JPH0894654A - Data input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a data input device whose usage place is not limited, whose life is long and whose reliability is high. CONSTITUTION: A mobile operating body 1 for a data input device is structured in such a way that it comprises two angular velocity sensors 3a, 3b and a signal processing part 4 and that the sensors 3a, 3b and the signal processing part 4 are housed and hermetically sealed. When the mobile operating body 1 is moved inside a three-dimensional space so as to be turned and operated, angular velocities in directions of rotation as two respectively different axes, i.e., the X-axis and the Y-axis, are outputted by the angular velocity sensors 3a, 3b as voltages which are proportional to the angular velocities, and the signal processing part 4 converts voltage signals by the respective angular velocity sensors 3a, 3b into pulse signals at frequencies which are proportional to the voltages so as to be outputted to a personal computer 11 as two-dimensional information via an interface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data input device for inputting two-dimensional information to a data input device such as a personal computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 6 shows a personal computer (personal computer) 11 which is a data input device and a mouse 13 which is a moving operation body of the data input device. As shown in FIG. 7, the conventional mouse 13 has a rotatable ball 17 as shown in FIG.
And an X-direction rotary encoder 15 and a Y-direction rotary encoder 16. For example, the ball
When a person or the like moves the mouse 13 body in a direction inclined by 45 ° from the X-axis direction as shown in FIG. 7 while bringing the ball 17 into contact with the operation surface, the ball 17 rotates in the direction of the arrow and receives the rotation of the ball 17. As a result, the rotating parts of the X-direction rotary encoder 15 and the Y-direction rotary encoder 16 rotate about the rotation axis. By this rotation of the rotating portion, the X-direction rotary encoder 15 causes the pulse signal XA corresponding to the movement distance of the mouse 13 in the X-direction and the movement direction in the X-direction (forward or backward) as shown in FIG. And pulse signal XB corresponding to
The direction rotary encoder 16 outputs a pulse signal YA corresponding to the moving distance of the mouse 13 in the Y direction and a pulse signal YB corresponding to the moving direction in the Y direction (rightward or leftward).

The above four pulse signals XA, XB, YA,
YB is output and transmitted from the mouse 13 to the personal computer 11 via the mouse interface, and the personal computer 11 outputs the output signal of the mouse 13 to, for example, a pulse signal XA per unit time,
The movement distance of the mouse 13 in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction can be easily recognized only by counting the number of YA pulses. Further, comparing the pulse signals XB and XA, YB and YA, for example, when the phase of XB is ahead of the phase of XA, it means that the mouse 13 is moving backward.
When the phase of XB lags the phase of XA, it means that the mouse 13 is moving forward.
The personal computer 11 can recognize the moving direction of the mouse 13 depending on the advance and delay of the phase shift of XB and YB with respect to A and YA.

[0004]

By the way, in order to effectively input two-dimensional information using the mouse 13, it is desired that the operation surface is a flat surface having an appropriate width. Also, even if the mouse 13 is moved on a smooth flat surface such as glass, the ball 17 slides on the flat surface and does not rotate smoothly,
Since the mouse 13 may not be able to output two-dimensional information, in order to effectively use the mouse 13, the operation surface must be a surface formed of a material that causes an appropriate friction with the ball 17. I won't. From these things, only in a limited place such as a desk where the operation surface can be secured,
It is not possible to smoothly input the two-dimensional information to the personal computer 11 using the mouse 13. Therefore, for example, when the two-dimensional information is input to the portable personal computer such as a laptop computer on the train by using the mouse 13, It was very inconvenient. As described above, there is a problem that the use place of the mouse 13 is limited.

The ball 17 is made of a material such as rubber that easily causes friction with the operating surface. The ball 17 made of such a material has dust, dust, etc. attached to the operating surface. easy. When the adhered dust and dirt enter between the balls 17 and the rotating parts of the X-direction rotary encoder 15 and the Y-direction rotary encoder 16 and accumulate, the rotation of the balls 17 is changed to the X-direction rotary encoder 15 and the Y-direction rotary encoder 16.
However, there is a problem in that the mouse 13 cannot perform the function of inputting the two-dimensional information to the personal computer 11 accurately, because the mouse 13 cannot smoothly transmit the information to the rotating part.

In addition, between the ball 17 and the rotary portion of the X-direction rotary encoder 15 or the Y-direction rotary encoder 16 or between the rotary shaft and the bearing portion of the X-direction rotary encoder 15 or the Y-direction rotary encoder 16, The sliding contact portions rub against each other, and the sliding contact portions gradually wear out. From this, there is a problem that the durability of the mouse 13 is shortened.

Further, as described above, dust, dirt, etc.
If it becomes impossible to accurately transmit the rotation of the ball 17 to the rotary encoders 15 and 16 due to, for example, getting in between the 17 and the rotary encoders 15 and 16, or the sliding contact portion being worn, the mouse 13 transfers to the personal computer 11. Since it becomes impossible to input the dimensional information, there is a problem that the reliability of the information input by the mouse 13 becomes low.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object thereof is to input two-dimensional information easily regardless of location, to have a long service life and to be highly reliable. To provide.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, the data input device of the present invention is a data input device for inputting two-dimensional information obtained by movement of a moving operation body to a data input device, in which the moving operation body has different rotation directions of two axes in a three-dimensional space. Is arranged, and the output of the angular velocity sensor is used as two-dimensional information.

Further, the data input device of the present invention uses a piezoelectric vibrating gyro as an angular velocity sensor, and is provided with a pulse conversion output circuit for converting and outputting a signal of the angular velocity sensor into a pulse signal having a frequency proportional to the angular velocity. thing,
The pulse conversion output circuit is also characterized in that it is configured by a VF converter that converts the signal of the angular velocity sensor into a pulse having a frequency proportional to the voltage.

[0011]

In the present invention having the above structure, when the moving operation body is rotationally moved in the three-dimensional space, the two angular velocity sensors become
Each of them outputs a signal corresponding to a different biaxial rotation motion, and the data input device inputs the signal of the angular velocity sensor as two-dimensional information to a data input device such as a personal computer.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the description of the present embodiment, the same reference numerals will be given to the same names as those in the conventional example, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a moving operation body 1 of the data input device of this embodiment. The moving operation body 1 includes an angular velocity sensor 3a formed of a known piezoelectric vibration gyro,
3b and the signal processing unit 4, and the angular velocity sensors 3a, 3b, the signal processing unit 4, etc. are hermetically housed in the main body case 2.

The angular velocity sensor 3a is installed so as to detect a movement (angular velocity) in the rotation direction about the X-axis direction as a rotation axis, and the angular velocity sensor 3b is arranged in the Y-axis direction orthogonal to the X-axis direction. Movement in the direction of rotation about the axis of rotation (angular velocity)
Is installed to detect. A voltage applying means (not shown) for angular velocity detection driving is connected to the angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b. The angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b are driven to detect angular velocity, and a data input body (not shown) such as a person
When the moving operation body 1 is moved in a three-dimensional space and the angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b rotate about different X-axis and Y-axis directions respectively, the angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b are proportional to the angular velocity around the rotation axis as shown in FIG. The voltage is output to the signal processing unit 4. In addition,
For example, if the angular velocity sensor 3a outputs a positive voltage due to the movement in the rotation direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, it outputs a negative voltage for the movement in the opposite rotation direction. The sign of the output voltage differs depending on the rotation direction.

The signal processing unit 4 includes angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b.
Based on the voltage signal input from, the following signal processing is performed to convert it to a signal of the same type as the output signal of the conventional mouse 13 as shown in FIG. 8, and this signal is sent to the personal computer via the interface. Output to 11.

The signal processing section 4 is, as shown in FIG.
An absolute value detection circuit 5, a positive / negative determination circuit 6, a pulse conversion output circuit 7 including a known VF converter, a phase conversion circuit 8, and an XOR circuit (exclusive OR circuit) 9 are provided. Has been done. The signal processing unit 4 includes a signal processing circuit portion 10 including the above-described circuit that processes the voltage signal of the angular velocity sensor 3a, and the signal processing circuit portion 10
Although two signal processing circuit portions for the voltage signal of the angular velocity sensor 3b having the same configuration as the above are provided, the configuration of the signal processing circuit portion of each system is the same, and therefore the angular velocity sensor 3a is shown in FIG. Only the signal processing circuit portion 10 of the voltage signal of 1 is shown, and the signal processing circuit portion of the voltage signal of the angular velocity sensor 3b is omitted.

The angular velocity detection voltage signal output from the angular velocity sensor 3a is input to the absolute value detection circuit 5 and the positive / negative determination circuit 6. The positive / negative determination circuit 6 outputs an H signal when the output voltage of the angular velocity sensor 3a is, for example, a positive voltage indicating positive rotation as shown in FIG.
If the output voltage is a negative voltage indicating reverse rotation, the positive / negative sign signal (pulse signal) XC that outputs the L signal is output to the XOR circuit 9.

The absolute value detection circuit 5 obtains the magnitude of the absolute value of the output voltage of the angular velocity sensor 3a and outputs it to the pulse conversion output circuit 7. The pulse conversion output circuit 7 converts the pulse signal XF having a frequency proportional to the magnitude of the output voltage of the angular velocity sensor 3 a as shown in FIG. 4 and outputs the pulse signal XF to the phase conversion circuit 8. The phase conversion circuit 8 receives the input pulse signal XF
The frequency of the pulse signal XA as shown in FIG.
Is output. At the same time, the pulse signal Xa, which is 90 ° out of phase with XA, is output to the XOR circuit 9.

As shown in FIG. 5, the XOR circuit 9 obtains the exclusive OR of the pulse signal Xa input from the phase conversion circuit 8 and the pulse signal XC input from the positive / negative determination circuit 6 to obtain the pulse signal. Output XB.

The voltage signal of the angular velocity sensor 3b is also subjected to similar signal processing to output pulse signals YA and YB. Further, the pulse signals XA, XB, YA, YB output from the moving operation body 1 as described above correspond to the output signals XA, XB, YA, YB of the conventional mouse 13.

As described above, the pulse signals XA,
XB, YA, and YB are input to the personal computer 11 from the mobile operating body 1 through the interface, and the personal computer 11
As in the conventional case, for example, the number of pulses of XA and YA per unit time is counted to recognize the moving distance of the moving operation body 1. Further, the personal computer 11 compares XA and XB, and YA and YB. For example, when the phase of XB is ahead of the phase of XA, one direction is positive or negative, for example, the moving operation body 1 is in the arrow direction of FIG. PC 11 recognizes that it is rotating, and X
When the phase of B is delayed from the phase of XA, it is recognized that it is rotating in the opposite direction. As the phase shift of XB and YB with respect to XA and YA is advanced and delayed, the personal computer 11 moves to the moving operation body 1. Recognize the rotational movement direction.

According to this embodiment, the moving operating body 1 is provided with two angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b, and two-dimensional information is input to the personal computer 11 based on the signals output from the respective angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b. Therefore, when the two-dimensional information is input to the personal computer 11 using the moving operation body 1, the two-dimensional information can be easily obtained by appropriately rotating and moving the moving operation body 1 in the three-dimensional space. Therefore, unlike the conventional example, the moving operation place of the moving operation body 1 is not limited to a two-dimensional plane, and even if the moving operation place is a place such as a train, the moving operation body 1 is connected to a portable personal computer, Two-dimensional information can be easily input to the portable personal computer by the rotational movement operation of the moving operation body 1 in the three-dimensional space.

Further, as described above, the angular velocity sensors 3a, 3
Since b is provided and the output signals of the angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b are used as the two-dimensional information, the moving operation body 1 has a sliding contact portion such as between the rotary portion and the bearing portion of the rotary encoders 15 and 16 of the conventional example. Therefore, the components of the moving operation body 1 are not worn out. Furthermore, the angular velocity sensor 3
Since a, 3b and the signal processing unit 4 are hermetically housed in the main body case 2, the angular velocity sensor 3a,
Failure of 3b or the signal processing unit 4 is unlikely to occur. From the above, it is possible to provide a highly reliable data input device having a long service life.

Further, since the signal processing unit 4 for converting the output voltage of the angular velocity sensors 3a, 3b into a signal of the same kind as the personal computer input signal of the conventional mouse 13 is provided, the conventional interface is used as in the conventional case. Two-dimensional information can be input to the personal computer 11. Further, since the personal computer 11 can recognize the two-dimensional information of the output signal of the mobile operating body 1 by the conventional signal processing method, it is not necessary to give the personal computer 11 a new signal processing method, If the data input device is connected to the personal computer 11, the two-dimensional information can be recognized as it is from the output signal of the data input device.

Furthermore, the pulse conversion output circuit 7 can be formed by a digital conversion circuit (A / D conversion circuit), an arithmetic circuit (CPU circuit), etc., instead of the VF converter used in this embodiment. However, if the digital conversion circuit or the arithmetic circuit is used, the structure of the pulse conversion output circuit 7 becomes more complicated than that of the VF converter, and the price becomes high. In this respect, in the present embodiment, since the pulse conversion output circuit 7 is formed using the VF converter (using one component only of the VF converter), the structure of the data input device is simplified and the data input device is also provided. Can be offered at a low price.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various embodiments can be adopted. For example, in the above embodiment, the angular velocity sensors 3a and 3b are formed by the piezoelectric vibrating gyro, but a vibrating gyro having another configuration such as utilizing electrostatic force may be used. Also, the angular velocity sensor 3
Although a and 3b are installed so as to detect the angular velocities around the X axis and the Y axis, which are orthogonal to each other, they are installed not so as to detect the angular velocities in the rotational directions with the arbitrary two different directions as rotational axes. You may.

[0027]

According to the present invention, the moving operation body is provided with two angular velocity sensors for respectively detecting movements in two different rotation directions in a three-dimensional space, and outputs of the respective angular velocity sensors are two-dimensional. Since the information is input to a data input device such as a personal computer, two-dimensional information can be input to the data input device if the moving operation body is rotationally moved in a three-dimensional space. The use place of the data input device that obtains two-dimensional information by moving the moving operation body is not limited to a two-dimensional plane such as a desk as in the conventional case. For example, even in a train or the like, the data can be stored in a portable personal computer or the like. Two-dimensional information can be easily input by connecting the input device and using the data input device.

Further, since the moving operation body does not have a portion in which the constituent parts of the moving operation body make slidable contact with each other, and the constituent parts do not wear as in the conventional example, data input having a long service life is input. A device can be provided, and further,
From the above, it is possible to provide a highly reliable data input device which does not have a failure due to wear of parts.

Further, in the structure provided with the pulse conversion output circuit for converting and outputting the signal of the angular velocity sensor into the pulse signal of the frequency proportional to the angular velocity, the data input device is
It is not necessary to provide a new signal processing circuit such as a digital conversion circuit that converts the output (analog signal) of the angular velocity sensor into a digital signal. Further, the pulse signal can make the output signal of the conventional data input device the same kind of signal, and by doing so, a signal for new two-dimensional information recognition in the output signal of the data input device is given to the data input device. Even if the processing method is not given, the data input device can obtain two-dimensional information from the output signal of the data input device according to the conventional signal processing method.

Furthermore, in the data input device having the structure in which the pulse conversion output circuit is formed by the VF converter,
Compared with the case where the pulse conversion output circuit is formed by other components such as a digital conversion circuit and an arithmetic circuit, the device configuration becomes extremely simple, and the excellent data input device of the present invention can be provided at low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a data input device of the present embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a signal processing unit that processes an output signal of an angular velocity sensor.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a relationship between an angular velocity detected by an angular velocity sensor and a sensor output voltage.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of waveforms of signal processing of the phase conversion circuit.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a signal processing waveform of an XOR circuit and an output waveform of a moving operation body.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing conventional personal computer input of two-dimensional information using a mouse.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a structural example of a conventional mouse.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of two-dimensional information input from a mouse to a personal computer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Moving body 3a, 3b Angular velocity sensor 7 Pulse conversion output circuit 11 Personal computer

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A data input device for inputting two-dimensional information obtained by movement of a moving operation body to a data input device, wherein movement of the moving operation body in different rotation directions of two axes in a three-dimensional space is detected. The data input device is characterized in that the angular velocity sensor is provided, and the output of the angular velocity sensor is used as two-dimensional information. 2. The data input device according to claim 1, wherein a piezoelectric vibration gyro is used as the angular velocity sensor. 3. The data input device according to claim 1, further comprising a pulse conversion output circuit for converting and outputting the signal of the angular velocity sensor into a pulse signal having a frequency proportional to the angular velocity. 4. The data input device according to claim 3, wherein the pulse conversion output circuit is composed of a VF converter that converts the signal of the angular velocity sensor into a pulse having a frequency proportional to the voltage.