JPH0830387A - Mouse input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform fine adjustment and to reduce stress caused by the accumulated fatigue of the arm and monotonous operations by providing a fine adjusting function to be operated by the motion of fingers as well in addition to a cursor position adjusting function to be operated by the move of a mouse due to the conventional motion of the arm. CONSTITUTION:The body 1 of the machine type mouse equipped with a track ball 8 on its lower face is provided with dials 3 and 4 for the fine adjustment of a cursor position and a ball lock switch 6 for making control sure at the time of fine control in addition to click buttons 5 and 7. By moving the body 1 of the mouse, the cursor on a screen can get close to the desired place, the ball lock switch 6 is turned to the state of fine control, vertical fine control is performed by operating the dial 3 with the finger, and horizontal fine control is performed by operating the dial 4. Something similar to an encoder for detecting the rotation of the track ball 8 can be used for detecting parts 9 and 10 for detecting the rotation of the dials 3 and 4, and the result is transmitted through the same signal line of a connecting cable 2.

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 which is one of input devices such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A mouse input device, which is one of input devices such as a personal computer, is easy to use because the cursor position on the display can be easily moved in any direction and various instructions can be input by clicking on the screen. It is widely used as an input device together with a keyboard. The mouse input device detects the mechanical rotation of the trackball provided at the bottom of the mouse body with an encoder and outputs a signal corresponding to the direction and amount of rotation as a movement control signal for moving the cursor position. There is a mechanical type and an optical type in which the mouse body is moved on the board surface on which a grid-like reference line is written, and the number of crossed grid lines is optically read to output a movement control signal. In either case,
By moving the mouse body back and forth and left and right on a table or the like, a movement control signal corresponding to the movement direction and movement distance is output to move the cursor on the display.

By using such a mouse input device, even a user who has little experience in using a computer, who is not familiar with complicated command sentences, and who is not accustomed to operating the keyboard can see the display screen. Interactive operations can be performed relatively easily.

In the mouse input device which has been widely and conventionally used, since the relationship between the moving distance of the mouse and the moving distance of the cursor on the screen is fixed, a flat surface such as a table having a limited width is used. If you want to move the cursor a lot, you have to move the mouse repeatedly in the same direction, and if you want to move the cursor delicately to perform final positioning, move the cursor. However, there was a problem that it was too fast to make fine adjustments.

On the other hand, various proposals have been made for facilitating both large movement of the cursor and fine adjustment by changing the relationship between the movement distance of the mouse and the movement distance of the cursor. For example, the cursor speed is switched by operating a switch provided on the mouse body (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 2)
No. 130621), a dial type setting device capable of adjusting the cursor speed in several steps (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 2)
-306330), a piezoelectric element is provided to detect the pressure pressing the mouse body to change the cursor speed (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-128319).

[0006]

However, the above-mentioned various proposals are all based on the basic idea of changing the relationship between the movement distance of the mouse and the movement distance of the cursor, and the table is used even when fine adjustment is performed. Since the mouse is moved back and forth and left and right on a plane such as the same, the user always repeats the same arm movement for cursor movement operation, which reduces the accumulation of fatigue of specific muscles and the stress due to monotonous movement. The problem remains that it cannot be done.

The object of the present invention is to adjust the position of the cursor by the movement of the arm, which is the movement of the position of the mouse in the related art.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mouse input device which can easily perform fine adjustment and can solve the above-mentioned remaining problems by adding a fine adjustment function based on different motions such as finger movements.

[0008]

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a mouse input device in which a mouse main body having a function of outputting a movement control signal of a cursor position corresponding to a moving direction and a moving distance by moving the mouse on a plane, It comprises fine adjustment means for outputting a fine adjustment control signal for finely adjusting the cursor position by operating with a finger.

A mouse input device according to a second aspect is the mouse input device according to the first aspect, wherein the mouse body detects the mechanical rotation of a trackball provided on a lower surface to control the movement in the vertical and horizontal directions. It is a mechanical type that outputs a signal.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided the mouse input device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the fine adjustment means operates from a top surface or a side surface of the mouse body to rotate and rotate a rotary operation mechanism. It is characterized in that it is configured to detect the amount and output the fine adjustment control signals in the vertical and horizontal directions.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the mouse input device according to the third aspect, wherein the rotary operation mechanism is
It is characterized by being constituted by two rotary dials for instructing cursor position movement in the vertical and horizontal directions.

A mouse input device according to a fifth aspect is the mouse input device according to the third aspect, wherein the rotary operation mechanism is
It is characterized by being composed of one trackball.

A mouse input device according to a sixth aspect is the mouse input device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the fine adjustment means has a pair of bidirectional functions having an origin returning function which is operated from an upper surface or a side surface of the mouse body. It is characterized by comprising an operation type switch mechanism and a control signal generator for outputting a fine adjustment control signal in vertical and horizontal directions corresponding to the operation state of the bidirectional operation type switch mechanism.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of the first embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1A is a plan view, and FIG. 1B is a side view.

The mouse input device according to the present embodiment detects the rotation of the trackball 8 provided on the lower surface of the mouse body 1 by an encoder (not shown) and sends a movement control signal for moving the cursor position to the connection cable 2. It is a mechanical mouse that is sent out via the mouse body 1. On the top surface of the mouse body 1, in addition to the two click buttons 5 and 7 for performing the click operation similar to the conventional mouse input device, fine adjustment of the cursor position is performed. There are provided dials 3 and 4 to be used and a ball lock switch 6 for interrupting transmission of rotation information of the trackball 8 during fine adjustment.

When the cursor position on the display is largely moved, the mouse body 1 is moved back and forth and left and right on a table or the like, whereby the trackball 8 is rotated and a movement control signal is sent to move the cursor. .
On the other hand, when finely adjusting the cursor position, the mouse body 1 is not moved but stopped and the dial 3 or 4 is moved.
When is operated by a finger to rotate, the detection unit 9 or 10 provided inside the mouse body 1 detects a rotation direction and a rotation amount, and a fine adjustment control signal for finely adjusting the cursor up and down or left and right is generated. Sent out. The detectors 9 and 10 include
An encoder similar to the one that detects the rotation of the trackball 8 can be used, and is sent out through the same signal line in the connecting cable 2.

The ball lock switch 6 prevents the movement information of the trackball 8 from being transmitted so that an unintentional cursor movement does not occur even if the mouse body 1 moves when the dial 3 or 4 is finely adjusted. It is for The user moves the mouse body 1 by the movement of the arm,
Move the cursor on the screen close to the desired place, press the ball lock switch 6 to make it fine,
By using the finger, the dial 3 can be operated to finely adjust the vertical position, and the dial 4 can be easily operated to finely adjust the horizontal position.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 described above, the ball lock switch 6 is provided so as to prevent unintentional cursor movement even if the mouse body 1 moves during fine adjustment, but the dial is easily operated. The ball lock switch can be omitted if the mouse body 1 is used with care so as not to move during fine adjustment. Although it has been described that the movement control signal from the trackball 8 and the fine adjustment control signal for fine adjustment are transmitted through the same signal line, it is possible to use another signal line.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a double dial having the entire circumference of the operating portion is provided on the upper surface of the mouse body 1, but in the case of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, the dials 3a and 4a are provided. Is 2
It is not a double type, but it is provided separately for vertical and horizontal directions,
Only a part of the circumference to be operated is projected on the side surface, and most of the structure is housed inside the mouse body 1. In addition,
One trackball may be used instead of the two dials, and a control signal for fine adjustment in the vertical and horizontal directions may be output based on the rotation direction and the rotation amount thereof. There is an advantage that it can be done by one operation.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, a mechanical mouse body is provided with a rotary operation mechanism operated by a finger for detecting mechanical rotation of the same kind. The body is not limited to the main body, and a similar rotary operation mechanism can be applied to the optical mouse body.
In this case, if necessary, a signal format conversion means for converting the format of the fine adjustment control signal obtained by detecting the rotation of the rotary operation mechanism into the format of the movement control signal from the optical mouse body. It is necessary to provide.

FIG. 3 is a plan view and a sectional view of a fine adjustment switch according to a third embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the rotary operation mechanism is rotated by a finger, the rotation direction and the rotation amount are detected, and the fine adjustment control signal is output.
As shown in FIG. 2, two fine adjustment switches 11 and 12 that are operated by a finger are provided on the upper surface of the mouse body 1, and a method of outputting a fine adjustment control signal only while the switches are pressed is used.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3B, the fine adjustment switches 11 and 12 can be operated in both directions by the operation unit 14 centering on the origin defined by the spring, and the contacts are closed only while the operation is performed with the finger. , A two-way operation type switch with a return-to-origin function that returns to the origin when the finger is released is used. A control signal generator 13 that outputs a fine adjustment control signal that moves the cursor at a constant speed only while the switch is being operated is provided inside the mouse body 1. As a result, the same effects as those of the first and second embodiments can be obtained.

[0023]

As described above, according to the mouse input device of the present invention, when the mouse cursor on the screen is moved, a large movement is performed by the mouse movement by the arm like the conventional one, and the fine adjustment is performed by the dial or the By operating the trackball with your fingertips, you can easily position the cursor exactly where you want to set it, and by using the movements of your arms and fingers together, you can reduce the accumulation of fatigue and stress. .

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a first embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a plan view and (b) is a side view.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a third embodiment of the present invention and a cross-sectional view of a fine adjustment switch.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 mouse body 2 connection cable 3,3a, 4,4a dial 5,7 click button 6 ball lock switch 8 trackball 9,10 detection unit 9 11,12 fine adjustment switch 13 control signal generator 14 operation unit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A mouse main body having a function of outputting a movement control signal of a cursor position corresponding to a movement direction and a movement distance by moving on a plane, the cursor position is finely adjusted by operating with a finger. The mouse input device is provided with a fine adjustment means for outputting a fine adjustment control signal. 2. The mouse body is a mechanical type that detects mechanical rotation of a trackball provided on a lower surface and outputs the movement control signals in the vertical and horizontal directions. Mouse input device. 3. The fine adjustment means is configured to detect a rotation direction and a rotation amount of a rotary operation mechanism operated from an upper surface or a side surface of the mouse main body, and output the fine adjustment control signals in vertical and horizontal directions. The mouse input device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mouse input device is provided. 4. The mouse input device according to claim 3, wherein the rotary operation mechanism is composed of two rotary dials for instructing cursor position movement in vertical and horizontal directions. 5. The mouse input device according to claim 3, wherein the rotary operation mechanism is composed of one trackball. 6. The pair of bidirectional operation type switch mechanisms having a return-to-origin function operated from the upper surface or the side surface of the mouse body, and the fine adjustment means corresponding to operating states of the bidirectional operation type switch mechanism. The mouse input device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mouse input device comprises a control signal generator that outputs a fine adjustment control signal in the vertical and horizontal directions.