttons.

(2) The input device according to (1), wherein when the plurality of input buttons are simultaneously turned on / off, the state is maintained until one of the input buttons is operated.

(3) The control unit includes: a NAND gate and an XNOR gate to which an input signal from the input button is input;
An SR flip-flop to which outputs of the XNOR gate and the NAND gate are input, an input signal from the input button, and the SR
An OR gate to which the output signal of the flip-flop is input; and
The input device of (1) above, including an AND gate.

(4) The input device according to (3), wherein at least one D-type flip-flop is inserted between the NAND gate and XNOR gate and the SR flip-flop to correct a difference in operation time of the input button.

(5) The input device according to (1), which is used for a small information processing device such as a palmtop computer.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an input device according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a connection state between a pointing device 1 which is a preferred embodiment of an input device according to the present invention and a personal computer (PC) 8 which is an information processing device which operates together with the pointing device 1. is there.

The pointing device 1 comprises a user interface unit 2, a control unit 6, and an output unit 7. Further, the user interface unit 2 includes a button (pointer) A3, a button (pointer) B4, and a ball 5. The user interface unit 2 performs an input operation from a user (operator). The control unit 6 turns the input state into a signal. The output unit 7 outputs an output signal to the PC 8.

The ball 5 of the user interface unit 2
Moves the position of the pointer. Buttons A3 and B4 are used to select or release a file or character string indicated by the pointer.

FIG. 2 shows the pointing device 1 of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a specific example of a control unit 6 included in FIG. The control unit 6 includes a NAND gate 9, an XNOR (exclusive NOR) gate 10,
Vibrator 11, D-type flip-flop (F / F) 12-1
5, SR (set reset) F / F16, OR gate 17, NO
It comprises a T (inverting) circuit 18 and a NAND gate 19. The input signal of the button A3 is input to the XNOR gate 10, the NAND gate 9, the OR gate 17, and the NOT circuit 18.
The input signal of the button B4 is input to the NAND gate 9, the XNOR gate 10, and the AND gate 19. The pointer A output signal is output from the OR gate 17 and the AND gate 19
Outputs a pointer B output signal.

In the control unit 6 of FIG. 2, the output of the NAND gate 9 is input to the D input terminal of the DF / F 12. The output of the XNOR gate 10 is input to the D input terminal of the DF / F13. DF
The Q output of / F12 is input to the D input terminal of DF / F14. The Q output of DF / F13 is input to the D input terminal of DF / F15. In addition, the output of the vibrator 11 is equal to these four DF /
Input to CLK (clock) terminals of F12 to F15. Further, the Q outputs of the DF / Fs 14 and 15 are input to the S and R input terminals of the SRF / F 16, respectively, and the Q output of the SRF / F 16 is input to the other input terminal of the OR gate 17. The output of the NOT circuit 18 is input to the other input terminal of the AND gate 19, and the circuit of the control unit 6 is completed. Although the control unit 6 includes a circuit for converting the movement amount of the ball 5 into a signal, it is omitted because it does not directly relate to the gist of the present invention.

Next, the operation of the input device or the pointing device 1 of FIG. 1 will be described. The pointing device 1 can move a pointer displayed on a monitor screen (not shown) connected to or included in the PC 8 to select, execute, cancel, etc., a file or a character string to be processed. Is instructed to the PC 8. It has a user interface such as a ball 5 and a stick for moving the pointer, and buttons for making selections.

In FIG. 1, the user operates a pointer displayed on a monitor screen by using buttons A3, B4 and the ball 5 of the user interface unit 2. The on / off information of the buttons A3 and B4 of the user interface unit 2 of the pointing device 1 is
This is transmitted by switching the input signal level to the control unit 6. The amount of rotation of the ball 5 for moving the pointer is also transmitted to the control unit 6, but the present invention does not include a portion for processing input information from the ball 5, and therefore will not be described here. Therefore, the operation of transmitting the button input information to the PC 8 by the pointing device 1 according to the gist of the present invention will be mainly described below. Here, the button A3 and button B4 input signals are at the H level when the button is pressed (ie, in the ON state), and are at the L level when the button is not pressed (OFF state). In the PC 8, the output signal indicating the input state of the button A3 and the button B4 from the pointing device 1 is H.
In the case of the level, it is considered that the button is pressed, and in the case of the L level, it is considered that the button is not pressed. Button A
Reference numeral 3 denotes a button that may need to be kept pressed to operate the PC 8. For example, a button that must be kept pressed when performing a drag operation with a mouse. On the other hand, the button B4 is a button that does not need to be continuously pressed. For example, a button that does not need to be pressed when performing a drag operation with a mouse.

In FIG. 2, the button A output signal is determined by taking an OR (logical sum) of the button A input signal and the Q output of the SRF / F16. That is, when the button A3 is pressed or the Q output of the SRF / F16 becomes H level, the button A3 is pressed.
The output signal becomes H level (that is, button A3 is turned on). SRF
/ F16 Q output is S set input terminal and R (reset)
It is determined by the level of the input terminal. S input is button A
The input signal and the button B input signal are input to the NAND gate 9 and determined by the output. Therefore, an L-level signal is input to the S input only when the button A3 and the button B4 are pressed simultaneously. The R input is determined by inputting the button A input signal and the button B input signal to the XNOR gate 10 and determining the output. So button A3 or button B
4 is pressed, an L-level signal is input to the R input.

FIG. 3 shows the SRF / F1 in the control unit 6 shown in FIG.
6 is a truth table representing the operation of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, when neither the button A3 nor the button B4 is pressed, the SRF / F16
The Q output does not change and is maintained at the same level, and when one of the buttons is pressed, the level becomes the L level. When both buttons A3 and B4 are pressed at the same time, H level is set. Therefore, simultaneously press buttons A3 and B4 (Q output H
Level) and simultaneously release (no Q output change), the output of the SRF / F 16 remains at the H level until either the button A3 or the button B4 is pressed. As a result, it is not necessary to keep the button A3 pressed, and the button A3 is kept pressed at the output signal level.

The button B output signal is obtained by inverting the button A input signal by the NOT circuit 18 and the button B input signal.
An AND (logical product) is determined by the AND gate 19. Therefore, button A3 is not pressed and button B
When only button 4 is pressed, the button B output signal goes high (button B4 is high). When the button B4 is pressed when the button A3 is pressed, the button A output signal is interpreted as a button input for fixing the button A output signal to the L level (button A3 ON), and at this time, the button B4 input is invalidated. That's why. Therefore, when button A3 is pressed alone,
As with a normal pointing device, each output signal goes high (button on) until the button is released.

In the circuit of the control unit 6 shown in FIG. 2, between the NAND gate 9 and the SRF / F16, and between the XNOR gate 10 and the SRF / F16.
DF / Fs are inserted two by two between them. This is N
When removing noise from the output signals of the AND gate 9 and the XNOR gate 10 and simultaneously pressing and releasing the buttons A3 and B4, a situation occurs in which one of the buttons is pressed even for a short time. The purpose is to make this ignored. This situation will be described with reference to the timing chart of FIG.

In FIG. 4, (a) shows the output signal of the NAND gate 9, (b) shows the output signal of the XNOR gate 10, (c) shows the clock signal from the vibrator 11, and (d) shows the S signal of the SRF / F16. The input signal and (e) show the R input signal of the SRF / F16. The operation of pressing or releasing the button A3 and the button B4 at the same time cannot be performed strictly at the same time because the operator (user) performs the operation with a finger, and there may be a very short time difference.
For example, when buttons A3 and B4 are released simultaneously, a state in which one button is released but the other button is not yet released may temporarily occur. At this time, the output of the XNOR gate 10 becomes L level. However, DF / F12 ~ 15
Prevents the occurrence of such a signal state. Also, this DF / F1
It is assumed that the clock signals input to 2 to 15 have an appropriate oscillation frequency that can compensate for such a shift in button operation.

The preferred embodiment of the input device according to the present invention has been described above in detail. However, the present invention should not be limited to only such specific examples, and those skilled in the art can easily understand that various modifications can be made according to specific applications.
By operating the output signal level of the SRF / F according to the combination of the button inputs, it is possible to adopt various configurations that can fix the signal level for transmitting the state of the button input to the information processing device when there is a specific input.

[0029]

As will be understood from the above description, according to the input device of the present invention, the input button can be formed by using two or more input buttons and a logic circuit without adding a new button having a dedicated function. It is possible to electrically maintain the pressed state of the input button without keeping the button pressed. Therefore, the input device according to the present invention is suitable for an information processing device such as a small PC.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a preferred embodiment of an input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a specific circuit diagram of a main part of a control unit in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory diagram of the circuit of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing operation waveforms of various parts of the circuit of FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 input device (pointing device) 3, 4 input button 6 control unit 8 information processing device (personal computer)

Claims (5)

[Claims] An input device having an input button for appropriately moving a pointer or the like of an information processing apparatus, comprising: a plurality of input buttons that are turned on / off by being pressed or released, and an input signal from the plurality of input buttons. And a control unit including a logic circuit that outputs a signal that keeps the input button pressed by turning on / off the plurality of input buttons at the same time. 2. The input device according to claim 1, wherein when the plurality of input buttons are simultaneously turned on / off, the state is maintained until one of the input buttons is operated. 3. The control unit includes a NAND gate and an XNOR gate to which an input signal from the input button is input, an SR flip-flop to which outputs of the XNOR gate and the NAND gate are input, and an input signal from the input button. The input device according to claim 1, further comprising an OR gate and an AND gate to which an output signal of the SR flip-flop is input. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein at least one D-type flip-flop is inserted between said NAND gate and XNOR gate and said SR flip-flop to correct an operation time difference between said input buttons. Input device. 5. The input device according to claim 1, wherein the input device is used for a small information processing device such as a palmtop computer.