JP2001202194A - Mouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mouse to evade generation of troubles in muscles and nerves in long-term use by a user by performing operation of the mouse only by a motion of a finger and the volume of which is remarkably reduced. SOLUTION: This mouse is provided with a housing 10, at least one depression key provided on the housing 10 and an encoder to be provided in the housing 10 and to output a signal obtained by detecting and encoding moving quantity of the housing 10 and an instruction signal when the depression key is operated by a fingertip of an operator to a computer. A finger hole 20 to insert the fingertip is provided at the front part of the housing 10 and the housing 10 is easily controlled and transferred by inserting the finger into the finger hole 20.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mouse, and more particularly, to an improved housing structure of a mouse, which allows the mouse to be operated only by the movement of a fingertip, and a muscle generated when a user uses the mouse for a long time. -It relates to a mouse capable of avoiding nerve damage and significantly reducing its volume.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of information science due to the advancement of technology and technology, computers have already been incorporated into ordinary daily life. Most of the commercially available computer software is also windowed, and the method of selecting items to be executed on the display and the execution of commands with the mouse has become more universal, and the mouse has become an indispensable member as a computer peripheral. Has become.

FIG. 1 shows a prior art mouse. The prior art mouse includes a housing 800, which includes an upper casing 810 and a lower casing 8.
20. A left button 830 and a right button 84 for selecting an item are provided on the tip side of the upper casing 810.
0 is provided. Rolling balls for controlling cursor movement on the display are provided at the bottom of the lower casing 820. In the conventional mouse operation, the center of the palm is applied to the rear end surface of the upper casing 810, the index finger and the middle finger are set to the front end of the upper casing 810, and the thumb,
The mouse body 8 with the ring finger and little finger located on both sides of the body
00 and hold it.

When the cursor on the display is moved in a small width in the left and right direction, the mouse is moved to the left and right while controlling the main body 800 with a wrist joint. When the cursor is largely moved, the mouse body 800 is temporarily raised and lowered, and the above operation is repeated. When the cursor on the display is moved in a small width in the vertical direction, the cursor is moved back and forth while controlling the mouse body 100 with the elbow and the arm. When the cursor is largely moved, the mouse body 800 is once lifted and lowered, and the above operation is repeated.

[0005]

In a conventional mouse, performing a mouse operation for a long period of time causes severe damage to nerves and muscles such as a palm, an arm or an elbow, for example, wrist tunnel syndrome (Carpal tunnel syndrome). Bring. This generation is due to prolonged overwork, overpressure and lack of rest on the wrist.

[0006] Further, in the current commercially available mouse, no matter how small the element volume related to the inside of the mouse is, the mouse is designed to be large enough to be grasped by the palm of a general person. The volume of the main body 800 could not be significantly reduced, not only occupying the space, but also limited in the design that could be provided for a change in modeling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an arm which is operated for a long period of time by making the nerves and muscles related to the operation only the finger portion in view of the circumstances that cause nerve and muscle disorders in the operation of the prior art. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mouse capable of significantly reducing its volume while reducing damage in other muscle parts.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned object,
A mouse provided by the present invention includes a housing, at least one push button provided on the housing, and a signal or an operator's signal obtained by detecting and encoding the amount of movement of the housing, provided in the housing. An encoder for outputting a command signal to the computer when the fingertip operates the push button, a fingertip insertion portion for inserting a fingertip at the front of the housing, and a finger inserted into the fingertip insertion portion. Can easily control and move the housing.

[0009] With the above configuration, the mouse can be operated only by the movement of the fingertip, and it is possible to prevent the muscle and nerve from being damaged when the user uses the mouse for a long time. Further, since the use of the palm is not required, it is not necessary to design the mouse according to the size of the palm, and the volume of the mouse can be significantly reduced.

[0010] The fingertip insertion portion has a substantially U-shaped outer wall,
The outer wall and the front part of the housing constitute a fingertip hole into which a fingertip can be inserted. Further, the fingertip insertion portion is formed integrally with the housing. Further, the fingertip insertion portion is configured to be separable from the housing.

In the fingertip insertion portion, both outer walls extending in a substantially semicircular shape from both sides of the front portion of the housing, and a fingertip hole having a C-shaped cross section is formed at the front portion of the housing. I have.

The push button may be a single button or two or more push buttons. Depending on demand, the push button may be near the lower edge of the fingertip insertion portion, the right side of the housing, or the left side of the housing. Provided on the surface.

Further, the diameter of the fingertip hole is made larger than the diameter of a general index finger. Also, the mouse of the present invention is an optical mechanical mouse by providing the encoder with a rolling ball and an electric circuit for converting a rolling amount of the rolling ball into an electric signal.

Further, the mouse of the present invention is an optical mouse by providing the encoder with a light sensor and a circuit for converting light energy input to the light sensor into an electronic signal.

[0015] Further, a finger frame portion which protrudes outwardly and protrudes upward in the vicinity of the fingertip insertion portion on the right side surface of the housing so that an operator can place the middle finger when inserting the index finger into the fingertip insertion portion. Is provided.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1 FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a mouse according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a left side view of the mouse shown in FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 is a right side view of the mouse shown in FIG.

As shown in the drawings, the mouse according to the present invention has a housing 1 and an encoder 5 provided in the housing 1. The housing 1 includes a concave casing 10 having a downward opening, and a bottom plate 11 provided at the downward opening of the casing 10.

A substantially U-shaped outer wall 12 is formed integrally with the front end of the concave casing 10 by molding. As shown in each figure, the outer wall 12 has a bulging arc formed from one end of the distal end surface of the concave casing 10 to the other end of the distal end surface of the concave casing 10, and a front end of the concave casing 10. And a finger hole 20 into which a finger can be inserted is formed. In the finger hole 20, the size of the finger hole is made larger than the finger diameter (thickness) of a general person, thereby facilitating insertion and extraction of the finger. The concave casing 10
Is provided with a long left button 32 in the form of a water drop on the left side surface of the.
On the right side surface of the concave casing 10, a spherical convex edge 14 protruding about 1/4 is formed near the front end of the casing.
On the convex edge 14, a right button 34 having a spherical shell of about 1/4 is provided.

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the bottom plate 11 has a locking hook 111 whose tip engages with the concave casing 10,
The concave casing 10 is fixed to the downward opening of the concave casing 10 by a screw 38 which is screwed into the concave casing 10 through its rear end. The circuit board 5 is provided on the upper surface of the bottom plate 11.
0 is provided. The circuit board 50 has control and signal processing circuits, push switches 51 and 52 corresponding to the left and right buttons 32 and 34, and two sets of light emitting diodes 53.
And a connector 56 connected to a phototransistor 54 and a signal line 55 of a computer (not shown). A vertical wheel 57 and a horizontal wheel 58 each having a radial gap are provided between the two sets of light emitting diodes 53 and phototransistors 54. Vertical wheel 57 and horizontal wheel 58
Are rolled based on the movement of the rolling ball 59 which is exposed from the bottom plate 11 and rolled by the movement of the mouse. The above-described structure is the same as the structure of a general mechanical mouse, and the description of its principle and operation will be omitted.

As shown in FIGS.
A slightly larger mounting hole 16 having the same shape as that of the left button 32 is provided in the portion where the left button 32 is installed. At the upper edge of the left button 32, a fixed ear portion 322 projecting upward and to the right is formed. The end of the fixed ear portion 322 is fixed to the inner surface of the casing 10, and a long drop-shaped button body extending from the mounting hole 16 is provided. A part 324 is formed to make contact with the push button switch 51. A concave column 34 protruding downward from the inner surface of the right button 34.
2 is provided to make contact with the push button switch 51. In addition, a protruding edge 344 that protrudes slightly horizontally in the bottom edge portion.
The right button 34 is prevented from detaching from the spherical projection 14 by contacting the opening of the spherical projection 14.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view for explaining the operation of the mouse according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, when the user operates the mouse, the index finger is inserted into the finger hole 20. At this time, the outer wall 12 is positioned so as to wrap the index finger from above. Therefore, by extending the index finger forward, a force can be applied to the outer wall 12 to move the mouse forward, and if the finger is bent and pulled backward, force is applied to the front end surface of the concave casing 10 to retract the mouse. be able to.

When the index finger is moved left and right, the mouse moves left and right. During this time, the thumb, the middle finger, and the ring finger each hold the left and right sides of the mouse, and only when the cursor on the display is largely moved, lift and lower the mouse together with the index finger, and repeat the movement operation.
After the cursor has reached the predetermined position, use your thumb to
2 or the middle button to press the right button 34 to give a command.

As described above, by providing the finger hole 20, the mouse movement in front, rear, left and right is controlled by using the sensitivity of the index finger, and the frequent rolling of the arm and elbow is also performed when the cursor is largely moved. In addition, since lifting, lowering, etc. are not required, a long-time mouse operation does not cause muscular or nerve damage.

Further, since the operation of the mouse of the present invention is controlled only by the movement of the finger, it is not necessary to design the mouse in accordance with the palm of a general person, unlike the conventional mouse, and the volume is also smaller than that of the conventional technology. Can be reduced by more than half, and
The changes in the modeling will also be diverse.

As can be understood from the above description, according to the mouse of the present invention, the main range that can affect the operation process of the operator is limited to only the muscles of the fingers, so that the mouse can be used for a long time. It does not hurt the palms, arms and elbows. Also, since the external design can match the requirements of human engineering, there is no operational problem. Furthermore, since the mouse of the present invention does not need to be designed in accordance with the size of the palm of a general person, the volume can be reduced by more than half compared with the prior art.

Second Embodiment FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a mouse according to a second embodiment of the present invention.
Shown in The mouse of the present invention is an optical mouse. FIG.
The point of difference from the mouse shown in FIG.
That is, the rolling ball and the wheel of the mechanical mouse are replaced by the optical sensor means 60 provided on the zero. The optical sensor means 60 includes two sets of light emitting diodes, a lens unit, and a phototransistor unit member. These are used for acquiring images of the horizontal stripes 72 on the upper surface of the mouse pad 70 and the vertical stripes 74 on the bottom surface of the mouse pad 70, and the horizontal and vertical movement positions of the mouse are calculated based on the continuous output signal of the phototransistor.

Third Embodiment FIG. 8 is a front view of a mouse according to a third embodiment. As shown in FIG. 8, two substantially semicircular outer walls 12a are arranged on both sides of the front end of the concave casing 10, and a finger hole 20a having a C-shaped cross section is formed with the front end of the concave casing 10. The finger hole 20a has a function that can be appropriately expanded outside corresponding to the fingers of the user having a different thickness, in addition to the function of the finger hole 20.

In the mouse of the present invention, it is possible to use a single push button or two or more buttons (for example, three, four or five). As for the position of the push button, in addition to the two side surfaces of the concave casing 10, the finger holes 2
It can also be installed on the front end surface of the concave casing 10 in the zero or finger hole 20a (the push button 35 shown in FIG. 8).

Fourth Embodiment FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a mouse according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 9, a separable outer wall 12 b is connected to the front end face of the concave casing 10. As shown in FIG. 10, a lid 18 that can be opened and closed is provided on the upper surface of the concave casing 10, and when the lid 18 is engaged with the concave casing 10, the concave edge 180 on the lid 18 and the concave casing An engagement hole 184 is formed with the concave edge 182 on the top 10. The outer wall 12b has a substantially U shape. Protrusion buttons 120 are formed on the inward faces of both ends of the outer wall 12b. The finger hole 20b is formed by engaging the projection button 120 in the engagement hole 184. The push button 36 provided on the front end face of the concave casing 10 is pressed by the finger inserted into the finger hole 20b.

Therefore, when the outer wall 12b is frequently used and is damaged or becomes dirty, the cover 18 of the concave casing 10 is opened to allow replacement with a new outer wall 12b. Also, by manufacturing the outer wall 12b of a different color,
It is also possible to arbitrarily change the color of the front end of the mouse.

Fifth Embodiment FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a mouse according to a fifth embodiment.
FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG. FIG.
The difference between the mouse shown in FIGS. 1 and 12 and the mouse according to the fourth embodiment is that, in the present mouse, a finger hole 20c for inserting a finger is provided at the front end of the concave casing 10 in the finger insertion member 12c itself. It is. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, protrusion buttons 120 are formed on both sides of the bottom surface of the finger insertion member 12 c, respectively, and when the opened lid 18 is engaged with the upper surface of the concave casing 10, the engagement hole is formed. 184 is formed, the insertion member 12c is engaged in the engagement hole 184 via the projection button 120, and is assembled to be separable on the front end surface of the concave casing 10.

Similarly, when the insertion member 12c is frequently used and becomes damaged or dirty, the cover 18 of the concave casing 10 is opened to allow replacement with a new insertion member 12c. . Further, by manufacturing the insertion member 12c of a different color, it is possible to arbitrarily change the color of the front end of the mouse.

Sixth Embodiment FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a mouse according to a sixth embodiment.
The difference between the mouse shown in FIG. 13 and the mouse shown in FIG.
An outwardly protruding and upwardly curved finger frame 14 is formed near d. Accordingly, when the operator inserts the index finger into the finger hole 20d for inserting the fingertip, the middle finger is put on the finger frame, and it is possible to prevent a problem such as rotation that occurs when the mouse is operated only with the index finger. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional mouse.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the mouse according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a left side view of the mouse shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a right side view of the mouse shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the mouse shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a mouse according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a mouse according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a mouse according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a mouse according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the mouse shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a mouse according to Embodiment 6 of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 casing, 10 concave casing, 11 bottom plate,
111 locking hook, 12, 12a, 12b outer wall, 1
2c insertion member, 120 projection button, 14 convex edge, 18
4 engagement hole, 20, 20a, 20b, 20c finger hole, 3
2 Left button, 34 Right button, 35, 36 Push button, 5 Encoder, 50 Circuit board, 51, 52
Push button switch, 53 Light emitting diode, 54
Phototransistor, 55 connection line, 56 signal line, 5
7, 58 wheels, 59 rolling balls, 60 optical sensor means, 70 mouse pads, 72 horizontal stripes, 74 vertical stripes.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A housing, at least one push button provided on the housing, and a signal or a fingertip of an operator provided in the housing, the amount of movement of which is detected and coded. A mouse equipped with an encoder that outputs a command signal to a computer when a push button is operated, further comprising: a fingertip insertion portion for inserting a fingertip at a front portion of the housing; and a finger inserted into the fingertip insertion portion. Wherein the mouse can easily control and move the housing. 2. The fingertip insertion portion has a substantially U-shaped outer wall, and the outer wall and a front portion of the housing constitute a fingertip hole into which a fingertip can be inserted.
Mouse as described. 3. The mouse according to claim 2, wherein the fingertip insertion portion is formed integrally with the housing. 4. The mouse according to claim 2, wherein the fingertip insertion portion is configured to be separable from the housing. 5. A fingertip hole having a C-shaped cross section is formed in said fingertip insertion portion by both outer walls extending in a substantially semicircular shape from a front part of said housing and a front part of said housing. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein 6. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein one of the push buttons is provided near a lower edge of the fingertip insertion portion. 7. The housing according to claim 1, wherein one of the push buttons is provided on a right side surface of the housing.
The mouse according to 1. 8. The housing according to claim 1, wherein one of the push buttons is provided on a left side surface of the housing.
The mouse according to 1. 9. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein one of the push buttons is provided near a lower end edge of the fingertip insertion portion, and the other buttons are provided on both side surfaces of the housing.
Mouse as described. 10. The mouse according to claim 2, wherein the diameter of the fingertip hole is slightly larger than the diameter of a general index finger. 11. The method according to claim 11, wherein the encoder includes: a rolling ball;
The mouse according to claim 1, further comprising: an electric circuit that converts a rolling amount of the rolling ball into an electric signal. 12. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein the encoder includes a light sensor and a circuit that converts light energy input to the light sensor into an electric signal. 13. An outwardly projecting and upwardly curved finger support portion is provided near the fingertip insertion portion on the right side surface of the housing, and when a worker inserts an index finger into the fingertip insertion portion, the middle finger is used to hold the middle finger. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein the mouse is mounted on a part.