JPH02125320A - Coordinate input pen - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily replace a power source by electrically connecting a pen main body and its power source part and providing them with connection terminals to physically connect them into one body. CONSTITUTION:An input pen 1 roughly consists of a power supply part 1a and a pen main body 1b. The power supply part 1a is provided with a charging battery 26 and two plugs (- and + terminals) for power supply to the pen main body 1a. The power supply part 1a is fixed to the pen main body 1b by these plugs 27. Receptacles 28 are inserted to plugs 27 of the power supply part 1a and fix the power supply part 1a. Thus, the charging battery is easily replaced when being consumed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a coordinate input pen, and particularly to a cordless coordinate input pen used in a coordinate input device.

[Prior art technology] Conventionally, there is a method of inputting coordinates using ultrasonic vibration as a medium.

In a device employing this coordinate input method, the tablet (here, the vibration transmitting material) is made of glass, metal, etc., and a plurality of vibration sensors are arranged at predetermined positions on the corners of the tablet.

Then, by indicating a desired position on the tablet with an input pen having a vibrator, vibrations generated from the pen tip are propagated on the tablet. Each vibration sensor will detect this vibration, but the time it takes to detect it differs depending on the distance between the input pen and each vibration sensor. In other words, by measuring the vibration transmission time until it is detected by each vibration sensor, the distance from each vibration sensor to the point indicated by the input pen can be determined.
As a result, it becomes possible to determine the coordinate position of the point indicated by the input pen.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Incidentally, in the case of a device that electrically operates an input pen and detects the pen touch position, it is necessary to supply power to the input pen by some means.

Normally, the main body of the device and the input pen are connected by a dedicated cable, and the necessary power supply and various signals are sent and received via this cable.

However, with this, there is a problem in that it is impossible to avoid obstacles to improving operability, such as the cable getting wrapped around the hand.

Therefore, it is conceivable to input coordinates using a cordless input pen with a built-in battery, but if the battery is exhausted, for example, remove the cap and take out the internal battery.
You will have to go through the trouble of closing the cap again.

The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and an object thereof is to provide a coordinate input pen in which power source replacement is extremely simple.

[Means for Solving the Problem] A coordinate human-powered device of the present invention that solves this problem has the configuration shown below.

That is, a cordless coordinate input pen used in a coordinate input device includes a connection terminal for electrically connecting a pen body and a power supply section of the pen body, and for physically connecting them together.

[Operations] In this configuration of the present invention, by connecting the pen body and the power supply section through their respective connection terminals, they are electrically and physically connected as one, and form one coordinate human-powered pen. .

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1. Explanation of the outline of the configuration (FIG. 1)> FIG. 1 shows a block configuration diagram of the coordinate input device in the embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a cordless input pen that indicates the coordinate position, and the details will be described later.
A start signal (light) related to the start of coordinate input is emitted via the window part 24 every period), and the pen tip is vibrated (equipped with a vibrator) in synchronization with the signal irradiation.2 is a vibration transmission plate made of transparent glass (or plastic may be used), which propagates vibrations generated by the input pen 1, and forms a so-called coordinate input area. Vibration sensors made of piezo elements or the like shown as 3a to 3C are fixed to the three corners of the vibration transmission plate 2, and the vibrations generated from the first Q-input pen 1 are detected by these vibration sensors 3a to 3C. Reference numeral 4 denotes an anti-reflection material made of silicone rubber or the like for preventing vibrations transmitted from the input pen 1 from being reflected at the periphery of the vibration transmission plate 2 and returning toward the center thereof. 5 is a display made of a CRT, LCD panel, etc., and is located behind the vibration transmission plate 2. In other words, since the vibration transmission plate 2 is located in front of the display 5, the displayed content can be read through the vibration transmission plate 8. A display drive circuit 6 controls the display drive of the display 5, and displays a predetermined image such as a dot or line based on instructions from an arithmetic control circuit 10, which will be described later. Therefore, for example, by displaying images, characters, etc. input with the input pen 3 on the display 5 in their original size and in real time, it is possible to display the handwriting as if it were written on paper. It becomes possible. In addition, various other uses are possible, such as displaying a keyboard layout on the display 5 and giving instructions using the input pen 3.

7 is a signal waveform detection circuit, which detects signals corresponding to vibrations detected by the vibration sensors 3a to 3c, and outputs signals to the arithmetic control circuit 1
A pulse signal corresponding to 1 is output.

8 is a start signal detection circuit, and a light receiving section 9. The arithmetic control circuit 1 converts the electric signal corresponding to the light emitted from the input pen l into a predetermined pulse signal.
1.

Description of input pen (FIGS. 2 and 3) An example of the structure of the input pen in the embodiment is shown in FIG. 2, and each component will be explained below. Basically, this input pen l includes all the members necessary for generating vibrations.

The input pen l is roughly divided into a power supply section 1a and a pen body 1b.
It is made up of.

The power supply unit 1a is provided with a rechargeable battery 26 and two (+, one terminal) plugs 27 for supplying power to the pen body 1a. Also, with this plug 27, the power supply section 1
a is fixed to the pen body 1b.

The pen body 1b has the following configuration, including a vibrator 21 that vibrates based on an electric signal, and a horn 20 (forming a so-called pen tip) that inputs coordinates and transmits vibrations to its tip. It is equipped with

22 is a start signal generation circuit, and in the embodiment, the start signal generation circuit is
Several pulse signals are generated every cycle to light up the LED 23. The light from the LED 23 is emitted to the outside through the window 24 made of a transparent member, and is received by the light receiving section 9 on the device main body side. 25 is the oscillator 2 in synchronization with the signal generated from the start signal generation circuit 22.
This is a drive circuit that drives 1. This synchronizes the emission of light and the vibration of the vibrator 21, that is, the device main body 100
For the user, it becomes possible to detect when the input pen 1 starts vibrating.

28 is a socket into which the plug 27 of the power supply section 1a is inserted, and at the same time fixes the power supply section 1a. 29 is socket 2
This is a power supply circuit that supplies power obtained through 8 to the drive circuit 21 and the start signal generation circuit 25.

In this way, the input pen 1 according to the embodiment can be easily replaced when its rechargeable battery is exhausted.

Note that the removed power supply section 1a is charged by inserting it into a charging socket provided in the main body of the device.

Figure 3 shows this situation.

In the figure, reference numeral 19 indicates a charging socket, and la' indicates an example of a power supply section of the input pen 1 connected to one of the charging sockets 19. Note that 100 indicates the main body of the device, and 101 indicates a pen stand.

As shown in the figure, the device main body 100 is provided with three charging sockets 19 for charging the power supply units 1a, and three power supply units 1a can be charged at the same time.

Therefore, when the power supply unit in use becomes exhausted, it is sufficient to remove the new power supply unit from the charging socket of the device main body 100 and connect it to the pen body 1b, thereby allowing the coordinate input operation to be continued.

In particular, multiple power supplies are always connected to the charging socket 19 on the main body of the device.
By charging them in sequence and using them in sequence, it becomes possible to keep the power supply unit on standby, which is always charged to the point where it can be used.

Further, although the explanation is complicated, the vibration frequency of the vibrator 21 is selected to a value that can generate plate waves in the vibration transmission plate 2. Plate waves have the advantage that they are less affected by scratches on the surface of the vibration transmission plate 2, obstacles, etc. than plane waves or the like.

Further, when driving the vibrator, a vibration mode is selected in which the vibrator 21 mainly vibrates in the vertical direction in FIG. 2 with respect to the vibration transmission plate 2. Further, by setting the vibration frequency of the vibrator 21 to the resonance frequency of the vibrator 21, efficient vibration conversion is possible.

Description of Arithmetic Control Circuit (FIG. 4)> FIG. 4 shows the internal configuration of the arithmetic control circuit 11 in the embodiment, and each component and its operation outline will be described below.

In the figure, 41 is a microcomputer that controls the arithmetic control circuit 11 and the entire coordinate input device. 43 is a timer that measures a reference clock (not shown), and starts timing by receiving a signal from the start signal detection circuit 8 (a signal indicating that a light indicating the start of vibration of the input pen has been received). do.

In other words, this synchronizes the start of time measurement and the timing of vibration generation.

The circuits that constitute the lot number components will be explained in order.

Each vibration sensor 3a obtained via the signal waveform detection circuit 7
The detection signal of ~3c is sent via the detection signal input port 45,
It is input to latch circuits 44a to 44c. Latch circuit 4
4a to 44c correspond to vibration sensors 3a to 3c,
When each receives a detection signal from the corresponding vibration sensor via the input port 45, it latches the time value of the timer 43 at that time. When the determination circuit 46 determines that all detection signals have been received, it outputs a signal to that effect to the microcomputer 41.

When the microcomputer 41 receives this signal from the determination circuit 46, it reads the vibration arrival time from the latch circuits 44a to 44c to each vibration sensor, performs a predetermined calculation, and calculates the coordinates on the vibration transmission plate 2 by the input pen l. Calculate the position. Then, by outputting the calculated coordinate position information to the display drive circuit 6 via the I10 boat 47, a dot or the like is displayed at the corresponding position on the display, for example.

Explanation of vibration propagation time detection (Figures 5 and 6)
The principle of measuring the vibration arrival time to the vibration sensor will be explained.

FIG. 5 shows the detected waveform input to the signal waveform detection circuit 7,
FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a vibration transmission time measurement process based on this. Note that although the vibration sensor 3a will be explained below, the same applies to the other vibration sensors 3b and 3c.

The measurement of the vibration transmission time to the vibration sensor 3a is performed using the input pen 1.
It has already been explained that the process starts by receiving an optical signal from.

At this time, the illustrated vibration drive signal 51 is applied to the vibrator 21 from the drive circuit 25 in the input pen 1.

Vibration transmission plate 2 from vibration pen 1 driven by this signal
The ultrasonic vibration transmitted to the vibration sensor 3a travels for a time t according to the distance to the vibration sensor 3a, and then reaches the vibration sensor 3a.
Detected in

A signal indicated by 52 in the figure indicates a signal waveform detected by the vibration sensor 3a.

By the way, the plate wave used in the embodiment is a dispersive wave, and therefore, the relationship between the envelope 521 and the phase 522 of the detected waveform with respect to the propagation distance within the vibration transmission plate 8 is Changes depending on distance.

Here, let Vg be the advancing speed of the envelope 521, that is, the group velocity, and Vp be the phase velocity of the phase 522. The distance between the input pen 3 and the vibration sensor 3a can be detected from the difference in group velocity Vg and phase velocity Vp.

First, focusing only on the envelope 521, its speed is Vg, and when a point on a certain waveform, for example a peak, is detected as in the signal shown by 53 in the figure, the distance between the input pen 1 and the vibration sensor 3a is d is the vibration transmission time tg, and d=Vg −tg...
(2) Although this equation relates to one of the vibration sensors 3a, the distances between the other two vibration sensors 3b and 3c and the vibration pen 3 can also be expressed using the same principle.

Furthermore, in order to determine coordinate values with higher precision, processing based on phase signal detection is performed.

If the time from a specific detection point of the phase waveform signal 422, for example, vibration application to the zero crossing point after passing the peak, is tp, then the distance between the vibration sensor and the vibration pen is d=n・λp.Vp−tp −・
It becomes a fist■. Here, λp is the wavelength of the elastic wave, and n is an integer.

From the above equations ■ and 0, the above integer n is n=[(■g-tg-vp-tp)/λp+17N]
It is expressed as ate■.

Here, N is a real number other than 0, and an appropriate value is used.

For example, if N=2, if it is within ±1/2 wavelength,
n can be determined. n calculated as above
By substituting 0 into equation 0, the distance between the input pen 1 and the vibration sensor 3a, and therefore the distance between the input pen 1 and the vibration sensor 3b,
3c can be accurately measured.

The signals 53 and 55 for measuring the two vibration transmission times tg and tp mentioned above are generated by the waveform detection circuit 9, which is configured as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 6, the output signal of the vibration sensor 3a is amplified to a predetermined level by a preamplifier circuit 61. In FIG. The amplified signal is input to the envelope detection circuit 62, and only the envelope of the detection signal is extracted. The timing of the peak of the extracted envelope is detected by the envelope peak detection circuit 63. The peak detection signal is formed into a signal Tg (signal 53), which is an envelope delay time detection signal of a predetermined waveform, by a Tg signal detection circuit 64 composed of a mono multivibrator or the like, and is input to the arithmetic control circuit 11.

Further, this signal Tg is applied to the monostable multivibrator 65.
The signal is supplied to a comparator Tp detection circuit 68 through a comparison level supply section 66 for comparison with the original signal delayed by the delay time adjustment circuit 57. The comparator Tp detection circuit 68 supplies the phase delay time signal Tp to the arithmetic control circuit 11.

Note that the circuit described above is for the vibration sensor 3a, and the same circuit is provided for the other vibration sensors 3b and 3c.

Therefore, if the number of sensors is generalized to h, then h detection signals for each of the envelope delay times Tgl to h and the phase delay time Tpl-h are input to the arithmetic control circuit 11.

Then, in the arithmetic control circuit 11, the above Tgl~h, Tp
The lNh signal is input from the input port 45, and the time value (count value) of the timer 43 is used as a trigger at each timing.
is taken into the latch circuits 44a to 44C. Since the timer 43 is started in synchronization with the driving of the input vent, data indicating the respective delay times of the envelope and phase of each of the vibration sensors 3a to 3c is latched in the latch circuits 44 to 44c. .

Explanation of Coordinate Position Calculation (FIG. 7)> Next, the principle of actually detecting the coordinate position on the vibration transmission plate 2 using the input bench 1 will be explained.

Now, the coordinates of the vibration sensor 3a on the vibration transmission plate 2 are S, (O
, O), that is, the origin, and the coordinate positions of the vibration sensors 3b and 3c are S, (X, 0), 5c (0, Y).

Then, let the coordinates of the input pen be P(x, y).

Based on the principle explained earlier, if the distances between the input vent 1 and each of the vibration sensors 3a to 3c are d and dc, respectively, the P(x, y) to be obtained is calculated from the following formula using the Pythagorean theorem. It becomes like this.

Here, "X" and "Y" are the horizontal and vertical distances of the vibration sensors 3b and 3c from the vibration sensor 3a.

In the manner described above, the position coordinates of the vibrating ben 3 can be detected in real time.

Description of another embodiment (Fig. 8) In the embodiment described above, when the power supply part 1a from the input vent 1 is exhausted, it is replaced with a charged power supply part inserted into the charging socket 19 of the main body of the device. However, it is not known to what extent the power supply unit pulled out from the charging socket 19 is charged.

Therefore, in the second embodiment, by displaying the elapsed charging time, it is possible to determine how much charging has been done.

The charging mechanism of the power supply section 1a in the second embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the power supply section 1a of the input pen 1 is not connected to the charging socket 19 from the main body of the device, the protrusion 74 located approximately at the center of the charging socket 19 is activated by a spring (not shown).
It is located at the position indicated by the dashed line. When the power supply section 1a is connected to the charging socket 19, the protrusion 74 is pressed down by the lower surface of the power supply section 1a, as shown in the figure.

At this time, by pressing the protrusion 74, the timer 70 is reset to measure the time, and power is also supplied to the display section 71, so that the measured value is displayed.

Therefore, by looking at the display section adjacent to the charging socket to which the power supply section is connected, the operator can clearly see at a glance which power supply section and how much, and furthermore, which power supply section to use.

In this case, since it is only necessary to know whether each power supply unit is usable or not, two types of LEDs (for example, red and blue) are provided instead of a mechanism like the display unit 71, and these According to this, the charging status may be notified by lighting the battery.
The above effects can be achieved at low cost.

As explained above, according to the embodiment, since the input vent main body and the operating power supply section of the main body are connected through respective connection terminals, it is very easy to replace the power supply section due to consumption of the power supply. It becomes possible.

Further, by providing a socket group capable of charging a plurality of power supply units each consisting of a rechargeable battery in the main body of the apparatus, a plurality of power supply units can be charged at the same time. In other words, by rotating and using the power supply unit connected to the input pen, it is possible to avoid a situation where the input pen becomes unusable due to being uncharged.

Furthermore, at this time, by providing means for notifying the charging time to each charging socket, it is possible to prevent an uncharged power supply section from being mistakenly connected to the input pen.

In the embodiment, the coordinate input method is described in which the position of the input pen is detected by measuring the transmission time of vibration generated from the input pen, but other coordinate input methods may be used. No, the point is that the cordless input pen for inputting coordinates may be of any type as long as it requires an operating power source.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to very easily replace the power supply of a cordless input pen.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of the coordinate input device in the embodiment, Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the input pen in the embodiment, and Fig. 3 is for explaining the state of charging of the power supply section of the input pen in the embodiment. , FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the arithmetic control circuit 11 in the embodiment, FIG. 5 is a timing chart for explaining distance detection from the input pen to the vibration sensor, and FIG. 6 is a signal waveform in the embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a part of the configuration of the detection circuit, FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining coordinate position calculation, and FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an overview of charging the power supply section of the input pen in another embodiment. be. In the figure, 1... input pen, 1a... power supply section of input pen, 2... vibration transmission plate, 3a to 3C... vibration sensor,
4...Anti-reflective material, 5...Display, 6...
Display drive circuit, 7... Signal waveform detection circuit, 8
...Start signal detection circuit, 9...Light receiving section, 11.
...Arithmetic control circuit, 19...Charging socket, 20...
・Horn part, 21... Vibrator, 22... Start signal generation circuit, 23... LED, 25... Drive circuit,
26... Rechargeable battery, 27... Plug, 28... Socket, 41... Microcomputer, 43... Timer, 44a to 44c... Latch circuit, 45... Detection signal input board, 46... Judgment circuit, 47... I
There are 10 boats. Patent applicant: Canon Co., Ltd. Figure 2 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 Figure 7 Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] A cordless coordinate input pen used in a coordinate input device is characterized by having a connection terminal for electrically connecting a pen body and a power supply section of the pen body, and for physically connecting each of them integrally. Coordinate input pen