JPH0552932U - Optical coordinate reader - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] Transparent conductive film switch 1 in position designation area 15
Provided is an optical coordinate reading device which is equipped with 4 and has high coordinate resolution and excellent operability. A light source 10, 11 and a light receiving portion 12, 13 which are opposed to each other via a position designation area 15 in a predetermined coordinate direction are arranged, and the light source 10, 11 and the light receiving portion 12, 13 are arranged.
An optical coordinate reading device in which a transparent conductive film switch 14 is provided in a position designation region 15 in the optical coordinate reading device in which the optical matrix 1 is formed by the above.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial application]

 The present invention relates to an optical coordinate reading device, and more particularly, to an optical coordinate reading device used in a system that needs to specify coordinates with high resolution. For example, the optical coordinate reader according to the present invention can be used for a display unit and an operation unit in a human interface in a navigation system, an interactive AV system, and the like.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In recent years, the amount of information displayed on the optical coordinate reader has increased, and it has become necessary to detect the coordinates designated by the operator in the position designation area (on the display surface) with high accuracy. As a technique for detecting coordinates with high accuracy, there is a technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-157602.

The technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-157602 relates to an optical coordinate detection device for detecting the coordinates of a position designated in a position designation area by an optical matrix, and the optical matrix is detected by a light receiving section which is formed with a light source. The average coordinates of the distribution are calculated by a statistical method on the basis of the distribution of the quantity of light, and the accuracy of the detected coordinates is improved by estimating the coordinates of the designated position. In other words, the above-described detection device realizes and processes the statistical method with an electric circuit, and thus the detection accuracy is conventionally limited and determined by mechanical factors such as the arrangement interval of the light receiving elements forming the light receiving section. It is intended to significantly improve the level of. In fact, in the above detection device, the above-mentioned light receiving elements can be arranged at intervals of 3 mm to 5 mm, and the coordinates can be detected with extremely high resolution.

[0004]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Certainly, if the above-mentioned detection device is used, the coordinates can be detected with high resolution. However, the above detection device only accurately detects the coordinates specified by the operator (that is, the position of the finger inserted by the operator into the optical matrix), and the coordinates and the position desired by the operator. It does not mean that there is a means to indicate whether and match. Therefore, if the specified coordinates are only detected accurately, the density of the information displayed in the position specification area will increase the possibility that the operator will erroneously specify the coordinates. When triggered, for example, if the system is such that the coordinate is detected and triggered at the same time, there is a high possibility that processing will be performed with incorrect data.

Further, even if the position can be directly specified in the position specifying area (on the display screen), if the trigger switch is arranged in a place different from the position specifying area, as described above, the wrong position is detected. There is a risk of triggering with the target information as it is. Especially, in the optical coordinate reading device mounted on the vehicle, if the position designation operation and the operation of the trigger switch are discontinuously separated, Difficulty becomes noticeable. Therefore, in order to prevent the erroneous operation and improve the operability of coordinate designation, the coordinate information should not be output until the trigger switch is operated, and the trigger can be applied while confirming the designated position. It is necessary that the trigger switch and the position specification area (display screen) are integrated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an optical coordinate reading device that includes a touch type trigger switch in a position designation area (on a display screen) and has a high coordinate resolution and excellent operability. It is intended to be provided.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In order to achieve the above object, an optical coordinate reading apparatus according to the present invention is provided with a light source and a light receiving section which face each other through a position designation area in a predetermined target direction, and an optical matrix is formed by the light source and the light receiving section. In the formed optical coordinate reading device, a transparent conductive film switch is arranged in the position designation area.

[0008]

[Action]

 According to the above configuration, in the optical coordinate reading device in which the light source and the light receiving section which face each other in the predetermined coordinate direction via the position designation area are arranged, and the light source and the light receiving section form an optical matrix, Since the transparent conductive film switch is provided in the position designation area, the transparent conductive film switch works as a touch-type trigger switch, and the trigger is activated by confirming the position to be designated in the position designation area. Be done. In the above-mentioned optical coordinate reading device, when a finger is inserted to a position that interrupts a parallel light beam emitted from the light source in the optical matrix to specify a position, the cursor indicating the coordinates of the finger is moved to the position. It is displayed in the designated area. The operator finely adjusts the movement of the finger so that the cursor indicates a desired position. When the cursor is moved to a desired position by the fine adjustment, the finger is further inserted and the transparent conductive film switch provided in the position designation area is pressed to trigger. When the trigger signal is detected, the coordinate information is output from the microcomputer provided in the optical coordinate reading device, and the content indicated by the designated coordinate is executed.

[0009]

【Example】

 An embodiment of an optical coordinate reading device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1A and 1B are schematic views showing an embodiment of an optical matrix of an optical coordinate reading device according to the present invention. FIG. 1A is a plan view and FIG. 1B is a side view.

In FIG. 1, 10 and 11 are normal light sources composed of light emitting elements such as light emitting diodes, and 12 and 13 are light receiving portions composed of light receiving elements 12a and 13a such as phototransistors. .. The light receiving portions 12 and 13 are configured by arranging light receiving elements 12a and 13a at predetermined intervals in a predetermined coordinate direction. Reference numeral 15 indicates a position designation area, and the transparent conductive film switch 14 is arranged in the position designation area 15. Note that X and Y shown in the figure indicate the directions of the coordinate axes. The parallel light source 10 and the light receiving portion 12 are arranged in the X-axis direction via the position designation area 15, and the parallel light source 11 and the light receiving portion 13 are arranged in the Y-axis direction so as to face each other to form the light matrix 1. Further, the light matrix 1 is three-dimensionally configured and has a structure having a certain depth as shown in (b).

FIG. 2 schematically shows a circuit configuration of the optical coordinate reading device according to the embodiment. Reference numeral 21 denotes a selection switch circuit, which is composed of a semiconductor switch circuit or the like. The output line 30 of each light receiving element (phototransistor) 12 a that constitutes the light receiving unit 12 is connected to the selection switch circuit 21. The output line 31 of the selection switch circuit 21 is connected to the A / D converter 23, and an external power source + Vcc is connected to the A / D converter 23 via a resistor Rc in the middle of the output line 31. The output line of the A / D converter 23 is connected to the microcomputer 100, and the selection signal line 33 from the microcomputer 100 is connected to the selection switch circuit 21.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a selection switch circuit, which is composed of a semiconductor switch circuit or the like as in the above. The output line 40 of each light receiving element (phototransistor) 13 a that constitutes the light receiving unit 13 is connected to the selection switch circuit 22. The output line 41 of the selection switch circuit 22 is connected to the A / D converter 24, and the external power source + Vcc is connected to the A / D converter 24 through the resistor Rc in the middle of the output line 41. The output line 42 of the A / D converter 24 is connected to the microcomputer 100, and the selection signal line 43 from the microcomputer 100 is connected to the selection switch circuit 22.

Reference numeral 14 denotes a transparent conductive film switch disposed in the position designation area 15, the transparent conductive film switch 14 is connected to a detection circuit 25, and an output line 50 of the detection circuit 25 is a microcomputer 100. It is connected to the. As an output line from the microcomputer 100, in addition to the selection signal lines 33 and 43, a coordinate information output line 60 is connected to a rear computer, for example, a personal computer (not shown).

The optical coordinate reading device having the above-described configuration operates as follows. In order for the operator to specify the position in the position specification area 15, when the finger is inserted to a position where the parallel light emitted from the parallel light sources 10 and 11 is blocked, the parallel light is blocked by the light receiving units 12 and 13. The resulting change in illuminance is detected. The coordinates of the finger are calculated by the circuit shown in FIG. 2 based on the change in the illuminance detected by the light receiving units 12 and 13, and the cursor is displayed at the corresponding position in the position designation area 15.

That is, the change in illuminance is converted into a change in voltage by the phototransistors 12 a and 13 a forming the light receiving units 12 and 13. The phototransistors 12a and 13a output a high level voltage when the light is cut off and a low level voltage when the light is irradiated. The output voltages of the phototransistors 12a and 13a are read into the microcomputer 100 via the selection switch circuits 21 and 22 and the A / D converters 23 and 24. The selection switches of the selection switch circuits 21 and 22 are sequentially switched by the selection signal Sc output from the microcomputer 100, and the output voltages of the phototransistors 12a and 13a forming the light receiving units 12 and 13 are A / D converters. It is read into the microcomputer 100 via 23 and 24. From the read output voltage distributions of the phototransistors 12a and 13a, the micro computer 100 detects the coordinates (output voltage) forming the peak of the distribution in each of the X-coordinate axis direction and the Y-coordinate axis direction, and detects the coordinates. A predetermined number of output voltages before and after the center are extracted, and the average coordinates are calculated using the extracted output voltages. The coordinates designated by the operator are estimated from the average coordinates and displayed on the position designation area 15 with a cursor. It should be noted that the position of the cursor is displayed at a position slightly deviated from the physical position of the finger for easy viewing.

When the cursor is displayed in the position designation area 15, the operator finely adjusts the movement of the finger to move the cursor to a desired position. Since the coordinates of the finger are calculated in a quasi-analog by the above statistical processing, the cursor also moves continuously in response to the movement of the finger. When the cursor is moved to the desired position, a finger is further inserted and the transparent conductive film switch 14 is pressed to trigger a trigger, and the coordinates indicated by the cursor are output from the microcomputer 100 as coordinate information.

That is, when the transparent conductive film switch 14 is pressed, an ON signal is transmitted to the detection circuit 25, and in response to this signal, the detection circuit 25 outputs a trigger signal to the microcomputer 100. Only when the trigger signal is input, the coordinates indicated by the cursor are output from the microcomputer 100 to the personal computer (not shown) as coordinate information output (X, Y), and the instruction contents of the coordinates are executed. .. The microcomputer 100 may also be used as a personal computer (not shown).

Next, the operation of the microcomputer 100 according to the embodiment will be described based on the flowchart of FIG. First, it is determined whether or not the parallel light emitted from the parallel light sources 10 and 11 is blocked, that is, whether or not the operator inserts a finger into the optical matrix 1 to a position where the parallel light is blocked in order to specify a position. It is judged (step 1). If the finger is inserted and the parallel light is blocked, the coordinates (X, Y) of the finger are precisely calculated and estimated by the circuit shown in FIG. 2 (step 2), and the display position of the cursor is calculated.・ Updated to the estimated coordinates (step 3). Then, it is judged whether or not the finger is further inserted into the back and the transparent conductive film switch 14 is pushed (step 4). If the transparent conductive film switch 14 is not pressed, the process returns to step 1. At this time, the cursor displayed at the time when the operation is interrupted is left at the position as it is, and the display position is updated when a new position designation operation is performed as shown in step 2. On the other hand, when the transparent conductive film switch 14 is pressed, a trigger signal is transmitted to the microcomputer 100, and in response to the signal, the coordinates indicated by the cursor are output from the microcomputer 100 to the subsequent computer as coordinate information ( Step 5). Then, the process returns to step 1 again, and a new position designation operation is processed and determined.

As described above, in the optical coordinate reading device according to the embodiment, the transparent conductive film switch 14 is provided as the trigger switch in the position designation area 15, and if the trigger switch is not pressed. Since the microcomputer 100 does not output the coordinate information, the coordinate of the position to be designated with one finger can be confirmed by the cursor and the trigger can be applied, and the precision and operability of the coordinate designation can be improved.

[0020]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above in detail, in the optical coordinate reader according to the present invention, the transparent conductive film switch is arranged in the position specifying area, and the following effects can be obtained.

1. It is possible to improve the accuracy of coordinate designation in response to higher density of information.

2. Coordinate designation and trigger switch operation can be performed simultaneously in the position designation area, and operability for coordinate designation can be improved.

3. You can check the coordinate position with the cursor and trigger it, and if the trigger switch is not operated, the microcomputer can prevent the coordinate information from being output. It can be prevented from being executed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an optical matrix in an embodiment of an optical coordinate reading device according to the present invention,
(A) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a circuit configuration of an optical coordinate reading device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the microcomputer of the optical coordinate reader according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of sign]

 1 Light Matrix 10, 11 Parallel Light Source 12, 13 Light-Receiving Section 14 Transparent Conductive Film Switch 15 Position Designation Area

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. An optical coordinate reading device in which a light source and a light receiving section which are opposed to each other in a predetermined coordinate direction via a position specifying area are arranged, and an optical matrix is formed by the light source and the light receiving section. An optical coordinate reading device characterized in that a transparent conductive film switch is provided in the.