JPH0764690A - Pen input computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simply remake laptop computers and note book computers into pen input computers without newly making operation systems. CONSTITUTION:The device is provided with a computer main body 6 performing various information processings, keyboard controller 10 and mouse 11 converting character information and position information inputted from a detachable keyboard 8 and a mouse 9 into character information and position information which can be understood by the computer main body 6, and interface circuit 22 converting the character information and position information outputted from a display device 7 with pen input function into each format coincident with the character information and the position information to be outputted from the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9 and sending them to the keyboard controller 10 and the mouse controller 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pen input computer capable of inputting position information and character information by touching a touch panel covering a flat panel display with, for example, an input pen. Pen input computer modified from computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pen input computer as shown in FIG. 5 has been developed as a portable computer. A display unit 2 formed of, for example, a liquid crystal display plate is attached to the upper surface of a thin B5 size case 1. And this display unit 2
The touch panel 3 is attached so as to cover the front surface of the.
By touching the touch panel 3 with the input pen 4, it is possible to input the position information of the touched position.

Further, a character recognition circuit is built in, and it is also possible to input character information by drawing a character on the touch panel 3 with the input pen 4. The display unit 2, the touch panel 3, the input pen 4, and the character recognition circuit constitute a display device with a pen input function.

Such a pen input computer is mainly composed of the above-mentioned display device with a pen input function and the computer main body. The computer body has a dedicated OS (operation system) for controlling the input / output of data to / from the display device with a pen input function and a normal application program incorporated therein, and character information input from the display device with a pen input function is incorporated. And the position information is interpreted by a dedicated OS to carry out a predetermined information processing operation.

There is also a case where another type of computer such as a laptop computer (desktop computer) or a notebook computer is converted into a pen input computer. A pen input computer which is a modification of another type of computer is configured as shown in FIG. 6, for example.

As shown in the figure, the pen input computer 5 includes a display device 7 with a pen input function, which is composed of the display section 2, the touch panel 3, the input pen 4, and a character recognition circuit, and a computer body 6. It is configured. Further, in the pen input computer 5, character information and position information input from the keyboard 8 and mouse 9 used in the laptop computer which is the predecessor of the computer body 6 can be understood by the computer body 6 A keyboard controller 10 and a mouse controller 11 for converting into position information are incorporated.

The image information output from the computer body 5 is input to the display controller 12. The display controller 12 displays the input image information on the display unit 2 of the display device 7 with a pen input function.

Further, the character information and the position information output from the display device with a pen input function 7 are converted into character information and position information which can be understood by the computer main body 6 by the pen input controller 13 and input to the computer main body 6.

In the computer body 6, a CPU 14 for executing various information processings is connected via a CPU bus 15 to a memory 16 for storing an OS, application programs and various data, and an IB connected to an I / O bus 17.
The C (interface bus controller) 18 and the display controller 12 are controlled.

The keyboard controller 10, the mouse controller 11 and the pen input controller 13 are connected to the I / O bus 17. When the pen input computer 5 is used, the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9 are not used, and therefore the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9 are normally separated from the connection terminals 19 and 20.

[0011]

However, when the computer main body incorporated in the laptop computer or the like as shown in FIG. 6 is diverted to the computer main body 6 of the pen input computer 5, there are the following problems. It was

That is, since the pen input controller 13 is connected to the computer body 6 in addition to the conventional keyboard controller 10, mouse controller 11 and display controller 12, the OS (memory OS of the computer body 6) operating·
System) needs to be recreated.

The work of recreating the dedicated OS (operating system) requires a great deal of labor and time, and there is a problem that the conventional laptop computer or notebook computer cannot be easily converted into the pen input computer 5.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and converts character information and position information output from a display device with a pen input function so that they can be input to a conventional keyboard controller and mouse controller. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a pen input computer that can be easily manufactured from a conventional laptop computer or notebook computer without changing the OS of the computer main body.

[0015]

In order to solve the above problems, a pen input computer of the present invention comprises a computer main body for performing various kinds of information processing, and a detachable keyboard and mouse connected to the computer main body. A keyboard controller and mouse controller that convert the input character information and position information into character information and position information that can be understood by the computer main body and send it to the computer main body, and have a flat panel display, and display on a flat panel display. A display device with a pen input function that outputs character information and position information input by a touch operation on a touch panel that covers the screen, and image information output from the computer body is displayed on a flat display of the display device with a pen input function. Character information and position output from the display controller and display device with pen input function It is obtained and an interface circuit for sending to the keyboard controller and the mass scan controller converts each format consistent with broadcast character information and the position information output from the keyboard and mouse.

In addition, in the pen input computer of another invention, the interface circuit includes an information transfer means for fetching character information and position information output from the keyboard and the mouse and transferring them to the keyboard controller and the mouse controller as they are. It is attached.

In the pen input computer according to another invention, in addition to the above-mentioned information transfer means, the interface circuit further takes in character information and position information output from a keyboard and a mouse, so that the computer body understands. Information conversion means for converting to possible character information and position information and sending it to the computer body is added.

[0018]

In the pen input computer configured as described above, the character information and the position information output from the display device with a pen input function are input to the interface circuit.
The interface circuit converts the input character information from the display device with pen input function into the same format as the character information from the keyboard and sends it to the keyboard controller. Similarly, the interface circuit converts the input position information from the display device with a pen input function into the same format as the position information from the mouse and sends it to the mouse controller.

Therefore, the computer main body can process the character information input from the display device with a pen input function, which is input through the keyboard controller, as the original character information from the keyboard. Similarly, the positional information from the display device with a pen input function input via the mouse controller can be regarded as the original positional information from the mouse and processed.

As a result, it is not necessary to connect the pen input control circuit dedicated to the display device with a pen input function to the computer main body, so the pen input computer can be used as it is without modifying the OS incorporated in the conventional laptop computer. Can be used as an OS.

In the pen input computer of another invention, character information and position information from the conventional keyboard and mouse are transferred to the keyboard controller or the mouse controller via the interface circuit described above.

With this configuration, a keyboard and a mouse can be connected to the modified pen input computer later, and a large amount of data can be input using the keyboard or a mouse can be used in an office or the like. It enables efficient operation.

Further, in another invention, in the case where a dedicated OS for each controller to which a pen input controller has been added has already been incorporated in the computer main body, the interface circuit has information having the same function as the pen input controller. By incorporating the conversion means,
The versatility of the pen input computer is further improved.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the schematic arrangement of the pen input computer of the embodiment. The same parts as those of the conventional pen input computer shown in FIG. 6 are designated by the same reference numerals. Therefore, detailed description of the overlapping portions is omitted. The external view of the pen input computer is the same as the external view shown in FIG.

In the pen input computer 21, similar to the conventional pen input computer 5 shown in FIG. 6, for example, a computer main body 6, a keyboard controller 10, a mouse controller 11, and a display controller 12 which are incorporated in a laptop computer, for example. Is incorporated. Further, in the pen input computer 21, a display device 7 with a pen input control function, an interface circuit 22 and a pen input control circuit 23 are incorporated.

Further, a keyboard 8 and a mouse 9 can be connected to the connection terminals 19 and 20 provided on the side surface of the case 1. The connection terminals 19 and 20 are connected to the interface circuit 22 housed inside.

The computer main body 6 is incorporated in, for example, a laptop computer or a notebook computer as described above. An OS (operating system) that controls input / output information for the keyboard controller 10, the mouse controller 11, and the display controller 12 is incorporated in the memory 16 of the computer body 6.

Character information a and position information b are input from the interface circuit 22 to the keyboard controller 10 and the mouse controller 11 in place of the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9. Keyboard 8 for connection terminals 19 and 20
With the mouse 9 connected, the character information a ₁ and the position information b ₁ are input to the interface circuit 22 from the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9.

The image information c output from the computer body 6 is input to the display controller 12. The display controller 12 sends the image information c ₁ to the interface circuit 22. The interface circuit 22 processes the image information c ₁ into image data c ₂ and sends it to the display device 7 with a pen input function.

The character information a ₂ and the position information b ₂ output from the display device 7 with a pen input function are converted by the pen input control circuit 23 into a format understandable by the interface circuit 22 and input to the interface circuit 22.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the interface circuit 22. This interface circuit 22
Is a kind of computer. Internal bus 24
On the other hand, a CPU 25 that executes various information processes, a ROM 26 that stores various control programs, a RAM 27 that temporarily stores various variable data, and a video RAM (VRAM) 29.
And a display control circuit 28 and the like to which the image information c ₁ is input from the display controller 12 are connected.

Further, the input circuit (2) 30 for taking in the positional information b ₁ of the mouse 9 inputted through the connecting terminal 20 to the internal bus 24, and the character of the keyboard 8 inputted through the connecting terminal 19 Input circuit (1) 31 for taking in the information a ₁ , output circuit (2) 32 for sending the character information a to the keyboard controller 10, output circuit (1) 33 for sending the position information b to the mouse controller 11, pen input function Display device 7
The input circuit (3) 34 for taking in the character information c ₂ and the position information b ₂ input from the pen input control circuit 23 and the bus interface 35 connected to the I / O bus 17 of the computer body 6 are provided. It is connected.

The bus interface 35 is used only when the computer body 6 has a built-in OS to which the controller of the display device 7 with a pen input function can be connected. Therefore, when the computer main body of the laptop computer or the notebook computer is used as it is, the bus interface 35 is not used.

The display control circuit 28 temporarily outputs the image information c ₁ input from the display controller 12 to the video RAM 29.
To store. Then, the image data c ₂ for one screen stored in the video RAM 29 is sequentially read and sent to the display device 7 with a pen input function.

The CPU 25 of the interface circuit 22
According to the flow chart of FIG. 3, the program is configured to execute a process of transmitting character information or position information input from each input circuit to the keyboard controller 10 or the mouse controller 11.

The flow chart starts, and at P1, the input circuit
(1) When the character information a ₁ is input from 31, since the character information a ₁ is the text information a ₁ input from the keyboard 8, the character information through intact output circuit (2) 32 at P2 It is sent to the keyboard controller 10 as a.

[0037] At P3, the position information b ₁ from the input circuit (2) 30 is input, since the positional information b ₁ is the position information b ₁ input from the mouse 9, as an output circuit at P4 (1) The position information b is sent to the mouse controller 11 via 33.

When the character information a ₂ or the position information b ₂ is input from the input circuit (3) 34 in P5, P6
Then, the process proceeds to step S4 and the pen input process shown in FIG. 4 is performed. When the pen input process of FIG. 4 is started, in P7, the input circuit (3) 3
If the information input from 4 is the position information b ₂ , it is converted into a format understandable by the mouse controller 11 and sent to the mouse controller 11 via the output circuit (1) 33 (P8).

In P9, if the information input from the input circuit (3) 34 is the character information a ₂ , the keyboard controller 10 converts it into a format understandable by the keyboard controller 10 and outputs it through the output circuit (2) 32. 10
(P10).

Then, for example, when a dedicated OS to which the controller of the display device 7 with a pen input function can be connected is incorporated in the computer body 6, as described above, the I / O is directly input via the bus interface 35. Since it is possible to send the character information a ₂ and the position information b ₂ from the display device 7 with a pen input function onto the bus 17, for example, the use / non-use of the bus interface 35 in P11 is instructed by the operator. To judge. When using, the character information a ₂ and the position information b ₂ input from the input circuit (3) 34 are input via the bus interface 35 to the I / O bus 17
(P12).

Therefore, the bus interface 35 and the pen input control circuit 23 receive the character information and the position information output from the display device with a pen input function 7 from the computer main body 6.
Constitutes an information conversion means for converting into character information and position information that can be understood by the above and sending it to the computer main body 6.

In the pen input computer configured as described above, the character information a ₂ and the position information b ₂ output from the display device 7 with a pen input function are the character information a ₁ and the character information a ₁ output from the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9. position information b ₁ and a keyboard controller 1 is converted to the same format
0 and sent to the mouse controller 11.

The keyboard controller 10 sends the character information a ₁ from the keyboard 8 and the character information a ₂ from the display device 7 with a pen input function to the I / O bus 17 as the same kind of character information. Similarly, the mouse controller 11 sets the position information b ₁ from the mouse 9 and the position information b ₂ from the display device with a pen input function 7 as I / O position information.
It is sent to the O bus 17.

When the bus interface 35 is not used, only the information from the keyboard controller 10 and the mouse controller 11 is input to the I / O bus 17 of the computer main body 6, so that the computer main body 6
As the OS incorporated in the memory, the OS incorporated in the laptop computer or the notebook computer which is the predecessor of this pen input computer can be used as it is.

Therefore, even if the laptop computer or notebook computer is remodeled into a pen input computer this time, it is not necessary to recreate the OS, so that the laptop computer or notebook computer can be easily converted into a pen input computer.

If the keyboard 8 and the mouse 9 are connected to the connection terminals 19 and 20 mounted on the side surface of the case 1, the laptop computer before modification can be used when the pen input computer 21 is used in an office or the like. Alternatively, like the notebook computer, a large amount of data can be input from the keyboard 8 or the operation work efficiency can be improved by using the mouse 9.

Since the OS is common, the compatibility of the application program between the laptop computer or notebook computer before the modification and the pen input computer after the modification can be ensured, so that the range of use of the pen input computer 21 can be greatly expanded. Can be expanded.

Further, when the OS of the computer main body 6 is recreated so that the controller of the display device 7 with a pen input function can be connected in the modification, the display device 7 with a pen input function is connected via the bus interface 35. By directly inputting the character information and the position information from the I / O bus 17, the CPU 2 of the interface circuit 22
The processing load of 5 can be greatly reduced, and the response speed to the input operation of the input pen 4 can be improved.

[0049]

As described above, in the present invention,
An interface circuit is provided for converting character information and position information output from the display device with a pen input function into a conventional keyboard controller and mouse controller so that they can be input. Therefore, since the information input to the computer main body can be limited to the information from the conventional keyboard controller and mouse controller, it is not necessary to change the OS of the computer main body. As a result, a conventional laptop computer or notebook computer can be easily converted into a pen input computer.

Further, since the OS is common, the application programs of the conventional laptop computer and notebook computer can be directly applied to the pen input computer of the present invention, and the application range of the pen input computer can be greatly expanded.

Further, if necessary, the keyboard and mouse used in the conventional laptop computer or notebook computer can be used as they are, so that the operation work efficiency in the case of use in an office or the like can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an interface circuit incorporated in a pen input computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a pen input computer according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the interface circuit of the computer of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart showing the operation of the same interface circuit.

FIG. 5 is an external view of a general pen input computer.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a conventional pen input computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Case, 2 ... Display unit, 3 ... Touch panel, 4 ... Input pen, 6 ... Computer main body, 7 ... Display device with pen input function, 8 ... Keyboard, 9 ... Mouse, 10 ... Keyboard controller, 11 ... Mouse controller, 12 ... Display controller, 14 ... CPU, 16 ... Memory, 21 ... Pen input computer, 22 ... Interface circuit, 23
... Pen input control circuit, 28 ... Display control circuit, 29 ... Video RAM, 30, 31, 34 ... Input circuit, 32, 33 ... Output circuit, 35 ... Bus interface.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Eiichi Igari No. 1 in Toshiba Fuchu factory, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo (72) Inventor Toshinori Nakano No. 1 Toshiba-machi in Fuchu, Tokyo Toshiba Fuchu factory, Ltd. (72) Inventor Minoru Mizobuchi No. 1 Toshiba-cho, Fuchu-shi, Tokyo Inside the Fuchu factory, Toshiba Corporation

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A computer main body for performing various kinds of information processing, and character information and position information which can be understood by the computer main body and which are inputted from a keyboard and a mouse which are connected to the computer main body and which are detachably provided. Character information and position information input by touch operation on a touch panel covering the display screen of the flat panel display, which has a keyboard controller and a mouse controller for converting to positional information and sending to the computer body A display device with a pen input function, a display controller for displaying the image information output from the computer body on a flat panel display of the display device with a pen input function, and an output from the display device with a pen input function. Character information and position information are output from the keyboard and mouse. Pen-input computer which includes an interface circuit for converting each format that matches the shape information and position information is sent to the keyboard controller and a mouse controller. 2. The interface circuit has an information transfer unit that takes in character information and position information output from the keyboard and the mouse and transfers them to the keyboard controller and the mouse controller as they are. Pen input computer described. 3. The information conversion, wherein the interface circuit takes in the character information and the position information output from the keyboard and the mouse, converts the character information and the position information which can be understood by the computer body, and sends the character information and the position information to the computer body. The pen input computer according to claim 2, further comprising means.