JPH0583837U - Trackball - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a structure of a trackball capable of forming a small-sized trackball coordinate information input device having an operation feeling equivalent to that of a conventional device. [Structure] A center portion 13a formed of a material having a specific gravity that is at least heavier than a synthetic resin material, and a covering portion 13b in which the periphery of the center portion is covered with a rubber material, the surface of the covering portion 13b being hardened by heating and polished. Trackball 13 being played.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a trackball used as a coordinate information input device for inputting coordinate information by connecting or incorporating it in a computer, and more particularly, to an improvement of the trackball suitable for a small coordinate information input device. Is.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 Conventionally, as a trackball coordinate information input device for operating a computer, a structure shown in FIG. 3 is known.

In FIG. 1, a trackball coordinate information input device 1 is a trackball 3 rotatably housed so that a part of the trackball 3 is exposed at an upper part of a case 2, and the trackball 3 is orthogonal to the trackball 3 in the case 2. A pair of rollers 4 and 5 contacting each other in two directions, and two detectors 6 and 7 for detecting the rotation of the trackball 3 via the rollers 4 and 5 as coordinate information of X and Y coordinates, respectively. I have it.

These detecting parts 6 and 7 are provided on a printed circuit board P having a predetermined conductive pattern housed in the case 2, and the board P is integrally formed on the upper lid of the case 2. A micro switch 8 for determining and releasing the coordinate position operated by the push button 2a is mounted.

In the trackball coordinate information input device 1, the user gently rolls the surface of the trackball 3 exposed on the upper surface of the case 2 with his / her fingers to rotate the ball 3 rotationally. Is detected by the detection units 6 and 7 via the rollers 4 and 5, and the signal is sent to a computer body (not shown) so that, for example, a cursor moves on the display device (display) of the computer. Is becoming

[0006]

By the way, in recent years, miniaturization of computer devices has been rapidly progressed, and for example, a notebook-sized so-called notebook personal computer, an extremely small game machine using a computer, and the like have become widespread. is there.

However, when the above-mentioned trackball coordinate information input device 1 is mounted on or connected to such a small computer in a more compact size, the diameter of the trackball 3 accommodated therein must be reduced. However, there is a problem that the operability is extremely poor in use when the trackball 3 becomes small.

That is, the conventional track ball 3 having a diameter of about 38 mm is used, and it is made of a synthetic resin material having a specific gravity of about 1.0 to 2.0. When the diameter of the ball 3 is reduced according to the downsizing of the entire device, the total weight of the ball 3 is reduced. For this reason, the force for stopping the movement of the trackball 3 which is rotated by the rotating torque given by the user's fingers against the inertia is insufficient, and in other words, it turns too lightly, which is appropriate. Since it is not possible to rotate and stop it by a certain number of rotations, for example, a situation occurs in which the cursor moves much more than the user intended. In this respect, since the trackball coordinate information input device 1 is operated by relying on the sense of the user's fingers, it is said that a device having an operation feeling extremely different from the conventional device cannot be put to practical use. There was a flaw.

The present invention has been devised in view of the above problems, and is capable of constituting a small trackball coordinate information input device having an operation feeling equivalent to that of a conventional device. The purpose is to provide the structure of the ball.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 In the present invention, the above-mentioned problem consists of at least a central portion formed of a material having a higher specific gravity than a synthetic resin material, and a covering portion having a rubber material surrounding the central portion. Achieved with a trackball that is hardened and polished.

[0011]

[Action]

 According to the above configuration, since the center portion of the trackball is made of a material having a high specific gravity such as a steel ball, even if the trackball is formed to have a small diameter, the total weight is sufficiently heavy. Therefore, the rotational energy provided by the user's fingers can be absorbed while the ball makes a predetermined rotational displacement. Moreover, since the surface of the rubber material forming the trackball coating is hardened by heat treatment and polished, it has the same texture and appearance as conventional trackballs.

[0012]

【Example】

 Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing the structure of a trackball coordinate information input device 10 using a trackball according to this embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the structure of the trackball.

In FIG. 1, a trackball coordinate information input device 10 includes a trackball 13 rotatably housed in an upper part of a case 12 such that a part of the trackball is exposed, and the trackball 13 is orthogonal to the trackball 13 in the case 12. A pair of rollers 14 and 15 contacting each other in two directions, and two detection units 16 and 17 for detecting the rotational displacement of the trackball 13 via the rollers 14 and 15 as coordinate information of X coordinate and Y coordinate, respectively. I have it.

The case 12 is composed of a case body 12c made of synthetic resin and an upper lid 12b made of synthetic resin that covers the case body. The upper lid 12b exposes a part of a track ball 13 described later. A through hole 12d is formed for this purpose.

A trackball 13 is rotatably accommodated in the case 12, and a pair of rollers 14 and 15 are brought into contact with the trackball 13 from two directions orthogonal to the trackball 13. Has been. The pair of rollers 14 and 15 are attached to rotating shafts 14a and 15a, both ends of which are supported by bearings 19 and 19 provided upright on the printed board P, and are rotated by the rotation of the trackball 13. It is supposed to do. As a result, the movement of the trackball 13 is decomposed into the displacement in the direction of the X coordinate of the roller 14 and that of the Y coordinate of the roller 15, and transmitted to the detection units 16 and 17 via the rotary shafts 14a and 15a, respectively. There is.

The detection units 16 and 17 are basically composed of known rotary encoders having the same structure. The structure of the detection unit 16 will be briefly described. A disk-shaped shutter plate 16a having a slit formed on the radial direction is attached to the end of the rotary shaft 14a, and the shutter plate 16a is sandwiched. On both sides, a light emitting element and a light receiving element (not shown) are mounted on the printed circuit board P so as to face each other.

Therefore, when the trackball 13 rotates, the shutter plate 16a rotates according to the movement in the X coordinate direction, and the optical path from the light emitting element to the light receiving element is intermittently blocked by the slit of the shutter plate 16a. Therefore, the light receiving element will generate a pulse signal.

Similarly, the detection unit 17 converts the movement of the trackball 13 in the Y-axis direction into a pulse signal to generate the pulse signal, which is transmitted to the printed circuit board P, which is not shown in the figure. It is transmitted to the computer via an appropriate processing circuit. As a result, the cursor or the like moves on the display device (display) of the computer according to the movement of the trackball 13.

A micro switch 18 is mounted on the printed circuit board P in the vicinity of the left end in the figure, and the micro switch 18 is pressed by pressing a push button 12a formed integrally with the upper lid 12b of the case. Is designed to switch. By this operation, the confirmation of the cursor position and the start of movement are instructed on the display of the computer.

The above-mentioned configuration is similar to that of the conventional trackball coordinate information input device, but in the present embodiment, the trackball 13 used for this has a configuration as shown in FIG. In the figure, the trackball 13 has a central portion 13a and a covering portion 13b surrounding the central portion 13a.

The central portion 13a is formed of a steel sphere in the present embodiment, and is intended to have a much larger specific gravity than, for example, a synthetic resin material or the like. The covering portion 13b around the center portion 13a is formed of a rubber material such as synthetic rubber. As a result, even if the diameter of the track ball 13 is formed to be smaller than 38 mm, the track ball 13 can be provided with sufficient weight as a whole. Can be absorbed.

Here, since the shape and size of the steel material forming the central portion 13a are different depending on the size of the coordinate input device, the size of the trackball mounted on the same is also determined by calculating the weight accordingly. Becomes

Further, it is preferable that the center portion 13a has a perfect spherical shape in view of the rotation balance of the trackball 13, but it may have a different shape. It should be spherical.

Further, since the surface of the coating portion 13b of the trackball 13 is heat-treated and hardened, the same hardness as that of the conventional trackball is imparted, and by polishing the surface, Since the color of the rubber material appears, the color can be given more freedom in selecting the material, and it also has an excellent glossy appearance.

Since the trackball 13 according to the present embodiment is configured as described above, its diameter can be made much smaller than that of the conventional trackball, and sufficient weight can be given. Therefore, the rotational energy given by the user's fingers can be absorbed while the ball makes a predetermined rotational displacement, and an operational feeling similar to that of the conventional trackball coordinate information input device can be obtained.

[0026]

[Effect of the device]

 As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an excellent trackball which can constitute a small-sized trackball coordinate information input device having an operation feeling equivalent to that of the conventional trackball coordinate information input device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view showing a coordinate information input device using a trackball according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a trackball used in the coordinate information input device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional coordinate information input device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Trackball Coordinate Information Input Device 12 Case 13 Trackball 13a Center Part 13b Covering Part 14, 15 Roller 16, 17 Detecting Part 18 Micro Switch 19 Bearing

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A center portion formed of at least a material having a specific gravity higher than that of a synthetic resin material, and a covering portion having a rubber material covering the periphery of the center portion. The surface of the covering portion is hardened by heating and polished. A trackball that is characterized by being.