JP4693499B2 - Laser pointer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a laser pointer that is used for a presentation or the like and points to a desired location with a laser beam.

  Conventionally, in presentations performed at conferences, etc., the presenter can easily point to a location far away from the user with a laser beam instead of the previously used pointer to indicate the desired location on the display screen. Laser pointers that can be used are often used. Among them, the pen-type laser pointer is easy to carry and handle, and is especially popular. Further, the laser pointer not only has a function of pointing to the laser, but also enables a presentation using a personal computer that has become the mainstream in recent years, for example, by scrolling the presentation screen or pointing a personal computer. A computer provided with a function of operating a personal computer wirelessly has been proposed (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1).

Such a pen-type laser pointer P1, as shown in FIG. 8, operates an irradiation unit that emits laser light inside a normal pen-type housing 100, an operation for emitting laser, a personal computer, and the like. It has a structure in which an electronic part for performing a function to be performed, a substrate 500 on which an operation unit X that is manually operated such as a button and a dial is mounted, and a power source such as an AAA battery are incorporated. Then, as shown in the figure, the substrate 100 is attached to the housing 100 in a state where it is supported by a resin part J as a special member so that the substrate 100 is not bent through the operation portion X by manual operation. It is the mode which was made.
“KOKUYO 2005 Office Surprise”, KOKUYO Co., Ltd., December 2004, p. 317

  Here, if there is no such special member and the substrate is not sufficiently supported with respect to the housing, the electronic components attached to the substrate may come into contact with other parts in the housing. obtain.

  In addition, since the substrate is supported by a resin part, which is a special member, the laser pointer assembly process also includes two steps in which the resin part is inserted into the housing after the resin part is supported on the substrate. Is an essential process. Such a special member and the above-described two processes occupy a part of the manufacturing cost of the laser pointer from the viewpoint of component cost and assembly cost.

  The present invention pays attention to such a problem, and provides a laser pointer capable of effectively suppressing the manufacturing cost while ensuring good operation.

In order to achieve such an object, the present invention takes the following measures. That is, the laser pointer according to the present invention operates when a pen-shaped housing, an operation unit for manually operating the pressing force from the outside of the housing, and the operation unit are operated. A laser pointer comprising a substrate that supports the operation unit from below in such a manner that a force acts in the thickness direction, and restricting means for restricting movement of both side edges of the substrate in the thickness direction to the housing And a second substrate is laminated in a space below the substrate .
The laser pointer according to the present invention includes a pen-shaped housing, an operation unit for manual operation from the outside of the housing, and an operating force acting in the thickness direction when the operation unit is operated. And a substrate for supporting the operation unit, wherein the housing is integrally provided with a restricting means for restricting movement of both side edges of the substrate in the thickness direction. A spacer that can contact the inner peripheral surface portion of the housing from the thickness direction of the substrate is attached to the end portion .

  Here, the mode of the restricting means may be a groove or a protrusion formed on the inner surface of the casing, or a corner formed on the inner surface of the casing. In addition, “regulating” movement in the thickness direction is not limited to being configured so as not to move in the thickness direction, and includes only regulating movement of the substrate when the operation button is pressed. It is a concept. Further, the operation unit is not limited to the one that is operated by directly touching the user's finger. For example, the operation force of the user is transmitted through the case by being configured so that the operation force is indirectly applied through a separate cover or by partially flexibly configuring the case. Anything can be obtained.

  In such a case, it is not necessary to provide a special member for fixing the substrate inside the housing, and therefore the number of parts constituting the laser pointer can be effectively reduced. Further, by restricting the movement of the both side edges of the substrate in the thickness direction by the restricting means, it is possible to effectively prevent, for example, the electronic circuit mounted on the substrate from moving.

  In particular, in order to further simplify the assembly process of the laser pointer, in order to provide a function as a guide for attaching the substrate to the restricting means, the restricting means is extended from the insertion start position where the substrate is inserted to the insertion end position. It is desirable to provide it.

  Here, the regulating means may be provided continuously from the insertion start end to the insertion end of the substrate or may be provided intermittently.

  In order to perform positioning in the thickness direction of the substrate with certainty, it is desirable that the restricting means is configured to be immovable in the thickness direction of the substrate.

  As a specific configuration of the restricting means for improving the degree of design freedom in arranging the substrate, it is preferable that the restricting means is constituted by a groove or a corner formed by changing the thickness of the housing. . Here, the groove refers to a groove formed by reducing the thickness of the housing in accordance with the thickness dimension of the substrate, and by forming two protrusions so as to restrict the substrate from both sides, It may be a groove formed in. If the casing is cylindrical, the casing strength can be set high.

  Further, as another configuration capable of realizing the restricting means, a pair of opposing corners formed on the inner surface of the housing are restricted if the special processing for providing the restricting means is effectively avoided. The aspect made into a means can be mentioned.

  According to the present invention, since it is not necessary to provide a special member for fixing the substrate inside the housing, the number of parts constituting the laser pointer can be effectively reduced. In other words, it is possible to reduce both the laser pointer component cost by reducing the number of components and the assembly cost by reducing the assembly process, thereby contributing to the price reduction of the laser pointer.

  And even if the board is not supported using a special member such as a resin part, the movement of the both side edges of the board in the thickness direction is regulated by the regulating means, for example, an electronic circuit mounted on the board It is possible to effectively eliminate the possibility of moving.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the laser pointer P according to the present embodiment mainly includes a housing 1 and a laser switch 51, which will be described later, which is an operation unit for manually operating from the outside of the housing 1. The back switch 52, page next switch 53, mouse switch 54, and the switches 51, 52, 53, 54 are operated in such a manner that the operating force acts in the thickness direction when the switches 51, 52, 53, 54 are operated. It comprises at least a first substrate 5 which is a substrate to be described later and which is supported.

  Here, the laser pointer P according to the present embodiment includes a pair of support grooves serving as regulating means X that regulates movement of the side edge portions 5a and 5a, which are both side edges of the first substrate 5, in the thickness direction in the housing 1. 18 and 18 are provided integrally.

  Hereinafter, a specific configuration of each part of the laser pointer P will be described in detail.

  As shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, the housing 1 is made of a metal material such as brass, for example, and forms a substantially cylindrical pen shape having an internal space communicating in the longitudinal direction. The casing 1 is formed with switch holes 11, 12, 13, and 14 along the longitudinal direction for exposing switch covers C1, C2, C3, and C4, which will be described later, to the outside of the casing 1. . Specifically, a laser switch hole 11 having a substantially vertically long elliptical shape in a plan view, a page back switch hole 12 having a substantially horizontally long elliptical shape in a plan view, from a substantially intermediate position in the longitudinal dimension of the housing 1 toward the tip side, and A page next switch hole 13 and a mouse switch hole 14 having a circular shape in plan view are formed in this order. In the present embodiment, a protrusion C32 is provided at the upper end of the page next switch cover C3 so that the distinction between the page back switch cover C2 and the page next switch cover C3 having similar shapes can be easily recognized. Yes. Although not shown, characters or symbols (for example, “Laser”, “Back”, “Next”, “Mouse”) that can intuitively understand the operation content corresponding to each switch 52, 53, 54 are imprinted in the vicinity of each hole formation location. Or by printing or sticking a seal. Further, a window portion 15 having a substantially circular shape in plan view is formed further on the distal end side than the position where the mouse switch hole 14 is formed, and a lens body 16 is fitted into the window portion 15 so that the window portion 15 and the lens body 16 is used to make it possible to visually recognize the light emission state of the light emitter 55 described later. Further, the housing 1 and the base end side cap member 3 can be screwed together.

  Thus, the casing 1 is formed by reducing the thickness of the casing 1 so as to continuously extend along the longitudinal direction on the inner peripheral surface portion of the casing 1 and substantially match the thickness dimension of the first substrate 5 described later. A pair of support grooves 18, 18 as the regulating means Z is formed from the front end to the base end of the housing 1. The pair of support grooves 18, 18 are formed at positions facing each other, that is, at a position where the housing 1 can be equally divided into two in the radial direction, and the separation distance between the support grooves 18 is larger than the inner diameter of the housing 1. I try to make it a little larger. A pair of grooves 19 facing each other on a straight line that can be substantially orthogonal to a virtual straight line connecting the pair of support grooves 18 and 18 are formed in the longitudinal direction of the housing 1. It is formed for convenience when forming 1 (at the time of drawing), and does not play a role of supporting the first substrate 5. In the present embodiment, any one of the grooves 19 that do not play the role of supporting the first substrate 5 and the respective centers of the holes 11, 12, 13, 14 and the window portion 15 are substantially matched.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the distal end side cap member 2 has a substantially cylindrical shape opened only in one direction, and is configured to be fitted to the distal end portion of the housing 1 on the open end side. Further, a through hole 22 for irradiating a laser beam is formed at the distal end portion of the distal end side cap member 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the base end side cap member 3 includes a cap main body 31 having a knob and a terminal member 32 that is press-fitted into the cap main body 31 and functions as a terminal of the battery B. . The inner peripheral surface of the terminal member 32 is configured to be screwable with the base end portion of the housing 1.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the internal mounting unit 4 mainly includes a first substrate 5 as a substrate on which a circuit for communicating with a predetermined receiver is mounted, and a second substrate on which a circuit for emitting a red laser is mounted. 6 and a wavelength conversion module 7 for converting a red laser into a green laser are integrally provided. Specifically, a spacer 8 made of, for example, a synthetic resin material and a spring member 9 that functions as a terminal of the battery B are integrally attached to the base end portion of the first substrate 5 by appropriate attachment means. . In addition, a wavelength conversion module 7 (and an irradiation unit) is provided at the tip of the first substrate 5. A coiled antenna A is provided which is wound in a coil shape so as to surround a light emission path irradiated with the green laser in a predetermined region on the distal end side of the wavelength conversion module 7.

  The first substrate 5 has a substantially plate shape in which the dimension between the side edge portions 5a and 5a substantially coincides with the distance between the pair of support grooves 18 and 18 formed in the inner peripheral surface portion of the housing 1. . In addition to the laser switch 51 for operating the laser emission, the first substrate 5 is a receiver connected to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer (not shown) (in this embodiment, a receiver that receives electromagnetic waves in the 2.45 GHz frequency band). ) Is implemented. Specifically, the page back switch 52, the page next switch 53, and the mouse switch 54 are mounted on the first substrate 5 in this order from the base end side, and the pressing force is applied to the switches 52, 53, 54. , A predetermined signal corresponding to each of the switches 52, 53, 54, that is, a screen return signal for switching a screen displayed on a display screen (not shown) to the previous screen, the same display screen A screen feed signal for switching the screen displayed on the screen to the next screen, a mouse pointer movement signal for moving the mouse pointer displayed on the display screen in a predetermined direction, using the electromagnetic wave. We are trying to make a call to In the present embodiment, an RF (Radio Frequency) method using an electromagnetic wave in a 2.45 GHz frequency band is adopted as a communication method, and communication can be performed with the receiver within approximately 10 meters.

  Here, in this embodiment, the laser switch 51, the page back switch 52, the page next switch 53, and the mouse switch 54 each independently form an operation unit according to the present invention.

  The second substrate 6 is set to have a width dimension and a longitudinal dimension smaller than those of the first substrate 5, and a circuit for emitting a red laser is mounted on the second substrate 6. Note that whether or not to emit a laser is controlled by whether or not a pressing force is applied to the laser switch 51 mounted on the first substrate 5. In addition, a light emitter 55 that is turned on in conjunction with the emission of the laser beam is mounted on the first substrate 5. In the present embodiment, the light emitter 55 is mounted further on the tip side than the mounting position of the mouse switch 54. The second substrate 6 and the first substrate 5 described above are laminated and electrically connected in a state in which the central axes along the respective longitudinal directions are aligned with a predetermined distance apart in the thickness direction. Yes.

  The wavelength conversion module 7 converts a green laser converted into a wavelength of 532 nm by converting, for example, an 808 nm red laser emitted from a semiconductor laser light emitting element (not shown) into 1064 nm, and passing the laser through a wavelength conversion crystal (not shown). Irradiation.

  Next, a procedure for assembling the laser pointer P composed of such components will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 4, and 5. FIG.

  First, a laser switch cover C1, a page back switch cover C2, and a page next switch cover are formed in the laser switch hole 11, the page back switch hole 12, the page next switch hole 13, and the mouse switch hole 14 formed in the housing 1, respectively. Attach C3 and mouse switch cover C4. In FIG. 5, the illustration of the holes 11, 12, 13, 14, the switch covers C 1, C 2, C 3, C 4 attached to the window 15 and the lens body 16 is omitted.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 5A, the internal mounting unit 4 is mounted in a housing in a posture in which the side edge portion 5 a of the first substrate 5 is fitted in the support groove 18 provided in the inner peripheral surface portion of the housing 1. The body 1 is inserted from the insertion start end position Z1 on the distal end side. Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, the internal mounting unit 4 is slid in the longitudinal direction of the housing 1 while guiding the side edge portion 5 a along the longitudinal direction of the first substrate 5 along the support groove 18. . In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5C, the side edge of the first substrate 5 is set when the front end portion of the housing 1 and the start end portion of the coiled portion of the antenna A substantially coincide with each other. The position in the support groove 18 that is in contact with the portion from the most proximal end of the portion 5a is defined as an insertion end position Z2.

  As shown above, the switch covers C1, C2, C3, C4 and the lens body 16 are not shown in FIG. 5, but as shown in FIG. 2, the internal mounting unit 4 is moved to the insertion end position Z2. In the state of sliding, the switch covers C1, C2, C3, C4 and the switches 51, 52, 53, 54 corresponding to the switch covers C1, C2, C3, C4 can be in light contact with each other. Thus, the light emitter 55 and the lens body 16 provided in the window portion 15 of the housing 1 coincide with each other along the radial direction of the housing 1. Note that the tip of the mouse switch 54 is housed in the internal space of the mouse switch cover C4. Then, in this attached state, the antenna A is exposed in a state of protruding from the front end of the housing 1, and the front end side cap member 2 is attached to the front end side of the housing 1. Specifically, the front end side cap member 2 is press-fitted into the inner peripheral surface portion of the housing 1. In this attached state, the antenna A is covered with the front end side cap member 2. Next, the battery B (two AAA batteries in this embodiment) is inserted from the base end side of the casing 1, and finally the male screw formed on the terminal member 32 of the base end side cap member 3 is inserted into the casing 1. The proximal end side cap member 3 is attached to the proximal end portion of the housing 1 by being screwed to the proximal end portion. As a result, the battery B comes into contact with the terminal member 32 and the battery terminal spring member 9, respectively, so that the battery B can be energized.

  The laser pointer P assembled in the above procedure is given a pressing force to the laser switch 51 when the user presses the laser switch cover C1, and is irradiated through the lens portion 72 of the wavelength conversion module 7. In addition, the green laser beam that has passed through the through hole 22 formed at the distal end portion of the distal end side cap member 2 can be directed by irradiating an arbitrary position. During emission of the green laser, the light emitter 55 is turned on, and the lighting state can be visually recognized by the window portion 15 and the lens body 16 of the housing 1. Further, when the user presses the page back switch cover C2, the page next switch cover C3, or the mouse switch cover C4, the pressing force is applied to the corresponding switches 52, 53, 54, and the switches 52 , 53, 54 can be transmitted to the receiver using radio waves. In this case, since the metal casing 1 suitably shields unnecessary radiation (radio wave noise) from the first substrate 5, it is possible to effectively prevent radio wave interference due to this unwanted radiation. Further, since the periphery of the antenna A is covered with the synthetic resin (non-metallic) tip side cap member 2, the radio wave radiated from the antenna A is not attenuated unnecessarily. Therefore, a sufficient communication distance with the electronic device can be ensured.

  As described above, the laser pointer P according to the present embodiment is a laser that is an operation unit that indirectly receives the pressing force applied from the outside of the housing 1 provided by the user via the switch covers C1, C2, C3, and C4. A switch 51, a page back switch 52, a page next switch 53, and a mouse switch 54 are mounted on the first substrate 5. Both side edges 5 a and 5 a along the longitudinal direction of the first substrate 5 are connected to the housing 1. By supporting the pair of support grooves 18, 18 on the pair of support grooves 18, 18, the pair of support grooves 18, 18 function as the regulating means Z that regulates the movement of the first substrate 5 in the thickness direction.

  With such a configuration, when the pressing force is applied to each of the switches 51, 52, 53, 54, the first substrate 5 moves in the thickness direction by the pressing force, in other words, For example, the first substrate 5 can be preferably restricted from being displaced by rotating in the radial direction of the housing 1. That is, when the side edges 5a and 5a of the first substrate 5 are restricted from moving in the thickness direction by the restricting means Z, for example, the electronic circuit mounted on the first substrate 5 is moved by the pressing force. Can be effectively prevented. Further, unlike the laser pointer P1 shown in FIG. 8 described above, it is not necessary to provide a special member such as the resin part J for fixing the substrate 500 inside the housing 100, so that the laser pointer P is configured. The number of parts to be effectively reduced.

  Further, since the restricting means Z is provided from the insertion start end position Z1 into which the first substrate 5 is inserted to the insertion end position Z2, the restricting means Z attaches the internal mounting unit 4, that is, the first substrate 5 to the housing 1. This also serves as a guide for attachment, and this structure simplifies the assembly process of the laser pointer P compared to the conventional laser pointer P1.

  And since the control means Z is comprised so that a movement in the thickness direction of the 1st board | substrate 5 is impossible, the positioning of the thickness direction of the 1st board | substrate 5 can be performed reliably.

  Further, since the restricting means Z is constituted by a pair of support grooves 18 and 18 formed by changing the thickness of the housing 1, the position of the first substrate 5 is determined at a desired position by simple processing. It is what you get. Specifically, a pair of support grooves 18 and 18 that are restricting means Z are set at predetermined positions while the casing 1 is cylindrical and set to have a high strength shape.

  In the present embodiment, unlike the conventional laser pointer P1 according to FIG. 8, by avoiding the use of the resin part J, a space below the first substrate 5 is effectively created particularly as shown in FIG. Thus, a space for storing the second substrate 6 is effectively secured. That is, it is configured so that the space inside the housing 1 can be used effectively. That is, by adopting the restricting means Z according to the present embodiment, by adopting a substrate having a multiple structure such as the first substrate 5 and the second substrate 6 and incorporating a large number of electronic components, various laser components can be incorporated into the laser pointer P. It is possible to add functions. In other words, by effectively utilizing the space inside the housing 1, the laser pointer P can be reduced in size by being housed in a smaller housing 1.

  The regulating means Z according to the present embodiment is a groove formed such that the thickness of the housing 1 such as the support groove 18 formed in the housing 1 is reduced and the first substrate 5 which is a substrate cannot be moved in the thickness direction. The present invention is not limited to this, and a mode as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 may be adopted. In addition, in the same figure, description of components other than the housing | casing 1 and the board | substrate 50 is abbreviate | omitted, and what was illustrated schematically.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6A, first, two protrusions 1t and 1t are formed on the inner surface of the housing 1, and a groove 1s is formed between the protrusions 1t to form a substrate. 50 may be inserted. In addition, the substrate 5 is not limited to the two-layer substrate as in the above-described embodiment, but may be a single-layer substrate such as the substrate 50 shown in FIG. And when the protrusion 1t is employ | adopted as the same figure (a), the control means Z is not necessarily restricted to being formed continuously, but as shown in FIG.6 (b) intermittently. It may be formed. Further, the substrate 50 is not limited to be formed so as not to be movable in the vertical direction, and the substrate 50 is somewhat fixed in the vertical direction as in the groove 1s shown in FIG. 6C and the protrusion 1t shown in FIG. 6D. Even if it is formed so as to be immovable, it may be anything as long as it can restrict movement of the substrate 50 in the thickness direction by operation of the operation unit when other parts are incorporated. With such a configuration, it is possible to set the substrate at a desired position by appropriately setting the position of the groove 1s.

  Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7, the regulating means Z may be a pair of opposing corners 1 u and 1 u formed on the inner surface of the housing 1.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), a casing 1 having a polygonal shape in cross section, that is, a hexagonal shape, is employed, and a substrate 50 is inserted between the entering corner 1u and the entering corner 1u facing each other. It may be. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the substrate 50 may be supported by using a pair of opposing corners 1u and 1u using a partially cylindrical housing 1 in cross section. good. Further, as shown in FIG. 7 (c), the casing 1 has a circular outer surface, and a pair of entering corners 1u and 1u facing the inner surface are formed by changing the wall thickness. If it exists, it can be set as the regulation means Z which concerns on this invention by making the board | substrate 50 support between the pair of said opposing corners 1u and 1u. In this way, if the corner 1u formed on the inner surface of the housing 1 is used, it is possible to effectively avoid performing special processing for providing the regulating means Z.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, the specific structure of each part is not limited only to embodiment mentioned above. For example, there may be provided a regulating means for supporting one side edge of the substrate by a groove and supporting the other by a corner.

  In addition, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

1 is an external view of a laser pointer according to an embodiment of the present invention. Sectional drawing which concerns on the same embodiment. XX sectional drawing concerning FIG. Explanatory drawing of the principal part which concerns on the same embodiment. Explanatory drawing which concerns on the same embodiment. The typical sectional view concerning the modification of the embodiment. Same as above. Schematic sectional view showing the structure of a conventional laser pointer.

Explanation of symbols

1 ... Case 18 ... Groove (supporting groove)
1 s... Groove 1 u .. entering corner 5 .. substrate (first substrate)
5a ... side edge (side edge)
51. Operation unit (laser switch)
52. Operation unit (page back switch)
53 ... Operation section (page next switch)
54 ... Operation unit (mouse switch)
P: Laser pointer Z: Restricting means Z1: Insertion start position Z2: Insertion end position

Claims (7)

A pen-shaped housing, an operation unit for operation by manually applying a pressing force from the outside of the housing, and the operation force acting in the thickness direction when the operation unit is operated. A laser pointer comprising a substrate that supports the operation unit from below ;
The housing is integrally provided with a restricting means for restricting movement of both side edges of the substrate in the thickness direction ,
A laser pointer, wherein a second substrate is stacked in a space below the substrate . A pen-shaped housing, an operating portion for manually operating from the outside of the housing, and a substrate that supports the operating portion in such a manner that an operating force acts in the thickness direction when the operating portion is operated. A laser pointer comprising:
The housing is integrally provided with a restricting means for restricting movement of both side edges of the substrate in the thickness direction,
The laser pointer characterized by attaching the spacer which can contact the inner peripheral surface part of the said housing | casing from the thickness direction of the said board | substrate to the base end part of the said board | substrate . 3. The laser pointer according to claim 1, wherein the restricting means is provided from an insertion start end position where the substrate is inserted to an insertion end position . 4. The laser pointer according to claim 1, wherein the regulating means is configured to be immovable in the thickness direction of the substrate . The laser pointer according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the restricting means is constituted by a groove or a corner formed by changing the thickness of the casing . 6. The laser pointer according to claim 1, wherein the casing is cylindrical . 7. The laser pointer according to claim 1, wherein the regulating means is a pair of opposing corners formed on the inner surface of the casing.

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