JPH06230889A - Roller type pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a device small and thin and to enable accurate input with improved operability concerning a roller type pointing device suitable to be mounted to a small-sized computer such as a notebook type computer or the like. CONSTITUTION:By arranging plural rollers 10 to be direct operation objects in an X direction and a Y direction and providing rotation detection means 11 for detecting the rotation of the respective rollers 10 and an output means 12 for outputting signals corresponding to the rotation amount of the rollers 10, two-dimensional position information in the X direction and the Y direction can be inputted. Or, by a disk 24 and the rollers 20 mounted to the disk 24, angle information and a moving amount in a moving direction can be inputted.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a roller type pointing device suitable for mounting on a small computer such as a notebook type.

Recently, G has been used as a computer input method.
A UI (graphical user interface) has been widely used, and a pointing device which is easy to operate as an input device has become more and more important. When such a pointing device is mounted on a notebook computer, it is desirable that the pointing device is incorporated in the main body of the notebook computer rather than being connected through a cord or the like.

In a notebook computer, it is very important from the viewpoint of portability that the main body itself is small, thin and light. In order to make such a computer, it is necessary to reduce each of the mechanical parts included in the computer. Therefore, in order to make a notebook computer small and thin, pointing and
Devices need to be small and thin.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a conventional technique and shows an example of a trackball type pointing device.

Conventionally, a so-called mouse has been widely used as a typical pointing device.
However, the mouse is not suitable for a notebook computer because it requires a wide space for operation and it is difficult to incorporate the mouse into the main body in an integrated form with a keyboard.

Conventionally, therefore, a trackball type pointing device as shown in FIG. 6 has been used for a notebook type computer. The trackball 70 includes a positioning roller 71, rollers 72-1, whose axes are arranged at right angles to each other in the X and Y directions,
72-2 (referred to as X roller and Y roller, respectively)
When the track ball 70 rotates, the X roller 72-1 and the Y roller 72-2 rotate due to frictional force. The positioning roller 71 supports the trackball 70 at an appropriate position and gives friction for rotating the X roller 72-1 and the Y roller 72-2.

Rotation sensors 74-1 and 74-2 by photo interrupters are provided to detect the mechanical rotations of the X roller 72-1 and the Y roller 72-2, respectively. The rotation sensors 74-1 and 74-2 are light emitting elements,
Shutter disks 73-1 and 73-2 for blocking the light emitted from the light receiving element and the light emitting element, and X roller 72-
1, The mechanical rotation of the Y roller 72-2 is converted into an electric signal.

When inputting position information into a computer,
When the trackball 70 is rotated with the tip of a finger, the rotation is transmitted to the X roller 72-1 and the Y roller 72-2, respectively, and the shutter disks 73-1 and 73-2 coaxially arranged by these rotations. Rotates. These rotations are detected by the rotation sensors 74-1 and 74-2, converted into electric signals, and position information or position change information is given to the computer.

[0009]

When the conventional trackball type pointing device as described above is incorporated in a notebook computer, there is a limit to making the notebook computer small and thin. Has the following problems.

Since the trackball type is composed of a trackball and rollers, it is not smaller than the trackball. Further, in the trackball type, in order to transmit the rotation of the trackball to the roller once, an appropriate friction is required between the trackball and the roller.
However, when oil or dust adheres to the trackball, this friction is reduced and slippage may occur between the trackball and the roller, so that the rotation may not be transmitted correctly.

Further, when the trackball is made small, there is a problem that the accuracy becomes poor and it becomes difficult to align the trackball at a desired position. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems and to provide a pointing device that does not use a trackball so that the pointing device can be made small and thin. It is also an object of the present invention to provide a pointing device having excellent input efficiency and operability by preventing the rotation efficiency of the roller which is directly manipulated from being caught without using frictional force and preventing the reduction of the rotation efficiency. .

[0012]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1A, 10-1 to 10
-4 is a roller, 11-1 to 11-4 are rotation detecting means, and 12 is an output means. Further, in FIG. 1B, 20-1 and 20-2 are rollers, 21-1 and 21-2 are first rotation detecting means, 22 is second rotation detecting means, 23 is output means, and 24 is Disk, 25 represents the central axis of the disk.

Each of the rollers 10-1 to 10-4 is rotatably mounted about an axis, and is directly rotated when a position is input on a screen of a display device of a computer.

The rollers 10-1 and 10-3 are arranged so that their axes are in the horizontal direction (X direction), and the rollers 10-2 and 10-4 are in the vertical direction (Y direction). Further, rotation detection means 11-1 to rotation detection means 1 for detecting these rotations.
1-4 are provided corresponding to the respective rollers 10-1 to 10-4, and the output means 12 responds to the rotation amounts of the rollers 10-1 to 10-4 by the outputs of these rotation detecting means. It is configured to output a signal.

At least two rollers, one each in the X and Y directions, are sufficient for inputting the position, but in the case of the second aspect of the invention, there are four rollers, two in each direction. Roller 10
-1 to 10-4 are arranged in a square shape.

In the case of the third aspect of the invention, for example, the roller 20-1 and the roller 20-2 are placed on the disk 24 which rotates about the center. And the roller 20-1
Further, there are provided first rotation detecting means 21-1 and 21-2 for detecting the rotation of the roller 20-2 and second rotation detecting means 22 for detecting the rotation of the disk 24. These rotation detecting means 21- Disks 24 are output from the outputs of 1, 21-2 and 22.
Also, output means 23 for outputting a signal according to the rotation amount of the rollers 20-1 and 20-2 is provided.

In the invention according to claim 4, the rotation detecting means 11-1 to 11-4 shown in FIG. 1A or the first or second rotation detecting means 21-1 and 21-21 shown in FIG. 1B. −
Reference numerals 2 and 22 each include a shutter that intermittently irradiates irradiation light with rotation, a light irradiation unit that irradiates the shutter with light, and an optical sensor that detects light from the shutter.

In the invention described in claim 5, the rotation detecting means 11-1 to 11-4 shown in FIG. 1A or the first or second rotation detecting means 21-1 and 21-21 shown in FIG. 1B. −
2, 22 are magnetic stripes provided along the surface of a cylinder centered on the rotation axis of the roller or disk 24;
And a magnetic sensor that detects the magnetism generated by those magnetic stripes.

In the case of the invention according to claim 6, the output means 12
Alternatively, when there are a plurality of rollers whose axes are in the same direction, the output means 23 is configured to output a signal obtained by combining the outputs of the rotation detection means corresponding to these rollers.

[0020]

According to the roller type pointing device of the present invention, a pointing ball-free pointing device is used.
By making it a device, the pointing device can be made small and thin. Further, since the rotation is directly detected from the roller, it is possible to prevent the rotation efficiency from being deteriorated due to the slip, and it is possible to input with high accuracy.

In particular, by arranging the rollers in a square shape as in the second aspect of the invention, the operability in the case of rotating a plurality of rollers at the same time is improved. According to the third aspect of the invention, by rotating the disk 24, the directions of the axes of the rollers 20-1 and 20-2 can be changed, and in particular, the positional movement on the screen in an oblique direction is facilitated. be able to.

As means for detecting the rotation of the roller and the disk,
Optical means by a photo interrupter can be used. Further, by using a magnetic means utilizing a magnetic stripe, the rotation detecting mechanism can be made simpler and smaller.

The operator can rotate a plurality of rollers simultaneously by one operation. In the case of the invention of claim 6,
For example, the roller 10-1 and the roller 10- whose axes are in the same direction
When 3 rotate at the same time, the output obtained by additively superimposing the rotation amounts makes it possible to obtain the same output as when a single roller is rotated at high speed. That is, when the movement amount is insufficient, it is possible to obtain information obtained by doubling the movement amount by adding the rotations of the rollers in the same direction.
This makes it possible to adjust the movement amount with a simple operation.

[0024]

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 2, the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 1 correspond to those shown in FIG. 1, and 30-1 to 30-4 are rotation sensors,
Reference numerals 31-1 to 31-4 represent shutter disks, and 33 represents a gear that transmits rotation to another shaft.

The rotation sensors 30-1 to 30-4 are composed of, for example, a light emitting element, a light receiving element of an optical sensor, and shutter disks 31-1 to 31-4. The shutter disks 31-1 to 31-4 are disks having holes for interrupting light according to the rotation of each roller.

The rollers 10-1 to 10-1 are provided by fingertips or palms.
When the 0-4 is rotated, the rotation transmits the gear 33 to rotate the shafts of the shutter disks 31-1 to 31-4. As a result, the shutter disks 31-1 to 31-3
1-4 rotate. According to that, the rotation sensor 30-1
Light emitted by the light emitting elements 30-4 is intermittent and is detected by the light receiving element to convert mechanical rotation into an electrical pulse signal.

The rollers 10-1 and 10-3 are arranged in the X direction, the rollers 10-2 and 10-4 are arranged in the Y direction, and their rotations are detected. Can be entered. Although not shown, it is possible to provide one or a plurality of button switches similar to a mouse button and the like near the roller and transmit a signal to the computer by pressing the switch, as in the prior art. .

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the output section in the embodiment of the present invention. The pulse counter 40-1 receives the output pulses of the rotation sensors 30-1 and 30-3, counts the pulses corresponding to the respective rotation amounts, and outputs the pulse P1 corresponding to the movement amount corresponding to the rotation direction by pointing. Output to the device controller (not shown). Similarly, the pulse counter 40-2 receives the output pulses of the rotation sensors 30-2 and 30-4, counts the pulses corresponding to the respective rotation amounts, and outputs the pulse P2 corresponding to the movement amount corresponding to the rotation direction. Is output to the controller (not shown) of the pointing device.

The computer uses these pulses P1, P
2, it is possible to input two-dimensional position information via the controller. Pulse counters 40-1, 40-2
Then, the pulse generated by the rotation of the roller in the same direction is added to obtain the information obtained by doubling the movement amount.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 (A) is a top view of this device.
(B) is the figure seen from the side surface. In FIG. 4, 50-
Reference numerals 1 and 50-2 are rotation sensors for detecting the movement amount by a photo interrupter, 51-1 and 51-2 are shutter disks for detecting the movement amount, 52 is a rotation sensor for angle detection, and 53 is a shutter for angle detection. Represents a disk.

When the disk 24 is rotated by operating a fingertip, the shutter disk 53 is rotated. The rotation is
It is converted into an electric signal by the rotation sensor 52 by a photo interrupter and transmitted as angle information.

When the roller 20-1 or 20-2 is operated at the same time, the rotation of the roller 20-1 or 20-2 causes the shutter disk 51-1 to rotate.
It is transmitted to 51-2. Shutter disk 51-1,
Rotation of 51-2 causes rotation sensors 50-1, 50-
It is output from 2 as an electric signal according to the movement amount.

The information on the angle and the information on the amount of movement are output to the computer or the controller as they are, or converted into XY coordinate signals and output. This conversion can be realized by, for example, a simple table look-up circuit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a magnetic roller detection method. The rotation of the roller can be detected by optical means as in the above-mentioned example, but it can also be detected by magnetic means as shown in FIG.

In the example shown in FIG. 5A, a magnetized magnetic wire (stripe) 61 is attached to the outer circumference of the rotation axis of the roller 60 or a cylinder centered on the rotation axis, and the magnetic wire 6
The rotation of the roller 60 is detected by detecting the magnetic change due to 1 by the magnetic sensor 62.

As shown in FIG. 5B, a magnetic wire 64 may be provided on the outer circumference of the roller 63 and the rotation of the roller 63 may be detected by the magnetic sensor 65. When such a rotation detecting method using magnetic means is used, a shutter disk is not required as compared with the case where optical means is used, and therefore the size can be further reduced.

The roller type pointing device according to the present invention is arranged, for example, on the keyboard surface of a notebook computer in front of the keys, and can be operated by the thumb. In general, a notebook computer is often configured so that a keyboard and a display device such as a liquid crystal can be closed. Therefore, if the keyboard portion can be thinned according to the present invention, the whole can be thinned. It will be possible.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the trackball is not used, the basic thickness is the diameter of the roller, and it becomes possible to realize a small and thin pointing device. Further, since the rotation of the roller that is directly operated is detected without passing through the ball, the rotation efficiency does not decrease due to slippage with the ball, and efficient input is possible. In addition, an externally added input mechanism such as a mouse is unnecessary. Also,
For example, it is more durable than touch screen glasses or touch pad films.

Therefore, by using this roller type pointing device, a notebook computer or the like can be made small and thin, its portability can be improved, and its operability and durability can be improved. become able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an output unit in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a roller rotation detection method by magnetism.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10-1 to 10-4 Rollers 11-1 to 11-4 Rotation detecting means 12 Output means 20-1 and 20-2 Rollers 21-1 and 21-2 First rotation detecting means 22 Second rotation detecting means 23 Output means 24 disk 25 central axis

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A pointing device used for position input on a screen of a display device in a computer, wherein a plurality of rollers (10) are mounted such that at least two axial directions are different from each other, and are rotated during input. When,
Rotation detecting means (11) for detecting the rotation of each roller, and output means (12) for outputting a signal according to the rotation amount of the roller (10) by the output of the rotation detecting means (11) are provided. A roller type pointing device characterized by. 2. The roller type pointing device according to claim 1, wherein said roller (10) has two rollers (10-1, 10-3) whose axes are in the X direction and whose axes are perpendicular to the X direction. A roller-type pointing device comprising two Y-direction rollers (10-2, 10-4), which are arranged in a V-shape. 3. A pointing device used for inputting a position on a screen of a display device in a computer, wherein a disk (24) rotating about its center and a disk (2).
One or a plurality of rollers (20) mounted on 4), first rotation detecting means (21) for detecting the rotation of each roller (20),
Second rotation detecting means (22) for detecting the rotation of the disk (24)
And output means (23) for outputting a signal according to the rotation amount of the disk (24) and the roller (20) by the output of the first and second rotation detection means (21, 22). A roller-type pointing device characterized by 4. The roller type pointing device according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the rotation detecting means (11) according to claim 1 or the first or second according to claim 3.
The rotation detecting means (21, 22) is characterized by comprising a shutter for intermittently irradiating the irradiation light by rotation, a light irradiation means for irradiating the shutter with light, and an optical sensor for detecting the light from the shutter. Roller type pointing
device. 5. The roller type pointing device according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the rotation detecting means (11) according to claim 1 or the first or second according to claim 3.
The rotation detecting means (21, 22) includes a magnetic stripe provided along the surface of a cylinder centered on the rotation axis of the roller or the disc, and a magnetic sensor for detecting the magnetism generated by these magnetic stripes. A roller-type pointing device characterized by comprising: 6. The roller type pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the output means (12,
The roller 23) is characterized in that, when there are a plurality of rollers whose axes are in the same direction, a signal obtained by combining the outputs of the rotation detecting means (11, 21) corresponding to them is output. Type pointing device.