JPH0337065Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of application of the invention] This invention moves the case on the base of the stand, rotates the sphere protruding from the bottom of the case, and calculates the amount of rotation of this sphere for each X-Y coordinate. The present invention relates to an X-Y direction input device which is taken out and inputted with coordinate values.

[Background of the idea]

The above-mentioned spherical rotation type X-Y direction input device is
It is known as a so-called "mouse". Because of its ease of operation, this input device can be used, for example, to move the cursor displayed on a CRT such as an office computer, to specify the start point, bending point, and end point when drawing or plotting, or to make selections on the CRT. It is sometimes used to specify items, and by using it in conjunction with a keyboard input device, it becomes possible to input various input items quickly and easily.

In this X-Y direction input device, when an operator moves the case along a base such as a horizontal table or a special seat, a sphere that partially protrudes from an opening in the bottom of the case rolls on the base. Usually, the bottom of the case has various features to improve sliding with the base.

For example, the case may be molded from a synthetic resin material with good lubricity and have multiple (usually three) small protrusions on the bottom surface of the case, or multiple (usually three) small diameter protrusions on the bottom surface of the case. A specific example is a structure in which a bearing is provided and a portion of the bearing protrudes from the bottom surface of the case. however,
In the former case, the force from the operator is usually supported by three small projections, so if this force acts unevenly on each small projection, some of the projections will wear out faster than others. As a result, the case slides on the base in an inclined state, and phenomena such as slipping of the sphere, which are undesirable for detecting the amount of movement, occur. Also,
In the latter case, since bearings are used, it is superior in terms of wear resistance, but on the other hand, it requires multiple bearings and bearing receivers to support them, which increases manufacturing costs. be.

[Purpose of invention]

The purpose of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art,
The X-
An object of the present invention is to provide a Y direction input device.

[Summary of the idea]

In order to achieve this purpose, the present invention has a structure in which approximately the bottom of the case, excluding the opening where the sphere is exposed, is
The present invention is characterized in that a sliding member substantially forming one plane is provided.

[Example of idea]

Figures 1 to 5 relate to embodiments of the present invention;
The spherical rotating type X-Y direction input device of the present application, generally indicated by number 1 in the figure, is connected to a personal computer device body 2 equipped with, for example, a CRT display 3, a floppy disk drive 4, etc. The cursor 5 above 3 can be moved to any position. In FIG. 1, 6 is a keyboard input device, and 7 is a dedicated seat (base) for the spherical rotation type X-Y direction input device 1.

Although the interior of the X-Y direction input device 1 is omitted in FIG. 2, a sphere 10 is rotatably held inside a case consisting of an upper case 8 and a lower case 9. , the sphere 10 is the lower case 9
A portion of the lid protrudes outward from the case through an opening 9a formed in the removable lid. Inside the case, although not shown, a support mechanism for the sphere 10, rotation amount detection means, a printed circuit board, etc. are built-in, and as shown in FIG. 3, the sphere 10 has two driven rollers 11, 12 and support roller 13 to be supported at three points. The driven rollers 11 and 12 are arranged so that their axial directions are perpendicular to each other, and have variable resistors 14 and 15, respectively.
It is connected to rotation amount detection means such as. That is, by moving the case on the sheet 7 and rotating the sphere 10, the sliders of the variable resistors 14 and 15 are rotated via the driven rollers 11 and 12, and the X-Y The coordinate values of the direction are taken out. In addition, in Fig. 2, 16 is a push button that operates a switch inside the case, 17 is a cable,
18 is bushing.

As shown in FIG. 4, the sphere 10 has a metal ball 19 such as a steel ball inside, and an outer covering 21 made of rubber is attached to the outer surface of the metal ball 19 via an adhesive layer 20. Formed and fixed by molding. Therefore, the outer periphery of the metal ball 19 and the outer cover 21 can be easily smoothed by polishing. Further, if the molded rubber surface is left as it is, dust may stick to it, but by selecting a grindstone, an appropriate surface roughness can be obtained. By this polishing, the parting line during molding is removed from the outer cover 21, and the outer cover 21 is made into a spherical body without any protrusions.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, the opening 9
A concave groove 9b is formed in most of the bottom surface of the lower case 9 except for the area around a. A sliding member 22 is stuck inside this groove 9b. This sliding member 22
is made up of a bonded body of a cushion member 23 such as a sponge and a slippery sheet 24 having excellent slipperiness such as Teflon (trade name), and these 23 and 24 are integrated by appropriate means such as adhesion or heat fusion. 2nd
As shown in the figure, the slippery sheet 24 is made to protrude slightly below the bottom surface of the lower case 9.

When the input device 1 is held in a hand on the seat (base) 7 and moved in an arbitrary direction, the sphere 10 rolls on the seat 7 due to the frictional force with the seat 7 caused by its own weight. The rotation of the sphere 10 is transmitted to two driven rollers 11 and 12, respectively, and the rotation angles of both driven rollers 11 and 12 are detected by attached variable resistors 14 and 15, respectively. The detection signal is sent to the display of the main body 2 via the cable 17.
Input to controller and CRT by signal processing
A cursor 5 on the display 3 is moved in a desired direction. At this time, the bottom surface of the lower case 9 does not come into direct contact with the sheet 7, and the sliding member 22 affixed to almost the entire bottom surface of the lower case 9 slides on the sheet 7 while making surface contact.

In this embodiment, since a slippery sheet 24 made of Teflon or the like with excellent slipperiness slides on the sheet 7, stable running of the input device can be obtained, and the slippery sheet 24 is elastic. Excellent cushion member 2
Since it is attached to the bottom of the case 9 via 3,
It is possible to suppress the generation of noise while driving. In addition, since the sphere 10 covered with rubber is used,
All of the input devices 10 come into contact with the sheet 7 through elastic materials, so that the above-mentioned sound deadening effect is further improved.

Note that the position of the sliding member 22 on the bottom surface of the lower case 9 is not limited to the above embodiment; for example, a screw facing the bottom surface of the lower case 9 (see FIG. 5) may also be covered with the sliding member 22. Alternatively, the sliding member 22 may be divided and a space for a label may be provided between them.The bottom surface of the sliding member 22 may form one relatively wide plane with no difference. Good.

[Effect of idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the input device travels using the slippery sheet attached to almost the entire bottom surface of the case via the cushion member as the sliding surface on the base. There is little risk that the input device will wear out unevenly, and the input device can run in a stable state for a long period of time.Furthermore, since it uses a rubber-coated sphere, the input device is connected to the seat through an elastic material. This makes it possible to suppress the generation of noise during driving, and furthermore, it is possible to significantly reduce manufacturing costs compared to conventional input devices that use bearings as sliding members, and this eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional technology described above. Excellent except for
- A Y-direction input device can be provided.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

All figures relate to embodiments of the present invention, and Figure 1 is X-
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing how the Y-direction input device is used; FIG. 2 is a sectional view schematically showing the X-Y direction input device; FIG.
The figures are explanatory diagrams showing the relationship between the sphere and the driven roller, FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the sphere, and FIG. 5 is a bottom view of the lower case. 1...X-Y direction input device, 7... Seat (base), 8... Upper case, 9... Lower case, 9a
... Opening, 9b ... Concave groove, 10 ... Sphere, 11,
12...Followed roller, 13...Support roller, 1
4, 15...variable resistor (detection means), 19...
Metal ball, 20...adhesive layer, 21...outer cover, 22...
...Sliding member, 23...Cushion member, 24...
Smooth sheet.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] A case having an opening in the bottom, a sphere rotatably held within the case and having a portion protruding from the opening, and the sphere rotated by the rotational force of the sphere and rotated by the rotational force of the sphere, and their axes rotated by the rotational force of the sphere. The X-axis is equipped with two driven rollers arranged with their directions perpendicular to each other, and detection means capable of detecting the amount of rotation of the two driven rollers, and in which the sphere protruding from the aperture rolls on the base. In the Y-direction input device, a slippery sheet with excellent slipperiness is adhered to a substantial portion of the bottom surface of the case excluding the opening via a cushion member with excellent elasticity, and the surface of the sphere is covered with rubber. An X-Y direction input device characterized by: