JPH0784717A - Pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make a device compact, and to improve operability as for a pointing device. CONSTITUTION:This device is provided with a bar-shaped movable body 13 whose lower end is equipped with a spherical supporting base part 13a, substrate 12 whose surface is equipped with a recessed part 12a to which the base part 13a is fitted, dome-shaped elastically deformed supporting body 15 which abuts the base part 13a on the recessed part 12a, and supports the movable body 13 on the substrate 12 in an erect attitude from which the upper end part of the movable body 13 can be pushed down to an arbitrary direction, disc 14 fixed to the middle part of the movable body 13, and detecting part 16 which detects the direction to which the movable body 13 is pushed down. The detecting part 16 is provided with insulating sheets 17 and 19, spacer 18 which separates the insulating sheets, annular conductive path 20 provided on the surface of the insulating sheet 17 and separated at one part, and annular conductive path 21 formed on the rear of the insulating sheet 19, separated at one part, and opposed to the conductive path 20. At least one of the conductive paths 20 and 21 is formed of an electric resistive member, and when the movable body 13 is pushed down, one part of the insulating sheet 19 is pressurized by the inclined lower end of the disc 14, and the conductive path 21 is brought into contact with the conductive path 20 by the pressurized part.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pointing device for controlling the movement of a cursor on a display screen of an information processing device or the like, and more particularly to a small and highly portable pointing device for use in a portable device. Regarding the configuration of.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pointing device generally includes a mouse which includes a pair of movable wheels and is moved on an operation plate, a joystick which is a lever-shaped input device having at least two degrees of freedom, and a ball which can be rotated about its center. Trackballs and the like, which are input devices, have been put to practical use.

A conventional joystick whose operation is similar to the pointing device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 5A and 5B are explanatory views of the basic configuration and the operating principle of the conventional joystick. (A) is an explanatory view of the operating principle, (B) is a plan view, and (C) is a sectional view taken along line XX of (B). Is.

In FIG. 5, the joystick 1 has a lever 3 supported by a gimbal mechanism, and when an operator tilts the lever 3 in an appropriate direction, the joystick 1 is moved in accordance with the direction and the tilt angle.
This is a configuration for generating voltages of X and Y components or digital quantities.

Two variable resistors (potentiometers) 2 are provided to detect the position and displacement in the X and Y directions. The lever 3 is connected to the shaft 4 and can be swung about a fulcrum 6 on the case 5 as a center of rotation. Is.

The tip of the shaft 4 is engaged with the groove 8 of two semi-circular oscillators 7 which are orthogonal to each other. One end of the oscillating body 7 is connected to the sliding body of the variable resistor 2 and the other end is supported by the case 5. By tilting the lever 3, the oscillating body 7 is rotated and the variable resistor 2 is driven. become.

A constant voltage V is applied to both ends of the variable resistor 2, the sliding body of the variable resistor 2 moves according to the inclination of the lever 3, and the X component voltage V ₁ and the Y component voltage V ₂ change. To do. That is, by moving the lever 3, an analog voltage corresponding to the lever position is extracted from the two variable resistors 2, and the output voltage is A / D converted and output as an X, Y component digital signal.

[0008]

As described above, when the conventional pointing device is used in a portable device such as a notebook type personal computer, the mouse requires a flat plate (desk) for operation and is used outdoors. There is a problem that it is difficult to use in a peculiar place of, the joystick and the trackball do not need a flat plate for operation and can be housed in the device, which is superior to the mouse, but it can be operated by grasping the lever. The joystick, which has a structure for accommodating the variable resistor, hinders the thinning and portability of the device using the variable resistor, and the trackball has a problem that the operability is sacrificed due to the smaller operation ball.

[0009]

Particularly, a pointing device of the present invention, which is miniaturized for a portable device and is improved in operability at that time, has a spherical support at a lower end according to an embodiment shown in FIG. Rod-shaped movable body 13 provided with a base 13a
And a substrate 12 provided with a recess 12a on the surface with which the support base 13a slidably abuts, and an upright position in which the support base 13a abuts the recess 12a and the upper end can be tilted in any direction. A dome-shaped elastically deformable support 15 for supporting the body 13 on the substrate 12, a disk 14 fixedly attached to an intermediate portion of the movable body 13 and housed in the support 15, and supported by the support 15 The movable body 13 is pushed by the disc 14 when the movable body 13 is tilted, and the detecting portion 16 for detecting the tilting direction of the movable body 13 is mounted. The detecting portion is mounted on the surface of the substrate 12 and is housed in the support body 15. 16 is a movable body in the center
A first insulating sheet 17 provided with a through hole through which 13 is fixed, is fixed to the substrate 12, a spacer 18 adhered to the peripheral portion of the first insulating sheet 17, and is stretched to face the insulating sheet 17 with the spacer 18 interposed therebetween. A flexible second insulating sheet 19 having a through hole through which the movable body 13 penetrates in the central portion, an annular first conductive path 20 formed on the surface of the insulating sheet 17 and separated by a part, a conductive path The annular second conductive path 21 formed on the back surface of the insulating sheet 19 so as to face 20 and separated by a part, the first external lead 20a and the conductive path 21 communicating with one of the separated ends of the conductive path 20. The second external lead 21 communicating with one of the separated ends
Conductive path 2 that is equipped with a and is arranged so as to be concentric with the recess 12a.
At least one of 0 and 21 is formed of an electric resistance member, and when the movable body 13 is tilted down, the inclined lower end portion of the disk 14 presses down a part of the insulating sheet 19, and the conductive path is formed at the pressed portion.
The conductive path 21 contacts the 20.

[0010]

In the pointing device of the present invention constructed as described above, the force for inclining the movable body for operation is a magnitude which mainly elastically deforms the support body, and the conventional joystick using a variable resistor or the like is used. It is smaller than the tech, and it is enough to use the fingers to operate the movable body.

Therefore, the operability of the pointing device of the present invention is superior to that of the conventional joystick, and the movable body which does not need to be gripped does not need to be long like the lever in the conventional joystick, and therefore can be miniaturized. It is possible and facilitates integration into the required portable device.

Further, in the pointing device of the present invention, the detecting portion using the pair of annular conductive paths has a simpler structure than that of the conventional joystick using a variable resistor or the like. And enables miniaturization of an apparatus using the device.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of a pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operating state of the pointing device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the pointing device shown in FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the detection unit shown in FIG.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a pointing device 11 is a substrate 12, a rod-shaped movable body 13, a disc 14 fixed to an intermediate portion of the movable body 13, a support body 15 for supporting the movable body 13, a movable body.
The detection unit 16 and the like detect the inclination direction of 13 and the durability of the inclination.

The movable body 13 made of metal or the like has a spherical support base 13a at its lower end, and a recess 12a on the surface of the substrate 12 on which the support base 13a slidably abuts. An elastically deformable member, for example, a dome-shaped support 15 made of a thin rubber plate,
The dome edge resting on the substrate 12 is adhered to the surface of the substrate 12, the disk 14 and the detection unit 16 are housed in the dome, and the support base
The movable body 13 is supported on the substrate 12 in an upright state in which 13a abuts the recess 12a and the upper end can be tilted in any direction.

The external connection tongues 17c and 19c of the detection unit 16 are led out from the through hole 15a provided on one side of the support 15. 1 and 4, the detection unit 16 mounted (bonded) on the surface of the substrate 12 and housed in the dome of the support body 15 includes a first insulating sheet 17, a spacer 18, and a second insulating sheet 19. Become.

The insulating sheet 17 adhered to the surface of the substrate 12 is
A through hole 17b is formed in the center of a mother body 17a made of polyethylene or the like so that the movable body 13 can pass through with a margin, and a circular conductor path 20 separated in part is formed on the surface of the through hole 17b.

The conductor path 20 made of copper or the like has a concentric pattern with the recess 12a, and the lead portion 20a extending from one end thereof is
It is formed on the tongue piece 17c extending from one side of the mother body 17a.
c is derived from the support 15.

The spacer 18 adhered to the peripheral portion of the surface of the insulating sheet 17 is a matrix 18 made of, for example, a polyethylene sheet.
Through hole 18 where conductor path 20 is exposed in the center of a
b is formed, and a flexible insulating sheet 19 is bonded onto the spacer 18.

The insulating sheet 19 is provided with a through hole 19b through which the movable body 13 passes with a margin at the center of a mother body 19a made of polyethylene or the like, and an annular resistance path 21 facing the annular conductor path 20 is formed on the back surface thereof. The lead portion 21a of the resistance path 21, which is a conductive path having an appropriate resistance value, is formed on the tongue piece 19c extending from one side of the mother body 19a.
Will be derived from.

Then, as shown in FIG. 2, when the upper end of the movable body 13 is pushed to the left by, for example, the fingers 22, the movable body 13 falls down in the pushed direction, whereby the inclined direction of the inclined disk 14 is increased. The end presses the insulating sheet 19. Therefore, when the movable body 13 is pressed with an appropriate force, the flexible insulating sheet 19 is elastically deformed, and a part of the resistance path 21 formed on the back surface of the insulating sheet 19 comes into contact with the conductor path 20. When the force pushing the movable body 13 is removed, the movable body 13 is returned to the substantially upright state by the restoring force of the support body 15, and the connection between the resistance path 21 and the conductor path 20 is released.

In such a pointing device 11, the contact position between the resistance path 21 and the conductor path 20 differs depending on the direction in which the movable body 13 is tilted, which causes a pair of lead portions.
The electric resistance values detected from 20a and 21a are different, and the resistance value includes information on the direction in which the movable body 13 is tilted (X component and Y component).

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the pointing device 11 connected to the desired input device outputs the change in the resistance value as a voltage signal from the detection unit 16 to which a predetermined measurement voltage V _CC is applied, and outputs the voltage signal. The signal is digitized by the A / D converter 25, and the MPU 26 of the microcomputer 30 compares the signal with the information (relationship data between the output voltage and the inclination direction of the movable body 13) stored in the ROM 27 in advance, and the movable body 13 is compared with the information. It functions by recognizing the tilt direction of the mouse and transmitting it to the host as a signal compatible with the tilt direction, for example, as a mouse compatible signal, that is, by pushing down the movable body 13 with the finger or the like in the direction to move the cursor, the movable body 13 The cursor continues to move by continuously pressing, and the cursor stops at that position by releasing the finger or the like from the movable body 13.

In the above embodiment, an annular resistance path is used.
21 and conductor track 20 were used. However, as will be apparent from the embodiment, the present invention adds that the conductor path 20 may be formed in a disc shape, or the conductor path 20 may be formed of an electric resistance member.

[0025]

As described above, the pointing device of the present invention is superior to the mouse in that it can be used anywhere as an input for a portable device because it does not require an operating flat plate, and it has a similar operating method. Compared to this, the detector configuration is simple and the movable body (lever) can be shortened, which allows for downsizing and is superior in operability to conventional trackballs.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a schematic configuration of a pointing device that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an operating state of the pointing device shown in FIG.

3 is a block diagram of a control circuit of the pointing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the detection unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the basic configuration and operation principle of a conventional joystick.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 is a pointing device 12 is a substrate 12a is a recess of the substrate 13 is a rod-shaped movable body 13a is a spherical support base of the movable body 14 is a disk 15 is a dome-shaped support 16 is a detection unit 17 and 19 is an insulating sheet 17b, 19b Is a through hole 18 formed in an insulating sheet, spacers 20 and 21 are conductive paths 20a and 21a are external leads.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A rod-shaped movable body (13) having a spherical support base (13a) at its lower end, and a substrate (12) provided with a recess (12a) on which the support base slidably abuts. A dome-shaped elastically deformable support body (15) for supporting the movable body on the substrate in an upright state in which the support base portion is in contact with the recess and the upper end portion can be tilted in an arbitrary direction, A disc fixedly attached to the intermediate portion of the movable body and housed in the support body
(14) and a detection unit (1) that detects the tilt direction of the movable body when pushed by the disc when the movable body supported by the support body is tilted.
A first part fixed to the substrate by providing a through hole (17b) through which the movable body penetrates in the central portion of the detection part mounted on the surface of the substrate and housed in the support body. Insulating sheet (17), a spacer (18) adhered to the peripheral portion of the first insulating sheet, and a tension member facing the first insulating sheet so as to sandwich the spacer, and the movable body penetrates the central portion. A flexible second insulating sheet (19) having a through hole (19b), and an annular first conductive path (2) formed on the surface of the first insulating sheet and separated by a part.
0), an annular second conductive path (21) formed on the back surface of the second insulating sheet so as to be opposed to the first conductive path and separated by a part, and one of the first conductive path A first external lead (20a) communicating with the cutoff end and a second external lead (21a) communicating with one cutoff end of the second conductive path are provided so as to be concentric with the recess. At least one of the first and second conductive paths is formed of an electric resistance member, and when the movable body is tilted, the inclined lower end portion of the disc presses a part of the second insulating sheet. The pointing device is characterized in that the second conductive path is in contact with the first conductive path at the depressed portion.