JP3184664B2 - Operation input device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for operating various household appliances such as a television set and an air conditioner at home.
So-called remote control device (operation input device)
(Hereinafter abbreviated as a remote controller).

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, remote control devices that can be freely operated without directly touching various devices using infrared rays have become widespread. For example, even when watching a television, a user can operate a channel and a volume without going to a place where a television device is located. Since such a remote control device is convenient, it has rapidly spread to various household devices such as an audio device, an air conditioner, and a video device. As a result, there are many remote control devices in homes. Furthermore, when trying to combine many remote control devices into one, the number of buttons becomes very large,
Some ingenuity is needed.

FIG. 4 shows an example of a conventional remote control device made in consideration of the above points and which can operate various household devices. A variable display / contact input means 41 such as a liquid crystal is provided on the upper surface of the housing 1. Various devices that can be operated are displayed as images on the display / contact input means 41.
The operator wants to operate the device "TV" by first touching the display portion of the device to be operated, for example, "TV".
Select When "TV" is selected, the display / contact input means 41 changes the display content to the operation content of "TV". The operation contents include a channel operation, an ON / OFF operation, and a volume operation. Similarly, when another device is selected, the display / contact input means 41 displays the operation function of the selected device. In this way, it is possible to operate many devices so that anyone can understand them.

[0004] The operation command transmitted from the remote controller is:
It can be sent directly to the device you want to operate,
Various devices can be connected via a common data bus and operated via the data bus. As such a data bus, HBS (Home Bus Syste
m) There is a method. It is also possible to set a receiving device of a remote controller on the data bus, and to operate and control various devices at home from the receiving device via the data bus.

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned remote control device in which various devices can be operated by one device,
To operate another device from the operation of one device,
It is necessary to return to a screen in which various devices are only displayed, that is, a so-called “initial menu” screen, and to make settings, which makes the operation rather cumbersome.

[0006] Also, since the display changes depending on the time,
There is also a disadvantage that it is difficult to use in bedrooms. That is,
This is because the bedroom is often dark, and the display may not be clearly visible even when the operator needs glasses.

Also, with a display screen and contact input means such as a liquid crystal display, there is no unevenness on the input surface, and it is difficult to delicately control where the operator is actually touching. For this reason, it is necessary to enlarge the display of each device for inputting an operation, and there is also a problem that the size of the remote control device is increased.

The present invention, in consideration of such problems of the conventional remote control device, can be easily operated even in a dark place or when the eyes are inconvenient, and many operations can be realized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a remote control device capable of performing simple display confirmation, which is possible by an operation corresponding to human senses.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a device operation input portion having a convex shape provided on the surface of a housing and corresponding to an operable device, and a convex device operation input portion provided inside the housing. Multi-axial force detection means provided to correspond to the portion,
Information processing means for processing information from the force detecting means;
An operation input device including a data transfer unit that transfers the information processing result to the device.

[0010]

[0011]

By manually operating the convex device operation input portion, the force detecting means detects the degree of the force applied to the device operation input portion. The information processing means can interpret the directions of the various forces as a plurality of operation commands and transfer them to the device. as a result,
Without increasing the convex device operation input part,
A plurality of operation commands can be realized without increasing the number.

[0012]

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a remote controller according to the present invention. That is, a printed portion (device name display portion) 3 in which a corresponding device name is clearly provided is provided on the housing 1, and a protruding relief portion 2a, 2
b, 2c and 2d are formed. Display means 5 is provided above the embossed portions 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d so that the state of the corresponding device can be displayed.

FIG. 2 is a diagram corresponding to one device of FIG.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of operation parts such as a printing part 3, embossed parts 2a, 2b, 2c, and 2d and a block diagram of an electric circuit connected to the operation parts. A multiaxial force detecting means 4d is provided below the embossed portion 2d so that the force applied by the finger 9 to the embossed portion 2d can be detected. Similarly, force detecting means 4a, 4b, and 4c are provided for the other embossed portions 2a, 2b, and 2c. further,
The force detecting means 6 can also detect the presence or absence of the pressing under the central printing portion 3.

The force information applied to each of the embossed portions 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d is sent to the information processing means 10. The information processing means 10 processes a plurality of pieces of force information, converts them into a plurality of operation commands, and transmits them to various devices via the transmission means 11. A method of converting to an operation command in the information processing means 10 will be described later. Further, the information processing means 10 displays the operation command information or the state of the device on the display means 5. FIG. 2 shows an example in which a force is applied to the embossed portion 2d in the right direction. In such a state, the information processing means 10 can detect that a force is applied only to the embossed portion 2d by the force detection means 4d and that a rightward force is applied. For the specific configuration of such a multi-axis force detecting means, the principle and the like are described in “Ogata et al.“ Force sensor ”, Journal of the Robotics Society of Japan, Vol. 6, No. 9, pp.
759-765, 1991 ".

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a part of the processing procedure in the information processing means 10. Here, the conversion regarding the operation of the television is shown. The information processing means 10 determines whether or not the force detection means for the relief portion corresponding to the television is operated in the determination step 30. If no force is detected, another device,
For example, the process proceeds to a processing step 38 for checking an operation input such as a VTR. The force input here is the force detection means 4a, 4
In addition to the detection at b, 4c, and 4d, a force detection unit 6 inside the housing of the printing part 3 indicating the device name is also included. If a force has been detected, the process proceeds to decision step 31.

In a judgment step 31, it is judged whether or not a force is applied to the print portion 3 in the vertical direction. That is,
It is found by the force detecting means 6. If a vertical force is applied, the process proceeds to processing step 32; In processing step 32, the power is turned on /
A code of a command for OFF is set. When the processing step 32 is completed, the processing proceeds to the processing step 38 to check whether a force is applied to a zone corresponding to another device.

On the other hand, in a judgment step 33, it is checked whether a force is applied in the upward / downward direction. That is, with respect to the upper embossed portion 2a and / or the lower embossed portion 2c, it is determined whether the force is applied upward or downward in the force detecting means 4a, 4a.
Detect with c. When the force is applied in the upward / downward direction, the process proceeds to a processing step 35. When the force is not applied, the process proceeds to a determination step 34. In the judgment step 34, it is checked whether or not a force is applied in a direction of enlarging or reducing the area of the enclosure formed by the relief portion. That is,
The direction of enlargement is a state in which the left and right embossed portions 2b, 2d are applied with force in directions opposite to each other. Also, the direction of reduction is the opposite. Similarly, the upper and lower embossed portions 2a and 2c can be handled in the same manner. If a force is applied in the direction of enlargement or contraction, the process proceeds to processing step 35; otherwise, the process proceeds to determination step 36.

In processing step 35, a command code relating to the increase or decrease of the volume is set. Specifically, a command code is set to increase the volume when an upward force is applied or when an enlargement force is applied, and the volume is reduced when a downward or reduction force is applied. Is set. Processing step 3
After the end of Step 5, the process proceeds to Step 38.

In a judgment step 36, it is judged whether or not a force is applied in the left-right direction. That is, with respect to the left embossed portion 2d and / or the right embossed portion 2b, it is detected by the force detecting means 4d, 4b whether a force is applied leftward or rightward. . If a force is applied in the left / right direction, the process proceeds to processing step 37; otherwise, the process proceeds to processing step 38.
In processing step 37, a command code relating to the increase or decrease of the channel is set. If a rightward force is applied, a code for increasing the channel is set, and if a leftward force is applied, a command code for decreasing the channel is set. The command code thus obtained is transmitted via the transmission means 11.

In the embodiment of FIG. 1, the display portion 5 is set near each of the operation portions 2 and 3 corresponding to each device. However, a large display portion is set and information on all devices is set. It is also possible to display them collectively.

Although the above embodiment has been described on the assumption that a plurality of devices can be handled, the present invention can be applied to the case where only one device is operated, and the device can be directly attached to the operation unit of the device. Is also possible.

The convex shape is not limited to the annular shape as in the above embodiment, but may be another shape such as a horizontal line.

The information processing means of the present invention may use a computer. Also, the operation input section of the device
A means to display information on devices that can be operated near the minute
This makes it easy to visually confirm the operation contents.
Needless to say.

[0026]

As is apparent from the above description,
The present invention has an advantage that it can be easily operated using the tactile sense even in a dark place or when the eyes are inconvenient.

Further, many kinds of instructions can be realized by a simple mechanism.

Further, since the operation can be performed by an operation corresponding to the human sense, the operation method is clear.

Further, the operation command information can be confirmed or the status of the device can be confirmed by a simple display means.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an entire embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram showing a cross section of an input portion in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the entire conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d Embossed portion 3 Device name display portion 4b, 4d, 6 Multiaxial force detection means 5 Display means 10 Information processing means

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yoshiteru Ito 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Inside Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-176581 (JP, A) JP-A-2- 180497 (JP, A) Japanese Utility Model 62-191282 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Application Hei 4-14952 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model Utility Model 61-134183 (JP, U) (58) Field surveyed (Int. ⁷ , DB name) H04Q 9/00-9/16

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A convex device operation input portion provided on a surface of a housing and corresponding to an operable device, and provided inside the housing so as to correspond to the convex device operation input portion. and force detecting means multiaxial that is, an information processing means for processing the information from the force detecting means, and data transfer means for transferring the information processing result to the device, Bei example, said device operation input portion , Continuous or intermittent
An operation input device , characterized in that the operation input device has a convex shape . Wherein the force detecting means of the multi-axis so as to correspond to each part of the device operation input portion, provided with a plurality,
The information processing means is detected by the multiaxial force detecting means.
Combined direction of force
And sends the result to the data transfer means.
Operation input device according to claim 1, wherein a.