JP2008176629A - Input device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an input device which is capable of preventing a rotation detection means from going out of order due to an operation load during pressing operation of an operation part and is capable of improving durability and reliability. <P>SOLUTION: The input device includes a thumb wheel 3 integrated with a rotating and rocking revolving shaft 17, an encoder 15 (rotation detection means) for detecting a rotation amount of the revolving shaft 17, and a switch 16 to be operated by rocking of the revolving shaft 17. A first gear 24 (rotating member) is provided between the revolving shaft 17 and the encoder 15, and the revolving shaft 17 is coupled with the first gear 24 so that the revolving shaft 17 can be rocked and rotation of the revolving shaft 17 is transmitted to the first gear 24. The operation load in operating the switch 16 by pressing operation of the thumb wheel 3 is applied not to the encoder 15 but the first gear 24 with which the revolving shaft 17 is coupled. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an input device including an operation unit configured to be rotatable and pressable, and a rotation detection unit that detects a rotation amount of the operation unit.

For example, an input device for operating a car navigation device of an automobile is provided with an operation unit that can be rotated and pressed, and this type of operation unit is often operated by a thumb. Therefore, it is generally called thumbwheel. The thumb wheel is integrated with a rotating shaft that rotates and swings. One end of the rotating shaft is connected to an encoder (rotation detecting means) that detects the amount of rotation of the thumb wheel, and the other end of the rotating shaft. Are arranged at positions facing the input determining switch. When the thumb wheel is rotated, the items displayed on the display screen are sequentially selected according to the rotation amount of the rotating shaft detected by the encoder. Further, when the thumb wheel is pressed, the switch is operated by swinging the rotating shaft, and the selected item is input (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2001-350573 A

  According to the input device having the above configuration, the input operation can be easily performed by the rotating operation and pressing operation of the thumb wheel. However, since the one end side of the rotation shaft of the thumb wheel is supported by the encoder, an operation load when the thumb wheel is pressed is directly applied to the encoder. Therefore, there is a possibility that the encoder may be broken, and there is a problem that durability and reliability are lowered.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the rotation detecting means from being broken due to an operation load when the operation unit is pressed, and durability and An object of the present invention is to provide an input device capable of improving reliability.

  An input device according to the present invention includes an operation unit integrated with a rotating shaft that rotates and swings, a rotation detecting unit that detects a rotation amount of the rotating shaft, and a switch that is operated by swinging the rotating shaft. In the input device provided, a rotating body is provided between the rotating shaft and the rotation detecting means, and the rotating shaft is swingable to the rotating body and the rotation of the rotating shaft is transmitted to the rotating body. It is characterized by being connected to.

  According to the input device of the present invention, when the operation unit is rotated, the rotation of the rotation shaft is transmitted to the rotating body, and the rotation detecting unit detects the rotation amount of the rotating body as the rotation amount of the operating unit. On the other hand, when the operating portion is pressed, the rotating shaft swings around the engaging portion to operate the switch. In this case, the operation load at the time of pressing the operation unit is applied to the rotating body to which the rotating shaft is connected, and is not directly applied to the rotation detecting unit. As a result, it is possible to prevent the rotation detecting means from being broken due to an operation load when the operation portion is pressed, and durability and reliability can be improved.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to, for example, an input device 1 for operating a car navigation device (not shown) of an automobile will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the input device 1 shown in FIG. 3 is provided, for example, in an intermediate portion (spoke) that connects a central portion (hub) and an outer peripheral portion (rim) of a steering wheel (not shown).

  The case main body 2 that forms the outline of the input device 1 includes a thumb wheel 3 (corresponding to an operation unit) provided at a substantially central portion of the case main body 2 and a pair of left and right sides of the thumb wheel 3. Large buttons 4 and 5 and a pair of left and right small buttons 6 and 7 provided below the thumb wheel 3 are provided. The thumb wheel 3 has a substantially disc shape with a horizontal axis as a whole, and is configured to be rotatable in the directions of arrows A1 and A2 in FIG. 1 is configured to be able to be pressed in the direction of arrow B in FIG. The large buttons 4, 5 and the small buttons 6, 7 are configured to be pressed from the front side of the input device 1, and when these buttons 4, 5, 6, 7 are operated, The switches 8, 9, 10, and 11 provided in the are respectively operated.

  Next, the internal configuration of the input device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The case body 2 includes a base member 12 that constitutes a rear side (lower side in FIG. 1) of the case body 2, a lid member 13 that covers the base member 12, and a front surface (upper side in FIG. 1). And a front cover 14 that covers the surface). A drain hole 12a is provided in the center of the base member 12, and an opening 13a and an opening 14a are provided in the center of the lid member 13 and the front cover 14, respectively.

  In the case main body 2, an encoder 15 (corresponding to a rotation detecting means) and a switch 16 are provided in addition to the thumb wheel 3 described above. The encoder 15 is for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotary shaft 17 and is disposed on a control board 18 provided on one end side (left side in FIG. 1) in the case body 2. The switch 16 is for determining an input operation to the car navigation device, and is arranged on a control board 19 provided on the other end side (the right side in FIG. 1) in the case main body 2.

  The thumb wheel 3 is integrated with the rotary shaft 17 and is disposed in a space formed by the drain hole 12a, the opening 13a, and the opening 14a. In addition, a part of the peripheral side portion of the thumb wheel 3 (upper portion in FIG. 1) protrudes from the front surface of the case body 2. An engaging portion 20 is provided on one end side (left side in FIG. 1) of the rotating shaft 17. The engaging portion 20 is formed in a substantially spherical shape when viewed in the radial direction, and in the axial direction. It is formed in a polygonal shape (in this case, a hexagonal shape).

  A large diameter portion 21 larger than the diameter of the rotation shaft 17 is provided on the other end side (right side in FIG. 1) of the rotation shaft 17, and the large diameter portion 21 covers the switch 16. It is mounted on and supported by a switch cover 22 that is elastically deformable. Further, portions of the rotating shaft 17 that are close to the left and right sides of the thumb wheel 3 are rearward from the wall 12b and the opening 13a protruding in a U shape from the drain hole 12a toward the front (upward in FIG. 1) (see FIG. 1 is surrounded by a wall 13b that protrudes in a U-shape toward the lower side, thereby preventing water from entering the encoder 15 side and the switch 16 side in the case body 2 as much as possible.

  The control board 18 is provided with a gear support member 23. The gear support member 23 includes a first gear 24 (corresponding to a rotating body) whose axial direction is horizontal and a second gear whose vertical direction is vertical. A gear 25 is arranged. A groove 24a is formed in the circumferential side of the first gear 24 along the circumferential direction of the first gear 24. The groove 24a includes a support 23a provided on the gear support member 23, and A support portion 13 c provided on the inner surface of the lid member 13 is fitted. Thereby, the first gear 24 is supported so as to be rotatable around the horizontal axis.

A bearing hole 25a is provided in the center of the front side (upper side in FIG. 1) of the second gear 25, and a shaft portion 13d that protrudes rearward from the inner surface of the lid member 13 is formed in the bearing hole 25a. Has been inserted. Thus, the second gear 25 is supported so as to be rotatable around the vertical axis. A rotation shaft 25 b that protrudes rearward is provided at the center of the rear side (lower side in FIG. 1) of the second gear 25, and the rotation shaft 25 b is connected to the encoder 15.
In this case, the first gear 24 and the second gear 25 are meshed with bevel gears in a state in which their axial directions are substantially orthogonal to each other. The gear 25 rotates.

  As shown in FIG. 4, a hole having a hexagonal cross section as viewed in the axial direction is engaged with the central portion of the first gear 24 corresponding to the shape (hexagonal shape) of the peripheral side portion of the engaging portion 20. The joint portion 24b is provided, and the engaging portion 20 of the rotating shaft 17 is inserted into the engaged portion 24b. Thus, the first gear 24 is rotated by the rotating shaft 17 when the thumb wheel 3 is rotated, and one end side of the rotating shaft 17 (the engaging portion 20) when the thumb wheel 3 is pressed. ) As a fulcrum, the rotary shaft 17 is swung in the direction of arrow C in FIG.

Next, the operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIGS.
When the user rotates the thumb wheel 3 in the direction of arrow A1 or arrow A2 in FIG. 3, the first gear 24 is rotated by the rotating shaft 17, and the second gear 25 is rotated according to the rotation of the first gear 24. Rotates. The amount of rotation of the second gear 25 is detected by the encoder 15, and items displayed on the display screen (not shown) of the car navigation device are sequentially selected according to the detected amount of rotation.

  When the user presses the thumb wheel 3 in the direction of arrow B in FIG. 1 with the desired item selected, the rotating shaft 17 swings in the direction of arrow C in FIG. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 2, the switch 16 is operated by the large-diameter portion 21, and the selected item is input.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the thumb wheel 3 is rotated, the rotation of the rotating shaft 17 is transmitted to the first gear 24, and the encoder 15 is rotated by the first gear 24. The rotation amount of the second gear 25 to be detected is detected as the rotation amount of the thumb wheel 3. On the other hand, when the thumb wheel 3 is pressed, the rotary shaft 17 swings around the engaging portion 20 to operate the switch 16. In this case, the operation load when the thumb wheel 3 is pressed is applied to the first gear 24 to which the rotary shaft 17 is connected, and is not directly applied to the encoder 15. Thereby, it can prevent that the encoder 15 breaks down by the operation load at the time of pushing operation of the thumb wheel 3, and durability and reliability can be improved.

  Further, since the first gear 24 and the second gear 25 are provided between the rotary shaft 17 and the encoder 15, the second gear is provided between the first gear 24 and the encoder 15 to which an operation load is applied. 25 is interposed. Thereby, it is possible to further prevent the operation load when the thumb wheel 3 is pressed from being applied to the encoder 15.

In addition, this invention is not limited only to above-mentioned one Embodiment, It can deform | transform or expand as follows.
The engaging portion 20 is not limited to a hexagonal shape as viewed in the axial direction, and may be formed in, for example, a pentagonal shape having a smaller number of angles than a hexagonal shape, or a heptagon having a larger number of angles than a hexagonal shape. You may form in a shape and an octagon shape. In this case, the engaged portion 24b may be provided corresponding to the shape of the peripheral side portion of the engaging portion.

You may comprise so that the axial direction of the 1st gear 24 and the axial direction of the 2nd gear 25 may cross diagonally.
In order to operate a car navigation device of an automobile, the present invention is an input device that includes an operation unit configured to be rotatable and capable of being pressed, and a rotation detection unit that detects a rotation amount of the operation unit. The present invention is not limited to this input device.

1 is a longitudinal side view schematically showing an internal configuration of an input device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Longitudinal side view of the input device showing a state in which the thumb wheel is pressed Front view of input device The figure which shows an engaging part and an engaged part

Explanation of symbols

  In the drawings, 1 is an input device, 3 is a thumb wheel (operation unit), 15 is an encoder (rotation detecting means), 16 is a switch, 17 is a rotating shaft, and 24 is a first gear (rotating body).

Claims (1)

An operation unit integrated with a rotating shaft that rotates and swings;
Rotation detecting means for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotating shaft;
In an input device comprising a switch operated by swinging the rotating shaft,
A rotating body is provided between the rotating shaft and the rotation detecting means,
An input device characterized in that the rotating shaft is connected to the rotating body such that the rotating shaft can swing and the rotation of the rotating shaft is transmitted to the rotating body.

Images