JP3060793B2 - Position input device and input device using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a position input device such as a pointing device used for an information processing device such as a personal computer and a word processor and a home game device, and an input device using the same.

[0002]

BACKGROUND ART explaining a conventional technology in the pointing device using a strain gauge of Fig. 1 6 (a) ~ (c ). According to the figure, reference numeral 23 denotes a stick in the shape of a rod, and 24a, 2
Reference numerals 4b, 25a, and 25b denote strain gauges attached to four surfaces of the stick 23.

[0003] Four strain gauges 24a, 24b, 25a,
25b in the X-axis direction of the strain gauges 24a, as shown, 24b are serially FIG 1 6 (c), Y-axis direction of the gauge 25a, 2
5b are connected in series.

Next, the operation of the pointing device will be described. The force applied to the stick 23 is X
The stick 23 is distorted in the directions of the axis and the Y-axis, and the resistance values of the strain gauges 24a, 24b, 25a, and 25b change due to the distortion. Therefore, by measuring the voltages Vx and Vy, the direction of the applied force is X The magnitude of the force can be detected by synthesizing the change amounts of the axes and the Y axis, and the magnitude of the force can be detected by the absolute value of the change amounts of the X axis and the Y axis.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned conventional arrangement is expensive because of the use of a strain gauge. In addition, there has been a problem that the operation feeling and the compactness cannot be achieved, for example, an actual operation feeling cannot be given.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and has as its object to provide a compact position input device which is inexpensive and excellent in operability and can detect the direction and magnitude of force. .

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a first film comprising four independent electrodes arranged in four directions on an opposing surface of an upper and a lower film. With the lead wire of
On the second film, set one so as to face all four electrodes.
A common electrode, and a wiring line of lead lines from the common electrode, and a pressure-sensitive element whose resistance value changes due to pressure in the thickness direction between the electrode and the common electrode arranged between the upper and lower film electrodes and the common electrode. Placed on top and bottom film,
A pressing plate provided with projections for pressing the pressure-sensitive elements on the surfaces opposed to the upper and lower films in four directions;
An operation lever including an operation section for pressing the upper surface of the pressure plate is provided.

[0008]

Therefore, according to the present invention, the resistance value of the pressure-sensitive element, which changes when the force applied to the operating lever is applied to the pressure-sensitive element in the four directions through the convex portion of the pressing plate, is changed to the electrode by the vertical structure. It is read from the lead wire of the common electrode, and has a structure in which a pressure-sensitive element is sandwiched between upper and lower films, so that it is thin, easy to manufacture, and has an effect of being inexpensive to produce.

[0009]

1 to 9 show the structure and an equivalent circuit of a pointing device which is an embodiment of the position input device according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, reference numerals 1 to 4 denote four independent electrodes arranged in four directions, reference numerals 5 to 8 denote lead lines from the electrodes 1 to 4, respectively, and reference numeral 9 denotes electrodes 1 to 4. A first film in which lead lines 5 to 8 are wired and a hole 9a is provided in the center, 10 is a common electrode facing all of the electrodes 1 to 4, and 11 is a lead line from the common electrode 10. , 12 are second films which are provided with a common electrode 10 and a lead 11 from the common electrode 10 and have a hole 12a in the center, and 13a to 13d are electrodes 1 to 4 and the common electrode 1
The four pressure-sensitive rubbers, each of which is a pressure-sensitive element whose resistance value changes according to the pressure in the thickness direction provided between the first film 9 and the second film 12, the first film 9, and the pressure-sensitive rubber 1
A contact portion is constituted by 3a to 13d.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a spherical projection 1 for pressing the pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d from above the second film 12, respectively.
Reference numeral 4a denotes a pressing plate, and 15 denotes an operation lever which is disposed on the pressing plate 14 and is swingably supported to press the pressing plate 14 in a direction in which a force is applied.
On the back surface forming the convex portion 14a, there are provided two projections 14b having both rotation prevention and locking, and the operation portion of the operation lever 15 is inserted into the shaft hole 16a of the upper case 16 from the opening side, Operation lever 1 from the insertion direction of operation lever 15
The projection 14b of the pressing plate 14 is inserted and locked into the pressing plate locking hole 16b of the upper case 16 so as to cover the shaft 5, and the shaft 14c provided at the center of the spherical projection 14a of the pressing plate 14 By combining the hole 12a at the center of the contact portion, the lower case 1
7 is formed by combining the shaft hole 17a of the lower case 17 with the shaft 14c of the pressing plate 14 in the opening of the upper case 16 and fixing the shaft hole 17a of the lower case 17 with the mounting screw 18 from the screw hole 17b.

The pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d may be printed on the electrodes 1 to 4 or on the common electrode 10 by using a pressure-sensitive conductive ink.

With the above configuration, as shown in the equivalent circuit of FIG. 4, by measuring the resistance between the lead wire 11 and the lead wires 5 to 8, the resistance value change of each pressure sensitive rubber can be measured.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing that the resistance value in the thickness direction of each pressure-sensitive rubber 13 changes according to the pressure in the thickness direction. The resistance value of the pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d in the thickness direction is 10 kΩ. At this time, the pressing force can be known by measuring the resistance values of the pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d such that the pressing force is 200 g or the pressing force is 400 g when the resistance value is 5.9 kΩ. That is, the pressing force can be recognized by measuring the resistance value.

According to FIG. 4, the position input device of the present invention has an A / D conversion unit built therein, and a procedure for processing digital data obtained by the A / D conversion unit is a storage unit (ROM).
The microcomputer has a one-chip microcomputer which writes digital data obtained by the A / D converter as shown in FIG. 6 according to the force at which the operating lever is operated and the force. Has a table to convert to moving speed.

FIG. 7 is a characteristic diagram showing how the resistance of the pressure-sensitive rubber 13 in the thickness direction changes due to the force in the thickness direction and the voltage for A / D conversion changes. As a result, an A / D conversion value as shown in FIG. 7 is obtained.
By converting this into a force using a table as shown in FIG. 6, the pressing force can be known.

The operation of the pointing device of the above embodiment will now be described with reference to FIG.
Is pressed with a force F, forces shown at Fa to Fd corresponding to the pressed positions act on the four convex portions of the pressing plate 14. In particular, since a downward force is applied to the pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a and 13b, the resistance value decreases according to the characteristics shown in FIG.

That is, by measuring the resistance values of the four pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d, it is possible to know the "direction" and the "magnitude of the force" in which direction and what force was applied. it can.

Further, as shown in FIG.
The operation lever 15 and the pressing plate 14 are separate parts.
When the operation lever 15 is operated with a weight F applied thereto, the operation lever 15 has a tilt θ, but the operation lever 15 slides on the pressing plate 14 and the pressure-sensitive rubber 13 just below the convex portions 14 a and 14 b of the pressing plate 14.
As a result, no positional displacement occurs and an appropriate operating force is applied.

[0020] Figure 1 0 is used to set some invalid amount of movement before starting pressing the pressure-sensitive rubber 13 a to 13 d in which a spacer 21 is provided between the film 9 and 12 together with the pressure-sensitive rubber 13 a to 13 d, This prevents erroneous operations such as touching the operation lever 15 slightly.

Further, FIG. 1 1, there is pressure-sensitive rubber 13a~13d resistance change in the thickness direction is obtained, by utilizing the fact that the surface direction resistance is negligible very large, without detaching the individual pressure sensitive element unit, A connecting portion as shown in FIG.
The number of man-hours for assembling is reduced to 1/4 by using one sheet.

The lower film 9 can be replaced with a rigid printed wiring board.

Further, a diagram 1 2 (a), (b ) other embodiments, mounting the position input device of the present invention in the input device having a plurality of input keys such as a full keyboard of a personal computer The height of the operation lever 15 is set to be equal to or slightly higher than that of the adjacent input keys 15a so that the operation can be performed extremely easily with the finger pad of the operator.

It should be noted, which shows another embodiment of a pointing device of an embodiment of a position input device of FIG. 1. 3 to FIG. 1 5 present invention, Figures 1 to 3 the convex portions 14d provided on the pressing plate 14 The press plate 14 is formed by fitting the projection 14d into the guide groove 19 of the main body case (not shown).
The positioning of the convex portions 14d provided on the pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d is facilitated.

FIG. 1 4, which has a similar purpose as Fig 5 also 1 3, 1 4 is intended to provide a marking 20 on each of the pressing plate 14 and the main body case (not shown), Figure 1 5 is pressing plate 1 inside the main body case (not shown)
Pressure-sensitive rubbers 13a to 13d and pressing plate 14
Are incorporated so as to match.

[0026]

As is clear from the above embodiment, the position input device of the present invention is provided with a first film having independent electrodes arranged in four directions and a common electrode opposed to the independent electrodes. A second film, a pressure-sensitive element disposed between the independent electrode and the common electrode, and a pressing part having a convex portion at a position for pressing the respective pressure-sensitive element via the independent electrode or the common electrode. It consists of a plate and an operating lever that presses the upper surface of the pressing plate . When the operating lever is operated, the operating lever tilts.
The operating lever slides on the upper surface of the pressing plate,
Misalignment caused by pressing the pressure sensitive element just below the part
Not only with appropriate operating force, but also
Since the pressure-sensitive element is sandwiched between the upper and lower films, it is thin, the structure is easy, and it can be produced at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an embodiment of a position input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a bottom perspective view of a pressing plate, which is a main part of the same.

FIG. 3A is a plan view of the same device. FIG. 3B is a side sectional view of the same device.

FIG. 4 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the same.

FIG. 5 is a characteristic diagram showing a relationship between pressure and resistance of the pressure-sensitive rubber.

FIG. 6 is a view for explaining a table for converting digital data obtained by the A / D converter into a force at which an operation lever is operated;

FIG. 7 is a characteristic diagram showing a state in which a resistance value in the thickness direction of the pressure-sensitive rubber changes due to a force in the thickness direction, and a voltage for A / D conversion changes.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating the same operation.

9A is a plan view illustrating the operation, and FIG. 9B is a side view illustrating the operation.

FIG. 10 is a side sectional view of another embodiment.

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the pressure-sensitive rubber, which is the main part.

12A is a plan view of an input device having a plurality of keys on which the position input device of the present invention is mounted. FIG. 12B is a side view of the input device.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of another embodiment showing a relationship between a film on which a common electrode is disposed and a film on which an independent electrode is disposed.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of another embodiment showing a relationship between a film on which a common electrode is disposed and a film on which an independent electrode is disposed, which is the main part.

FIG. 15 is a perspective view of another embodiment showing a relationship between a film on which a common electrode is disposed and a film on which an independent electrode is disposed, which is a main part of the embodiment.

16A is a top view of a strain gauge of a main part of a pointing device as a conventional position input device, FIG. 16B is a side view thereof, and FIG. 16C is an equivalent circuit diagram thereof.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-4 electrode 9,12 film 10 common electrode 13a-13d pressure-sensitive rubber 14 pressing plate 15 operating lever 15a input key 21 spacer 22 connecting part

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Naotaka Tama 1006 Kadoma, Kazuma, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-624 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 222019 (JP, A) JP-A-62-274414 (JP, A) JP-A-61-6235 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 3/033 H01H 25 / 04 G05G 9/047

Claims (7)

(57) [Claims] 1. A first film having independent electrodes arranged in four directions, a second film having a common electrode opposed to the independent electrodes, and a first film arranged between the independent electrodes and the common electrode. Pressure-sensitive element, a pressing plate having a convex portion at a position for pressing the respective pressure-sensitive element via the independent electrode or the common electrode, and the pressing plate
A position input device comprising an operation lever provided with an operation section for pressing the upper surface of the device. 2. The position input device according to claim 1, wherein the side on which the pressing plate is not pressed is a rigid printed wiring board instead of the film. 3. A pressure-sensitive element position input device of claim 1 or 2, wherein the pressure sensitive element is arranged a spacer so as not normally pushed between. Position input device according to any one of 4. The method of claim using pressure-sensitive rubber as pressure-sensitive element 1-3. With use of the pressure-sensitive rubber as wherein pressure sensitive element, the position input device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 integrated with the connecting portion between the individual pressure sensitive element. 6. The method of claim 1 to 5 in any one for processing digital data obtained by the an A / D converter connected to the independent electrodes A / D converter of the position input device according to any The storage unit in which the procedure is written is constituted by an operation unit connected thereto, and the storage unit converts the digital data obtained by the A / D conversion unit into a force at which an operation lever is operated or an operation lever is operated. Position input device characterized by having a table for converting to the moving speed corresponding to the force. 7. having a plurality of input keys, position input according adjacent to the input key to claim 1-6 having the same or operating lever which is set slightly higher with this input key An input device provided with a device.