JPH06259185A - Mouse and mouse pad - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a mouse inputting device in which a movable mechanism and a cable are not provided, reliability is high, and a mouse whose movement is not constrained at all and whose operability is high is provided. CONSTITUTION:A mouse 2 is equipped with a window 7 which fetches in an external light, and a converging means 14 which collects the fetched external light, and irradiates it on a selected area on a mouse pad surface. A mouse pad 3 is equipped with a photoelectric converting means 6 which detects the position of the light irradiated by the mouse 2, and converts it into a prescribed electric signal.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a mouse input device for inputting coordinate information by an information processing device, and more particularly to a cordless mouse and a mouse pad for reading the coordinate position of the mouse.

[0002]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a mouse input device comprising a cordless mouse and a mouse pad for optically reading the position of the mouse. In other words, by giving the mouse an optical condensing function, making the mouse cordless to improve operability, and by irradiating the light condensed by the mouse onto a selected area of the mouse pad surface, The photoelectric conversion function is used to read the coordinate position of the mouse.

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Due to recent advances in semiconductor technology and computer technology, the performance of personal computers and workstations has improved dramatically. Moreover, the price / performance ratio of these models surpasses that of large-scale general-purpose machines.
Much work has come to be done on these smaller machines, a phenomenon called downsizing. like this,
As the performance of personal computers and workstations has improved, the emphasis on software development is shifting to these models.

Since these models are often used not in a computer room but in a general office and the user cannot expect complicated operations, the interface between the software and the user is graphically referred to as GUI. User interfaces are commonly used. This GUI is for making a menu of software instructions from a user and selecting a graphic representing a menu called an icon displayed on the display screen with a pointing device such as a cursor of a keyboard, a light pen, or a mouse.

The mouse as a pointing device has more natural ergonomics, more natural ergonomics, higher work efficiency, and less fatigue than the cursor keys of a keyboard and a light pen. It is said. As described above, the mouse excellent as the pointing device, that is, the coordinate input device is roughly classified into a mechanical type and an optical type.

In the mechanical mouse, a ball 51 having a diameter of about 2 cm is embedded in the lower surface of the main body, as shown in FIG. 7, and the mouse is moved on a plane to be used. Inside the mouse body, there are an X-axis roller 52, a Y-axis roller 53, and a pressing roller 54 that are in contact with the ball, and each is rotatably supported by bearings. An X-axis rotary encoder 55 and a Y-axis rotary encoder 56 are provided on the shafts of the X-axis roller 52 and the Y-axis roller 53, respectively, and the X-axis direction component and the Y-axis direction component of the rotation of the ball 51 are generated. , Detected as a pulse waveform. The information processing main body apparatus using the mouse as an input device knows the moving direction and the moving amount of the mouse from the pulse waveform.

On the other hand, the optical mouse has a vertical stripe 62 and a horizontal stripe 6 as shown in FIG.
The mouse main body is moved on the dedicated mouse pad 61 on which the lattice patterns of different colors are printed by 3, and the number of lattices that have passed is optically detected to know the moving direction and the moving amount of the mouse. To this end, inside the mouse, light emitting elements (LED) 64 and 65 matching the color of the lattice, respectively,
The light receiving elements 66 and 67 are arranged in combination to detect movements in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction separately.

[0008]

However, in the above-mentioned conventional mechanical mouse input device, since the mouse has a movable part, it is easily damaged, and in order to maintain reliability, complicated cleaning and maintenance work are regularly performed. There was a problem that it was necessary. Also, in both mechanical type and optical type mouse input devices, cables for supplying power and outputting signals from the mouse to the information processing main unit are indispensable, which impedes the free operation of the mouse. There was a problem. Further, the conventional mouse input device has a problem that only the moving direction and the moving amount of the mouse are detected, and the absolute position of the mouse is not detected. In view of the above problems, the main object of the present invention is to have no movable mechanism and cable, high reliability,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mouse input device equipped with a mouse that has high operability without any restrictions on movement. Another object of the present invention is to provide a mouse input device capable of detecting the absolute mouse position.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has the following constitution. That is, the present invention is a mouse of a mouse input device for an information processing device, comprising a mouse that is vertically and horizontally movable on a mouse pad surface, and a mouse pad that detects a coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse,
The mouse is provided with a window for taking in external light, and a condensing means for collecting the external light and irradiating the selected area on the mouse pad.

The present invention is also a mouse pad for detecting the coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse, wherein photoelectric conversion means for detecting the position of light emitted by the mouse and converting it into a predetermined electric signal. And a mouse pad. Further, the present invention is a mouse pad for detecting the coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse, wherein the photoelectric conversion means is arranged in a matrix on the mouse pad surface.

The present invention is also a mouse pad for detecting the coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse, further comprising a vertical photoconductive member and a horizontal photoconductive member on the mouse pad surface. , Photoelectric conversion means is arranged at the end of each photoconductive member, and the light emitted by the light-collecting means of the mouse is moved vertically and horizontally from the region on the mouse pad surface to the photoconductive member. The mouse pad is characterized in that the horizontal component and the vertical component of the coordinate position of the specific point of the mouse are respectively detected by conducting to the end portion and making them enter the photoelectric conversion means.

[0012]

[Function] The external light incident on the inside of the mouse through the lighting window provided on the upper surface and / or the side surface of the mouse is reflected by the reflecting mirror in the mouse, and finally by the condenser lens provided on the lower surface of the mouse. Make a bright focus on the mouse pad.
On the other hand, since the shadow of the mouse is formed around this condensing point, the mouse pad directly below it becomes dark. The light-darkness due to the light-condensing point of the mouse and the shadow of the mouse is converted into an electric signal by the photoelectric conversion element of the mouse pad and output to the information processing device. The information processing main body device detects the coordinate position of the mouse from the electric signal indicating the brightness.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an external view of a mouse and a mouse pad according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, reference numeral 1 is a personal computer or a workstation which is an information processing main unit. 2 is a mouse according to the present invention,
3 is a mouse pad according to the present invention. Mouse pad 3
Is provided with an input / output terminal 4 and is connected with a cable 5 for connecting the mouse pad 3 and the information processing main body apparatus 1.
Further, on the upper surface of the mouse pad 3, a photoelectric conversion element 6 such as a CdS photoconductor, a phototransistor or the like is provided.
They are arranged in a matrix of 0 rows and 200 columns.

As shown in the figure, the mouse 2 does not have a cable, but instead has a window 7 for taking in external light on its side surface and an internal condenser 8 not shown. The light incident from the window 7 of the mouse is collected by the light condensing device 8 inside.
A light spot 25 is formed on the upper surface of the mouse pad 3, and a mouse shadow 26 is formed around the light spot 25. The light collected at the light spot 25 is incident on the photoelectric conversion element 6 directly below the light spot 25, is converted into an appropriate electric signal by an electronic circuit inside the mouse pad 3, and is input from the input / output terminal 4 via the cable 5. And is sent to the information processing main unit 1.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing how the mouse pad 3 and the mouse pad 3 receive light. In the figure, 7
Is a window for taking in light 10 from the outside, 11,
Reference numeral 12 is a mirror for collecting the light 10 incident from the window 7 into the irradiation hole 13, and 14 is a convex lens. The external light 10 incident from the window 7 is reflected by the mirrors 11 and 12, and finally gathers in the irradiation hole 13 and is incident on the photoelectric conversion element 6 directly below the mouse on the mouse pad 3 by the convex lens 14.

FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram of the mouse pad according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The origin of coordinates of the mouse pad is at the upper left corner of the pad, and from here, the X axis to the right (horizontal),
The Y axis is in the front direction (vertical, downward on the screen). In the following description, the position on the mouse pad is indicated by (x, y) coordinates.

Phototransistors PT (0,0) to PT arranged in a matrix on the upper surface of the mouse pad 3.
Each of (199, 199) turns off when it enters the shadow 26 of the mouse, and the light spot 2 collected by the mouse
It turns on when it matches with 5. The ON / OFF state of the phototransistor depending on the presence or absence of the incident light is time-divided by the dynamic switching circuit to form one output signal line 10.
Read to 4.

A horizontal counter 110 and a vertical counter 111 are used to read out the light receiving state of the phototransistors arranged on the upper surface of the mouse pad 3.
, Horizontal decoder 112, vertical decoder 113, and transistor matrix T (0,0) to T (199,1).
99), base resistors RB0 to RB199, pull-up resistors RC0 to RC199, inverters I0 to I199, and an ower gate 114.

A phototransistor, which is a photoelectric conversion element on the mouse pad, is designated by an 8-bit horizontal counter 110 for designating a horizontal position and an 8-bit vertical counter 111 for designating a vertical position. In order to count these counters, a horizontal counter clock 101, a horizontal counter reset signal 102 that also serves as a vertical counter clock, and a vertical counter reset signal 103 are input from the information processing main unit 1.

The scanning of the entire surface of the mouse pad from the coordinate origin starts from (0, 0) and moves in the X direction (0, 19).
Up to 9), it advances one by one for each horizontal counter clock, and when it reaches (0,199), the horizontal counter reset signal 102 which also serves as the vertical counter clock is input, the horizontal counter 110 is reset, and the vertical counter 110 is reset. The counter 111 is incremented to (1,0)
Becomes Then, again for every 1 horizontal counter clock
Go right one by one and when you reach (1,199), signal 10
2 is input and becomes (2, 0). Similarly, (19
9, 199), the horizontal counter reset signal 1
02 and the vertical counter reset signal 103 are simultaneously input, and the count value returns to (0, 0).

The horizontal counter 110 and the vertical counter 1
The coordinate position designated by 11 and
A horizontal decoder 112 for decoding the contents of 10 and a vertical decoder 11 for decoding the contents of the vertical counter 111.
3 is decoded. As a result of this decoding, only the transistor T (i, j) designated by the coordinate position is selected and turned on, and the selected transistor T (i, j) is turned on.
j) phototransistor PT (i,
The on / off state of j) can be read.

At this time, if the selected PT (i, j) is on, the input of the inverter I (i) connected to this PT (i, j) becomes low level and the inverter I
The output of (i) becomes high level, and the Owagate 11
The output of 4 becomes high level. On the contrary, if the selected PT (i, j) is off, this PT (i, j)
The input of the inverter I (i) connected to j) is pulled up to the high level by being pulled up by the pull-up resistor PC (i), the output of the inverter I (i) becomes low level, and the output of the ower gate 114 becomes low level. Becomes

In this way, the read on / off state of the phototransistor PT (i, j) is transferred from the output terminal 104 to the information processing main unit 1 via the inverter I (i) and the ow gate 114. Sent out. Also,
In the present embodiment, the phototransistor is designated by the counter and the decoder, but many variations of this designation method are known. For example, the phototransistor may be designated by the horizontal shift register and the vertical shift register.

In this way, the signal corresponding to the shadow of the mouse is captured at the low level, and the coordinate position corresponding to the light spot focused by the mouse is captured at the high level, and is recognized by the information processing main unit 1. Further, since the shadow and the light spot of the mouse move with the movement of the mouse, the moving direction and the moving distance of the mouse can be calculated by the information processing main unit. Further, since the position of the mouse is an absolute position on the mouse pad and is input to the information processing main unit, the absolute position is always input even if the integrated value of the movement amount is not held in the information processing main unit. .

FIG. 4 is an external view of a mouse pad according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, the mouse pad surface is provided with two light guide layers, and the mouse of the first embodiment is used as it is. The upper vertical light guide layer 200 whose upper surface matches the mouse pad surface
Is 200 vertical light guide rods 2 arranged vertically.
01, and an X-direction light-receiving element array 210 in which 200 light-receiving elements 205 are similarly arranged in a line is provided at the upper end portion thereof. In addition, the vertical light guide layer 20
Below 0, a lateral light guide layer 300 is provided, and 200 lateral light guide rods 3 are arranged in the lateral direction.
01 are arranged in the same manner, and at the right end thereof, 200
A Y-direction light-receiving element array 310 is provided in which the individual light-receiving elements 205 are arranged in a line.

The mouse shadow 26 and the light spot 25 projected on the mouse pad surface are the light guide layers 200 and 3, respectively.
00, the light is decomposed in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction and transmitted in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, respectively, and the X-direction light receiving element array 210
And reaches the Y-direction light receiving element array 310.

On the other hand, particularly strong light is incident on the X direction light receiving element 211 and the Y direction light receiving element 311 corresponding to the coordinate position (x, y) on which the light spot 25 collected by the mouse is incident. In this way, since the shadow 26 of the mouse and the coordinate position on which the light spot 25 collected by the mouse is incident have an intensity difference of the incident light as shown in FIG. 5, a photoelectric corresponding to the intensity difference is generated. The conversion output can be taken out. The information processing main unit is
The coordinate position (x, y) designated by the mouse can be known by detecting the position of the peak value of the photoelectric conversion output.

Also in the second embodiment, it is not necessary to draw the connection line from each light receiving element to the information processing main unit, and the number of connection lines can be reduced by the analog multiplexer method, but the description thereof is omitted.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a mouse according to the third embodiment of the present invention and a projection view of the mouse on the mouse pad. In FIG. 1A, the mouse 30 is provided with a window 36 that can be opened and closed by a push button 39. The first light spot 25 for reading the coordinate position of the mouse and the means for producing the same are the same as those in the first embodiment, and therefore their explanations are omitted. When the push button 39 is pressed, the light 37 incident from the window 36 is condensed by the lens 40 to form the second light spot 39 on the mouse pad 3. As the mouse pad 3, the one described in the first embodiment is used as it is.

Since the second light spot 39 blinks in response to the turning on / off of the push button 39, it is read by the mouse pad 3 like the first light spot 25. Thus, the push button function of the mouse is realized.

When a plurality of mouse push buttons are provided, the position of collecting light is changed for each push button to distinguish the pressed buttons, or the number of light spots output for each push button is changed. There is a method such as. Furthermore, the light spot can be blinked by connecting the push button to the shutter provided directly above the condenser lens with a link mechanism and opening and closing the shutter with the push button.

Although the preferred embodiment has been described above, this is not a limitation of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications from the above description, but do not exceed the scope of the present invention.

[0033]

As described above, according to the present invention,
With a mouse that has an optical focusing function and a mouse pad that is configured to read the position of the light that is focused by this mouse, there is no complicated moving part, it is highly reliable, and it is cordless and extremely easy to operate. There is an effect that a high mouse can be provided. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a mouse input device capable of detecting the absolute position of the mouse.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a mouse and a mouse pad according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a mouse according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a detailed circuit diagram showing the internal connection of the mouse pad according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a mouse pad according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an incident light intensity distribution graph of the optical sensor array according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a mouse according to a third embodiment of the present invention and a projection view of the mouse on a mouse pad.

FIG. 7 is a principle diagram of a conventional mechanical mouse.

FIG. 8 is a principle diagram of a conventional optical mouse.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Information Processing Main Unit 2 Mouse 3 Mouse Pad 6 Photoelectric Conversion Means 7 Window 14 Condensing Means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A mouse of a mouse input device for an information processing device, comprising a mouse that is vertically and horizontally movable on a mouse pad surface, and a mouse pad that detects a coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse. A mouse comprising a window to be taken in and a light collecting means for collecting the external light taken in and irradiating the selected area on the mouse pad surface. 2. A mouse pad for detecting the coordinate position of a specific point of the mouse according to claim 1, further comprising photoelectric conversion means for detecting the position of light emitted by the mouse and converting it into a predetermined electric signal. A mouse pad characterized by being provided. 3. The mouse pad surface according to claim 2,
A mouse pad having photoelectric conversion means arranged in a matrix. 4. The mouse pad surface according to claim 2,
A photoconductive member in the vertical direction and a photoconductive member in the horizontal direction are further provided, and photoelectric conversion means is arranged at the end of each photoconductive member. The horizontal component and the vertical component of the coordinate position of the specific point of the mouse are conducted by conducting the light from the area on the pad surface in the vertical and horizontal directions to the end of the photoconductive member and making it enter the photoelectric conversion means. A mouse pad characterized by detecting and respectively.