JPH052243U - Trackball device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] A trackball device has good operability, and even a beginner can easily perform cursor movement and input operation with one hand while looking at the screen. [Structure] A ball 11, first to third support members 12 to 14 that rotatably support the ball 11, and a ball 1
First and second rotation detectors 23 for detecting the rotation direction
24 and a pressing detection switch 27 for detecting that the ball 11 is pressed.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 This invention relates to a trackball device.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 There are a mouse and a trackball device that move the cursor displayed on the display by rotating the ball. The mouse requires a large space for operation in order to rotate the ball by moving it on the table, but the trackball device does not require a large space for operation in order to rotate the ball directly by hand. Recently, it has been widely used in video game consoles. An example of such a trackball device is shown in FIG. In this trackball device, the ball 2 is rotatably disposed in the main body case 1 with a part of the ball (spherical body) 2 protruding upward from the main body case 1, and the ball 2 is rotatably mounted in the main body case 1. A click button 3 for indicating an input is provided, and is connected to a device body of a video game machine (not shown) by a cord 4. In this trackball device, the cursor can be moved in the same direction as the rotation direction of the ball 2 by manually rotating a part of the ball 2 protruding above the body case 1, and the click button 3 You can give input instructions by operating.

[0003]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the above-described trackball device, when the ball 2 is operated with one hand, the hand is separated from the click button 3 when the ball 2 is rotated or stopped, so that the ball 2 is clicked after being operated. When operating the button 3, it is necessary to move the hand from the ball 2 to the click button 3, which causes a problem of poor operability. Especially for beginners who are not used to the trackball device, when operating the click button 3 after operating the ball 2 and moving the cursor, take a look at the click button 3 from the screen of the display. However, since the position of the click button 3 cannot be confirmed, there is a problem that it is difficult to perform cursor movement and input operation while always visually observing the screen of the display. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a trackball device which has good operability and allows even a beginner to easily move the cursor and input with one hand while looking at the screen. Especially.

[0004]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a spherical body, a support means for supporting the spherical body in a rotating manner, a rotation detecting means for detecting a rotating direction of the spherical body, and a spherical body. And a pressure detecting means for detecting that the pressure is applied.

[0005]

[Action]

 According to this invention, when the spherical body is rotated, the rotation direction can be detected by the rotation detecting means, and the cursor displayed on the display can be moved in the same rotation direction as the spherical body. When the body is pressed, the pressing detection means can detect that the spherical body has been pressed and can perform an input operation. For this reason, even if an innocent person is looking at the screen, the cursor can be moved and input operation can be performed with one hand only by rotating the spherical body and then pressing the spherical body without releasing the hand from the spherical body.

[0006]

【Example】

 An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In these figures, 10 is a main body case. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, first to third support members 12 to 14 for rotatably supporting a ball (spherical body) 11 at three points are arranged in the main body case 10. The first and second support members 12 and 13 are rotatably attached to the columns 17 and 18, respectively, at both ends of the first and second rotating shafts 15 and 16, respectively, and are in the same horizontal plane as shown in FIG. In, the rotary shafts 15 and 16 are arranged orthogonal to each other, and one ends of the rotary shafts 15 and 16 are arranged close to each other. That is, the first rotary shaft 15 is arranged in the vertical direction (X-axis direction), the second rotary shaft 16 is arranged in the horizontal direction (Y-axis direction), and the right end of the first rotary shaft 15 and the second rotary shaft 15 are arranged. The lower end of the rotary shaft 16 is arranged close to each other. As shown in FIG. 3, the third support member 14 has a structure in which the roller 19 is rotatably supported by a support frame 20, and the support frame 20 is rotatably attached to a support column 21 by a shaft 22. As shown in FIG. 2, it is arranged on the upper left side facing the first and second support members 12 and 13. The surfaces of the first and second rotating shafts 15 and 16 and the roller 19 are covered with a material such as rubber having a large friction coefficient. The ball 11 is a sphere having a predetermined weight and is rotatably supported at three points by the first and second rotating shafts 15 and 16 and the roller 19, and the lower portion thereof contacts the bottom portion of the main body case 10. Instead, the upper portion is provided so as to project upward from the opening 10a of the main body case 10 as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, the first and second support members 12 and 13 are provided with first and second rotation detectors 23 and 24 for detecting the rotation direction of the ball 11. The first rotation detector 23 is provided on the first support member 12 to detect the rotation of the ball 11 in the vertical direction (Y-axis direction), and the first rotation shaft 15 has a slit plate 25. Is provided and an optical reading device 26 is disposed below the slit plate 25, and the reading device 26 has a structure for detecting the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the slit plate 25. In this case, the slit plate 25 has a structure in which a large number of slits are radially formed at regular intervals on the peripheral edge of the disk. The reading device 26 is arranged in a notch groove provided in the upper part without contacting the lower peripheral edge of the slit plate 25, and the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged so as to face each other across the slit plate 25. Has become. The second rotation detector 24 is provided on the second support member 13 to detect the rotation of the ball 11 in the lateral direction (X-axis direction), and the slit plate 25 is used as the second rotation detector 24. The structure is the same as that of the first rotation detector 23 except that it is provided on the rotary shaft 16.

As shown in FIG. 3, a pressure detection switch 27 that detects that the ball 11 is pressed is provided near the third support member 14. The pressing detection switch 27 has an operating piece 28 projecting toward the support frame 20, and its tip is in contact with the support frame 20. Further, the operating piece 28 is biased to the outer periphery of the operating piece 28 in a direction in which the support frame 20 is erected about the shaft 22 (clockwise in FIG. 3) so that the roller 19 pushes up the ball 11. A supporting coil spring 29 is provided. The body case 10 is provided with a cord 30 for connecting to a video game machine (not shown) or the like.

Next, the method of use and operation of the trackball device configured as described above will be described. This trackball device is connected via a cord 30 to a video game machine (not shown). The user places his / her hand on the ball 11 while looking at the screen of the display, and rotates the ball 11 back and forth and left and right. Then, as the ball 11 rotates, the rotary shafts 15 and 16 of the first and second support members 12 and 13 rotate, so that the ball 11 rotates in the first and second rotation detectors 23 and 24. Is decomposed into two directions, the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and detected. That is, in the first and second rotation detectors 23 and 24, each slit plate 25 is rotated by the rotation of the rotary shafts 15 and 16 which are rotated in accordance with the rotation operation of the ball 11, and each slit plate 25 is rotated. The reading device 26 reads the rotation direction and the rotation amount of the, and sends the read data to the video game machine. As a result, the cursor displayed on the display moves in a predetermined direction by a predetermined distance according to the rotating direction and the rotating speed of the ball 11, and the cursor can be guided to a target position.

In this way, when the input operation is performed after guiding the cursor to the target position, the ball 11 is strongly pressed downward. Then, the support frame 20 is rotated counterclockwise as shown in FIG. 3 through the roller 19 against the coil spring 29, the operating piece 28 is pushed, and the push detection switch 27 is turned on. As a result, the ON signal of the press detection switch 27 is given to the video game machine, and a predetermined function is executed according to a predetermined program. If the pressing force applied to the ball 11 is loosened, the elastic force of the coil spring 29 causes the support frame 20 to rotate in the clockwise direction shown in FIG. 3 and the roller 19 to push the ball 11 back to its original position. .

As described above, in the trackball device described above, the cursor can be appropriately moved by rotating the ball 11, and the input operation can be performed by pressing the ball 11. It is possible to perform both cursor movement and input operation simply by operating the ball 11. Therefore, even a beginner who is new to the trackball device can move the cursor and perform input operations without taking an eye off the screen of the display.

[0012]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, by rotating the spherical body, the rotation detecting means detects the rotation direction to move the cursor of the display and by pressing the spherical body. Since the pressing detection means detects that the spherical body has been pressed and performs the input operation, the cursor can be moved and the input operation can be performed without releasing the hand from the spherical body. It can be operated with one hand.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a trackball device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of a trackball device.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a main part of the trackball device.

FIG. 4 is an external perspective view of a conventional trackball device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Ball 12 First Support Member 13 Second Support Member 14 Third Support Member 23 First Rotation Detector 24 Second Rotation Detector 27 Press Detection Switch

Claims (1)

Claims for utility model registration: 1. A spherical body, supporting means for rotatably supporting the spherical body, rotation detecting means for detecting a rotating direction of the spherical body, and the spherical body. A trackball device, comprising: a pressing detection unit that detects that the is pressed.