JPH0449717Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Industrial Application Field The present invention relates to an input device suitably used as a coordinate input device for so-called personal computers and the like.

BACKGROUND ART An input device called a mouse or a track ball is used as a coordinate input device in a so-called personal computer. These coordinate input devices basically house a spherical rotating body that is rotatable in any direction in a housing, and determine the amount of rotation of this rotating body using, for example, an encoder. In the mouse, the rotating body faces downward from the bottom of the housing,
The rotating body is rotated by moving the housing on the floor, and in the case of a track ball, the rotating body is faced upward from the surface of the housing, and the rotating body is rotated by hand or the like. An operating body equipped with a so-called coordinate position determining switch for starting/stopping the rotation amount detection operation is integrally attached to the housing of these input devices. In operation, the detection operation is started by operating the coordinate position determination switch, the rotating body is rotated, and the amount of rotation is detected by an encoder.The amount of rotation read by this encoder is mutually It is divided into components in two orthogonal directions, and these divided components are input into the personal computer as input coordinate values in the vertical direction (Y direction) and horizontal direction (X direction) of, for example, a cathode ray tube (CRT).
If you operate the coordinate position determination switch during such an input operation to stop the detection operation,
Even if the rotating body is rotated, the amount of rotation is not detected. After a predetermined rotation operation of the rotating body in such a state, if the amount of rotation of the rotating body is to be read again, the coordinate position determination switch is operated again to set the detection operation start state. In this way, in coordinate input operation,
It constantly starts and stops detection operations and provides appropriate coordinate input to a computer, etc.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above-mentioned prior art, the operating body provided with the coordinate position determination switch is fixed, which causes inconvenience in input operations. In other words, when using a track ball, the operator uses both his left and right hands. In particular, with a track ball, the rotating body rotates in dot units, so you have to concentrate on one hand to operate the rotation, so you have to use the other hand to operate the coordinate position determination switch. It was desired that the device be set in a position that is easy to operate when the device is used.

The purpose of this invention is to solve the above technical problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide an input device that can angularly displace an operating switch for starting/stopping a detection operation to a desired position and improving the operability of input operations.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention includes a rotating body 2, and rotation amount detection means 3 for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotating body 2.
a, 3b, a storage body 4 that houses the rotating body 2 so as to be able to freely rotate in any direction, and also houses the rotation amount detection means 3a, 3b, and operation switches 5a, 5b for starting/stopping the rotation amount detection operation. and an operating body 6 provided with operating switches 5a and 5b.
In the input device 1, the operating body 6 is attached to the storage body 4 so as to be angularly displaceable, and the initial setting of the normal mode and the reverse mode of the input device 1 is performed by pressing the operating switches 5a and 5b. This input device is characterized in that it is provided with a determining means for determining whether the normal mode or the inverted mode is selected by performing the following steps.

Effect According to the present invention, the operation body 6 is provided with operation switches 5a and 5b for starting/stopping the rotation amount detection operation.
is attached to the storage body 4 so that it can be angularly displaced.
b can be located at a desired position. Therefore, depending on whether the operator is right-handed or left-handed, the operating switch 5a,
5b can be moved, improving the operability of input operations.

Moreover, with these operation switches 5a and 5b,
The input device 1 can be initialized in a normal mode and an inverted mode in accordance with the mutual angular displacement positions of the operating body 6 and the storage body 4, and input operations by rotation of the rotary body 2 can be easily performed. be able to do it.

The operation switches 5a and 5b are operated not only to start/stop the rotation amount detection operation but also to initialize the mode, thereby simplifying the configuration.

Embodiment FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an input device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken from the cutting plane line - in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view thereof. It is. The input device 1 includes a ball 2, which is a rotating body made of a material with a relatively large coefficient of friction, such as polyurethane, and can rotate freely on its own axis, and an encoder 3, which serves as a rotation amount detection means for detecting the amount of rotation of the ball 2.
The encoder housing 4 includes an encoder storage body 4 in which encoders a and 3b are housed, an operating body 6 in which so-called coordinate position determining switches 5a and 5b for starting and stopping detection operations are provided, and a lid body 7 that covers the top of the ball 2. storage body 4,
The operating body 6 and the lid body 7 are made of synthetic resin material. The operating body 6 is a coordinate position determining switch 5
The operating portion 8 includes an operating portion 8 provided with portions a and 5b, and a generally annular mounting portion 9 integrally formed with the operating portion 8. The coordinate position determining switch 5a is used to start the detection operation, and the coordinate position determination switch 5b is used to stop the detection operation. The mounting portion 9 is provided with an opening 10, and a connector 11 is provided that is inserted through the opening 10 and connected to the encoders 3a, 3b. A fitting hole 12 into which the storage body 4 fits is formed in the mounting portion 9 .

The storage body 4 includes an upper storage body 4a and a lower storage body 4b. The encoders 3a, 3b are stored in the upper storage body 4a, and the encoders 3a, 3b are stored in the upper storage body 4a.
3b are arranged with their axes orthogonal to each other. The rotation axis A1 of the encoder 3a is arranged perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the operating body 6. Also encoder 3
The rotational axis A2 of b is arranged to be orthogonal to the rotational axis A1. With the encoders 3a and 3b arranged in this manner, it is possible to detect the rotation amount component along the longitudinal direction and the rotation amount component in the direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction in the rotational movement of the ball 2 in any direction. . Here, the encoder 3a is for detecting the X coordinate, and the encoder 3b is for detecting the Y coordinate. With such a configuration,
Regarding the input device 1, the arrow B1 direction in FIG. 1 is Y.
A coordinate system is obtained in which the direction of the arrow B2 indicates the + direction of the Y coordinate, the direction of the arrow B3 indicates the + direction of the Y coordinate, and the direction of the arrow B4 indicates the - direction of the X coordinate.

The upper storage body 4a also has a spring 1 that presses the ball 2.
A pressing roller 14 is provided which presses with a spring force of 3. Press roller 14 is attached to attachment body 15 . One end of the pressure spring 13 contacts the radially outward side of this mounting body 15, and this pressure spring 13
The other end abuts against the bracket 16. Upper storage body 4
A is formed with a through hole 17 through which the ball 2 can be seen outward in the operating position when the ball 2 is displaced upward in the storage body 4, and a through hole 17 is formed in the lower storage body 4b so that the ball 2 can be seen downward in the storage body 4. A through hole 18 is formed which can face outward in the other operating position. The axis of the pressure roller 14 lies within a horizontal plane that substantially includes the center point of the ball 2.

When attaching the storage body 4 to the operating body 6, first the upper storage body 4a and the lower storage body 4b are fixed with bolts 19, and in this state, the storage body 4 is inserted into the fitting hole of the mounting part 9. 12, and thus the operating body 6 is mounted around the storage body 4 so as to be angularly displaceable.

When using input device 1 as a mouse,
The lid body 7 is attached to the upper storage body 4a. As a result, the ball 2 is displaced downward by the inner surface of the lid 7,
It is displaced to the other operating position shown by the solid line in FIG. In this state, a portion of the ball 2 protrudes downward from the through hole 18 of the lower storage body 4b, so that the surface of the ball 2 comes into contact with the floor (not shown). Therefore, by moving the operating body 6 along the floor surface, the ball 2 rotates and can be used as a mouse.

Further, when the input device 1 is used as a trackball, the lid 7 is removed from the upper storage body 4a.
As a result, the downward pressing force on the ball 2 is released, and the pressing roller 14 presses the lower spherical surface of the ball 2 via the spring 13, so that the ball 2 is displaced upward, and the imaginary line in FIG. It is held by the flange 17a defining the through hole 17 and the pressing roller 14 in one operating position shown by. Therefore ball 2
As shown in FIG. 4, the through hole 17 of the upper storage body 4a
A part of it protrudes upward. Therefore, the operator can use the ball 2 as a track ball by rotating the ball 2.

FIG. 5 is a simplified plan view of the input device 1. The operation of the input device 1 will be explained with reference to FIG. Normally, the operating body 6 of the input device 1 is the fifth
As shown by the solid line in the figure, it is located above when viewed from the operator. As a result, the horizontal direction of the input device 1 in FIG. 5 becomes the X coordinate, and the vertical direction in FIG. 5 becomes the Y coordinate. Therefore, the input device 1 can have a coordinate system corresponding to the XY coordinate plane of the CRT. Therefore, by rotating the ball 2, for example, in the right direction in FIG.
By rotating upward in FIG. 5, the + Y coordinate can be input. Further, by rotating the ball in an arbitrary direction, the amount of rotation is divided into two components in the X direction and the Y direction by the encoders 3a and 3b, and the coordinates are input.

For example, when used as a trackball, the operating body 6 is angularly displaced in any direction and at any angle around the storage body 4. This allows the coordinate position determining switches 5a, 5b of the operating body 6 to be positioned at desired positions. As a result, for example, in the case of a right-handed operator, the player operates the ball 2 with his right hand, which is his dominant hand, and the ball 2 shown in FIG. The operating body 6 is positioned at the position indicated by the virtual line l1. Furthermore, in the case of a left-handed operator, the operating body 6 is angularly displaced to the position indicated by the imaginary line l2. This allows the coordinate position determining switches 5a, 5b to be operated with the non-dominant hand. Further, the operating body 6 may be positioned at a position desired by the operator, such as the position indicated by the virtual line 13 or any other position. In this way, the operating body 6 can be angularly displaced to facilitate the operation of the coordinate position determining switches 5a, 5b, and the operability of coordinate input can be improved.

In particular, the operating body 6 should be drawn around the storage body 4 by a virtual line l3.
When the position is set as shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, which will be described later, the mode is initialized from the normal mode to the inversion mode in the same way as the state indicated by the solid line l6 in FIG. 6 and 2 in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 described later. Such a configuration is similar to the embodiments of FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 6 is a simplified plan view of an input device 1a according to another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is similar to the previous embodiment and corresponding parts are provided with the same reference numerals. It should be noted that in this embodiment, the operating body 6
can only be angularly displaced by a maximum of 180°. This is because if the operating body 6 is angularly displaced by 90 degrees or more, the lead wires for electrically connecting the encoders 3a, 3b and the operating body 6 may be crossed. In order to achieve this by using the
That is. In the normal mode, as shown in FIG. 6, the operating body 6 is operated to a desired position within the range of the position indicated by the imaginary line l4, which is 90° counterclockwise displaced from the normal position indicated by the solid line. body 6
can be angularly displaced.

On the other hand, in the reversal mode shown in FIG. 6, when the operating body 6 is placed in the lower position and used within the range of the position indicated by the imaginary line 15, which is 90 degrees angularly displaced counterclockwise from this position. , the + and - directions of the X and Y coordinates are reversed. Therefore, it is difficult to perform input operations in such a state.
Therefore, in order to convert to a normal coordinate system, it is necessary to invert + and - of the X and Y coordinates.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a determining circuit as a determining means for determining between the normal mode shown in FIG. 6 and the inverted mode shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the input device 1a. One contact p1 of the coordinate position determining switch 5a is grounded, and the other contact p2 is connected to an input terminal I1 of an arithmetic circuit 40 realized by a large-scale integrated circuit (LSI) or the like via a line l10. Similarly to the coordinate position determining switch 5a, the coordinate position determining switch 5b has its contact p3 grounded, and the other terminal p4 is connected to the input terminal I3 of the arithmetic circuit 40 via the line l11. A power supply voltage Vcc is applied to the connection point 41 on the line l10 via a resistor R1. Also line l
10 connection points 42 are connected to one input terminal of the NAND gate G. The other input terminal of this NAND gate G is the connection point 43 on line l11.
connected to. The output of the NAND gate G is connected to the decision port I2 of the arithmetic circuit 40. line l
The power supply voltage Vcc is applied to the connection point 44 on the terminal 11 via the resistor R2. Further, the arithmetic circuit 40 is given the amount of rotation of the ball 2 detected by the encoders 3a and 3b.

When using the input device 1a in the normal mode, neither of the coordinate position determining switches 5a and 5b is pressed. Therefore, the coordinate position determining switches 5a and 5b are in a cut-off state.
As a result, one input terminal and the other input terminal of the NAND gate G become high level, and the output of the NAND gate G becomes low level. When power is supplied to the input device 1a in this state, the arithmetic circuit 40 reads the contents of the determination port I2 and determines that it is at a low level.
Therefore, the normal mode is detected, initialization is performed to the normal mode, and subsequent arithmetic processing is performed in the normal mode.

When used in the inversion mode, one or both of the coordinate position determination switches 5a and 5b are pressed. As a result, the output of the NAND gate G becomes high level, and at the same time as power is supplied to the input device 1a, the arithmetic circuit 40 reads the contents of the judgment port I2, detects that the inversion mode is in the high level, and detects this. Therefore, the initial setting is made to the inversion mode.

When inputting coordinates, press the coordinate position determination switch 5.
Press a. As a result, the input terminal I1 of the arithmetic circuit 40 becomes low level, and the arithmetic circuit 40 indicates that the coordinate position determining switch 5a has been pressed.
It is judged as 0. As a result, the encoder 3a,
The arithmetic circuit 40 calculates the coordinate input from 3b and outputs the coordinate value to the CRT. To cancel the arithmetic processing during such an input operation, the coordinate position determination switch 5b is pressed. As a result, the input terminal I3 of the arithmetic circuit 40 becomes low level, and it is determined that the coordinate position determination switch 5b has been pressed. Therefore, even if there are subsequent inputs from the encoders 3a and 3b, the arithmetic circuit 40 does not perform arithmetic processing.
Output to CRT stops.

In this way, the coordinate position determining switches 5a, 5
While performing the operation b, rotate the ball 2 in the desired direction and input the coordinates.

In such a coordinate input device, in the normal mode, the calculation circuit 40 performs normal calculations based on the input signals from the encoders 3a and 3b, but in the inversion mode, the calculation circuit 40 performs normal calculations based on the input signals from the encoders 3a and 3b. The + and - values are inverted and calculated, and the result of this calculation is output to the CRT.

In this way, in the input device 1a, the settings of the normal mode and the inversion mode are set by the coordinate position determination switch 5.
Since this can be done by operating the buttons a and 5b, mode setting can be done without placing any burden on a personal computer or the like connected to the input device. Also, this basically means
Although the operating body 6 can only be angularly displaced by 90 degrees, by using such a function, it can be used over a 360 degree range.

In the above embodiments, the input devices 1 and 1a have both the functions of a mouse and a trackball, but the present invention can also be suitably implemented with an input device that is only a mouse or a trackball.

Effects As described above, according to the present invention, the operating body 6 can be angularly displaced to a desired position, and therefore the operating switches 5a and 5 for starting/stopping the detection operation can be angularly displaced to a desired position.
b can be positioned at a position desired by the operator. Therefore, it is easy to use and the operability of input operations is improved.

In particular, in the present invention, the operating body 6 is positioned relative to the storage body 4 as shown by the virtual line l3 in FIG.
When used with an angular displacement as shown by the solid line l6 in FIG. As a result, operability can be further improved, and the operation switches 5a and 5b can be used to start/stop the rotation amount detection operation and initialize the mode as described above. , the configuration can be simplified.

Further, according to the present invention, the initial setting of the normal mode and the reverse mode of the input device 1 is performed by the operation switch 5.
By performing the pressing operation of a and 5b, the determining means determines whether the mode is normal mode or the inverted mode, and the input value is converted into a coordinate system according to the mode determined by the determining means and output. Since only the operating body 6 can be angularly displaced from the predetermined position where the mode is initially set to the position desired by the operator with respect to the storage body 4, the direction of the coordinate axes can be confirmed at the same time as the initial setting of the mode, and the above-mentioned operation Regardless of the position of the body 6 relative to the storage body 4, constant operations can be performed at all times, making it possible to input easily and reliably. For example 90°
At this time, in order to initialize the normal mode and the reverse mode, the operating switches 5a, 5
By performing the pressing operation b, it becomes possible to use the operating body 6 over a substantially 360° range around the storage body 4, and moreover, the operating body 6
By setting the angular displacement range to 180°, crosstalk and disconnection of the connection wires between the rotation amount detection means 3a, 3b and the operating body 6 can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an input device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken from the cutting plane line - in FIG. The figure is a perspective view showing the input device 1 with the lid 7 removed, FIG. 5 is a simplified plan view of the input device 1 for explaining the operation of the input device 1, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing other input devices. FIG. 7 is a simplified plan view for explaining the operation of input device 1a, and FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of input device 1a. 1, 1a...input device, 2...ball, 3a,
3b...Encoder, 4...Storage body, 4a...Upper storage body, 4b...Lower storage body, 5a, 5b...Coordinate position determination switch, 6...Operation body, 7...Lid body,
8...Operation unit, 9...Mounting unit, 40...Arithmetic circuit, G...NAND gate, Vcc...Power supply voltage,
P1, P2, P3, P4... contacts.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] Rotating body 2 and rotation amount detection means 3 for detecting the amount of rotation of the rotating body 2
a, 3b, a storage body 4 that houses the rotating body 2 so as to be able to rotate freely in any direction, and also houses the rotation amount detection means 3a, 3b, and operation switches 5a, 5b for starting/stopping the rotation amount detection operation. and an operating body 6 provided with operating switches 5a and 5b.
In the input device 1, the operating body 6 is attached to the storage body 4 so as to be angularly displaceable, and the initial setting of the normal mode and the reverse mode of the input device 1 is performed by pressing the operating switches 5a and 5b. What is claimed is: 1. An input device characterized in that the input device is provided with a determining means for determining whether the normal mode or the inverted mode is selected by performing the following steps.