JP3099593B2 - Touch switch type operation device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch switch type operating device for steering a vehicle such as an electric wheelchair with one operating lever, and more particularly to an electric wheelchair for a physically handicapped person having weak muscles of fingers. The present invention relates to a suitable touch switch type operation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional operating device for an electric wheelchair. Hereinafter, description will be made with reference to FIG.

The operating device 100 has an operating lever 102 erected on a housing 106 via a universal joint 104 so as to be tiltable in all directions. The operation lever 102 includes a grip portion 108 and a base shaft portion 110. The universal joint 104 includes a hemispherical bearing 112,
It comprises a support member 114 for supporting the hemispherical bearing 112, and a hemispherical body 116 formed on the base shaft portion 110 and rotatably fitted to the hemispherical bearing 112. Hemispherical bearing 11
2, a circumferential groove 118 is formed around the base shaft portion 110, and slide members 120a and 120b are inserted into the circumferential groove 118. Further, the sliding members 120a and 120b
Protrusions 122a and 122b with which the hemispherical body 116 is engaged are formed, and are urged upward by a coil spring 124.

[0004] Here, when a force is applied in a desired direction by grasping the grip portion 108, the operation lever 102 is inclined in that direction as shown by a virtual line 126, and the hemispherical body 116 is shown by a virtual line 128. Is engaged with the protruding piece 122a, so that the slide member 120a is pressed down against the coil spring 124. At this time, the sliding contacts of the two accelerator voltage variable resistors (not shown) rotate in conjunction with the tilt direction and the tilt angle θ of the operation lever 102, and a predetermined accelerator voltage is output. As a result, the electric wheelchair starts moving in the direction of inclination of the operation lever 102 at a speed corresponding to the inclination angle θ. FIG. 8 is a graph showing the relationship between the inclination angle θ and the accelerator voltage Vacc. Next, when the hand is released from the grip portion 108, the slide member 12 is restored by the restoring force of the coil spring 124.
When the protruding piece 122a is engaged with the hemispherical body 116, the operation lever 102 returns to an initial state (hereinafter, referred to as a “neutral state”). At this time, the electric wheelchair stops.

[0005]

However, the conventional operating device 100 has the following problems. Tilt angle θ
It is desired that the maximum inclination angle θmax be large in order to obtain a stable linearity between the relationship and the accelerator voltage Vacc.
The value is required to be about -20 ° to 20 ° as shown in FIG. Therefore, the operation lever 102 must be rotated about 40 ° in all directions (360 °),
Operating lever 1 for physically handicapped people with weak muscles
Moving 02 was not easy. Moreover, the restoring force of the coil spring 124 only needs to return the operation lever 102 inclined at about 20 ° to the neutral state. Therefore, the operating lever 1 is opposed to the restoring force of the coil spring 124.
It will take considerable power to incline 02,
From this point, the operation lever 1 for the above-mentioned physically handicapped person is also considered.
Moving 02 was not easy.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a touch switch type operation device which can be easily operated even by a physically handicapped person with weak fingers.

[0007]

According to the present invention, there is provided a touch switch type operating device comprising: a base; an operating lever erected on the base so as to be tiltable in all directions; A plurality of elastic members that are interposed between the base and the operation lever and that return the operation lever to a fixed position against the inclination of the operation lever; In addition, any one of them includes an electrode for a touch sensor that comes into contact with the conductive means in accordance with the inclination direction of the operation lever. Further, a plurality of touch sensor circuits provided corresponding to each of the electrodes and detecting contact with a human body,
A control circuit for turning on and off a load corresponding to the tilt direction of the operation lever by a detection signal from these touch sensor circuits, and an on-signal integration for gradually turning the load from an off state to an on state. A unit may be provided in the control circuit, or a buzzer driving unit that sounds a buzzer for a predetermined time according to the detection signal may be provided in the control circuit.

[0008]

The operation of the touch switch type operation device according to the first aspect is as follows. When an operator such as a physically handicapped grasps the grip portion of the operation lever, an electric signal such as a capacitance when the operator comes into contact with a human body can be detected by the conductive means provided on the operation lever. Next, the operator inclines the operation lever in a desired direction against the restoring force of the elastic body. At this time,
The conductive means provided from the grip portion of the operation lever to the base end contacts the electrode corresponding to the tilt direction of the operation lever among the plurality of electrodes provided on the base. That is, an electric signal due to the contact of the human body is transmitted from the conductive means to the electrode corresponding to the tilt direction of the operation lever. Thus, the contact of the human body and the tilt direction of the operation lever can be detected by the electrode in contact with the conductive means. When the operator releases his / her hand from the operation lever, the operation lever returns to the home position by the restoring force of the elastic body. Further, since the hand is separated from the conductive means, an electrical signal due to contact with a human body is not detected. In this state, even if something hits the operation lever and the operation lever inclines and the conductive means comes into contact with the electrode, the electric signal due to the contact of the human body is not detected from the electrode. The operation of the touch switch type operation device according to the second aspect is as follows. When an electric signal due to the contact of the human body is transmitted to any one of the electrodes, a detection signal is output from the touch sensor circuit corresponding to the electrode. Since this detection signal indicates the tilt direction of the operation lever, the control circuit controls the load corresponding to the tilt direction to be turned on and off. At that time, the on-signal integrator gradually turns the load from the off state to the on state. The operation of the touch switch type operation device according to the third aspect is as follows. When an electric signal due to the contact of the human body is transmitted to any one of the electrodes, a detection signal is output from the touch sensor circuit corresponding to the electrode. Since this detection signal indicates the tilt direction of the operation lever, the control circuit controls the load corresponding to the tilt direction to be turned on and off. At that time, the buzzer driving section sounds a buzzer for a certain time in response to any of the detection signals.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a first embodiment of a touch switch type operating device according to the present invention.
3 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. Hereinafter, a detailed description will be given based on these drawings.

The touch switch-type operation device 10 according to the present invention includes a base 12, an operation lever 14 erected on the base 12 so as to be tiltable in all directions, and a range from a grip portion 16 to a base end portion 18 of the operation lever 14. Conducting means 2 provided
0, a plurality of elastic members 22 inserted between the base 12 and the operation lever 14 and returning the operation lever 14 to a fixed position against the inclination of the operation lever 14, and a plurality of elastic members 22 provided on the base 12. Is an electrode 24 for a touch sensor that contacts the conductive means 20 in accordance with the tilt direction of the operation lever 14.
a, 24b, 24c and 24d. The base 12 is formed by connecting an upper member 30 and a lower member 32 with flathead screws 34, and is attached to an electric wheelchair (not shown) or the like through flathead screw holes 36. Operation lever 14
The gripping portion 16 has a cylindrical shape, and the base end portion 18 has a flange-like diameter on the base end portion 18 side.
Are formed. Also, the base 12 and the operation lever 1
Reference numeral 4 denotes an insulator such as a synthetic resin. The conductive means 20 has a set screw 40 slightly protruding from the surface of the grip 16, a long axis 44 inserted in the axial direction of the grip 16, and having a male screw 42 formed in the center, and a long axis 44 penetrated. The disk 46 is composed of a nut 48 and the like, which is screwed with the male screw portion 42 and presses the center of the disk 46 from above. Each member constituting the conductive means 20 is made of conductive metal. The elastic body 22 uses an O-ring excellent in elasticity and insulation. The electrodes 24a,... Have a columnar shape, and four electrodes 24a are provided on the base 12 with the long axis 44 as the center. The electrodes 24a,... Are connected to the touch sensor circuit TSa (FIG. 4) via the conductor 50. As shown in FIG. 2, the electrodes 24 a,... And the disk 46 are separated by a gap C by the elastic body 22. The long shaft 44 has a washer 52 above the nut 48 and a large washer 5 below the upper member 30.
4. A fixing pin 56 is provided at the lower end. A taper 58 is formed on the lower surface of the large washer 54, and the operation lever 14 is
Or tilting beyond the maximum tilting angle.

Next, the operation of the touch switch type operation device 10 will be described. An operator such as a physically handicapped person operates the operation lever 14.
When the grasping portion 16 is grasped, the palm comes into contact with the set screw 40, and an electric signal such as a capacity when the palm contacts the human body can be detected by the conductive means 20. Next, the operator inclines the operation lever 14 in a desired direction (for example, the direction of arrow H in FIG. 3) against the restoring force of the elastic body 22. Then, the disk 46 contacts only the electrode 24a. That is,
An electric signal due to contact with the human body is transmitted from the set screw 40 through the long axis 44 and the disk 46 to the electrode 24a. Thus, contact of the human body with the operation lever 14 at the electrode 24a is performed.
Is detected. When the operator releases the hand from the operation lever 14, the operation lever 14 returns to the neutral state due to the restoring force of the elastic body 22. Further, since the hand is separated from the set screw 40, the electric signal due to the contact with the human body is not detected. In this state, something hits the operation lever 14, the operation lever 14 is inclined, and the disk 46 is moved to the electrode 24a.
, No electrical signal due to contact with the human body is detected from the electrode 24a. Therefore, malfunction is prevented, and safe operation is possible.

The inclination angle φ of the operation lever 14 is given by approximately φ = tan ^-1 (C / D), where D is the length from the axis of the long axis 44 to the electrode 24a. To give an example,
Since C is 0.2-0.5 mm and D is about 18 mm, φ ≒ 1 °
Becomes This value is the same as that of the conventional operating device 100 shown in FIG.
Is extremely small as compared with the inclination angle θ of 20 °. Further, since the inclination angle φ is extremely small, the restoring force of the elastic body 22 for returning the operation lever 14 to the neutral state can be extremely small. Therefore, the force for tilting the operation lever 14 against the restoring force of the elastic body 22 is also small.

If an O-ring with high surface accuracy is used for the elastic body 22, the operation lever 14 can be erected on the base 12 with high accuracy. Further, by changing the position of the set screw 40, any finger can be operated.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are circuit diagrams showing a second embodiment of the touch switch type operation device according to the present invention. The loads are left and right motors (not shown) of the electric wheelchair. The accelerator voltages for driving the left and right motors are VACCL and VACCL, respectively.
ACCR. Hereinafter, this will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. The touch switch type operation device 68 includes the electrodes 24a, 24b, 24c in the touch switch type operation device 10,
24d, and touch sensor circuits TSa, TSb, and TS for detecting contact with a human body.
c, TSd and detection signals Sa, Sb, Sc, Sd from the touch sensor circuits TSa,.
And a control circuit 70 for controlling on / off of the load corresponding to the inclination direction of No. 4 and turning on the load from the off state to the on state gradually.
Are provided in the control circuit 70, and a buzzer driving section 74 that sounds the buzzer BZ1 for a certain period of time in response to the detection signals Sa,... Is provided in the control circuit 70.

The touch sensor circuits TSa,... Oscillate by detecting a contact of a human body as a change in capacitance as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-250919 invented by the present inventors. Use When the operator has released his / her hand from the operation lever 14, something hits the operation lever 14, and the disk 46 becomes two electrodes 24a,.
··· (for example, the electrodes 24a and 24b) are short-circuited via the disk 46 when the electrodes 24a and 24b are simultaneously contacted. In such a case, the touch sensor circuit TS
a,... do not malfunction.
Resistors VRa, VRb, VR connected in series to
c and VRd are adjusted in advance.

The control circuit 70 includes variable resistors VRF, VR
B, voltage follower IC3F, IC3B, IC3R,
IC3L, analog switch IC4a, IC4b, IC
4c, IC 4d and the like. The series circuit of the variable resistors VRF and VRB is connected in parallel to the power supply voltage Vcc, and Vcc / 2 is applied to a connection point between the variable resistor VRF and the variable resistor VRB. The forward accelerator voltage VACCF (hereinafter referred to as “forward voltage”) is determined by the sliding contact of the variable resistor VRF, and the reverse accelerator voltage VACCB (hereinafter “backward voltage”) is determined by the variable resistor VRB. Have been. Vcc / 2 is a voltage for stopping the motor of the electric wheelchair (hereinafter referred to as “stop voltage”). That is, the relationship of Vcc>VACCF> Vcc / 2>VACCB> 0 holds. Analog switch IC 4a, ...
Is the detection signal Sa, ..., the inverter IC2a, ...
・ Accelerator voltage VACCF, VAC when input via
Outputs CB to the load side. The resistors R1a,... Are connected for open collector output. The ON signal integrator 72R includes an electrolytic capacitor C1R, a resistor R2R for charging, a resistor R3R for discharging, and a diode D1R for preventing backflow. ON signal integrator 7
2L also has the same configuration as the ON signal integrator 72R.

Next, the operation of the touch switch type operation device 68 will be described. In a state where the operator does not touch the operation lever 14, no electric signal due to contact with the human body is detected from any of the electrodes 24a,. At this time, resistors R4R, R2R, R5 are connected to the voltage follower IC3R.
Stop voltage Vcc / 2 is input via R. Similarly, the stop voltage Vcc / 2 is also input to the voltage follower IC 3L. Therefore, the accelerator voltages VACCR, VACCL
Are Vcc / 2, and the electric wheelchair is stopped. Next, the operator operates the gripper 16 of the operation lever 14.
When the operation lever 14 is tilted in a desired direction (for example, in the direction of arrow H in FIG. 3), an electric signal due to contact with the human body is transmitted to the electrode 24a. Then, the touch sensor circuit TSa outputs the detection signal Sa, and the analog switch IC4a is turned on to output the forward voltage VACCF to the load side. In the ON signal integrator 72R, the forward voltage VACCF
The electrolytic capacitor C1R through the resistor R2R
Starts charging. The charging voltage of the electrolytic capacitor C1R is input to the voltage follower IC3R. FIG. 6 shows these relationships in a graph. As is apparent from this figure, the accelerator voltage V ACCR is changed from Vcc / 2 to VAC
The electric wheelchair will start slowly since it gradually increases to CF. In this case, since the right wheel only moves forward, the electric wheelchair rotates to the left around the left wheel. Such a rotation is called a left pivot turn.

The case where the operating lever 14 is tilted in the direction of arrow H in FIG. 3 has been described above, but the same applies to the case where the operating lever 14 is tilted in other directions. That is, when the electrodes 24a and 24b are tilted in the direction of arrow A, the electrodes 24a and 24b
The electric wheelchair moves forward by contacting zero and the left and right wheels moving forward at the same time. When tilted in the direction of arrow B, a right pivot turn results. At arrow C, the electric wheelchair rotates rightward as the right wheel moves backward and the left wheel moves forward. Such a rotation is called a right spin turn. Similarly, an arrow d indicates a right rear pivot turn, an arrow e indicates a reverse travel, an arrow indicates a left rear pivot turn, and an arrow g indicates a left spin turn.

Next, the buzzer driving section 74 will be described with reference to FIG. The buzzer driving unit 74 detects the detection signal Sa,
Capacitor C that differentiates and generates a trigger voltage
, A resistor R6a,..., A backflow preventing diode D2a,..., A timer IC1, a buzzer driving transistor TR1, a buzzer BZ1, and the like. The detection signal Sa is the touch sensor circuit TS
a, the capacitor C2a and the resistor R6
The waveform of the trigger voltage generated by a is shaped via the diode D3, the resistor R7, and the inverter IC2, and is output to the timer IC1. Then, the timer IC1
Is a transistor TR1 via resistors R8 and R9 for a time determined by a capacitor and a resistor (not shown).
Is turned on to drive the buzzer BZ1. FIG. 6 shows these relationships in a graph. As is clear from this figure, when the operator tilts the operation lever 14, the buzzer BZ1 sounds for a certain period of time. The detection signal Sa has been described above, but the same applies to the detection signals Sb, Sc, and Sd.

[0020]

According to the touch switch type operation device of the first aspect, the contact between the conductive means provided on the operation lever and the electrode disposed on the base makes contact with the human body in the conductive means and the operation lever. And the inclination direction of the operation lever can be detected at the same time, so that the inclination of the operation lever may be a small amount of whether or not the conductive means and the electrode are in contact with each other. Further, since the inclination angle is small, the restoring force of the elastic body for returning the operation lever to the neutral state can be reduced, and it is sufficient to incline the operation lever against this restoring force. Therefore, the load can be operated only by slightly moving the operation lever with a small force, and the operability can be significantly improved. Moreover,
Since the load can be operated only when the human body is in contact with the conductive means, the operation can be performed safely. According to the touch switch type operation device of the second aspect, the load gradually turns from the off state to the on state, so that a sudden operation of the load can be suppressed and the operation can be performed more safely. According to the touch switch type operation device according to the third aspect, the buzzer sounds for a predetermined time immediately after the load is operated, so that when the load is operated by mistake, the user can easily notice the buzzer and can operate the load more safely. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway sectional view showing a first embodiment of a touch switch type operation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a second embodiment of the touch switch type operation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing a second embodiment of the touch switch type operation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a graph showing a relationship between a time t and a detection signal Sa and the like in the touch switch type operation device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a conventional operating device.

FIG. 8 is a graph showing a relationship between a tilt angle θ and an accelerator voltage Vacc in a conventional operating device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10, 68 touch switch type operation device 12 base 14 operation lever 16 grip portion of operation lever 18 base end portion of operation lever 20 conductive means 22 elastic members 24a, 24b, 24c, 24d electrodes TSa TSb, TSc, TSd: Touch sensor circuit 70: Control circuit 72R, 72L: ON signal integrator 74: Buzzer driver

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A base, an operating lever erected on the base so as to be tiltable in all directions, conductive means provided from a gripping portion of the operating lever to a base end, the base and the operating lever, An elastic body that is interposed between and returns the operation lever to a fixed position against the inclination of the operation lever; and a plurality of elastic bodies are provided on the base and any one corresponds to the inclination direction of the operation lever. A touch switch-type operation device comprising: a touch sensor electrode that contacts the conductive means. 2. A base, an operating lever erected on the base so as to be tiltable in all directions, conductive means provided from a gripping portion to a base end of the operating lever, the base and the operating lever, An elastic body that is interposed between and returns the operation lever to a fixed position against the inclination of the operation lever; and a plurality of elastic bodies are provided on the base and any one corresponds to the inclination direction of the operation lever. An electrode for a touch sensor contacting the conductive means, a plurality of touch sensor circuits provided corresponding to each of these electrodes and detecting contact with a human body, and the operation lever according to a detection signal from these touch sensor circuits A control circuit for turning on and off a load corresponding to the inclination direction of the control signal, and an on-signal integrator for turning the load from an off state to an on state gradually is provided in the control circuit. Touch switch-type operation apparatus. 3. A base, an operating lever erected on the base so as to be tiltable in all directions, conductive means provided from a gripping portion to a base end of the operating lever, the base and the operating lever, An elastic body that is interposed between and returns the operation lever to a fixed position against the inclination of the operation lever; and a plurality of elastic bodies are provided on the base and any one corresponds to the inclination direction of the operation lever. Electrodes for a touch sensor contacting the conductive means, a plurality of touch sensor circuits provided corresponding to each of these electrodes and detecting contact with a human body, and the operation performed by a detection signal from the touch sensor circuit. A control circuit for controlling on / off of a load corresponding to the direction of inclination of the lever, and a buzzer driving unit for sounding a buzzer for a predetermined time according to the detection signal is provided in the control circuit. Touch switch-type operation device.