JP2003280791A - Keyboard with pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a keyboard with a pointing device having excellent operability without imposing a burden on an operator's fingertip even under use for many hours. <P>SOLUTION: This keyboard 1 with the pointing device is constituted by fitting a keyboard 14 into an infrared frame 2. An infrared region 9 with a plurality of infrared rays passing longitudinally and laterally, intersecting each other is formed above the keyboard 14 in the infrared frame 2. When a prescribed position p in a predetermined pointing operation region 17 of the infrared region 9 is touch-operated with the fingertip 16, a pointer 15 is displayed in the corresponding position P on a display screen 13a. In this state, when the other position q in the pointing operation region 17 is touch-operated with the fingertip 16, the display position of the pointer 15 shifts into a position Q corresponding to the position q, on the display screen 13a. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard with a pointing device used as an input device for a PC (personal computer) or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a keyboard and a mouse are used as an input device of a PC, but an application that uses a lot of key input on the keyboard and pointer operation (pointing operation) by the mouse is used. In this case, it is necessary to move the hand between the keyboard and the mouse many times, which is a troublesome work for the user. Further, if two types of separate input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse are used, a space for moving the mouse is required in addition to the installation area of the keyboard, and a wide space is occupied on the desk.

In order to solve such a problem, a trackball, a trackpad, a trackpoint, etc. have been proposed as a pointing device embedded in a keyboard, which requires keeping the hands from the keyboard so much. There is an advantage that the pointing operation can be performed.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned trackball and trackpad, in order to move the pointer over a long distance, it is necessary to repeatedly rub the fingertip on these pointers many times, so that the operation is quick. However, there is a problem in that the fingers get tired while performing such an operation for a long time.

Further, the track point is for pointing operation by operating a stick, and controls the moving direction and moving distance of the pointer by the direction of tilting the stick and the magnitude of force. Intuitive operation is not possible, and if you use it for a long time,
Since the pressure is applied to the stick with the fingertip, there is a problem that the fingertip hurts.

An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem, to enable easy operation, and to enable a quick pointing operation, and even when it is used for a long time, the operator's fingertip or the like is burdened. It is to provide a keyboard with a pointing device that does not exist.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is a keyboard with a pointing device in which a pointing device is provided on the upper side of the keyboard, and the pointing device comprises a frame to which the keyboard is attached. The pointing operation area is formed by a non-visible beam formed above the keyboard in the frame, and the touch operation position in the pointing operation area is detected according to the state of the beam.

In the pointing operation area, a plurality of beams pass through in the vertical and horizontal directions, or the direction of the beams changes sequentially.

The touch operation position in the pointing operation area specifies the display position of the pointer on the display screen of the display.

Further, a pointing operation area for a touch operation is represented by framing or coloring with a keyboard.

[0011]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are configuration diagrams showing an embodiment of a keyboard with a pointing device according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is an external perspective view thereof, FIG. 1B is an exploded perspective view thereof, and 1 is a pointing device. An attached keyboard, 2 is an infrared frame, 2a is its upper surface, 3 is a palm rest, 3a is its upper surface, 4 is a key operation part, 5 is a left click button, 6 is a right click button, and 7 is a base.

In FIGS. 1A and 1B, a keyboard 1 with a pointing device of this embodiment is an infrared frame 2, a palm rest 3 for placing a hand when performing a pointing operation or a key operation, and various keys ( (Not shown) is combined with a base 7 provided with a key operation unit 4.

The infrared frame 2 and the palm rest 3 are combined so that their upper surfaces 2a, 3a are substantially coplanar, and the lower side of the combined structure of the infrared frame 2 and the palm rest 3 is shown. The base 7 is fitted in. In this way, when the infrared frame 2, the palm rest 3, and the base 7 are combined, the key operation unit 4 on the base 7 is arranged inside the infrared frame 2. However, the heights of these keys and each part of the key operation unit 4 are set so that the upper surface of each key is located below the upper surface 2a of the infrared frame 2.

A left click button 5 and a right click button 6 are provided on the palm rest 3 side of the upper surface 2a of the infrared frame 2. However, the positions of the left click button 5 and the right click button 6 are not limited to this position.

In the keyboard 1 with a pointing device constructed as shown in FIG. 1 (a), for example, the palm portion of the right hand is placed on the palm rest 3, and the fingertip of the key operation portion 4 inside the infrared frame 2 or left click. The button 5 and the right click button 6 are operated. In this case, since the upper surface 2a of the infrared frame 2 and the upper surface 3a of the palm rest 3 are substantially flush with each other, the operation is easy.

A plurality of infrared rays pass through the infrared frame 2 in the vertical and horizontal directions like a touch panel, and the fingertip cuts off these infrared rays (this operation is hereinafter referred to as touch operation). A pointing device that is capable of detecting 2A and 2B are views for explaining infrared rays in the infrared frame 2 in such a pointing device. FIG. 2A is a top view and FIG. 2B is a dividing line A in FIG. 2A. It is a sectional view taken along -A, 2b to 2e are inner side surfaces, 2f is a depression, 8 is an infrared beam, 8a is an infrared grating, 9 is an infrared region, 10 is an infrared light emitter, and 11 is an infrared light receiver. The same reference numerals are given to the parts corresponding to those in FIG.

2 (a) and 2 (b), one of the two facing inner side surface portions 2b, 2c of the infrared frame 2 constituting the pointing device, in this case, the inner side surface portion 2b, has one end to the other end. Up to a plurality of infrared light emitters 10 are arranged at regular intervals, and the inner side surfaces 2b, 2
On the other hand, the infrared light receiver 11 is arranged so as to face the inner side surface portion 2c from one end to the other end thereof, and one-to-one with the respective infrared light emitters 10 arranged on the inner side surface portion 2b. Are arranged at regular intervals. The same applies to the other two inner side surface portions 2d and 2e of the infrared frame 2 that face each other.
A plurality of infrared light emitters 10 are arranged in the same manner as b, and a plurality of infrared light emitters 10 are arranged in the inner side surface part 2e in the same manner as the inner side surface part 2c.

An infrared beam 8 is emitted from each infrared light emitter 10 on the inner side surface portion 2b, and these are received by a corresponding infrared light receiver 11 on the inner side surface portion 2c. Similarly,
An infrared beam 8 is emitted from each infrared light emitter 10 of the inner side surface portion 2d, and these are received by the corresponding infrared light receiver 11 on the inner side surface portion 2e. Therefore, the infrared beam 8 and the inner side surface portion 2 are emitted from the respective infrared light emitters 10 of the inner side surface portion 2b.
The infrared beams 8 from the respective infrared light emitters 10 of d intersect with each other, thereby forming an infrared region 9 composed of a plurality of infrared gratings 8a vertically and horizontally arranged inside the infrared frame 2. . The infrared grating 8a defines the position inside the infrared frame 2.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the base 7 is fitted into the recess 2f provided on the lower surface side of the infrared frame 2, and at this time, each of the key operation parts 4 on the base 7 is fitted. The upper surface of the key (not shown) should be below the path of the infrared beam 8.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a PC using the keyboard 1 with a pointing device having such a structure, in which 12 is a PC main body, 13 is a PC display, and 13 is a display.
a is a display screen, and 14 is a keyboard.

In the same figure, the key operating portion 4 and the base 7 of the keyboard 1 with a pointing device (FIGS. 1 and 2)
14 is connected to the keyboard terminal of the PC body 12, and the infrared frame 2 of the keyboard 1 with a pointing device is connected to any of the USB terminal, the mouse terminal, and the RS-232C terminal of the PC body 12. . The code from the keyboard 14 and the code from the infrared frame 2 may be collectively connected to one terminal of the PC body 12, for example, a USB terminal or an RS-232C terminal.

In the keyboard 1 with a pointing device having such a configuration, when a fingertip is inserted into the infrared region 9 of the infrared frame 2 and a touch operation is performed, the touch operation position (hereinafter, referred to as a touch operation position) vertically,
Infrared rays in the lateral direction are blocked, so that the infrared ray receiver 11 (FIG. 2B) corresponding to the operation position does not receive the infrared rays.

As described above, the information indicating the light receiving state of each infrared receiver 11 in the infrared frame 2 is sent to the PC main body 12, and the PC main body 12 detects the touch operation position in the infrared region 9 from the information. To be done.

In this embodiment, when the touch operation position is thus detected, this position becomes the display position of the pointer. This will be described with reference to FIG. However, 15 is a pointer, 16 is a fingertip, 17 is a pointing operation area, 1
Reference numeral 7a is a frame, and parts corresponding to those in FIG.

In the figure, in the infrared region 9 of the keyboard 1 with a pointing device, a part of the frame 17
The area surrounded by a is set as a pointing operation area 17 for performing a pointing operation. In the pointing operation area 17, a frame 17a indicating the area 15 may be drawn on the keyboard 14,
Further, the inside of the frame 17a of the keyboard 14 may be colored with a predetermined color, that is, a means for making the pointing operation area 17 clear is taken. In this case, it is sufficient that the infrared beam 8 passes through the pointing operation area 17 from end to end in the vertical and horizontal directions. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide the infrared beam 8 outside the pointing operation area 17. Of course.

Now, when the position p in the pointing operation area 17 is touch-operated with the fingertip 16, the PC main body 12
(FIG. 3) detects this position p as a touch operation position,
The pointer 14 is displayed at a position P corresponding to the touch operation position p on the display screen 13a of the display 13.
Then, when the position q in the pointing operation area 17 is touched again with the fingertip 16 in this state, the PC
The main body 12 (FIG. 3) detects this position q as a touch operation position, and displays the pointer 14 on the display screen 13a of the display 13 at the position Q corresponding to this touch operation position q.

As described above, in this embodiment, the display position of the pointer 14 can be instructed by simply inserting the fingertip 16 in the pointing operation area 17, and when the instruction is made, the display screen 13a is displayed. Then
The pointer 14 will be displayed at a position corresponding to this designated position. Therefore, in addition to being easy to operate, a quick pointing operation is possible, and since no force is applied to the fingertip 16 in such an instruction work, the fingertip becomes tired even in a long-time operation work, It doesn't hurt.

In the above description, the position on the infrared region 17 and the position on the display screen 13a are made to correspond one-to-one, and the position of the pointer displayed on the display screen 13a and the position indicated on the infrared region 17 are indicated. I try to match with. However, the present invention is not limited to the one in which two coordinate positions are made to coincide with each other in this way. For example, the moving distance, the direction, and the speed of the touch operation position p in the infrared region 17 are detected, and the display screen 13a is detected accordingly.
The relative movement of the pointer 14 displayed above may be controlled. As an example, the infrared region 17
The movement of the pointer 14 on the display screen 13 is moved to a greater extent as the moving speed of the touch operation position p is higher.

The pointing operation area 17 may be an area having an aspect ratio equal to the aspect ratio of the display screen 13a on the display 13 as shown in FIG. 5 (a), or as shown in FIG. 5 (b). As described above, the region may be longer in the horizontal direction than this aspect ratio. Of course, landscape display screen 13
For a, when the area having an aspect ratio equal to the aspect ratio of the display screen 13a is set, the pointing operation area 17 becomes horizontally long as shown in FIG. 5B.

Although the pointing operation area 17 directly specifies the display position of the pointer 14 (FIG. 4), an operation area (scroll operation area) for scrolling the screen may be provided. An example of this is shown in FIG. 6, and in this case the scroll operation area 18
Is an operation area 18a elongated in the horizontal direction for scrolling the entire screen on the display screen 13a (FIG. 3) or an active window (hereinafter, simply referred to as screen) in the horizontal direction.
And a vertically elongated operation area 18b for vertically scrolling, and each operation area 18a, 1
An arrow mark indicating the moving direction is attached to the end of 8b. The scroll operation area 18 is provided, for example, between the keys in the area of the keyboard 14 where the function keys are arranged, but the scroll operation area 18 is not necessarily limited to this. In addition, these operation areas 18a and 18b
Should be colored and clearly visible.

In the scroll operation area 18,
In the operation area 18a, one or more horizontal infrared rays and a plurality of vertical infrared rays pass (note that the horizontal infrared rays are not always necessary), and in the operation area 18b, The infrared rays in the vertical direction and the infrared rays in a plurality of horizontal directions pass through (the infrared rays in the vertical direction are not always necessary).

When the fingertip is repeatedly moved rightward or leftward in the operation area 18a so as to cut off infrared rays (hereinafter referred to as touch movement), the screen moves rightward or leftward with the touch movement. When the fingertip is repeatedly touched rightward or leftward in the operation area 18a, the screen is scrolled rightward or leftward with the operation. In this way, the screen scrolls on the display screen. The scroll speed of the screen varies depending on the moving speed of the fingertip. The faster the moving speed, the faster the screen scrolls.

Instead of touch-moving the fingertip in this way, it is also possible to scroll in the direction indicated by the arrow by touching the mark portion of the arrow in the operation areas 18a and 18b.

In this way, the scroll operation area 18 prevents the fingertip from particularly touching the operation member.
The screen can be scrolled. Therefore, even if such a scroll operation is performed for a long time, the fingertip is not burdened, so that the fingertip is not tired or hurt.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the left and right click buttons 5, 5 are formed on the upper surface 2a of the infrared frame 2.
6 is provided, but for left click, instead of providing the left click button 5, an infrared region 9 as shown in FIG. 4 is provided.
Area outside of the pointing operation area 17 (again,
At least the horizontal infrared ray is passing), so that the infrared ray can be turned off by left-clicking by tapping with your fingertip.

By the way, in the keyboard 1 with a pointing device configured so that the position of the pointer 15 is determined by the position of the fingertip 16 as described above, even when the key operation unit 4 (FIG. 1) of the keyboard 14 is operated, the fingertip is infrared. The infrared beam 8 (FIG. 2) in the area 9 is cut off, and this causes the pointer to move to that position each time such key operation is performed, and eventually the pointer moves swiftly on the display screen 13a, which is very annoying. Become. That is, FIG. 7A shows a state in which the infrared beam 8 is not operated.
Is not blocked at fingertip 16. FIG. 7B shows a state of a touch operation with the pointing device. The fingertip 16 blocks the infrared beam 8 but does not press the key 19. FIG. 7C shows a state in which the key 19 is pressed (key operation state).
9, the infrared beam 8 is also blocked by the fingertip 16.

In order to prevent this, there are the following methods.

A method of determining whether or not a pointing operation is performed according to the number of infrared ray grids 8a (FIG. 2) touched by a fingertip: when performing a pointing operation, see FIG.
As shown in, the tip of the fingertip 16 enters the infrared region 9, so that the fingertip 16 is at most a vertical infrared beam 8
And the infrared beams 8 in the lateral direction are blocked one by one, and the position of the fingertip is detected by one infrared grating.
As shown in (c), when the fingertip 16 presses the key 19, the fingertip 16 is considerably inside the infrared region 9, and the infrared beams 8 in the vertical and horizontal directions are respectively blocked by the fingertips. Therefore, in this method, when there is one infrared grating 8a touched by the fingertip 16, it is determined that the pointing operation is performed, and when there are a plurality of infrared gratings 8a, it is determined that the key 19 is operated. Note that when the interval between the infrared beams 8 is narrow, a plurality of infrared rays may be blocked even by a pointing operation. In such a case, the maximum number of infrared rays for determining a pointing operation is set as a threshold value. Just keep it.

Method of judging by gesture: FIG.
When the key operation is performed as shown in (c), the pointer is fixed or is in a non-display state.
In order to cancel this, a predetermined gesture is performed. For example, gestures such as repeatedly operating the same key multiple times at high speed or touching a portion of the keyboard 14 where no keys are provided (infrared rays pass through this portion) are used. By doing so, the fixed pointer can be moved or the disappeared pointer is displayed.

Method of judging by time: FIG. 7 (c)
When the key operation is performed as shown in (4), the pointer is fixed or is set in a non-display state. Then, when no key operation is performed and a predetermined time (for example, about 1 second) elapses, the pointer can be moved or displayed again.

There is also a method in which the above methods are combined appropriately.

In this embodiment, it is possible to use the infrared region 9 in the infrared frame 2 to draw an illustration or the like. In FIG. 3, the PC is set to the drawing mode, and drawing is performed with the pen in the pointing operation area 17 as shown in FIG.
An illustration will be drawn on the display screen 13a of
In this case, as shown in FIG. 8, a thin plate 21 made of plastic or the like is fitted in the infrared frame 2, and a pen 20 is used to draw on the thin plate 21.

Of course, when the thin plate 21 is fitted in the infrared frame 2, the infrared beam 8 as shown in FIG.
It is sufficiently thin so as to be located below the passage, and its lateral width is made smaller than that of the infrared frame 2 so that it can be easily removed from the state of being fitted in the infrared frame 2. In this case, when the thin plate 21 is pressed against the left end of the infrared frame 2, a region corresponding to the pointing operation region 17 as shown in FIG. The area that can be drawn above can be clearly seen.

In this way, even on the keyboard 14,
This makes it easier to draw for illustrations.

9A and 9B are views showing the main part of another embodiment of the keyboard with a pointing device according to the present invention. FIG. 9A is a plan view and FIG. 9B is a portion corresponding to FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB, in which 22 is a laser emitting / receiving device, 23 is an invisible laser beam, 24 is a laser beam region, and 25 is a laser beam frame. The parts corresponding to those in the above drawings are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate description will be omitted.

In this embodiment, "the ACM CH" used in a range finder for measuring a distance to an object is used.
I'98 Conference ”April 21-23 J. Strickon & J. Paradis
The article by “Tracking Hands Above Large Interactiv
e Surface with a Low-Cost Scanning Laser Rangefinde
The method described in “r” is used.

In FIGS. 7A and 7B, the laser light frame 25 corresponds to the infrared light frame 2 in the above-mentioned embodiment. Here, since the laser beam is used instead of the infrared light beam, The light frame 25 is used.

A laser light emitting / receiving device 22 including a light emitting device and a light receiving device is provided at one corner of the laser light frame 25, for example, at the upper left corner as shown in the drawing. The laser light emitting / receiving device 22 emits an invisible laser beam 23 and receives the reflected laser beam 23, but by reciprocally rotating in a range of about 90 °,
The emission direction of the laser beam 23 is changed over the entire laser light frame 25. As a result, the entire laser light region 24 within the laser light frame 25 is swept by the laser beam 23.

When no finger or pen tip is inserted into the laser beam area 24 and no touch operation is performed, the laser beam 23 emitted from the laser emitting / receiving device 22 is reflected on the inner wall surface of the laser beam frame 25. The reflected laser light that is almost absorbed and received by the laser emitting / receiving device 22 is hardly detected. However, for example, the laser light region 24
When the position L inside is touch-operated with a fingertip or a pen tip,
Laser beam 23 emitted by the laser emitting / receiving device 22
The reflected laser light is reflected by a fingertip, a pen tip, or the like, and the laser light emitting / receiving device 22 receives the reflected laser light with a relatively high intensity. As a result, it is detected that the touch operation has been performed. Then, based on the rotation angle of the laser light emitting / receiving device 22 and the phase difference (that is, time difference) between the emitted laser light and the received laser light, the position L in the laser light region 24 is determined.
Can be detected.

In this way, in this embodiment, the touch position in the laser beam region 24 can be detected, and other configurations, operations and effects are as follows.
This is the same as the above-described embodiment.

Although the infrared beam and the invisible laser beam are used in the above description of the embodiment,
It goes without saying that invisible beams other than these can be used.

[0052]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It consists of a frame to which the keyboard is attached and a pointing operation area with an invisible beam formed above the keyboard in this frame, and detects the touch operation position in the pointing operation area according to the state of the beam. Therefore, the pointing operation can be performed while operating the keyboard, and the key operation and the pointing operation can be easily performed, and the pointing operation based on the position detection by the beam does not impose a burden on the operating fingertip. Even if you work for a long time, your fingertips will not get stuck or hurt.

Further, according to the present invention, since the touch operation position in the pointing operation area specifies the display position of the pointer on the display screen of the display, the pointer is set to the desired display position together with the touch operation. As a result, the pointing operation can be performed quickly.

Further, according to the present invention, since the pointing operation area is clearly indicated by the frame or coloring with the keyboard, the point where the pointing operation is surely performed in the correct area can be immediately recognized, and the pointing operation can be surely performed in the correct area. It can be performed, and unnecessary operation outside such an area can be eliminated.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a keyboard with a pointing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an infrared region in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a personal computer using a keyboard with a pointing device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a pointing operation using the present invention on the personal computer shown in FIG.

5 is a diagram showing a specific example of a pointing operation area in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example of a scroll operation area in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a non-operation state, a pointing operation state, and a key operation state in the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an illustration drawing operation in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a main part and operation of another embodiment of a keyboard with a pointing device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 pointing key 2 infrared frame 2a upper surface Inner side surface portions 2b to 2e 3 palm rest 3a upper surface 4 key operation part 5 Left click button 6 Right-click button 7 base 8 infrared beam 9 infrared region 10 Infrared light emitter 11 Infrared receiver 12 PC body 13 PC display 13a display screen 14 keyboard 15 pointer 16 fingertips 17 Pointing operation area 17a frame 18 Scroll operation area 18a, 18b operation area 19 keys 20 pen 21 thin plate 22 Laser light emitter / receiver 23 Laser beam 24 Laser beam area 25 laser beam frame

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A keyboard with a pointing device in which a pointing device is provided on the upper side of the keyboard, wherein the pointing device is formed in a frame to which the keyboard is attached and above the keyboard in the frame. A keyboard with a pointing device, comprising a pointing operation area with an invisible beam, and detecting a touch operation position in the pointing operation area according to the state of the beam. 2. The keyboard with a pointing device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the beams pass through the pointing operation area in the vertical and horizontal directions. 3. The keyboard with a pointing device according to claim 1, wherein in the pointing operation area, the beam whose pointing direction changes sequentially passes. 4. The keyboard with a pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the touch operation position in the pointing operation area specifies a display position of a pointer on a display screen of a display. . 5. The keyboard with a pointing device according to claim 2, 3 or 4, wherein the pointing operation area is clearly indicated by framing or coloring of the keyboard.