JP2002287890A - Aerial mouse - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an aerial mouse capable of aerially inputting coordinate information without a plane. SOLUTION: This aerial mouse 10 is formed by comprising a three- dimensional acceleration sensor 12 mounted inside a case 11 to detect each acceleration in three axial directions, operating buttons 14, 15, 16 mounted on an outer surface of the case, switches to be respectively operated by each operating button, and a control section 13 to convert detection signals in three axial directions output from the acceleration sensor and operating signal of each switch respectively into coordinate information and control information in each axial direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coordinate paper input device, and more particularly, to an aerial mouse capable of inputting coordinate information even in the air.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a coordinate input device, for example,
A so-called mouse that performs an input operation while moving on a plane is often used. Such a mouse is connected to a personal computer or the like, for example, to input coordinates in various applications and the like.
Widely used.

[0003]

However, in such a mouse, the amount of movement is detected and the coordinate information is input while moving the main body on a plane such as a desk surface. Has become. For this reason, when there is no flat surface, for example, on a surface having large irregularities or in the air, input of coordinate information cannot be performed.

In view of the above, an object of the present invention is to provide an aerial mouse capable of inputting coordinate information in the air without a plane.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional acceleration sensor provided in a case (main body) for detecting accelerations in three axial directions, and an outer surface of the case (11). At least one of the operation buttons (14), (15), (16) provided on the vehicle, switches operated by the operation buttons (14), (15), (16), and the acceleration sensor (12). The output detection signals (Sx) in the three axes (x), (y), and (z) directions,
And a control unit (13) for converting (Sy), (Sz) and the operation signal of each switch into coordinate information and control information in each of the axes (x), (y), and (z). , Achieved by an aerial mouse (10).

The aerial mouse (10) according to the present invention preferably operates the acceleration sensor (12) only during operation of a predetermined operation button (16), and moves the acceleration sensor (12) from the acceleration sensor in the three-axis direction of (12). The detection signals (Sx), (Sy),
(Sz) is converted into coordinate information by the control unit (13) and output.

The aerial mouse (10) according to the present invention preferably includes a laser emitting section (17) for emitting a laser beam from the outer surface of the case (11).

In the aerial mouse (10) according to the present invention, preferably, the case (11) is formed in a cylindrical shape, and when the case (11) is strongly shaken in the direction of its center axis, the laser emitting unit ( 17) is turned on and off.

[0009]

According to the above construction, the user can use the case (main body 1).
1) The entire three-dimensional acceleration sensor (12) is grasped by hand and moved in a predetermined direction in the air,
By detecting the acceleration due to the movement, the three axes (x),
(Y), (z) direction detection signals (Sx), (Sy),
(Sz), and the control unit (13) outputs the detection signals (Sx), (Sx) in the three axes (x), (y), and (z).
y) and (Sz) are converted into coordinate information in the directions of the respective axes (x), (y) and (z), output to the outside, and operated by the operation buttons (14), (15) and (16). The control information is output based on the on / off state of the switch. This allows
By moving the real aerial mouse (10) in the air, it is possible to output the same coordinate information and control information as a conventional mouse.

Only when the predetermined operation button (16) is operated, the acceleration sensor (12) is operated, and the detection signals from the acceleration sensor (12) in the three axes (x), (y), and (z) are detected. When (Sx), (Sy), and (Sz) are converted into coordinate information by the control unit (13) and output, the acceleration can be explicitly detected by the acceleration sensor (12).

When a laser light emitting section (17) for emitting a laser beam from the outer surface of the case (11) is provided, the laser light emitting section (1) is held by holding the case body (11).
By emitting the light from 7) in a desired direction, it can be used as a so-called laser pointer.

The case (11) is formed in a cylindrical shape, and when the case (11) is vibrated strongly in the direction of its central axis and the laser light emitting unit (17) is turned on and off, the laser light emitting unit is turned on. There is no need to provide a switch for turning on / off (17), and there is no need for the user to operate the switch for turning on / off the laser emitting unit (17). Thus, the user can turn on / off the laser emitting unit (17) while operating the mouse with the real aerial mouse (10). The reference numerals in the parentheses are provided for easy understanding, are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail based on embodiments shown in the drawings. 1 to 3
Shows an embodiment of an aerial mouse according to the present invention. 1 and 2, an aerial mouse 10 includes a hollow cylindrical main body (case) 11, a three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 and a control unit 13 housed in the main body 11, and an upper part of a peripheral surface of the main body 11. Two operation buttons 14 and 15 provided
And one operation button 16 provided on the lower side of the peripheral surface of the main body 11, and the laser emitting unit 1 provided on the front surface of the main body 11.
7 and a transmission unit 18.

The three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 has a known configuration and is commercially available. In the illustrated case, the axis of the main body 11 is z-axis, the horizontal direction is x-axis, They are arranged so that the vertical direction is the y-axis.
Accordingly, when the main body 11 is moved in the air, the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 detects accelerations in the x, y, and z-axis directions due to the movement, and detects the detection signals Sx, Sy, respectively.
Sz is output.

Each of the operation buttons 14, 15, 16 outputs an operation signal when a switch (not shown) provided inside is operated when the button is pressed.

The control section 13 detects acceleration signals Sx, Sy,
Conversion is performed based on Sz, and coordinate information (X, Y, Z) in the x, y, and z axis directions is generated and output. In the case shown, the analog detection signal from the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 is converted into a digital detection signal by the A / D conversion circuit 19 (see FIG. 3). The control unit 13
The detection signals Sx and Sx from the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 are displayed only when the operation button 16 provided on the lower side of the main body 11 is pressed and the corresponding switch is operated.
The conversion of y and Sz is performed. Further, when the other operation buttons 14 and 15 are pressed and the corresponding switches are operated, the control unit 13 generates and outputs control information based on an operation signal from each switch. I have.

The laser emitting section 17 comprises a semiconductor laser element, a laser diode and the like.
A laser beam is emitted in the axial direction (z direction). The laser emitting unit 17 is configured to be turned on or off by the control unit 13 when the detection signal in the z-axis direction is larger than a predetermined value based on the detection signal from the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12. ing.

The transmitting section 18 is configured to transmit the coordinate information and the control information from the control section 13 as a transmission signal such as an infrared light signal and a radio signal. The transmission signal output from the transmission unit 18 is received and demodulated by a control unit to perform various controls, for example, a reception unit provided in a personal computer or the like, based on the coordinate information and control information of the aerial mouse 10, for example. The information is converted into coordinate information and control information by a unit, and input of coordinate information and various controls are performed.

The aerial mouse 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention is configured as described above, and is used as follows with reference to FIG. That is, the user holds the aerial mouse 10 by holding the main body 11 by hand, operates the operation buttons 14 and 15 with the thumb, and operates the operation button 16 with the index finger. Thereby, when the user moves the main body 11 in a desired direction in the air while the user presses the operation button 16 with the index finger, the movement is detected by the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12, and the detection signal Sx in the three-axis direction is detected. , S
Output as y, Sz.

Subsequently, the detection signals Sx, S
The y and Sz are converted into digital detection signals by the A / D conversion circuit 19, and are converted into coordinate information by the control unit 13.
In addition, even if the user moves the main body 11 and the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 outputs the detection signals Sx, Sy, Sz in a state where the operation button 16 is not pressed, the control unit 13 outputs these detection signals Sx. , Sy, Sz are not converted to coordinate information. When the user presses the operation button 14 or 15 with the thumb, an operation signal is input to the control unit 13 by operating the corresponding switch. Converted to information.

The coordinate information and the control information are sent to the transmission unit 18 and transmitted as a transmission signal by the transmission unit 18. This transmission signal is received by the receiving section 21 of the personal computer 20 to be controlled, and is converted into the original coordinate information and control information. Thereby, the personal computer 20 moves the cursor on the screen of the display unit 22 or performs corresponding control based on the coordinate information and the control information.

Further, when the personal computer 20 is provided with a large display device 23 such as a large display for presentation or a large projector,
When the user strongly shakes the main body 11 of the real aerial mouse 10 in the z-axis direction, the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 detects the movement in the z-axis direction and outputs a detection signal. Therefore, the control unit 1
3 is a detection signal from the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12
When the detection signal in the z-axis direction exceeds a predetermined value, the laser light emitting unit 17 is turned on. As a result, the laser beam L is emitted from the laser light emitting unit 17, and the user adjusts the axial direction of the main body 11 appropriately to move the laser beam L to a desired position on the screen of the large display device 23. For this purpose, it can be used as a so-called laser pointer.

Similarly, when the laser light emitting unit 17 is lit, the user operates the real aerial mouse 10.
When the main body 11 is strongly shaken in the z-axis direction, the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 detects the movement in the z-axis direction and outputs a detection signal. Therefore, the control unit 13 controls the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 1
When the detection signal in the z-axis direction exceeds the predetermined value among the detection signals from 2, the laser emission unit 17 is turned off. In this manner, the user can turn on and off the laser light emitting unit 17 by a simple operation of simply shaking the main body 11 of the underwater mouse 10 in the z-axis direction.

Thus, according to the aerial mouse 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the movement of the main body 11 in the air is detected by the three-dimensional acceleration sensor 12 only when the operation button 16 is pressed, and the control unit is controlled. Since the coordinate information is generated by the user 13, the coordinate information can be input reliably even in the air. Further, the laser light emitting unit 17 can be turned on and off by strongly shaking the main body 11 in the z direction, and the laser beam emitted from the laser light emitting unit 17 allows the real aerial mouse 10 to be used as a so-called laser pointer. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, the outer shape of the main body 11 is formed in a cylindrical shape. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is apparent that the main body 11 may have another arbitrary shape such as a grip shape. In the embodiment described above,
The coordinate information and the control information output from the control unit 13 are transmitted as transmission signals from the transmission unit 18, but are not limited thereto, and may be transmitted to control devices such as a personal computer via a connection cable. Obviously, it may be output.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, the user can grasp the entire case with his / her hand and move it in the air in a predetermined direction.
The controller detects the acceleration due to the movement and outputs a triaxial detection signal, and the control unit converts the triaxial detection signal into coordinate information in each axial direction and outputs the coordinate information to the outside. The control information is output based on the on / off of the switch by the button. Thus, by moving the aerial mouse in the air, it is possible to output the same coordinate information and control information as the conventional mouse.

Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an extremely excellent aerial mouse capable of inputting coordinate information in the air without a plane.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of an aerial mouse according to the present invention as viewed from the front side.

FIG. 2 is a schematic rear view of the aerial mouse of FIG. 1 as viewed from the rear side.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the aerial mouse of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing a use state of the aerial mouse of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 aerial mouse 11 main body 12 three-dimensional acceleration sensor 13 control unit 14, 15, 16 operation button 17 laser emission unit 18 transmission unit 19 A / D conversion circuit 20 personal computer 21 reception unit 22 display unit 23 large display device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional acceleration sensor provided in a case and detecting acceleration in three axial directions, at least one operation button provided on an outer surface of the case, and a switch operated by each operation button. A control unit that converts a detection signal in three axes directions and an operation signal of each switch output from the acceleration sensor into coordinate information and control information in each axis direction. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the acceleration sensor is operated only during operation of a predetermined operation button, and a detection signal in three axial directions from the acceleration sensor is converted into coordinate information by a control unit and output. The aerial mouse according to claim 1. 3. The aerial mouse according to claim 1, further comprising a laser emitting unit that emits a laser beam from an outer surface of the case. 4. The case is formed in a cylindrical shape,
The aerial mouse according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the laser emitting unit is turned on and off when the case is strongly shaken in the direction of the center axis.