JPH10149253A - Pen input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pen input device capable of providing natural operability to an operator in respect to relative coordinate input operation. SOLUTION: A reception processing part 32 calculates the absolute coordinates of a stylus pen 1 from an ultrasonic wave signal sent from the pen 1 and received by ultrasonic wave receiving elements 31a, 31b and recognizes a button depression state from the ultrasonic wave signal received at timing corresponding to a button on the pen 1. At the time of recognizing the execution of specific operation by the pen 1, from the button depression state, a local operation part in the processing part 32 applies arithmetic processing corresponding to the specific operation to the absolute coordinates of the pen 1 and executes relative coordinate transformation processing for the absolute coordinates. Then the processing part 40 inputs the indicating position of the pen 1 having executed the specific operation by the use of absolute coordinates obtained by applying relative coordinate transformation processing to the absolute coordinates indicating the physical position of the pen 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pen input device in a computer system or the like having a handwriting input function, and more particularly to a pen for detecting absolute coordinates of an input pen and inputting a position indicated by the input pen based on the absolute coordinates. The present invention relates to an improvement of an absolute / relative coordinate input method for smoothly inputting relative coordinates in an input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, input devices in a computer system or the like having a handwriting input function include: 1) an infrared type; 2) a pressure-sensitive type; 3) a capacitive type; 4) an electromagnetic type; An ultrasonic type is known.

[0003] In the infrared method of 1), a spot position detected by a light pen that emits infrared light is detected using a semiconductor position detecting element, and a plurality of infrared light emitting elements and a light receiving element are arranged on an input surface. There is known a device that detects an indicated position by determining a position where infrared light emitted from an infrared light emitting element is blocked by a finger, an input pen, or the like from an output of the light receiving element.

[0004] In the pressure sensing method of 2), an electrode sheet provided with a plurality of X-axis electrodes and a plurality of Y-electrodes are arranged.
A pressure-sensitive panel in which a support on which an axis electrode is disposed is overlapped with a dot spacer interposed therebetween,
Sheets are superimposed via a three-dimensional spring,
2. Description of the Related Art There is known a device that detects a designated position by detecting a change in current at a position touched by a finger, an input pen, or the like.

[0005] In the case of the method of 3), the conductive films formed by vapor deposition on two sheets of glass are used as X-axis and Y-axis electrode patterns, respectively. A device using a capacitive coupling type panel in which surfaces are bonded to each other is known.

Further, according to the electromagnetic method of 4), a plurality of sensor antenna coils are arranged on an input surface, and a resonance circuit including a coil and a capacitor is built in an input pen. A current is caused to flow through the resonance circuit of the input pen using electromagnetic induction by flowing an alternating current through the coil, and then the alternating current flowing through the plurality of sensor antenna coils is turned off. There is known a device that detects a pointing position of an input pen by detecting a magnetic field generated by a current flowing through a resonance circuit with the plurality of sensor antenna coils.

According to the ultrasonic method of 5), the ultrasonic transmitting means is mounted on the stylus pen, and the ultrasonic receiving means is arranged at a predetermined position in the input area of the stylus pen, and the stylus pen is mounted on the stylus pen. While measuring the distance between the ultrasonic transmitting means and the ultrasonic receiving means from the time when the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the mounted ultrasonic transmitting means and the time when the ultrasonic wave is received by the ultrasonic receiving means, 2D or 3D stylus pen using measured distance
2. Description of the Related Art There is known an ultrasonic position detecting mechanism that calculates a dimensional position coordinate and inputs a position indicated by a stylus pen in a predetermined input area based on the calculated position coordinate.

By the way, in the above-mentioned pen input devices of the infrared / pressure / capacitance / electromagnetic / ultrasonic type, a display screen for displaying the position indicated by the input pen is, for example, a front projector display or the like. Many of them use extremely large displays. In a pen input device using such a large display, when a method of detecting the absolute coordinates of the input pen and inputting the position indicated by the input pen is applied, the operator moves the input pen to a position where drawing or the like is to be performed. It is necessary to move the input pen, and for example, the operability of the input pen is significantly reduced in a presentation or the like in which the specific information is displayed on the display device and the content is described.

One of the methods for solving such inconveniences is as follows.
One method is to switch between relative coordinates and absolute coordinates, for example. Therefore, the following are known as typical representative pen input devices having such a coordinate switching function.

No. 62-5346 (Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-5346) A relative / absolute coordinate input switching mechanism is provided in the host and the input device so that the absolute coordinate system data can be transmitted to an input device that transmits relative coordinate system data such as a mouse. thing.

[0011] · JP-A-62-32575, JP-A-63-145520
, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-299724, which has a relative / absolute coordinate input switching mechanism according to the input area.

[0012] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-224820. A device provided with a mechanism for switching between relative / absolute coordinate input depending on the amount of movement of a stylus pen.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-44526 An electromagnetic system in which a relative / absolute coordinate input switching mode is provided, and a mechanism for changing the reading height in accordance therewith is added.

JP-A-2-253442 In the absolute coordinate input device, data is sent to the host by relative data.

[0015] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-298014: A mechanism in which a relative / absolute coordinate input switching mechanism of a stylus pen is provided, and a flag for notifying the state of the switching button to data transmitted to the host.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-197478 Relative / input to host upon application request
It switches absolute coordinate data.

[0017]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Among the above conventional devices,
Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. Sho 62-5346 merely enables transmission of relative / absolute coordinate data to the host. The user has to be strongly aware of the switching operation of the relative / absolute coordinate input, and lacks natural operability.

Similarly, JP-A-62-32575, JP-A-63-145
No. 520, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-299724 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-224820 also lack natural operability, and the user must be strongly aware of the operation of switching between relative / absolute coordinate input.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 64-44526 shows a slight improvement in operability, but does not differ from the former in that the user has to be strongly conscious of the switching operation of the relative / absolute coordinate input. , Not enough operability.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-253442 merely enables relative coordinate data to be transmitted to a host.
There is no idea about operability.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H5-298014 merely exemplifies an example of an absolute coordinate input device capable of handling relative coordinates. Here, only the integration of the mouse and the digitizer is disclosed, but no consideration is given to operability.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-197478 merely enables relative coordinate data to be sent to the host. It cannot be adapted to any application S / W, and no operability is considered.

As described above, in the conventional device, the viewpoint for switching from the absolute coordinate input to the relative coordinate input, that is, the absolute /
The only consideration is how to construct the relative operation switching means and how to construct the data format (absolute / relative data) to be sent to the host. No consideration is given to realizing natural operability by relative coordinate input operation. Had not been. As a result, the operator is strongly conscious of the relative / absolute coordinate input switching operation and the relative coordinate input operation.
There is a problem that the operability of the input pen is inevitably reduced during the operation of the above-described presentation and the like.

Therefore, the present invention relates to
An object of the present invention is to provide a pen input device which does not require a strong awareness of an absolute coordinate input switching operation and a relative coordinate input operation, and can provide an operator with natural operability with respect to a relative coordinate input operation.

[0025]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinate of an input pen is detected, and the input in a predetermined input area is determined based on the absolute coordinate. In a pen input device for performing input processing of a pointing position of a pen, a specific operation 1 of the input pen is performed.
A first recognizing means for recognizing the specific operation 1, and when the specific operation 1 is recognized, the absolute coordinates of the current or past input pen already calculated due to the specific operation 1 are previously assigned to the specific operation 1. A coordinate conversion unit that performs a relative coordinate conversion process using an associated arithmetic expression; and during the input process of the designated position of the input pen based on the absolute coordinates, the specific operation 1 is performed with the input pen. In this case, there is provided an input processing means for performing the input processing using a calculation result by the coordinate conversion means.

In the above-mentioned first invention, coordinate holding means for holding two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the input pen, second recognition means for recognizing a specific operation 2 on the input pen, And a prohibition unit for prohibiting the storage of the position coordinates of the input pen, which are calculated one after another, in the coordinate holding unit or the calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen.

In the first aspect, the third recognition means for recognizing the specific operation 3 with the input pen, and, when the specific operation 3 is recognized, the coordinate conversion means based on the specific operation 1 It is characterized by comprising initialization means for returning the position coordinates calculated or stored in the coordinate holding means to an initial value "0".

In the first invention, the specific operations 1, 2, and 3 are button operations of corresponding buttons mounted on the input pen.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pen input device for detecting two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinates of an input pen and performing input processing of a position indicated by the input pen in a predetermined input area based on the absolute coordinates. A coordinate holding unit that holds two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the input pen;
First recognition means for recognizing the specific operation 1 in the input pen; and, when the specific operation 1 is recognized, the absolute coordinates of the current or past input pen already calculated due to the specific operation 1 A coordinate conversion unit that performs a relative coordinate conversion process using an arithmetic expression that is previously associated with the specific operation 1; and, during the input process of the pointing position of the input pen based on the absolute coordinates, the input pen An input processing unit that performs the input process using the calculation result of the coordinate conversion unit when the specific operation 1 is performed is provided.

In the second invention, a second recognizing means for recognizing the specific operation 2 of the stylus pen, and the coordinates of the position coordinates of the input pen which are measured one after another when the specific operation 2 is recognized. Prohibiting means for prohibiting storage in the holding means or calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen.

In the second invention, a third recognition means for recognizing the specific operation 3 with the input pen, and, when the specific operation 3 is recognized, the coordinate conversion means due to the specific operation 1 It is characterized by comprising initialization means for returning the position coordinates calculated and stored in the coordinate holding means to an initial value "0".

In the second invention, a fourth recognizing means for recognizing the specific operation 4 on the input pen, and calculating a moving coordinate and a moving time of the input pen while the specific operation 4 is recognized. A moving condition calculating means for performing, on the position coordinates of the input pen at the time of recognizing the specific operation 4, an operation previously associated with the moving coordinates and the moving time calculated by the moving condition calculating means; The relative coordinates calculating means for calculating the relative coordinates corresponding to the moving condition, and the input pen having performed the specific operation 4
And a moving condition corresponding input processing means for inputting a designated position based on the moving condition corresponding relative coordinates.

In the second aspect, the specific operations 1, 2, 3, and 4 are button operations of corresponding buttons mounted on the input pen.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pen input device for detecting two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinates of an input pen, and performing input processing of a designated position of the input pen in a predetermined input area based on the absolute coordinates. A specific operation recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation on the input pen; and calculating a moving coordinate and a moving time of the input pen while the first specific operation on the input pen is recognized by the specific operation recognizing means. Moving condition calculating means, and the position coordinates of the input pen at the time when the first specific operation is recognized,
Coordinate conversion means for performing relative coordinate conversion processing using an arithmetic expression previously associated with the movement coordinates and movement time calculated by the movement condition calculation means, and an instruction for the input pen based on the absolute coordinates During the position input processing, the first specific operation is performed with the input pen,
Input processing means for performing the input processing by using a calculation result by the coordinate conversion means.

In the third aspect of the present invention, when the second specific operation on the input pen is recognized by the specific operation recognizing means, the coordinate holding means for storing the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the input pen. Prohibiting means for prohibiting storage of the position coordinates of the input pen, which are measured one after another, in the coordinate holding means, or prohibiting calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen.

[0036]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A pen input device according to the present invention comprises:
The transmission timing of the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic transmission means provided on the input pen is synchronized with the reception timing of the ultrasonic reception means for receiving the ultrasonic waves transmitted from the ultrasonic transmission means. Above, the distance between the ultrasonic wave transmitting unit and the ultrasonic wave receiving unit is calculated from the time difference between the timing at which the ultrasonic wave is transmitted from the ultrasonic wave transmitting unit and the timing at which the ultrasonic wave is received by the ultrasonic wave receiving unit, and further, The position coordinates of the input pen are calculated using the distance between the ultrasonic transmission unit and the reception unit, and the position indicated by the input pen in a predetermined input area such as a display of a personal computer is input using, for example, a cursor. It is based on an ultrasonic position detecting mechanism.

In particular, according to the present invention, the ultrasonic position detecting mechanism has a means for recognizing a specific operation of the input pen. The relative coordinates for switching the pointing position of the input pen from the absolute coordinate input to the relative coordinate input by performing the arithmetic processing corresponding to the specific operation 1 on the absolute coordinate position calculated based on the received ultrasonic wave received signal. An input function is added.

According to the relative coordinate input function, for example,
In the presentation by displaying information on the input surface of the pen input device, the operator can point to a desired position on the input surface only by performing the specific operation 1 of the input pen at hand without moving himself. It is very useful for smoothing a presentation when a very large display device is used.

Also, in the present invention, when the specific operation 2 is recognized by the recognition means, the absolute coordinate position calculated based on the ultrasonic reception signal transmitted from the input pen at this time is used thereafter. By not performing the position calculation or storing the calculated position, the function of fixing the position where the specific operation 2 is performed with the input pen as an indicated position is added.

According to this function, the pointing operation of the input pen can be fixed on the input surface by performing the above-mentioned specific operation 2 with the input pen at hand. This is extremely useful for operations such as fixedly pointing to a target object.

Further, in the present invention, when the specific operation 3 is recognized by the recognition means, a function of clearing the coordinate value calculated or stored by the operation corresponding to the specific operation 1 to "0" is added. doing.

According to this function, in the state where the relative coordinate position and the actual position of the stylus pen do not coincide with the specific operation 1, the specific operation 3 is performed, whereby the relative coordinate position and the actual Can be quickly matched with the position of the stylus pen, and a relative coordinate input function that does not hinder the operation of the normal absolute coordinate input function that does not depend on the specific operation 1 can be realized.

Further, in the present invention, a means for recognizing the movement state of the input pen itself is provided as the specific operation 4, and when the specific operation 4 is recognized by the recognition means, the moving condition of the input pen is recognized. A function for realizing relative coordinate input corresponding to the movement of the input pen by performing an arithmetic process corresponding to.

According to this function, instead of performing the specific operation 1, the relative coordinate input similar to the specific operation 1 can be performed by moving the input pen body, and is used as an input surface in the above-described presentation. The pointing position of the input pen can be moved more efficiently on a large display device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the pen input device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an information processing apparatus configured by applying a pen input device according to the present invention. This information processing apparatus uses an input pen (hereinafter referred to as a stylus pen) 1 to display a display unit 5.
The image corresponding to the designated position designated on the display screen 0 is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 50.

In this embodiment, the stylus pen 1 is provided with an ultrasonic transmitting means for outputting an ultrasonic wave from its tip, as will be described later in detail, and the ultrasonic wave transmitted from this ultrasonic transmitting means is provided. The designated position on the display screen of the display unit 50 is detected based on the detected position, and an image corresponding to the designated position is displayed on the display screen of the display unit 50.

That is, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes two ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b for receiving the ultrasonic waves generated from the stylus pen 1, and two ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b. An ultrasonic receiving unit 30 that processes a reception output, an arithmetic process that calculates a position indicated by the stylus pen 1 based on a processing result of the ultrasonic receiving unit 30, and performs display control on the display unit 50 corresponding to the indicated position. It comprises a unit 40.

The overall configuration of the information processing apparatus according to this embodiment is as shown in FIG. The operator operates the stylus pen (ultrasonic transmitter) 1 synchronized with the pen holder 34.
Using the input area (Displ used as the display unit 50)
ay Display area of the device). At this time, the ultrasonic receiver 30 calculates the distance between the stylus pen 1 and the ultrasonic sensors (ultrasonic receiving elements) 31a, 31b,... From the transmission / reception timing of the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the stylus pen 1, Computer as arithmetic processing unit 40
Is input to The Computer calculates the two-dimensional or three-dimensional position of the stylus pen 1 in the display area of the display device from the distance value received from the ultrasonic receiving unit 30, and performs a process on the application based on the data.

FIG. 3 shows a specific example of the external structure of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
The two ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b are disposed in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the display screen of the CRT display as the first embodiment, and the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 disclosed in FIGS. The unit 40 includes the information processing apparatus main body 1
It is built in 00.

In the vicinity of the display screen of the display unit 50,
A pen holder 34 for accommodating the stylus pen 1 when the stylus pen 1 is not used is provided. Here, the stylus pen 1 is configured as a cordless stylus pen, a driving power source of the stylus pen 1 is a secondary battery built in the stylus pen 1, and the pen holder 34 charges the secondary battery. It also has a function as an adapter for performing.

First, the display unit 5 based on the reception outputs of the two ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b in this embodiment.
The principle of detecting the position indicated by the stylus pen 1 on the display screen 0 will be described.

FIG. 4 shows two ultrasonic receiving elements 31 arranged in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to the display screen of the display unit 50.
3A and 3B show the relationship between the position indicated by the stylus pen 1 and 31b. Now, these two ultrasonic receiving elements 31
Considering the two-dimensional coordinate system XY fixed to a and 31b, the horizontal length of the display screen of the display unit 50 is W.

Here, the ultrasonic receiving element 31a
It is arranged at the origin (0, 0) of the dimensional coordinate system XY,
The ultrasonic receiving element 31b is provided in the two-dimensional coordinate system XY.
It is assumed that it is arranged at a point (0, W) on the axis.

It is assumed that the position pointed by the stylus pen 1 is a point (x, y) on the two-dimensional coordinate system XY, and a distance from the ultrasonic receiving element 31a to the point (x, y). the a, point from the ultrasonic receiving elements 31b (x, y) and the distance to the ^{b, a 2 = x 2 +} y 2 ... (1) b 2 = a ^{(W-x) 2 + y} 2 ... (2) The relationship is established. When x and y are solved from the equations (1) and (2), x = (a ² −b ² + W) / 2W (3) y = ± SQRT [a ² − ｛(a ² −b ² + W ² )] / 2W｝ ² ] (4) where SQRT (A) indicates the square root of A.

Is as follows. Here, since W is a known value, if the distance a from the ultrasonic receiving element 31a to the point (x, y) and the distance b from the ultrasonic receiving element 31b to the point (x, y) are known, 2 is obtained. The position (x, y) indicated by the stylus pen 1 on the two-dimensional coordinate system XY fixed to the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b can be obtained.

In this embodiment, the position indicated by the stylus pen 1 from the ultrasonic receiving element 31a (x,
The distance a to y) and the distance b from the ultrasonic receiving element 31b to the position (x, y) indicated by the stylus pen 1 are detected using the ultrasonic wave output from the tip of the stylus pen 1.

More specifically, the detection of the distances a and b is based on the time T until the ultrasonic waves output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 are detected by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b.
This is performed by detecting a and Tb.

That is, assuming that the spatial transmission speed of the ultrasonic wave output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 is C, the distances a and b can be obtained by detecting the times Ta and Tb as follows: a = C × Ta (5) B) = C × Tb (6)

The process of detecting the time Ta and Tb until the ultrasonic wave output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 is detected by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b is performed by the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 shown in FIG. The processing is performed by the processing unit 32.

FIG. 5 shows a specific configuration of the reception processing section 32 in the ultrasonic receiving section 30 shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, a pen holder 34 for storing the stylus pen 1 when the stylus pen 1 is not used is provided. As will be described in detail later, the pen holder 34 is provided with an ultrasonic transmission unit of the stylus pen 1. A synchronization circuit 35 is provided for synchronizing the output timing of the output ultrasonic wave with the reception processing in the reception processing unit 32.

The synchronizing circuit 35 counts the number of basic clocks output from the basic clock generating circuit 324 provided in the reception processing unit 32, and every time the counted value becomes a constant value, the ultrasonic transmission of the stylus pen 1 is performed. It is configured to output a synchronization signal for controlling the output timing of the ultrasonic wave output from the means.

Further, the stylus pen 1 is provided with a basic clock generating circuit (an oscillator 13 described later) for generating a basic clock having the same frequency as the basic clock generating circuit 324. When the stylus pen 1 is stored in the pen holder 34, a synchronization signal output from the synchronization circuit 35 is input to establish synchronization with the basic clock generation circuit 324 provided in the reception processing unit 32, After the pen 1 is taken out of the pen holder 34, as shown in FIG. 6 (a) output from the basic clock generation circuit that operates in synchronization with the basic clock generation circuit 324 provided in the reception processing unit 32, similarly to the synchronization circuit 35. ) Is counted, and as shown in FIG. 6B, the styler is counted every time the counted value becomes a constant value. It is configured to control the output timing of the ultrasonic waves output from the ultrasonic wave transmission means of the pen 1.

That is, when the stylus pen 1 is stored in the pen holder 34, the output timing of the ultrasonic wave output from the ultrasonic wave transmitting means of the stylus pen 1 and the reception processing unit 3
2 and the output timing of the ultrasonic wave output from the ultrasonic wave transmitting means of the stylus pen 1 coincides with the timing of the synchronization signal applied from the synchronization circuit 35 to the reception processing unit 32. .

The synchronizing signal applied from the synchronizing circuit 35 to the reception processing unit 32 is
Counters 321, 32
2 is cleared in synchronization with this synchronization signal.

The basic clock output from the basic clock generation circuit 324 is input to the count input terminals of the counters 321 and 322.
Receiving clocks output from the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b when an ultrasonic wave output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 is received are input to a control input terminal for controlling the stop of counting of the stylus pen 2.

That is, the counters 321 and 322 are simultaneously reset at the timing when the ultrasonic wave is output from the tip of the stylus pen 1, and the respective ultrasonic receiving elements 31
The basic clock output from the basic clock generation circuit 324 is counted until the reception clock is input from the a and 31b. As a result, the count values of the counters 321 and 322 are determined by the ultrasonic wave output from the tip of the stylus pen 1. Times Ta and Tb until detection by ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b
It corresponds to.

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the operation of detecting the times Ta and Tb by the counters 321 and 322. That is, a basic clock generation circuit (not shown) of the stylus pen 1 generates a basic clock shown in FIG. 7A, and generates an ultrasonic wave from the tip of the stylus pen 1 in synchronization with the rise of the synchronization signal shown in FIG. 7B. A transmission clock shown in FIG. 7C for output is generated, and an ultrasonic drive signal shown in FIG. 7D for driving the ultrasonic transmission means of the stylus pen 1 is generated in synchronization with the transmission clock. I do. The stylus pen 1 is driven by this ultrasonic drive signal.
Is transmitted, and the ultrasonic wave is output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 only while the transmission clock is generated.

The ultrasonic waves output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 are received by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b.
A reception clock as shown in FIG. 7E is output from the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b in response to the reception of the ultrasonic waves.

Therefore, the counters 321 and 322 use the rising timing of the synchronizing signal shown in FIG.
The time T up to the rising timing of the reception clock shown in (e), that is, the times Ta and Tb can be obtained by counting the basic clock shown in FIG.

Times Ta, T until the ultrasonic waves output from the tip of the stylus pen 1 counted by the counters 321 and 322 are detected by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b.
b is held in the reception time holding circuits 325 and 326, respectively, and is processed by the arithmetic processing unit 40 via the communication unit 33 shown in FIG.
Is transmitted to

The arithmetic processing unit 40 receives the times Ta and Tb transmitted via the communication unit 33, and receives the times Ta and Tb.
The designated position designated on the screen of the display unit 50 by the stylus pen 1 is calculated based on Tb.

In this calculation, first, distances a and b from the stylus pen 1 to the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b are calculated based on the above-described equations (5) and (6).
Then, based on the calculated distances a and b and the above equations (3) to (4), the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31
The position (x, y) indicated by the stylus pen 1 on the two-dimensional coordinate system XY fixed to b is calculated. Then, display control on the display unit 50 is performed based on the calculated position (x, y) indicated by the stylus pen 1.

Next, a specific detailed configuration of the stylus pen 1, the ultrasonic receiving unit 30, and the arithmetic processing unit 40 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

The external structure of the stylus pen 1 used in the device according to this embodiment has a form as shown in FIG. 8, for example. The stylus pen 1 has an ultrasonic transmission unit inside, and has seven buttons of a first button 14a to a seventh button 14g. Here, the first button 14a is operated when drawing is performed using the stylus pen 1, for example. Also, the second button 1
The 4b to seventh buttons 14g are associated with a specific operation of the stylus pen 1 as described below,
Pressed to perform the corresponding specific operation.

FIG. 9 shows an internal circuit configuration of the stylus pen 1. As can be seen from the figure, this stylus pen 1 is a transmission timing control unit 1 that controls the transmission timing of ultrasonic waves from the stylus pen 1.
1. An amplifier 15 having an operational amplifier 16 for amplifying the ultrasonic transmitter driving signal output from the transmission timing controller 11, and an ultrasonic transmitter driving signal output from the amplifier 15 having an ultrasonic transmitter 18 And a transmitting unit 17 for transmitting ultrasonic waves.

The transmission timing control section 11 further includes an output of a button 14 composed of the first button 14a to the seventh button 14g shown in FIG. 8 and a basic signal from an oscillator (basic clock generating section) 13 for generating a basic clock. A sequencer 12 is provided for controlling the state transition of the ultrasonic wave transmission timing control from the stylus pen 1 according to the clock.

FIG. 10 shows the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 shown in FIG.
2 shows a specific configuration of the arithmetic processing unit 40.
In the figure, an ultrasonic receiving unit 30 includes a reception processing unit 32,
The communication unit 33 is configured.

Here, the ultrasonic receiving section 30 performs an input process on the ultrasonic receiving output from the receiving sensor section 31 composed of the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b shown in FIG. The reception processing unit 32 includes an amplifier unit 60, a reception timing control unit 7,
0, a local operation unit 75, an amplifier unit 60 is provided with an operational amplifier 61, and a reception timing control unit 70 is provided with a counter, a register 71, a sequencer 72, and an oscillator 73.

Here, the counter and the register 71 correspond to those shown in FIG.
The oscillator 73 corresponds to the counters 321 and 322 and the reception time holding circuits 325 and 326 shown in FIG. 5, and generates the basic clock.
Corresponds to 4.

The sequencer 72 includes an oscillator 73
The transition state of the reception timing control of the reception timing control unit 70 is controlled based on the basic clock output from. The sequencer 72 is reset by a synchronization signal (reset signal) from the synchronization circuit 35 of the pen holder 34 shown in FIG.
The transition state of the reception timing control is controlled.

The local operation unit 75 calculates the absolute position coordinates of the stylus pen 1 on the basis of the input data from the reception timing control unit 70. When the local operations 1 to 4 of the stylus pen 1 described later are performed, By performing arithmetic processing corresponding to the specific operations 1 to 4 on the absolute position coordinates, a conversion process from the absolute position coordinates to the relative position coordinates is performed.

The communication section 33 has an SCC (serial communication control section) 331 and a 232C driver 332 for driving an RS232C interface. Also,
In FIG. 10, an arithmetic processing unit 40 is provided with a predetermined application, has a window processing unit for controlling display corresponding to the position indicated by the stylus pen 1, a mouse driver, and the like, and an ultrasonic receiving unit via an RS232C interface. It is composed of a personal computer connected to the communication unit 33 of the computer 30.

By the way, in the device according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the stylus pen 1 having the seven first buttons 14a to 14g is used.
In order to realize the pressing state of these seven buttons on the ultrasonic receiving side, it is necessary to provide an ultrasonic transmission frame corresponding to each of these buttons.

FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing the ultrasonic transmission timing of the stylus pen 1 in the apparatus of the present embodiment. As can be seen from the figure, the stylus pen 1 transmits ultrasonic waves alternately with eight ultrasonic transmission timings (indicated by the numerals 1 to 8; hereinafter, referred to as frames # 1 to # 8) as one unit. I do.

That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the stylus pen 1 transmits an ultrasonic wave with eight ultrasonic wave transmission timings as one block. Here, the ultrasonic transmission period at each ultrasonic transmission timing is Tsend,
The ultrasonic transmission interval is Twwait. And this 8
At the first ultrasonic transmission timing of the two ultrasonic transmission timings, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted at all times in order to control the movement of the cursor displayed on the display unit 50 in accordance with the position of the stylus pen 1. At the second ultrasonic transmission timing, the stylus pen 1
The ultrasonic wave is transmitted only when the button 14a is pressed. Further, at the third ultrasonic transmission timing, the ultrasonic waves are transmitted only when the second button 14b is pressed with the stylus pen 1. Similarly, at the fourth to fourth ultrasonic transmission timings, ultrasonic waves are transmitted only when the third button 14c to the seventh button 14g are pressed with the stylus pen 1, respectively.

The ultrasonic drive signal (ultrasonic drive clock) generated at each ultrasonic transmission timing is, for example, F
Hz signal, and the ultrasonic drive clock is applied to the transmission unit 17 via the amplifier unit 15 shown in FIG.
7 transmits this FHz ultrasonic wave.

In response to the ultrasonic transmission timing on the stylus pen 1 side shown in FIG. 11, the sequencer 72 in the reception timing control unit 70 of the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 performs the above-described ultrasonic transmission timing (each frame # 1 to # 8). The local arithmetic unit 75 calculates the position of the stylus pen 1 by processing the received signals received by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b in synchronization with the operation.

Here, the frames # 1 to # 8 are the same on the ultrasonic transmitting side (stylus pen 1) and the ultrasonic receiving side (ultrasonic receiving section 30) synchronized as described above. Has been given a meaning. Thereby, the sequencer 72 of the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 receives the ultrasonic receiving element 31 of the stylus pen 1 according to the received signal in the frame # 1.
a and 31b can be calculated, and at the same time, the pressing states of the first to seventh buttons 14a to 14g of the stylus pen 1 can be recognized in accordance with the received signals in frames # 2 to # 8. . The calculated distance and the recognized button pressing state are transmitted from the reception timing control unit 70 to the local operation unit 75.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of data transmitted from the reception timing control unit 70 to the local operation unit 75. This data is composed of three bytes, and the first byte (FIG. 3A) shows the pressed state of each button 14 mounted on the stylus pen 1. The second byte [(b) in the figure] is a value indicating the distance from the ultrasonic receiving element 31a in the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 to the stylus pen 1, that is, the distance a in FIG. The third byte [(c) in the figure] is a value indicating the distance from the ultrasonic receiving element 31b in the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 to the stylus pen 1, that is, the distance b in FIG.

The value of the 2nd and 3rd bytes is based on the basic clock generated by the basic clock generation circuit 324 in FIG.
The numbers counted by the counters 321 and 322 until the ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the stylus pen 1 and received by the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b, respectively, are shown.

The local operation unit 75 uses this count value, for example, when the basic clock is 1 MHz, one clock time is 1 μsec, and one bit of the second and third bytes is transmitted through the air within 1 μsec of the ultrasonic wave. Distance (0.344mm)
Utilizing that, the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a, 31
The distance between b and the stylus pen 1 is calculated. Further, using the calculated distances between the ultrasonic receiving elements 31a and 31b and the stylus pen 1, the coordinates of the stylus pen 1 on the coordinate axes set on the input surface (see FIG. 4) are calculated. This calculation method is as described above.

Further, the coordinate values calculated by the local calculation section 75 are sent to a PC (corresponding to the calculation processing section 40 in FIG. 1) through the communication section 33, and the PC displays the display screen 50 based on the input coordinate values. The position indicated by the stylus pen 1 is displayed at the corresponding coordinate position using a cursor or the like.

In the apparatus according to the present embodiment, when there is a request to switch the cursor pointing position from the absolute coordinate input to the relative coordinate input during the operation as described above, the operator operates the stylus pen. In step 1, a specific operation 1 is performed. As the specific operation 1, for example, a pressing operation of a cross button (fourth button 14d to seventh button 14g) provided on the stylus pen 1 (see FIG. 8) is assumed.

Thus, for example, when the fourth button 14d of the cross buttons (fourth button 14d to seventh button 14g) provided on the stylus pen 1 is pressed, the direction indicated by the shape of the fourth button 14d is changed. The cursor can be relatively moved, and similarly, when the fifth button 14e, the sixth button 14f, and the seventh button 14g are pressed, the cursor can be relatively moved in the direction indicated by the shape of each of these buttons.

This absolute coordinate / relative coordinate switching control is performed by:
In the local operation unit 75, the reception timing control unit 7
Based on the contents of the first byte [FIG. 12 (a)] in the data (see FIG. 12) transmitted from 0, the pressed state of each button 14 of the stylus pen 1 is recognized in association with the specific operation 1 described above. According to the result of the recognition, it can be realized by an arithmetic processing for converting a designated position on absolute coordinates into a designated position on relative coordinates.

Hereinafter, the absolute / relative coordinate calculation processing in the local calculation section 75 will be described in detail. In the device of the present invention, in order to realize the above-mentioned cross button operation of the stylus pen 1, that is, the absolute / relative coordinate switching input corresponding to the specific operation 1, the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 (FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13, the memory 752 of the local operation unit 75 in FIG. 13 uses the distance data of the second and third bytes in the data (see FIG. 12) sent from the reception timing control unit 70 as shown in FIG. The calculated offset coordinate value (Xoffset, Yoffset) with respect to the absolute coordinate value (Xpre, Ypre) of the stylus pen 1 is displayed on the cross button 14d.
Ｇ14g are stored in advance corresponding to each button. As a specific example, the offset coordinate values (Xoffset, Yoffset) for the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g have the following values, respectively.

Fourth button (14d) Yoffset = Yoffset-10; (7) Fifth button (14e) Xoffset = Xoffset + 10; (8) Sixth button (14f) Xoffset = Xoffset-10; 9) Seventh button (14g) Yoffset = Yoffset + 10; (10) In the local operation unit 75, the data sent from the reception timing control unit 70 is stored in the memory 752, and then the first byte in the data is used. The fourth button 14d at this time
To recognize the pressing status of the seventh button 14g,
The absolute coordinates (Xpre, Ypre) of the stylus pen 1 are calculated using the distance data indicated by.
52, the buttons (14d to 14d) which have been recognized as being pressed with respect to the absolute coordinates (Xpre, Ypre).
For each g), the following operation is performed using the offset coordinate value corresponding to the button.

X = Xpre + Xoffset; (11) Y = Ypre + Yoffset; (12) The X and Y generated here are transferred to the higher-level processing system.
Used for cursor display control and the like. Note that Xoffset, Y
The initial value of offset is 0.

Hereinafter, the absolute /
The relative coordinate switching control will be described in detail with a specific example. Now, assume that an X, Y coordinate system as shown in FIG. 14 is assumed on the display screen 50 of the apparatus of the present invention, and in this X, Y coordinate system, the stylus pen is moved to the position X shown in FIG.
(X0, Y0). In this state,
Since Xoffset and Yoffset are “0” with their initial values,
The coordinate value of this position X is passed to the higher-level processing system as it is.

Thereafter, the operator operates the stylus pen 1
When the button 14d is pressed, information indicating that the fourth button 14d is pressed is sent from the reception timing control unit 70 to the local calculation unit 75, and the local calculation unit 75 recognizes the press of the fourth button 14d based on the reception information. Then, the specific operation 1 is performed on the coordinate value (X0, Y0) of the position X.
The following operation corresponding to (pressing the fourth button) is performed to obtain the relative coordinate value (X2, Y2).

Yoffset = Yoffset−10; X2 = X0; Y2 = Y0 + Yoffset; At this time, since Yoffset is “−10”, Y2 = Y0−10;
It is.

As a result, the display position of the cursor shown in FIG. 15 is changed from the coordinates (X0, Y0) before pressing the fourth button to the fourth position.
After pressing the button, it moves to the position (X2, Y2). That is, in this case, the operation "X2 = X0; Y2 = Y0-1
0; "means that the cursor has moved by the value" 10 "in the negative direction of the Y-axis. Thereafter, no matter where the stylus pen 1 is moved, the cursor is displayed at the Y coordinate position of a value obtained by subtracting the value "10" from the Y coordinate of the stylus pen.

Further, it is assumed that the operator presses the fifth button 14e of the stylus pen 1 in a state where the stylus pen is at the position of the coordinate values (X2, Y2) shown in FIG.
At this time, the local arithmetic unit 75 calculates the coordinate values (X2, Y
The following calculation corresponding to the specific operation 1 (pressing of the fifth button) is performed for 2), and the relative coordinate value (X3, Y3) is obtained.

Xoffset = Xoffset + 10; X3 = X2 + Xoffset; Y3 = Y2; As a result, when viewed from the initial position (X0, Y0) of the cursor, Xoffset and Yoffset take values of +10 and -10, respectively. Therefore, the cursor display coordinate values (X3, Y3) at this time are displayed at the coordinate positions (X3, Y3) having the following values on the coordinate system shown in FIG.

X3 = X0 + 10; Y3 = Y0-10; The above embodiment is an example in which the local operation unit 75 performs an operation for performing relative coordinate input in the absolute coordinate input device. It is not necessary to limit the place where the operation is performed. In essence, the operability is natural (user interface) without the operator being conscious of switching between absolute input and relative input.
It is sufficient that the relative coordinate input can be realized while maintaining the above, and the calculation location may be arbitrarily provided.

By the way, in the relative coordinate input interface by the specific operation 1 (pressing the cross button), in the specific operation 1 related to the cross button, the cursor always moves following the movement of the stylus pen 1 after the cross button is pressed. Will do. However, for example, at the time of presentation, there may be an operation situation in which the cursor is desired to be fixed at a position indicated by an object.

To cope with such an operation, the present invention
A function is added to detect the specific operation 2 and to prevent the cursor from moving following the movement of the stylus pen 1 when the specific operation 2 is performed.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of this additional function will be described. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the specific operation 2 is pressing of the second button 14b of the stylus pen 1 (see FIG. 8). Second button 14 of stylus pen 1
When b is pressed, the corresponding bit in the first byte in the data shown in FIG. 12 becomes 1, and is passed from the reception timing control unit 30 in FIG. The CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75 recognizes the press of the second button 14b from the transferred first byte.
Thereafter, even if the data is delivered from the reception timing control unit 70, the CPU 751
The control is performed so as not to calculate the coordinate value (Xpre, Ypre) based on the third byte, or to stop storing the coordinate value in the corresponding memory area (see FIG. 13) even if the calculation is performed.

Thus, basically, no matter how the stylus pen 1 moves after the second button 14b is pressed (specific operation 2), the cursor display moves following the movement. The display is fixedly displayed at a fixed location, that is, at the coordinate position displayed when the second button 14b is pressed.

When it is desired to keep the cursor displayed at a fixed position by using such a function, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 6, used in presentations where the presenter points to an object displayed on the screen with a cursor and emphasizes to the student that the object is currently being explained. can do.

The pressing of the second button 14b is performed by pressing the above-described fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g.
That is, the calculation processing of Xoffset and Yoffset based on the specific operation 1 is not affected. Therefore, when the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g are pressed when the second button 14b is pressed, the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g
The operation as described above corresponding to each of g is performed,
As a result, the display position of the cursor can be changed.

By using this function, a full-scale relative coordinate input function can be realized. Hereinafter, two examples of the application used for the function will be described.

Example 1: When the cursor is to be moved to an object to be explained in a presentation or the like.

For example, a display having a 70-inch class input surface of the position detecting mechanism (a rear type projector or the like)
In the case of (1), if the relative coordinate input function described above is not used, the stylus pen 1 must be moved to the position of the object to be described when the cursor is moved or characters / graphics are drawn.

However, when the relative coordinate input function is used, for example, as shown in FIG. 16, the stylus pen 1 is moved to the position of the "object to be explained" displayed at a position away from the operator. The cursor can be moved and the explanation can be made without moving, that is, without moving the operator. In this operation, although the stylus pen 1 and the cursor position are away from each other, both move relatively, so there is no problem in operability. Further, as a further effect, since the operator does not need to move his body to the front of the display, the contents displayed on the display are not obstructed by the student.

The same effect can be expected at the time of inputting drawing of characters / graphics, in addition to the simple movement of the cursor. For example, as shown in FIG. 17, when drawing input is desired to be performed at the upper right position on the screen, first, the relative coordinate input function is used to move the position of the stylus pen 1 and the display position of the cursor relatively. And place the cursor at the desired position. Next, while observing the position and movement of the cursor, the operator performs drawing input while staying at an easy-to-operate location at hand.
As a result, similar to the effect of the relative cursor movement function,
The operator can realize a desired drawing process without moving the stylus pen 1 to a position distant (a position where drawing is desired). Also in this case, there is no problem in operability, and the operator can smoothly perform drawing input.

As a further effect of the present invention by the additional function, the operator can operate the stylus pen 1 with the fourth button 14d.
When it is desired to relatively move the cursor using only the seventh button 14g, there is no need to fix the stylus pen 1 at the same position coordinates.

That is, if the value of the coordinate value (Xpre, Ypre) is changed in accordance with the movement of the stylus pen 1, the cursor responds to a slight movement of the stylus pen 1 in response. The stylus pen 1 may be moved, but by using the position calculation / storage stop function of the present invention, the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14 are further pressed while the second button 14b of the stylus pen 1 is pressed.
Even when g is pressed, the relative movement of the cursor can be performed irrespective of the movement of the stylus pen 1.

Example 2: A case where a virtual reality space is provided in a display (input surface) and the stylus pen 1 is used in the space.

In any input device, the area where the operator performs input is limited in size, and mounting this input area as a large size causes a problem in operability. For example, even if an input area having a height of 3 m and a width of 10 m is provided, it cannot be practically used in general business applications.

However, the space that can be displayed on the display screen of the computer has an almost infinite extent. For example,
Such applications can be found in virtual reality space. In such a situation, it goes without saying that it is impossible to map the input area and the operation space one-to-one.

Under the present circumstances, by using the calculation / storage stop function of the present invention, the operator can enter the operation area which extends to infinity as described above without being conscious of switching between the relative coordinate input and the absolute coordinate input. The input operation can be performed naturally.

Next, a control function for realizing the operation of the above-described application will be described. Now, FIG.
As shown in (1), an input surface integrated with the display device is provided, and the stylus pen 1 is initially at the position shown in the figure. Next, when the operator wants to move the cursor to the circle object position located at the upper right on the input surface in FIG. 18, the second button 1 of the stylus pen 1
With the button 4b pressed, the cursor is relatively moved by pressing the fourth button 14d and the fifth button 14e simultaneously or alternately.

As a result, the cursor moves to the upper right of the input screen as shown in FIG. This movement is realized by the control described above with reference to FIG.
At this time, the operator moves leftward toward the input surface from the state shown in FIG.
Is pressed, the fourth button 14d and the fifth button 1
Even when 4e is pressed simultaneously or alternately, as shown in FIG. 20, the cursor operates exactly the same as the situation shown in FIG. This function is realized by the above-described control "when the second button is pressed, the coordinate values (Xpre, Ypre) are not calculated or the calculation results are not stored". Assuming this operation, it is desirable to use a second button of the stylus pen 1 with a latch.

On the other hand, the operator presses the second button 14
When the fourth button 14d and the fifth button 14e are operated in exactly the same manner as the above-mentioned operation while moving to the left side toward the input surface without pressing the b, the above-mentioned "when the second button is pressed, the coordinate value ( Xpre, Ypre) is not calculated or the storage of the calculation result is cancelled ", so that the movement of the cursor, as shown in FIG. You will be affected.

As described above, according to the present invention, the operator can not only perform the operation of the cursor position with the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g irrespective of the movement of the stylus pen following the movement of the user, but also perform his / her own operation. The operation of the cursor position can be performed with the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g while moving the cursor in accordance with the movement.

Next, on an application,
It is assumed that a part of Mt. Fuji is displayed on the display device as shown in FIG. This application displays the so-called virtual reality space. By moving the cursor around Mt. Fuji to the edge of the screen, you can scroll and display the scenery in that direction. Shall be.

Here, it is assumed that the operator is required to draw and input the right foot of Mt. Fuji.
In this case, by using the cursor relative movement function of the present invention, the operator can perform the drawing input without directly moving rightward toward the display device.

To realize this drawing input, first,
The operator keeps pressing the fifth button 14e of the stylus pen 1. At this time, the fifth button 14e is
In the local operation unit 75 that recognizes that the button has been pressed, the operation of calculating the relative coordinates corresponding to the fifth button 14e is continuously performed using the above equations (11), (12), and (8). By the display control based on the coordinate values calculated by this calculation, the cursor moves to the position shown in FIG. 23, that is, the position at the right end of the display, after a certain time has elapsed after pressing the fifth button.

The fifth button 14 is further moved from the state shown in FIG.
When e is continuously pressed, the display screen scrolls leftward as shown in FIG. 24 by the function of the application. The operator uses this function to continue scrolling the screen to a desired position.
As shown in (5), when it is confirmed that scrolling has been performed to the position where the right-hand skirt portion of Mt. Fuji appears, the depression of the fifth button 14e is stopped. Thus, scrolling of the screen is stopped, and in this state, the operator can perform drawing input on the right foot of Mt. Fuji while pressing the drawing button.

In the drawing operation in this case, the operator
There is no need to move to the place where the right foot is displayed toward Mt. Fuji, and it is sufficient to perform the drawing operation on the input surface in front of the user. If such an operation is to be realized using an input device of an absolute coordinate system, conventionally, it was necessary for the operator to move to the right end toward the input surface. Smooth operation can be performed without performing.

By the way, after the relative movement operation of the cursor is performed, the actual position of the stylus pen 1 and the display position of the cursor are shifted. Therefore, in the subsequent operations, a function of matching the position of the stylus pen 1 with the cursor position is required. This function will be described below.

In the above embodiment, when the second button 14b of the stylus pen 1 is pressed, the CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75 thereafter sets the reception timing control unit 7
Even if data (see FIG. 12) is delivered from 0,
The calculation of the coordinate values (Xpre, Ypre) is not performed, or even if the calculation is performed, the storing in the corresponding memory area of the memory 752 is stopped, and then the second button 14b
Is released, calculation of the coordinate values (Xpre, Ypre) and storage in the memory 752 are restarted.

Here, for example, in FIG. 20, the operator presses the second button 14b and the fourth button 14d
When the relative movement operation of the cursor to the circle object at the upper right of the screen is performed by using the and the fifth button 14e, the matching of the position of the stylus pen 1 and the cursor position after the pressing of the second button 14b is stopped is considered. . Note that an example of the operation of canceling the pressing of the second button 14b is the second button 14b.
An operation in which a latch mechanism is mounted on the button 14b and the pressed second button 14b is pressed again to turn off the pressed state is conceivable.

When this operation is performed, the CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75 receives the data (see FIG. 12) sent from the reception timing control unit 70 and recognizes the off state of the second button 14b. Thereafter, the CPU 7
51 restarts the calculation of the coordinate values (Xpre, Ypre) and the process of storing the calculated values in the memory 752. By resuming this processing, the cursor starts moving following the movement of the stylus pen 1.

Next, the operator operates the third stylus pen 1
Press the button 14c. Thereafter, the third button 14c
Is referred to as specific operation 3. When this specific operation 3 is performed, the CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75 recognizes that the third button 14c has been pressed by using the data input from the reception timing control unit 70 at this time, and the memory 752 (FIG. 13).
Offset coordinate values (Xoffset, Y) set each time the fourth button 14d to the seventh button 14g are pressed
offset) to “0”. The influence of Xpre, Ypre, Xoffset, and Yoffset on the display position of the cursor is as described above, and as described above, Xoffset, Yoffs
As a result of setting et to “0”, the display position of the cursor matches the position of the stylus pen 1. As described above, in the present embodiment, the third button 14c is used to release the offset coordinate value (Xoffse
(t, Yoffset).

Next, a cross button (fourth button 14d to seventh button 1) provided on stylus pen 1 (see FIG. 8)
The case where the stylus pen 1 itself is moved without using 4g) to realize relative coordinate input equivalent to that at the time of the cross button pressing operation will be described. In this embodiment, the cursor is moved (jumped) in the moving direction in response to the movement of the stylus pen 1. Specifically,
The movement of the cursor (input of relative coordinates) is performed by pressing the second button 14b of the stylus pen 1 and then moving the second button 14b.
This is realized by an operation of releasing the pressing of the button 14b.
Hereinafter, the operation of continuously pressing the second button 14b is referred to as a specific operation 4.

Hereinafter, the relative coordinate input based on the specific operation 4 will be described by taking a two-dimensional coordinate system as an example. now,
In FIG. 26, it is assumed that the operator has pressed the second button of the stylus pen 1. At this time, the cursor is positioned at the tip of the stylus pen shown in FIG. Next, it is assumed that the operator moves the right hand holding the stylus pen 1 from left to right toward the input surface as shown in FIG. 27 while holding down the second button 14b. It is assumed that the movement, that is, the movement of the stylus pen 1 is finished, and the depression of the second button 14b is released at the same time. By the above operation, the cursor stops at the position shown in FIG. 26 until the pressing of the second button 14b is released, and the second button 14b
After the button is released, the cursor is skipped to a position corresponding to the calculation result through a calculation process described later.

The movement control of the cursor by the specific operation 4 will be described below. In this case, the moving distance and the moving speed of the stylus pen 1 are used as parameters for controlling the movement of the cursor. Among them, the moving distance of the stylus pen 1 can be calculated as follows.

Now, assuming that the coordinates of the movement start position A of the stylus pen 1 in FIG. 27 are (X0, Y0) and the coordinates of the movement end position B are (X1, Y1), the stylus pen 1 can be operated while the second button is being pressed. The moving distance of the stylus pen 1 is SQRT [(X1-X0) 2+ (Y1-Y0) 2]. SQRT is a function for calculating the square root of the argument.

The movement time h of the stylus pen 1 when the special operation 4 is performed can be calculated by the following method in light of the ultrasonic transmission sequence of the stylus pen 1. That is, ultrasonic waves are transmitted from the stylus pen 1 according to the present invention in accordance with the sequence shown in FIG. 11, and in particular, when the second button 14 b is pressed, eight ultrasonic transmission timings (◇ number 1 to number 1) The frame # in the frames # 1 to # 8)
At 3, an ultrasonic wave is transmitted.

On the other hand, based on the ultrasonic wave received in the frame # 3, the reception timing control unit 70 sets the second button corresponding area of the first byte in FIG.
Is output to the local operation unit 75. Thereby, the CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75
Now, the first of the input data from the reception timing control unit 70
Pressing of the second button 14b can be recognized based on the contents of the second button corresponding area in the byte.

Thereafter, since the operator moves the stylus pen 1 while holding down the second button 14b, the above-described sequence in which the frames # 1 to # 8 are one block is repeated, and the sequence is generated one after another. Ultrasonic waves are basically continuously received at the timing of frame # 3. In an actual operation, the ultrasonic wave may not be received due to the presence of an obstacle or the like. However, for the sake of simplicity, it is assumed that the above phenomenon does not occur.

Thereafter, when the operator finishes moving the stylus pen 1 to a desired place, the operator releases the pressing of the second button 14b. Due to this, no ultrasonic wave is received in frame # 3 where the ultrasonic wave has been continuously received until then.

Therefore, the CPU 75 of the local operation unit 75
In 1, by monitoring the input data corresponding to the frame # 3, the time interval from the time when the ultrasonic wave is received for the first time with the start of the specific operation 4 to the time when the ultrasonic wave is not received can be measured. Specifically, the CPU 75
In step 1, while monitoring the information indicating the pressed state of the second button in the data input from the reception timing control unit 70 in each frame # 3, the period during which the pressed state is confirmed is determined using a timer or the like. Time. In this case, the time from when the reception timing control unit 70 recognizes the button press to when the CPU 751 of the local operation unit 75 recognizes the button press is compared with the time when the operator moves the stylus pen 1. And can be ignored.

The CPU 75 of the local operation unit 75 described above.
27, a period from when the ultrasonic wave is received for the first time by the specific operation 4 to when the ultrasonic wave is not received, that is, the operator moves the stylus pen 1 from the position A to the position B in FIG. Can be calculated.

As described above, in FIG. 27, when the stylus pen 1 is moved from the position A to the position B, the moving distance M and the moving time H of the stylus pen 1 are as follows: M = SQRT [X1-X0] 2+ (Y1-Y0) 2] H = h.

In the present embodiment, based on coordinates A (X0, Y0) and coordinates B (X1, Y1), one or both of the above two parameters (M and H) are used. This implements the same function as the relative coordinate input using the cross button.

As an example of the relative coordinate input, a moving speed (v) when the operator moves the stylus pen 1 is calculated using both of the above two parameters, and the moving speed (v) is used. A method of performing relative movement processing of the cursor by using the cursor can be considered.

In this case, the moving speed (v) of the stylus pen 1 depends on the two parameters (M and H) described above.
From the following equation.

V = {SQRT [(X 1 −X 0) 2 + (Y 1 −Y 0) 2]} / h (13) In this case, for example, in the moving direction of the stylus pen 1 performed by the operator, A method is considered in which the cursor is moved to a position where the cursor moves at the same moving speed v and for (k) seconds corresponding to the moving speed v. In this case, as the specific operation, the faster the stylus pen 1 is moved in the target direction, the more the cursor can be moved to a farther position. For example, in a presentation using a large screen, the cursor is moved away from the operator. The operability in the case where the cursor is pointed at the place where the user touched can be significantly improved.

Hereinafter, a specific example of the cursor movement control will be described. In this cursor movement control, the relative movement processing of the cursor is defined as follows.

The cursor is moved to a position where the stylus pen 1 moves at the same speed v for k seconds with respect to the moving direction.

The following conditions are set in advance as specific values of the movement time k in this case.

The calculated moving speed v is 0 or more to 0.1 m / s
k = 1 when the moving speed is less than ec, k = 2 when the moving speed v is in the range of 0.1 or more to less than 1 m / sec, and k = 3 when the moving speed v is 1 m / sec or more.

Further, the stylus pen 1 in this case is used.
Is assumed to have been moved from position A to position B shown in FIG. 28 with respect to the input surface shown in FIG. here,
The specific values of the resolution, the movement position, and the movement time of these input surfaces are as follows.

The input resolution is 1024 × 768. The size is 1024 mm × 768 mm. The position A coordinate and the position B coordinate are (100, 23
0), (140, 200) The time h during which the operator moved the stylus pen 1 from the position A to the position B is assumed to be 0.5 sec.

When the stylus pen 1 is moved under the above conditions, the moving distance m of the stylus pen 1 in this case is 50 mm. Therefore, the moving speed v of the stylus pen 1 at this time is calculated from the above equation (13). , V = 0.1 m / sec. Therefore, k is 2. Therefore, the relative movement of the cursor is a movement from the position A to the position moved for 2 seconds at a speed of 0.1 m / sec from the position A to the position B. Specifically, the position after the cursor movement at this time is the position of the coordinates (260, 110) as shown in FIG.

The weight of the relative movement amount of the cursor with respect to the movement of the stylus pen 1 can be set by a H / W dip switch, S / W setting, or the like.

In the above embodiment, a rear projector display is assumed as the display unit 50 in FIG. 4, but the pen input device of the present invention is not limited to an information processing device using this rear projector display.
For example, the present invention can be similarly applied to an information processing apparatus using a front projector display as the display unit 50 as shown in FIG.

The pen input device according to the present invention is not limited to the information processing device using the large-sized display described above, and may be used as shown in FIG.
The present invention can be similarly applied to an information processing apparatus using a desktop computer having a CRT display as shown in FIG. 1 or a notebook computer having an LCD display as shown in FIG.

Further, in the above embodiment, the configuration for detecting the position of the stylus pen 1 two-dimensionally has been described, but the present invention can also detect the position of the stylus pen 1 three-dimensionally. Further, the present invention can be applied to pen input devices of various types other than the ultrasonic type, such as pressure-sensitive / electrostatic / electromagnetic induction / infrared rays. Is also applicable.

Further, in the above embodiment, the RS232C interface is used as the communication interface between the ultrasonic receiving unit 30 and the arithmetic processing unit 40 (PC). However, in the present invention, a communication interface other than the RS232C interface is used. It is needless to say that the same can be applied similarly.

[0164]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When the specific operation 1 of the input pen is recognized, the absolute coordinate of the input pen at this time is subjected to the arithmetic processing corresponding to the specific operation 1 so that the designated position of the input pen is input from the absolute coordinate input to the relative coordinate input. For example, in a presentation by displaying information on the input surface of a pen input device, the operator can perform the specific operation 1 of the input pen at hand without having to move the input surface. The above-mentioned desired position can be pointed out, which is extremely useful for facilitating a presentation when an extremely large display device is used as an input surface.

Further, according to the present invention, when the specific operation 2 on the input pen is recognized, the above-described position calculation is not performed or the calculated position is determined with respect to the absolute coordinate position of the input pen at this time. By canceling the storage, a function of fixing the position at which the specific operation 2 was performed with the input pen as an indicated position was added. Therefore, by performing the specific operation 2 with the input pen at hand, The pointing position of the input pen can be fixed on the input surface,
For example, in the above-mentioned presentation, it is extremely useful for operations such as fixedly indicating a target object.

Further, according to the present invention, when the specific operation 3 with the input pen is recognized, a function of clearing the coordinate value calculated or stored by the operation corresponding to the specific operation 1 to “0” is added. Therefore, in the state where the relative coordinate position and the actual position of the stylus pen do not match with the specific operation 1, the specific operation 3
, The relative coordinate position and the actual position of the stylus pen can be quickly matched, and a relative coordinate input function that does not hinder the operation of the normal absolute coordinate input function that does not depend on the specific operation 1 is realized. it can.

Further, according to the present invention, means for recognizing the movement state of the input pen itself is provided as the specific operation 4, and when the specific operation 4 is recognized, an operation corresponding to the input pen moving condition is performed. By performing the processing, the function of inputting relative coordinates corresponding to the movement of the input pen is added. Therefore, instead of performing the specific operation 1, the relative coordinate input similar to the specific operation 1 is performed by moving the input pen body. In the presentation described above, the pointing position of the input pen can be moved more efficiently on a large-sized display device used as an input surface.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information processing apparatus to which a pen input device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of the entire information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary perspective view showing an example of the external structure of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

4 is a diagram showing a relationship between two ultrasonic receiving elements arranged in a predetermined positional relationship with respect to a display screen of a display unit shown in FIG. 1 and a position designated by a stylus pen.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a reception processing unit of the ultrasonic receiving unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a relationship between a basic clock and an ultrasonic wave transmission timing in the stylus pen shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing an operation of detecting an ultrasonic reception time by the counter shown in FIG. 5;

8 is an external configuration diagram of a stylus pen used in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing an internal circuit configuration of a stylus pen used in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of an ultrasonic receiving unit and an arithmetic processing unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a timing chart showing ultrasonic wave transmission timing control of a stylus pen used in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data format of output data from the reception timing control unit illustrated in FIG. 10;

13 is a schematic configuration diagram of a local operation unit in the reception processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an X, Y coordinate system assumed on a display screen 50 in FIG. 1;

15 is a view for explaining the principle of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen on the coordinate system in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a specific example 1 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of a stylus pen.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a specific example 2 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a specific example 3 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a specific example 4 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a specific example 5 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a specific example 6 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a specific example 7 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 23 is a view showing a specific example 8 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a specific example 9 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of the stylus pen.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing a specific example 10 of relative coordinate input based on a specific operation of a stylus pen.

FIG. 26 is a state diagram at the start of relative coordinate input based on the movement of the stylus pen body.

FIG. 27 is a state diagram when the relative coordinate input based on the movement of the stylus pen body is completed.

FIG. 28 is a diagram showing a specific example of relative coordinate input in FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a cursor moving state after inputting relative coordinates in FIG. 28;

FIG. 30 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention using a front projector display as a display unit.

FIG. 31 is a diagram showing still another embodiment of the present invention using a desktop computer having a CRT display as a display unit.

FIG. 32 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the present invention using a notebook computer having an LCD display as a display unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 stylus pen, 11 transmission timing control unit, 1
2 ... sequencer, 13 ... oscillator, 14 ... button, 1
4a: first button, 14b: second button, 14c: third
Button, 14d: fourth button, 14e: fifth button, 1
4f: 6th button, 14g: 7th button, 15: amplifier section, 16: operational amplifier, 17: transmitting section, 18: ultrasonic transmitter, 30: ultrasonic receiving section, 31: receiving sensor section, 31
a, 31b, 31c: ultrasonic receiving element, 32: reception processing section, 60: amplifier section, 61: operational amplifier, 70: reception timing control section, 71: counter, register, 72: sequencer, 73: oscillator, 75: local Arithmetic unit,
751, CPU, 752, memory, 321, 322, counter, 324, basic clock generation circuit, 325, 32
6 ... reception time holding circuit, 33 ... communication unit, 331 ... SCC
(Serial communication control unit) 332 ... 232C driver,
34 pen holder, 35 synchronization circuit, 40 arithmetic processing unit, 41 communication unit, 42 arithmetic unit, 43 identification unit, 44
... Display control unit, 50 ... Display unit

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A pen input device for detecting two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinates of an input pen and performing input processing of an indicated position of the input pen in a predetermined input area based on the absolute coordinates. A first recognizing means for recognizing the specific operation 1; and, when the specific operation 1 is recognized, specifying the absolute coordinates of the current or past input pen already calculated based on the specific operation 1 in advance. A coordinate conversion unit that performs a relative coordinate conversion process using an arithmetic expression associated with the operation 1; and during the input process of the designated position of the input pen based on the absolute coordinates, the input operation using the specific operation 1 The input processing means for performing the input processing using the calculation result of the coordinate conversion means. 2. A coordinate holding unit that holds two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the input pen; a second recognition unit that recognizes a specific operation 2 of the input pen; and the specific operation 2 is recognized. 2. The pen according to claim 1, further comprising: a prohibition unit that prohibits storage of the position coordinates of the input pen calculated one after another in the coordinate holding unit or prohibits calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen. Input device. 3. A third recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation 3 with the input pen, and when the specific operation 3 is recognized, the coordinate is calculated by the coordinate conversion means due to the specific operation 1 or the coordinates are obtained. 3. The pen input device according to claim 1, further comprising initialization means for returning the position coordinates stored in the holding means to an initial value "0". 4. The pen input device according to claim 1, wherein the specific operations 1, 2, and 3 are button operations of corresponding buttons mounted on the input pen. 5. A pen input device for detecting two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinates of an input pen and performing input processing of a designated position of the input pen in a predetermined input area based on the absolute coordinates. Coordinate holding means for holding two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates; first recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation 1 with the input pen; Coordinate conversion means for performing relative coordinate conversion processing on the absolute coordinates of the current or past input pen already calculated by using an arithmetic expression previously associated with the specific operation 1; During the input process of the pointing position of the input pen based on the input process, the specific operation 1 is performed with the input pen, whereby the input process is performed using the calculation result by the coordinate conversion unit. Pen input apparatus characterized by comprising a stage. 6. A second recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation 2 on the stylus pen, and when the specific operation 2 is recognized, storing the position coordinates of the input pen, which are measured one after another, in the coordinate holding means. 6. The pen input device according to claim 5, further comprising prohibiting means for prohibiting calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen. 7. A third recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation 3 with the input pen, and when the specific operation 3 is recognized, the coordinate is calculated by the coordinate converting means due to the specific operation 1, and the coordinates are calculated. 7. The pen input device according to claim 5, further comprising initialization means for returning the position coordinates stored in the holding means to an initial value "0". 8. A fourth recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation 4 of the input pen, and a moving condition calculating means for calculating a moving coordinate and a moving time of the input pen while the specific operation 4 is being recognized. The position coordinates of the input pen at the time of recognizing the specific operation 4 are subjected to an operation previously associated with the movement coordinates and the movement time calculated by the movement condition calculation means, so that the movement conditions can be handled. Relative coordinate calculation means for calculating relative coordinates, and movement condition corresponding input processing means for performing input processing of a designated position on the input pen that has performed the specific operation 4 based on the movement condition corresponding relative coordinates. The pen input device according to any one of claims 5 and 7, wherein: 9. The pen input device according to claim 5, wherein the specific operations 1, 2, 3, and 4 are button operations of corresponding buttons mounted on the input pen. . 10. A pen input device for detecting two-dimensional or three-dimensional absolute coordinates of an input pen and performing input processing of a designated position of the input pen in a predetermined input area based on the absolute coordinates. A specific operation recognizing means for recognizing a specific operation;
Moving condition calculating means for calculating the moving coordinates and moving time of the input pen while the specific operation of the input pen is recognized, and the position coordinates of the input pen at the time of recognizing the first specific operation, Coordinate conversion means for performing relative coordinate conversion processing using an arithmetic expression previously associated with the movement coordinates and movement time calculated by the movement condition calculation means; and a pointing position of the input pen based on the absolute coordinates Input processing means for performing the input processing by using the calculation result of the coordinate conversion means by performing the first specific operation with the input pen during the input processing of the pen. apparatus. 11. A coordinate holding means for holding two-dimensional or three-dimensional position coordinates of the input pen;
Prohibiting means for prohibiting storage of the position coordinates of the input pen, which are measured one after another, in the coordinate holding means or calculation of the position coordinates of the input pen when the specific operation of the input pen is recognized. The pen input device according to claim 10, wherein