JP3014478U - mouse - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A mouse for selecting / inputting by moving the pointer on the display does not require a program of application software and is a signal input for drawing horizontal or vertical lines by simple mouse operation. Provide a mouse that can. [Structure] Detection circuits 21 and 22 for respectively detecting vertical and horizontal movement amounts by a mouse 5, and these detection circuits 2
The vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches 10 and 11 for cutting off the detection output of the vertical direction detection prohibition switches 1 and 22 are provided.
By operating 0, the detection output by the vertical direction detection circuit 21 is cut off, and only the horizontal direction detection signal by the horizontal direction detection circuit 22 is output. Further, by operating the horizontal direction detection prohibition switch 11, the detection output by the horizontal direction detection circuit 22 is cut off, and only the vertical direction detection signal by the vertical direction detection circuit 21 is output.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a mouse for input operation by moving a pointer on a display screen of a personal computer or the like, and more particularly to a mouse capable of improving operability when inputting a drawing line.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, as an auxiliary input device for an input keyboard of a personal computer, a word processor, a laptop computer, etc. (collectively referred to as a computer hereinafter), a vertical direction of a trackball, which is a sphere, is connected to the keyboard or the computer body. There is a mouse that detects the amount of horizontal movement and the amount of horizontal movement, and moves the pointer on the display screen based on the detected output to perform input operation. Since this mouse can quickly move the pointer display to the position where you want to select and specify the display on the display screen, it is applied to many computers and application software (hereinafter referred to as software).

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, since the conventional mouse as described above detects the movement of the trackball in both the vertical and horizontal directions, for example, when a horizontal line or a vertical line is drawn on the display screen, the mouse moves. There is an inconvenience that the line is distorted by a slight movement in the vertical or horizontal direction. Therefore, in order to eliminate such inconveniences, software for drawing and drawing lines and pictures particularly ignores input vertical or horizontal detection signals when drawing horizontal or vertical lines. There are some that are designed to be processed. However, there is a problem that the program becomes complicated if the above process is performed on the software side, and the versatility is poor because only the software can draw a horizontal line or a vertical line. The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has a simple configuration that does not require a processing program such as ignoring extra vertical or horizontal detection signals in application software. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mouse suitable for signal input for drawing a horizontal line or a vertical line by a simple operation.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, the mouse according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a trackball and vertical and horizontal direction detection circuits for detecting the vertical and horizontal movement amounts of the trackball, respectively. For a mouse that operates input by moving the pointer on the display screen based on the detection output, a vertical direction detection inhibit switch that cuts off the detection output by the vertical direction detection circuit and a horizontal direction that cuts off the detection output by the horizontal direction detection circuit. And a detection prohibition switch. Further, in the mouse of the invention of claim 2, in the structure of claim 1, each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches includes an operation button provided on the mouse frame, and the operation button is continuously pressed. The detection output is cut off only during the period. According to the mouse of claim 3, in the configuration of claim 1, each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches includes an operation button provided on the mouse frame, and the detection output is generated when the operation button is pressed once. The state where the detection output is cut off is canceled when the button is pressed again. The mouse according to claim 4 has the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising an input execution switch for selecting and designating a command or the like with a pointer on a display screen, and prohibiting vertical and horizontal detection. The operation button of the switch and the input execution switch are different in color so that they can be visually distinguished.

[0005]

[Action]

 In the mouse having the above structure, when the vertical vertical line or the horizontal horizontal line data is input on the display screen, the vertical and horizontal movement amounts of the trackball are detected by the vertical and horizontal direction detection circuits, respectively. However, the detection output by the vertical direction detection circuit is cut off by operating the vertical direction detection inhibit switch. Therefore, only the horizontal detection signal of the trackball is output by the horizontal direction detection circuit, and horizontal horizontal lines can be drawn. Further, by operating the lateral direction detection prohibition switch, the detection output by the lateral direction detection circuit is cut off. Therefore, only the vertical detection signal of the trackball is output by the vertical direction detection circuit, and vertical vertical lines can be drawn.

Further, in the mouse according to the second aspect, each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches is operated by pressing an operation button provided on the mouse frame, and is detected while the operation button is continuously pressed. The output can be cut off, and horizontal and vertical lines can be drawn with a simple mouse operation.

Further, in the mouse according to claim 3, the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches operate by pressing an operation button provided on the mouse frame, and when the operation button is pressed once, a detection output is generated. The state of disconnection, the state of disconnecting the detection output when pressed again, is released, and the same operation as in claim 2 can be obtained.

In the mouse of claim 4, if the input execution switch for selecting / designating a command or the like by the pointer on the display screen and the operation button of each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches are different in color. Each switch makes it easier to visually identify each switch. In particular, the color of each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches should be a color that calls the attention of the operator, so that the switches can be used properly and the operability is improved.

[0009]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram of a personal computer system to which a mouse according to this embodiment is applied, FIG. 2 is an external view of the mouse, and FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration of the mouse. In these figures, the system configuration of a personal computer 1 (hereinafter, abbreviated as personal computer 1) includes a main body 2 including a CPU, ROM, RAM and the like (not shown), and various data is input to the main body 2. It is composed of a keyboard 3, a display 4 for outputting data from the main body 2, and a mouse 5 connected to the keyboard 3. Now, an application software for drawing (hereinafter referred to as drawing software) is registered in the main body 2 of the personal computer 1, and the lines drawn on the display 4 and the work displayed on the screen are selected and designated. It is assumed that the pointer P for doing is displayed.

The mouse 5 has an input execution switch 5a (hereinafter referred to as execution switch 5a) for selecting / designating a command or the like with a pointer P on the screen of the display 4, selection / designation by the execution switch 5a, etc. And a switch 5b (hereinafter, referred to as a release switch 5b) for canceling the movement of the pointer P. Further, the mouse 5 sends a vertical movement amount signal to move the pointer P only in the horizontal direction on the screen of the display 4. The operation button 10a of the vertical direction detection prohibition switch 10 and the operation button 11a of the horizontal direction detection prohibition switch 11 which cuts off the horizontal movement amount signal so that the pointer P is moved only in the vertical direction on the screen of the display 4. And are provided.

Further, inside the mouse 5, a trackball 12, vertical and horizontal holding members 13 and 14 that slidably contact the trackball 12 and rotatably hold the trackball 12, and these holding members. Rotating shafts 15 and 16 fixed to the shaft cores 13 and 14, respectively, disk-shaped rotating plates 17 and 18 fixed to the ends of the rotating shafts 15 and 16 and having slits (not shown), and a track. Rotation amount detection sensors 19 and 20 composed of a light emitting element and a light receiving element for detecting the rotation amounts of the rotating plates 17 and 18 accompanying the movement of the ball 12, respectively, and these detection sensors 19 and 20, respectively. By operating the vertical / horizontal direction detection circuits 21 and 22 including a counter that counts the generated signals and an amplifier that amplifies the detection signal, and the operation buttons 10a and 11a described above. And vertical and horizontal direction detection prohibition switches 10 and 11 capable of electrically cutting off signals from the horizontal direction detection circuits 21 and 22. Further, the operation buttons 10a and 11a are different from the execution switch 5a and the release switch 5b in different colors so that they can be easily visually identified.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a signal detected by the mouse 5. The drawing software registered in the main body 2 of the personal computer 1 has a mode in which the amount of movement of the mouse 5 is converted into coordinate values of the y coordinate in the vertical direction and the x coordinate in the horizontal direction to perform drawing processing. In this mode, the start point to be drawn is specified, the start point is set by pressing the execution switch 5a, the end point is specified by subsequently specifying the end point and the execution switch 5a is pressed, and the start point is specified by further pressing the execution switch 5a. -It is a mode to draw a line between the end points. If the release switch 5b is pressed at the time of designating the start point / end point, the designated point is released.

Now, when the starting point indicated by the pointer P of the line to be drawn is set and the mouse 5 is moving, the CPU of the main body 2 detects the vertical movement amount of the mouse 5. The detection output from the circuit 21 is counted and this count value is substituted (S1). If the mouse 5 is moving vertically (S2: YES), the amount of movement is added to the previous vertical y-coordinate BY. Then, this is set as the new coordinate NY (S3).

Further, the CPU of the main body 2 detects the lateral movement amount by counting the detection output from the lateral direction detection circuit 22 of the mouse 5 and substituting this count value (S4). If it has moved laterally (S5: YES), the amount of movement is added to the previous horizontal x-coordinate BX to make this the new coordinate NX (S6). In this way, the current coordinates of the pointer P are determined based on the vertical and horizontal movement amounts detected by the mouse 5, and if the mouse 5 is moving (S7: YES), the previous mouse is moved. Draw a line from the position indicated by the position coordinate (horizontal BX, vertical BY) to the coordinate after movement (horizontal NX, vertical NY) (S8), and then move the coordinate before movement (horizontal NX, vertical NY) after movement. The coordinates (horizontal BX, vertical BY) are updated (S9), and the process returns.

5A and 5B are diagrams showing the difference between the trajectory of the pointer P on the screen of the display 4 and the actual drawing line. When a horizontal line is drawn on the screen of the display 4 according to the processing procedure of FIG. 4, the operation button 10a of the vertical direction detection prohibition switch 10 of the mouse 5 is continuously pressed to draw a horizontal line by performing a normal mouse movement. . That is, by opening the vertical direction detection prohibition switch 10, the vertical direction detection output is cut off, and the signals related to the vertical direction detected in S1 to S3 of the processing shown in FIG. 4 are cut off. Even if the mouse 5 moves as indicated by the two-dot chain line in (a), since the vertical component is not detected, the end point is determined at the point moved horizontally from the start point (vertical movement 0). As for the vertical line, the detection output in the horizontal direction is cut off while the operation button 11a of the horizontal direction detection prohibiting switch 11 is continuously pressed, and the detection is detected in S4 to S6 of the processing shown in FIG. The signal related to the horizontal direction is cut off, and even if the mouse 5 actually moves as shown by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 5 (b), the horizontal component is not detected. The end point is determined at (horizontal movement 0).

In this way, by operating the operation buttons 10a and 11a of the vertical and horizontal direction detection prohibition switches 10 and 11, the horizontal direction is detected when a horizontal line is drawn, and the horizontal direction is detected when a vertical line is drawn. Since the output is cut off respectively, movement amount input for drawing horizontal and vertical lines can be easily performed by input control using the mouse 5, and it is efficient even with application software that does not have a mode for drawing horizontal and vertical lines. Operation becomes possible.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the detection output is cut off only while the operation button 10a or 11a is continuously pressed. However, when the operation button 10a or 11a is pressed once, the detection output is detected. The mouse 5 may be configured so that the state in which is cut off and the state in which the detection output is cut off is released when the button is pressed again. In either case, input for drawing horizontal and vertical lines is performed by simple operation of the mouse 5. be able to.

Further, the operation button 10a or 11a and the execution switch 5a and the release switch 5b are different in color so that they can be visually distinguished, and this color is a color that calls attention to the operator, such as red. By using a color scheme, operability is improved without confusion with other switches. Further, the operation button 10a operated when drawing a horizontal line may be a horizontally elongated member, and the operation button 11a operated when drawing a vertical line may be a vertically elongated member to facilitate identification. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, by arranging the switches at positions corresponding to the fingers that normally hold the mouse 5, it is possible to comfortably perform the input operation of the mouse 5.

FIG. 7 is a view showing another embodiment in which the mouse of the present invention is mounted on a laptop computer. In this embodiment, the laptop computer 25 comprises a foldable display 26 and a body 28 in which keys 27 are arranged. In the laptop computer 25, a mouse 30 is embedded on the right side of the key 27 arranged. The trackball 12 of the mouse 30 is rotatably exposed at its upper portion, and the other internal structure is the same as that of the mouse 5. Further, as shown in the figure, when placing a hand on the trackball 12, the execution switch 5a is arranged near the thumb, the release switch 5b is arranged near the index finger, and the operation button of the vertical direction detection prohibition switch 10 is arranged. 10a is arranged near the ring finger, and the operation button 11a of the lateral direction detection prohibition switch 11 is arranged near the little finger, which facilitates the operation.

In the mouse 30 having such a configuration, the trackball 12 is operated with the middle finger or the index finger to move the pointer to a desired position and press the execution switch 5a. Other operations and processes are performed in the same manner as in the above-mentioned embodiment. As described above, also in the example in which the mouse 30 is mounted on the laptop computer 25, it is possible to obtain the same operation and effect as those in the above-described embodiment.

The present invention is not limited to the configurations of the above-described embodiment and other embodiments, and various modifications can be made. For example, the mounting of the mouse is not limited to the laptop computer 25, and may be a word processor, or the mouse 5 may be connected to a word processor to which a mouse can be connected.

[0022]

[Effect of device]

 As described above, the mouse according to the invention of claim 1 is provided with the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches for cutting off the detection output by the vertical and horizontal detection circuits for detecting the vertical and horizontal movements of the trackball, respectively. Therefore, input for drawing horizontal and vertical lines can be performed with a simple mouse operation, and it can also be applied to application software that does not have a mode for drawing horizontal and vertical lines, enabling efficient input work. .

According to the mouse of the second aspect of the present invention, the detection output is cut off only while the operation buttons of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches are kept pressed. Depending on the work, input can be made to draw horizontal and vertical lines.

According to the mouse of the invention of claim 3, the detection output is cut off when the operation button of each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches is pressed once, and the detection output is cut off when the operation button is pressed again. Since the above is canceled, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the above-mentioned claim 2.

Further, according to the mouse of the invention of claim 4, if the color of the operation button of the input execution switch for selecting and designating a command or the like by the pointer on the display screen and the operation button of each vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switch is different. Therefore, it becomes easy to visually identify and a simple operation can be performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external configuration diagram showing a system of a personal computer to which a mouse according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the appearance of the mouse.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the mouse.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a drawing line processing procedure by the personal computer of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5A is a diagram showing actual mouse movement on the display screen when drawing a horizontal line and a drawing situation, and FIG. 5B is a view showing a situation when drawing a vertical line.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of arrangement of switches of the present mouse.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing another embodiment in which the present mouse is mounted on a laptop computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Personal computer 2 Main body 3 Keyboard 4 Display 5 Mouse 5a Input execution switch 5b Release switch 10 Vertical direction detection prohibition switch 11 Horizontal direction detection prohibition switch 12 Trackball 21 Vertical direction detection circuit 22 Horizontal direction detection circuit 30 Mouse P pointer

Claims (4)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A trackball and a vertical and horizontal direction detection circuit for detecting vertical and horizontal movement amounts of the trackball, respectively, and moving a pointer on a display screen based on a detection output by the detection circuit. In the mouse that is operated by inputting, the mouse is provided with a vertical direction detection prohibition switch that cuts off the detection output by the vertical direction detection circuit, and a horizontal direction detection prohibition switch that cuts off the detection output by the horizontal direction detection circuit. . 2. Each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches includes an operation button provided on a mouse frame, and a detection output is cut off only while the operation button is continuously pressed. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein: 3. Each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches includes an operation button provided on a mouse frame, and the detection output is cut off when the operation button is pressed once, and the detection output is cut off when the operation button is pressed again. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein the state is canceled. 4. An input execution switch for selecting / designating a command or the like with a pointer on a display screen,
4. The mouse according to claim 1, wherein the operation button of each of the vertical and horizontal detection prohibition switches and the input execution switch have different colors so that they can be visually distinguished. .