JPH0366690B2 - - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a cursor movement control device that provides a cursor movement instruction in an intuitive manner to a character display device or a graphic display device connected to an electronic computer.

Prior Art and Problems In recent years, with the spread of office automation, opportunities for people who are not computer experts to easily use computers have increased, and this trend is expected to become even stronger. In doing so, from an ergonomic standpoint, it is important to develop a man-machine interface that is easy and intuitive for anyone to understand. Although office tasks are diverse, they often involve a combination of routine processing, and for this reason the menu selection method is becoming very popular today. As shown in Figure 1, a typical example of what has already been done is a menu selection method using figures called icons. By moving cursor 3 and instructing,
Give the necessary instructions to the computer. In the illustrated example, the cursor 3 is placed over the menu 1a to instruct "Print processing of data to printer". Similarly, menu 1b is used to instruct "communication", and menu 1c is used to instruct "file", that is, data storage. Data and the like to be processed are displayed in the empty area of the screen 1. This menu method has the advantage that there is no need to operate the keyboard to input commands. For example, in the case of "Print", the command PRINT... must be entered one character at a time using the keyboard, but in the menu method, move the cursor to the displayed PRINT... or the shape that represents it and press the execution key. Just that is enough.

Conventionally, typical methods for moving the cursor 3 on the display screen 2 include using cursor movement keys on a keyboard, using a light pen, and, more recently, using a device called a mouse, which has been attracting attention. be. FIG. 2 is an example of cursor movement keys. In this case, the user can press any of the four cursor movement keys 4a to 4d provided on the keyboard to
The cursor 3 on the display screen 2 can be moved in the direction of the arrow of the key (up, down, left, right). However, with this method, the top, bottom, left,
It has drawbacks such as being able to specify the direction of movement only in the four right directions, and requiring the user to be within reach of the keyboard.

The method using a light pen allows you to directly specify the destination of the cursor on the display screen by simply touching it with the light pen, and is the most intuitive specification method. , the disadvantage is that the user must be very close to the screen.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a remote control type cursor movement control device called a mouse. This mouse 5 is connected to a computer with an extension cable 6 and handled by the user's hands. In other words, when the user rotates the roller 7 on the bottom by sliding the mouse 5 on a flat surface such as a desk, the rotation direction of the roller is detected by the internal mechanism of the mouse 5, and the screen 2 A command is generated to move the upper cursor 3 in that direction. Furthermore, by pressing two push buttons 8a and 8b provided on the top surface of the mouse, various functions such as interrupts can be requested from the computer or display device. Each command detected by the mouse is transmitted to the display body through the extension cord 6. By making this extension cord long, the user can give various commands even when he is away from the display body. Since the direction of cursor movement is specified by the direction of movement relative to the orientation of the mouse 5, the user has the advantage of being able to give instructions for cursor movement even if he or she is not necessarily directly facing the display screen. However, on the other hand, it has the disadvantage that it requires a plane of appropriate size on which to slide the mouse. Even if you want to move the mouse around your desk, it is difficult to do so if the desk is covered with documents. Another problem is that the surface is smooth and slippery.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention further improves the above-described mouse so that a cursor movement instruction can be performed using only the thumb of one hand.

Structure of the Invention The present invention provides a cursor movement control device that is connected to a display device having a cursor movement function by an extension cord, in which the control device is configured to a size that can be held with one hand, and the wall surface of the control device A cursor movement direction instruction switch that can be slid in all directions without rotational movement in a plane along the It is provided with a mechanism for detecting and generating a cursor movement direction instruction signal, and when the control device is grasped with one hand, the movement direction instruction switch is arranged in a position where it can be operated with the thumb, and the function instruction switch is arranged in a position where it can be operated with the thumb. The cursor on the display device can be moved in any direction by operating the movement direction indicating switch with the finger. This will be explained in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiments.

Embodiment of the Invention FIG. 4 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which a is an external perspective view and b and c are configuration diagrams of main parts. The cursor movement control device 10 of this example has a cylindrical appearance (for example, a rectangular prism shape with rounded corners) that is easy to hold with one hand, and is connected to a display main body with an extension cord 11.
The user holds the device as shown in FIG. 5, presses the cursor movement direction designation switch 12 with the thumb of one hand, and moves it in a desired direction to instruct the cursor movement direction. The switches 13 to 16 are operated with the index finger, middle finger, ring finger, and little finger, respectively, and by pressing them, various functions are requested from the computer or the display main body. Fifth
As shown in the figure, this device can be gripped and held using the palm and the bases of the five fingers, excluding the fingertips, so the five fingers can move independently.

The cursor movement direction switch 12 is the device 10.
A portion thereof protrudes from a hole provided in the wall surface 10a, and is movable in all directions within a plane along the inner bottom surface 10b of the wall surface. That is, as shown in FIGS. 4b and 4c, the switch 12 has a hemispherical shape, for example, and is attached to a support plate 12a, and this support plate is supported by four springs 17a to 17.
d, it is elastically held at the center position of the movable range. 18 ₁ , 18 ₂ , 18 ₃ , ... are the inner bottom surface 10
The contacts arranged around the switch 12 at the home position are connected to the signal processing section by lead wires (not shown). On the bottom surface of the support plate 12a, there are mating contacts 12b of the contacts 18 ₁ , 18 ₂ ,...
12c,... are arranged in a ring shape, and the switch 12
By moving the contacts against the elasticity of the springs 17a, 17b, . . . , any one or more contact pairs 18 ₁ and 12b, 12c and 18n, . . . come into contact.
If there is only one contact point, then in that direction, and two
If there are more than one, instruct the cursor to move toward the center of them, and so on. This is each contact 1
This is performed by a signal processing circuit (not shown) to which 8 ₁ , 18 ₂ , . . . are connected. The contacts 18 ₁ , 18 ₂ , ... are individually insulated, and the contacts 12b, 12c, ... are commonly connected to the ground, and when they come into contact, the contacts 18 ₁ , .
Applying a ground potential to one or more of 18 ₂ ,...,
This becomes a cursor movement direction instruction signal. The amount of cursor movement in a designated direction is given by the time the switch 12 is operated in that direction. That is, the switch state is read with a clock of an appropriate period, and the cursor is stepped by a unit length in the designated direction each time. The device 10 incorporates such a mechanism or circuit to generate a cursor movement instruction signal.

With the device configuration described above, the user can perform remote control from a distance from the display, and can give instructions to move the cursor in any direction without having to be directly facing the display screen. I can do it. Best of all, it can be held in one hand, so it has the advantage of not requiring a flat surface like a desk top, unlike a mouse.

FIG. 6 shows the internal configuration of this device 10. A cursor movement direction instruction from the switch 12 specified by the thumb is detected by the shift direction detection section 10A, and a movement command is transmitted from the transmission section 10B. This command is transmitted to the display main body 20 through the code 11, and actual cursor movement is realized. Also,
Various switches 13 to be instructed with four fingers other than the thumb
The functions from 16 onwards are the function switch press detection section 10C.
The execution command is detected by the function execution command transmission unit 10D. This command is displayed on display device 2.
0 or to the computer main body 30 via there, and is realized there. The functions defined for the switches 13 to 16 may include space input, shift, etc., which are frequently used.

The cursor movement control device of this example is always held and used with one hand (for example, the right hand). For this reason, it is desirable to be able to perform all keyboard operations such as character string input using only the left hand. The reason for this is that if you operate everything with one hand, as with the light pen, you would have to leave the home position of the keyboard to operate other devices and immediately return to the home position, which is difficult. Therefore, ideally, the hand that operates the keyboard should not operate other devices. Therefore, when using this device, it is convenient to use a one-handed keyboard as shown in FIG. In other words, the English alphabet and some commonly used special symbols are arranged so that they can only be entered with the left hand. Numbers are realized by shifting, and various shifts are realized by pressing each of the function switches 13 to 16 on the right hand. In Figure 7, the alphabetical characters are arranged in alphabetical order, but in actual equipment, frequently used characters are placed in the home position (indicated by the circle in the diagram) or in positions where they are easy to type, depending on the frequency of use of each character. It will be placed in Inputting character strings will be slower than conventional two-handed input, but if menu-style input develops, it is thought that a considerable number of tasks will be able to be handled with the right hand by moving the cursor and using function keys. Even if the speed becomes slower, it is not considered to be a practical problem. Note that 40 in FIG. 7 indicates each key constituting the keyboard, and each key is arranged at a position where it can be easily pressed with the five fingers of the left hand.

Effects of the Invention As described above, according to the present invention, the user can give instructions to move the cursor from a distance from the display main body without necessarily facing the screen. Also, unlike a mouse, it does not require a flat surface of a suitable size. Furthermore, since only the thumb can instruct the movement of the cursor, other switch operations can be performed using the remaining four fingers.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display device, FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing different examples of conventional cursor movement instruction means, and FIGS.
The figures are an external view and a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing its usage mode, and FIG.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a keyboard that is effective when used in conjunction with the device of the present invention. In the figure, 10 is a cursor movement control device, 10A is a displacement direction detecting section, 10B is a cursor movement command transmitting section, 11 is an extension cable, 12 is a cursor movement direction instruction switch, and 20 is a display device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A cursor movement control device that is connected to a display device having a cursor movement function using an extension cord, the control device being configured to a size that can be held with one hand,
A cursor movement direction indicating switch that can be slidably moved in all directions within a plane along the wall surface of the control device without rotational movement, and a plurality of switches for instructing various functions are installed, and the cursor movement direction A mechanism is provided for detecting the moving direction of the indicating switch and generating a cursor moving direction indicating signal, and when the control device is grasped with one hand, the moving direction indicating switch is located at a position where it can be operated with the thumb, and the function The instruction switch is arranged at a position where it can be operated with a finger other than the thumb, and the cursor on the display device can be moved in any direction by operating the movement direction instruction switch with the finger. A cursor movement control device characterized by: