JPH08161979A - Keyboard with pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a serviceable structure with which a cursor on a screen can be freely moved to any position by placing at the front of a keyboard a pointing control that is operated by fingertips. CONSTITUTION: A pointing control 10 that can be operated by fingertips and elastically tilted in a X-Y direction relative to a pressing collar 8 is mounted on the top of the pressing collar 8; i.e., the control 10 molded from an elastic material can be freely tilted about its fulcrum rod 10a and relative to the pressing collar 8. Two click keys 12 that can be depressed by fingertips are placed around the control knob 10. A serviceable pointing device with which a cursor can be moved freely to any position with the control 10 can thus be obtained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a keyboard used as a key input device for computers, word processors and the like, and more particularly to a keyboard having a position for moving a cursor on a screen to an arbitrary position.

[0002]

As is well known, in image processing software and multimedia software, it is desirable that the cursor on the screen can be quickly moved to an arbitrary position. Have developed a keyboard incorporating a pointing device. That is, as a keyboard satisfying such requirements, a trackball or a pointing stick that can be freely rotated (operated) with a fingertip is incorporated on the surface of a keyboard on which a large number of character keys are arranged, and the same trackball with the fingertip is used. There is known a J-key mouse in which the cursor on the screen is moved in the rotating direction of the arrow or the operating direction of the pointing stick, or the "J" key which is one of so-called character keys has a cursor moving function.

[0003]

However, the above-mentioned trackball or pointing stick is
Since the structure is generally incorporated in the right side surface of the input character key of the keyboard, the horizontal dimension of the keyboard becomes large, which is an obstacle to the miniaturization of the band type OA device.
Also, the J-key mouse has the advantage that the external dimensions of the keyboard can be reduced, but with the small J-key operation,
It is difficult to move the cursor to a desired precise position, and there is a problem that the function as a pointing device is insufficient.

The object of the present invention is to take into consideration the problem of the keyboard incorporating the conventional pointing device as described above, so that the width dimension is small, the function as the pointing device is sufficient, and the pointing device can be easily operated. To get a keyboard with a pointing device that can.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention is a keyboard in which a large number of character keys for input are arranged on the surface of a keyboard reinforcing plate, and a front extension part is provided at the front part of the keyboard reinforcing plate. Extend and stack the membrane extension on the surface of the front extension, and locate the pointing operation knob that can be tilted in the XY direction by operating your fingertip in the center of the surface of the front extension. It is proposed to interpose between the knob and the membrane extension portion a pressure transmission member capable of making the membrane extension portion according to the inclination of the pointing operation knob in the XY directions.

Further, in an embodiment of the present invention described later, a structure in which a click key for giving a command by pressing is arranged on the surface of the front extension portion near the pointing operation knob will be described.

[0007]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a front portion of a keyboard according to the present invention. The keyboard includes a keyboard reinforcing plate 2 and a resin frame 3 in which membrane contacts 1 are laminated, and the resin frame 3 has a large number of surfaces. The input character key 4 and the return key 5 are arranged as in the conventional case.

A front extension 2a is integrally extended to the front edge of the keyboard reinforcing plate 2, and the front extension 2
A membrane extension 1a extended from the membrane contact 1 is laminated on the surface of a, and the entire surface of the front extension 2a is covered with a resin frame 3 like other portions of the keyboard.

Further, the central portion of the front extension portion 2a is stepwise drawn to secure a space for incorporating a preload spring 6 which will be described later, and a mounting hole 7 formed in the central portion is pressed by a hard resin. The shaft tube 8a of the collar 8 is pierced so that it can be freely tilted and is movable in the vertical direction. The pressing collar 8 has its peripheral portion abutted against the lower surface of the front extension 2a and is prevented from coming out of the front extension 2a by a preload spring 6 fixed to the shaft cylinder 8a by a mounting screw 9.

A pressing collar 8 is provided on the pressing collar 8.
On the other hand, a pointing operation knob 10 that can be elastically tilted in the XY directions and that can be operated with a fingertip is attached. That is, the operating knob 10 for pointing, which is formed of an elastic body such as synthetic rubber, is integrally formed on the lower surface with a fulcrum bar 10a that can be press-fitted into the central hole 8b of the pressing collar 8. You can freely lean on the color 8. Further, the "mushroom" -shaped pointing operation knob 10 has a spherical finger contact surface 10c on its umbrella portion 10b, and a tactile projection 10d indicating the center is projected at the center of this finger contact surface 10c. Therefore, the fingertips 10c or the tactile projections 10d can be brought into contact with the fingertips and the pointing operation knob 10 can be tilted in a desired direction.

On the other hand, since the pressure transmitting member 11 for transmitting the pressure due to the inclination of the pressing collar 8 in an arbitrary direction is interposed between the flange of the pressing collar 8 and the membrane extension portion 1a, the operating knob for pointing is provided. When the pressing collar 8 is tilted in any direction in the XY directions by the operation of 10, the XY contact portions (not shown) of the corresponding membrane extension 1a are made by the four pressing elements 11a of the pressure transmitting member 11. , The cursor on the screen is moved in the corresponding direction.

Two click keys 12 which can be pressed with a fingertip are arranged around the operation knob 10 for pointing. That is, since the cup-shaped click rubbers 13 are respectively interposed between the click keys 12 and the corresponding membrane extension portions 1a, when either one of the click keys 12 is pressed, the corresponding cup-shaped click rubber 13 is pressed. Therefore, the membrane extension 1a corresponding to is made and a command signal is transmitted.

Since the keyboard according to the illustrated embodiment has the above-described structure, a part of the keyboard reinforcing plate 2 is extended to the front of the keyboard and the pointing operation knob 10 is arranged on the front extension 2a. It is possible to obtain a convenient pointing device in which the cursor can be moved to a free position by the pointing operation knob 10 near the thumb or forefinger of the right hand without increasing the lateral width of the. When the pointing operation knob 10 is operated, the cursor on the screen moves in the same direction simply by deforming the pointing operation knob 10 made of an elastic body in a desired direction. Is a reaction force that matches the moving speed of the cursor and that does not cause discomfort. Next, when the fingertip is released from the pointing operation knob 10, the pointing operation knob 10 immediately restores to the state shown in the drawing, but by pressing the click key 12 around the pointing operation knob 10 with the fingertip, the OA device or the like Since a command signal can be input to, light operability can be obtained.

[0014]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, since the pointing operation knob operated by the fingertip is arranged at the front portion of the keyboard, a keyboard having a small width can be obtained. it can. In the keyboard of the present invention, a convenient structure in which the cursor on the screen can be moved to a free position is obtained only by operating the spherical pointing operation knob near the thumb and forefinger of the right hand with a fingertip. Therefore, by simply pressing the click key around the pointing operation knob, it is possible to achieve a simple structure in which a command signal can be input to an OA device or the like using the keyboard.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a keyboard switch according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the keyboard switch taken along line 2-2 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Memphlet contact point 1a Memphlet extension part 2 Keyboard reinforcement plate 2a Front extension part 3 Resin frame 4 Character key 6 Preload spring 8 Pressing collar 9 Mounting screw 10 Pointing operation knob 11 Pressure transmission member 12 Click key 13 Cup-shaped click rubber

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. In a keyboard in which a large number of input character keys are arranged on the surface of a keyboard reinforcing plate, a front extension part is extended to the front part of the keyboard reinforcing plate, and a menprene extension part is provided on the surface of the front extension part. A pointing operation knob that can be tilted in the XY direction by operating a fingertip is placed in the center of the surface of the front extension section, and the pointing operation knob is provided between the pointing operation knob and the membrane extension section. A keyboard with a pointing device, characterized in that a pressure transmission member capable of making the Menplen extension portion according to the inclination in the XY directions is interposed. 2. The keyboard with a pointing device according to claim 1, wherein a click key for giving a command by pressing is arranged on a surface of the front extension portion near the pointing operation knob.