JP2021174515A - Contact assist tool - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique dispensing with an apparatus in an operation object equipment side and allowing a user to easily operate the object without directly touching the same by hand fingers, and to provide a technique capable of preventing bacteria, virus, etc. attached to the operation object from directly adhering to hand fingers.SOLUTION: A contact assist tool includes a contact body 30 for bringing a tip end 31 thereof into contact with an operation object, a storage case 11 for projectably/retractably storing the contact body 30, and a projecting/retracting operation mechanism 20 for displacing the contact body 30 in such a manner as to project/retract the operation body. The contact assist tool comes into contact with a destination designation button 91 to actuate an operation function.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

The present invention relates to a contact assisting tool that supports indirect contact with an operating object.

In many places of activity, people routinely operate by mainly touching an operation target such as an elevator button or an ATM touch panel with their fingers. These operation targets are often touched by an unspecified number of people, are unsanitary, and carry a risk of being infected with bacteria, viruses, and the like. Therefore, when an infectious disease such as a new type of coronavirus is prevalent, in order to avoid direct contact with the fingers, the fingers may be bent or the elbows may be bent and the contact operation may be performed with the joints. .. In addition, a button pressing operation may be performed using an object such as a book or a bag. However, when the area of the operation area is small such as an elevator button and an ATM touch button, it is not easy for the operation by the finger joint, the elbow joint, and the operation by the object to accurately contact the object. Therefore, as a result of the pressing operation being forcibly or repeatedly performed, there is a risk of causing a malfunction or failure in the device to be operated.

By the way, as a device for transmitting an instruction to an operation target without contact, a technique capable of discriminating the operation by a gesture by a user has been proposed as a reception telephone terminal (Patent Document 1). That is, the operation object is displayed as an aerial image on the image imaging plate in the user-visible three-dimensional space, the movement of the user's hand in the three-dimensional space is recognized by the 3D sensor, and the non-contact operation is performed. It will be realized.

JP-A-2018-137568

The technique described in Patent Document 1 enables non-contact operation. However, a special detection device such as a special device for generating an aerial image in three-dimensional space is required. On the other hand, there are many general contact operation targets such as elevator buttons and ATM touch buttons. It is not realistic to provide a non-contact device for those objects in consideration of cost, installation space, and the like. Further, it is not always easy for the operator to accurately convey the operation intention to the target device. There are difficulties in feasibility, such as the need to learn recognizable gestures on the device.

An object of the present invention is to provide a technique that does not require special equipment on the operation target device side, is easy to use by an operator, and enables the target operation without directly touching a finger. The purpose is to prevent bacteria, viruses, etc. attached to the operation target from directly adhering to the fingers.

As one aspect of the solution for achieving the above object, a contact body for contacting the operation target to activate the operation function of the operation target and an opening on one end side in the longitudinal direction are provided to open the contact body. A contact assisting tool including a storage case that can be accommodated so as to be able to appear and disappear from the housing case, and an appearance and removal operation mechanism that holds the contact body in the storage case, accepts a manual operation from the outside, and causes the end of the contact body to appear and disappear from the opening of the storage case. Provided. Here, an elastic body having conductivity can be used as the contact body.

As a solution, various aspects are possible, as illustrated below. For example, the haunting operation mechanism may be configured to have a holding portion for holding the contact body, an operating portion for manual operation, and a connecting portion for connecting the holding portion and the operating portion. Further, the accommodating case has a slit hole for displacing the connecting portion along the longitudinal direction, and by displacing the operating portion along the slit hole, the contact body passes through the connecting portion and the holding portion. Can be configured to appear infested.

In addition, as a solution, various development examples can be given from the viewpoint of technical attributes. For example, as an example of development regarding attributes, it is possible to give conductivity to the constituent material. Specifically, it is possible to give conductivity to the holding portion, the connecting portion and the operating portion, and to make the accommodating case conductive. The configuration is not limited as long as the contact body and the operator can be made conductive.

Further, as a solution, various developments are possible regarding the mode of use in combination with other ones. The storage case may be provided with a D-ring for connection. An adhesive sheet with a release paper may be provided on the surface of the storage case where the slit holes are not formed. In addition, it can be attached to or integrally formed with daily necessities such as a card case, a smartphone case, and a notebook cover.

According to the present invention, the contact body can be manually infested and the operation target can be operated through the contact body. Therefore, it is not necessary to directly touch the operation target which may be unsanitary due to the adhesion of bacteria, viruses and the like. Moreover, since no special device is required on the operation target side, it is easy to spread.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the appearance of the contact assisting tool according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a side view showing the appearance of the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a front view showing the appearance of the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a vertical cross section of the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a contact body accommodating state in the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a usage state of the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a state in which the strap string is attached to the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing the appearance of the contact assisting tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view showing a contact assisting tool according to an embodiment of the present invention attached to another member so that it can be used. FIG. 10 is a side view showing a clip attached to the base end side of the storage case of the contact assisting tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention so that it can be used. FIG. 11 is a side view showing a clip attached to the tip end side of the storage case of the contact assisting tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention so that it can be used. FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a mode in which a stopper is attached to the contact assisting tool according to the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 13 is a plan view showing an example of a card case to which the contact assisting tool of the second embodiment of the present invention is attached. FIG. 14 is a side view showing the card case. FIG. 15 is a rear view showing an example of a smartphone case to which the contact assisting tool of the second embodiment of the present invention is attached. FIG. 16 is a plan view showing an example of a notebook cover to which the contact assisting tool of the second embodiment of the present invention is attached. FIG. 17 is a side view showing an example of a ring to which the contact assisting tool according to the third embodiment of the present invention is attached. FIG. 18 is a front view showing an example of a ring to which the contact assisting tool of the third embodiment is attached.

How to carry out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, exemplifying a plurality of embodiments shown below. The present invention is not limited to these embodiments. Further, for the sake of simplicity of explanation, an elevator button, particularly a destination instruction button indicating a floor, is assumed as an operation target, and an operation function for designating a destination is described by touching the button as an example. The operation target to which the present invention can be applied is not limited to this.

As shown in FIG. 6, the contact assisting tool 10 of the first embodiment is an assisting tool for operating the operation function of the operation target by contacting the destination designation button 91 of the elevator operation panel 90, which is the operation target. .. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1, the contact body 30 for contacting the tip 31 with the operation target, the storage case 11 for accommodating the contact body 30 so as to be able to appear and disappear, and the contact body 30 are shown in FIG. It has an in-and-out operation mechanism 20 that performs an operation for causing an infestation by displacing it in the arrow-viewing F direction and the arrow-viewing B direction, and a D-ring 40 for connecting the housing case 11.

The storage case 11 is formed in a square tubular shape as shown in FIGS. 2 to 4. A storage space 12 for accommodating the contact body 30 is provided inside the square cylinder, and an opening 13 leading to the accommodation space 12 is provided on one end side thereof. Further, a slit hole 14 is provided on one surface side of the storage case 11. On the other hand, a support portion 15 for supporting the contact body 30 is provided in the vicinity of the opening 13 on the surface (bottom side) opposite to the surface on which the slit hole 14 is provided. The support portion 15 prevents the contact body 30 from shaking in the accommodation space 12 and facilitates the appearance of the contact body 30. The installation position of the support portion 15 can be changed or omitted.

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The length of the slit hole 14 is set according to the protruding stroke of the contact body 30. In the present embodiment, it is set longer on the assumption that a longer contact body 30 is attached. For example, in the state shown in FIG. 4, the operation portion 21 is displaced toward the tip end side (arrow-viewing F direction) of the slit hole 14, so that the tip end 31 side of the contact body 30 corresponds to the displacement length of the holding portion 23. By length, it protrudes from the opening 13. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 5, by displacing the operating portion 21 toward the rear end side (arrow-viewing B direction) of the slit hole 14, the contact body 30 is accommodated in the accommodating case 11 as a whole.

As shown in FIG. 4, the haunting operation mechanism 20 includes an operation unit 21 for manual operation by fingers, a holding unit 23 for holding the contact body 30 in the accommodation space 12 of the accommodation case 11, the operation unit 21, and the holding unit 21. It has a connecting portion 22 for connecting the portions 23. The connecting portion 22 is formed in a shape and size that matches the width of the slit hole 14. The holding portion 23 can hold the base end portion 32 of the contact body 30, and is formed in a shape and size that does not come out of the slit hole 14. The holding portion 23 can be formed, for example, in the shape of a square box having an open surface on the side where the contact body 30 is inserted. The operating portion 21 is formed in a shape and size that can slide on the upper surface portion of the accommodating case 11 and is locked to the longitudinal edge portion of the slit hole 14.

The operation unit 21 is supposed to be displaced by pressing the pad of a finger such as a thumb, for example. Therefore, although not shown in the drawings, the upper surface is curved to fit the pad of the finger, multiple thin protrusions are provided, and processing for slip prevention such as combining these is performed. Can be applied.

As the contact body 30, a contact body 30 having elasticity and conductivity as attributes is used. For example, a rubber raw material such as synthetic rubber mixed with a conductive filler and molded into a rectangular parallelepiped shape is used. Examples of the conductive filler include carbon black and metal powder. By providing the contact body 30 with conductivity, it is possible to support a sensor device based on the electric detection principle, for example, a capacitive touch panel. In addition, by giving elasticity, it is possible to relax the impact when pressing the button. This makes it possible to handle a variety of commonly used operation targets.

As shown in FIG. 4, the contact body 30 is fixed by pressing and inserting the base end portion 32 into the holding portion 23. Therefore, the contact body 30 can pull out the base end portion 32 from the holding portion 23, wash it, and then press-insert it into the holding portion 23 again. It can also be replaced. Further, the contact body 30 can be partially cut from the protruding tip 31 side, and the remaining portion can be used. In this case, the pull-in depth of the operation unit 21 can be adjusted by using a stopper 26 as shown in FIG. 12 described later.

For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the D-ring 40 can connect a strap string 110 (only a part thereof is displayed) or the like to the through hole 41 via a connecting tool 100 such as Naskan. In addition, it can be connected to various objects such as key chains according to the usage situation.

Next, as shown in FIG. 8, the auxiliary tool of the second embodiment is formed so as to have a shape that narrows the width of the storage case 11 and the width of the contact body 30. The basic configuration is the same as that of the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment, so refer to the description thereof.

Next, based on the aspect of the second embodiment, a modified example will be described with reference to FIGS. 9, 10 and 11. It should be noted that these modifications can also be applied to the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment described above.

The contact assisting tool 10 shown in FIG. 9 has an adhesive sheet 16 with a release paper attached to the bottom surface of the contact assisting tool shown in FIG. With this configuration, it is possible to easily attach it to other articles, for example, daily necessities such as a card case, a smartphone case, and a notebook cover described below. Specifically, the release paper is peeled off from the release paper-attached adhesive sheet 16 and attached to the target article via the exposed adhesive sheet.

The contact assisting tool 10 shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 is obtained by attaching a clip 17 to the accommodating case 11 of the contact assisting tool shown in FIG. The clip 17 can have the same configuration as a ballpoint pen, a mechanical pencil, a fountain pen, or the like. Here, in the example shown in FIG. 10, the clip 17 is attached to the base end side of the storage case 11 and the tip end side is open. It is suitable for inserting the contact assisting tool 10 into a pocket. On the other hand, in the example shown in FIG. 11, the clip 17 may be attached to the tip end side of the storage case 11 and the base end side may be opened. By doing so, the contact assisting tool 10 can be inserted into the sleeve of a shirt, suit, or the like and fixed with the clip 17.

The contact assisting tool 10 shown in FIG. 12 is an example in which the stoppers 25 and 26 are inserted into the slit holes 14 of the storage case 11. Here, the stopper 25 can be used when adjusting the protruding length of the contact body 30 on the tip 31 side to a desired length. On the other hand, as described above, the stopper 26 can be used when adjusting the pull-in depth of the contact body 30 into the storage case 11 to a desired length.

Next, an example in which the contact assisting tool of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 8 is attached to another object will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 to 16. It should be noted that these application examples can also be applied to the contact assisting tool of the first embodiment described above.

In the examples shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the contact assisting tool 10 is attached along the long side 51 of one surface (for example, the back surface) of the card case 50. In this example, the tip 31 of the contact body 30 is attached so as to project from the opening 13 of the storage case 11 beyond the edge of the short side 52 of the card case 50. Further, on the other long side 53 side of the card case 50, a D ring 54 having a through hole 55 for attaching a strap is provided. The card case 50 can accommodate a card such as an employee ID card inside, and is used by hanging it from the neck. Therefore, the contact assisting tool 10 can be used immediately without taking it out of a pocket or bag.

In the example shown in FIG. 15, one surface of the smartphone case 60 that protects the back surface and the side surface of the smartphone (the surface opposite to the surface that the back surface of the smartphone contacts) avoids the camera lens hole 61 and is along the longitudinal direction. , The contact assisting tool 10 is attached. Also in this example, the tip 31 of the contact body 30 is attached so as to protrude beyond the edge of the smartphone case 60. If it is attached to the smartphone case 60, which is often picked up, the contact assisting tool 10 can be used immediately as well. Of course, the contact assisting tool 10 can also be attached to the notebook cover type smartphone case as shown in FIG. The contact assisting tool 10 may be attached directly to the back surface of the smartphone.

In the example shown in FIG. 16, the contact assisting tool 10 is attached to either the front cover or the back cover of the notebook cover 70 along one side in the longitudinal direction. Also in this example, the tip 31 of the contact body 30 is attached so as to protrude beyond the edge of the notebook cover 70. Here, the notebook cover 70 is provided with a belt 71 and a snap button 72.

In the examples of FIGS. 13 to 16, the contact assisting tool 10 is attached to another object with an adhesive sheet, but the storage case 11 of the contact assisting tool 10 is attached to another object (card case, smartphone case, etc.) at the time of manufacturing. It may be integrally formed with a notebook cover, a ring, etc.).

The examples shown in FIGS. 17 and 18 show an example of a ring to which the contact assisting tool 10 of the third embodiment is attached. In this embodiment, the lengths of the storage case 11 and the contact body 30 housed therein are shorter than those of the contact assisting tool 10 of the second embodiment described above. Other configurations are basically the same. In this embodiment, it is attached to the ring 80 so that it can be attached to the finger and used.

In each of the above-described embodiments, basically, the contact body 30 can be infested by grasping the storage case 11 with fingers, touching the abdomen such as the thumb to the operation unit 21, and performing the displacement operation. When used, the tip 31 of the contact body 30 is projected and brought into contact with the destination designation button 91 of the elevator operation panel 90 as shown in FIG. As a result, the operator and the elevator operation panel 90 are electrically connected to each other via the destination designation button 91, the contact body 30, and the infestation operation mechanism 20, and the switch function (not shown) including the internal sensor is activated. .. As a result, the elevator operation panel 90, which is the operation target, can be operated without the person directly touching the destination designation button 91. The conduction path may be performed from the contact body 30 via the accommodating case 11.

In the above embodiment, a contact body compatible with a capacitive touch panel has been described as an example, but an operation target operated by mechanical displacement such as a piezoelectric type or a mechanical type can also be supported. Since it can handle both electrostatic type and mechanical displacement, it has the effect of being applicable by having one device for various touch panel type operation targets.

According to each of the above-described embodiments, since the contact body can be infested by holding it with one hand and using a finger, it is possible to instruct the operation target without using a knuckle, an elbow, or the like. Since it fits in a size that can be attached to a smartphone case, it also has the effect of being easy to carry around. In addition, no special allowance is required on the operation target side, and it is easy to disseminate. It is also possible to prevent bacteria, viruses, etc. attached to the operation target from directly adhering to the fingers.

10 ... contact aid, 11 ... storage case, 12 ... storage space, 13 ... opening, 14 ... slit hole, 15 ... support, 16 ... adhesive sheet with release paper, 17 ... clip,
20 ... haunting operation mechanism, 21 ... operation part, 22 ... connection part, 23 ... holding part, 25, 26 ... stopper,
30 ... contact body,
40 ... D ring, 41 ... through hole,
50 ... card case, 54 ... D ring, 55 ... through hole,
60 ... smartphone case, 61 ... camera lens hole,
70 ... notebook cover, 71 ... belt, 72 ... snap button,
80 ... Ring,
90 ... Elevator operation panel, 91 ... Destination specification button,
100 ... connecting tool, 110 ... strap string

Claims (10)

A contact body for contacting the operation target and operating the operation function of the operation target,
A storage case that has an opening on one end side in the longitudinal direction and accommodates the contact body so that it can appear and disappear from the opening.
It is equipped with a haunting operation mechanism that holds the contact body in the storage case, accepts manual operations from the outside, and causes the end of the contact body to appear and disappear from the storage case opening.
The contact body is a contact assisting tool characterized by being an elastic body having conductivity. In the contact assisting tool according to claim 1,
The haunting operation mechanism is a contact assisting tool having a holding portion for holding a contact body, an operating portion for manual operation, and a connecting portion for connecting the holding portion and the operating portion. In the contact assisting tool according to claim 2,
The accommodating case has a slit hole for displacing the connecting portion along the longitudinal direction, and by displacing the operating portion along the slit hole, the contact body passes through the connecting portion and the holding portion. A contact aid characterized by the appearance of a slit. In the contact assisting tool according to claim 3,
The holding portion, connecting portion, and operating portion are contact assisting tools characterized by having conductivity. In the contact assisting tool according to claim 4,
The storage case is a contact assisting tool characterized by having conductivity. In the contact assisting tool according to any one of claims 4 and 5.
A contact assisting tool characterized in that the storage case is provided with a ring for connection. In the contact assisting tool according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
A contact assisting tool characterized in that an adhesive sheet with a release paper is provided on a surface of the storage case where a slit hole is not formed. A card case to which the contact assisting tool according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is attached or integrally formed. A smartphone case to which the contact assisting tool according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is attached or integrally formed. A notebook cover to which the contact assisting tool according to any one of claims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 is attached or integrally formed.

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