JPH11272422A - Computer input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a locus in arbitrary thickness by a simple operation. SOLUTION: When a finger tip or the like is brought into contact with a tablet 2, a coordinate calculating means 5 detects the coordinate value of a position with which the finger tip or the like is brought into contact from a signal inputted from the table 2. A contact area calculating means 4 calculates a contact area with which the finger tip or the like is brought into contact from the signal inputted from the table 2. A plotting means 6 prepares plotting at the coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculating means 5 in digital ink in thickness proportional to the calculated contact area, and displays it on a picture displaying means 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a computer input device for drawing characters and figures on the surface of an image based on information input by a coordinate input device, and erasing the drawn characters and figures.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an input device to a computer, a device excellent in human interface such as a tablet or a touch panel for inputting a coordinate position has begun to spread. In addition, there is a device such as a liquid crystal tablet or an interactive electronic blackboard in which functions and interfaces are improved by interlocking with a display device. As this input device, a device that detects pressure at a portion where a fingertip or a pen touches, or a device that utilizes an electromagnetic induction phenomenon by using a special coordinate pointing device as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-320755. ,
Alternatively, there is a method of detecting the absorption of a surface acoustic wave with a fingertip or a pen. To specify a processing command by using these input devices, a method of displaying a command menu at an arbitrary position and instructing a processing command from among them is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2599019.
As shown in the publication, characters and figures are directly input to a touch panel with a pen or a finger, and the input characters and figures are displayed in so-called digital ink.

[0003]

However, when displaying characters and figures input with a pen or a finger on the touch panel as described above, a command menu is displayed to change the thickness of the trajectory of the characters or figures. In order to change the thickness of the trajectory in the displayed menu, it is necessary to specify a command for calling the command menu itself, which is complicated and poor in operability. It has also been difficult to simulate a brush whose ink thickness changes gradually.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to improve such disadvantages and to obtain a computer input device capable of displaying a locus of any thickness.

[0005]

A computer input device according to the present invention comprises: coordinate input means for outputting a signal corresponding to a contact area of an object touching an input surface with a contact position of the object on the input surface; A contact area calculating means for calculating a contact area from a signal output by the means; and a drawing means for creating a drawing with digital ink having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated by the contact area calculating means.

[0006] A second computer input device according to the present invention comprises: coordinate input means for outputting a signal corresponding to a contact area with an object touching an input surface and a contact position on the input surface;
A contact area calculating means for calculating a contact area from a signal output by the coordinate input means; a contact area determining means for comparing the contact area calculated by the contact area calculating means with a predetermined value set in advance; and the calculated contact area being set. And drawing means for creating a drawing having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated with digital ink of a different color between when the calculated contact area is set and when the calculated contact area is larger than the specified value. .

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A computer input device according to the present invention has a tablet provided in contact with an image surface of an image display means, a contact area calculating means, a coordinate calculating means, and a drawing means. When a fingertip or the like contacts the tablet, the tablet outputs a signal corresponding to the contact area and the contact position to the contact area calculation means and the coordinate calculation means. The coordinate calculating means detects a coordinate value of a position where a fingertip or the like touches from a signal input from the tablet. At the same time, the contact area calculation means calculates the contact area where the fingertip or the like touches based on the signal input from the tablet. The drawing means creates a drawing at the coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculation means using digital ink having a thickness proportional to the contact area calculated by the contact area calculation means and displays the drawing on the image display means. In this way, drawing and displaying the locus of the thickness according to the contact area touching the tablet enables display and input of the locus of any thickness, and changes to the thickness of the input locus. And various operations such as a simulation of a brush whose thickness gradually changes can be easily executed.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, a computer input device 1 is composed of a tablet 2 using surface acoustic waves and, for example, an LC
An image display unit 3 having a D display, a contact area calculation unit 4, a coordinate calculation unit 5, and a drawing unit 6 are provided. When the fingertip or the pen touches the tablet 2, the tablet 2
The signal output according to the contact area and contact position with respect to
As shown in FIG. 2, the signal value changes by an amount corresponding to the absorption of the surface acoustic wave by the fingertip or the like. By integrating the time when this change occurs in the time series signal for one surface, the area where the fingertip or the like is in contact with the tablet 2 can be calculated. Therefore, the contact area calculation means 4 uses the tablet 2
The areas of the portions A1, A2, and A3 where the surface of the surface acoustic wave is absorbed by the contact of the fingertip or the like are calculated from the time-series signals of one surface output from. Further, the coordinate calculation means 5 calculates the respective coordinate values of the portions A1, A2, A3 where the surface acoustic waves have been absorbed from the time-series signal for one surface outputted from the tablet 2. The drawing means 6 creates a drawing at the coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculating means 5 using digital ink having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated by the contact area calculating means 4, displays the drawing on the image display means 3, and inputs the drawing to the computer 7. .

The operation when the fingertip or the like is brought into contact with the tablet 2 of the computer input device 1 configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a fingertip or the like touches the tablet 2, the tablet 2 outputs a signal corresponding to the contact area and the contact position to the contact area calculation means 4 and the coordinate calculation means 5 (step S1). Coordinate calculation means 5
Detects the coordinate value of the position where the fingertip or the like touches from the signal input from the tablet 2 (step S2). At the same time, the contact area calculating means 4 calculates the contact area where the fingertip or the like touches based on the signal input from the tablet 2 (step S).
3). The drawing means 6 creates a drawing at the coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculation means 5 using digital ink having a thickness proportional to the contact area calculated by the contact area calculation means 4 and displays it on the image display means 3 (step S4). In this manner, since the image is drawn and displayed with a locus having a thickness corresponding to the area of contact with the tablet 2, a locus having an arbitrary thickness can be displayed and input, and the thickness of the locus to be input can be changed. Various operations such as a simulation of a brush whose thickness gradually changes can be easily executed.

Although the above embodiment has been described with reference to the case of drawing and displaying with a thickness proportional to the area of contact with the tablet 2, the color of digital ink to be drawn is changed according to the area of contact with the tablet 2. You may do it. The configuration of the embodiment in this case is shown in the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the computer input device 1a
It has a tablet 2, an image display unit 3, a contact area calculation unit 4, a coordinate calculation unit 5, a contact area determination unit 8, and a drawing unit 6. The contact area determining means 8 compares the contact area calculated by the contact area calculating means 4 with a predetermined threshold. When the contact area determining means 8 determines that the contact area is smaller than the threshold value, the drawing means 6 creates a drawing having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated with the digital ink of the color designated in advance. When it is determined in step 8 that the contact area exceeds the threshold, a drawing having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated by the digital ink of each background color of the image display means 3 is created.

The operation when the fingertip or the like is brought into contact with the tablet 2 of the computer input device 1a configured as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When a fingertip or the like touches the tablet 2, the tablet 2 outputs a signal corresponding to the contact area and the contact position to the contact area calculation means 4 and the coordinate calculation means 5 (step S11). The coordinate calculation means 5 detects the coordinate value of the position where the fingertip or the like touches from the signal input from the tablet 2 (step S12). At the same time, the contact area calculation means 4 calculates the contact area where the fingertip or the like touches based on the signal input from the tablet 2 (step S13). The contact area determination means 8 is a contact area calculation means 4
Comparing the contact area calculated in the above with a preset threshold value, if the calculated contact area is smaller than the threshold value, it is determined that a character or a graphic has been drawn on the tablet 2, and if the calculated contact area is larger than the threshold value, It is determined that characters and graphics displayed on the image display means 3 are to be deleted (step S
14). When the contact area determining means 8 determines that a figure or the like has been drawn, the drawing means 6 uses a locus having a thickness corresponding to the contact area to a coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculating means 5 using digital ink of a predetermined color. The drawing is created, displayed on the image display means 3, and output to the computer 7 (step S15). When the contact area determining means 8 determines that the character or graphic displayed on the image display means 3 is to be erased, the drawing means 6 calculates the coordinates using digital ink of the background color of each coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculating means 5. A drawing is created at the coordinate position calculated by the means 5 with a locus having a thickness corresponding to the contact area, displayed on the image display means 3 and output to the computer 7 (step S16). As described above, when the contact area is larger than the threshold value, the drawing is created with the digital ink of the background color at each coordinate position calculated by the coordinate calculating means 5 and is displayed on the image displaying means 3. Characters and figures can be easily deleted.

In the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which characters and figures are drawn and displayed in accordance with the area of contact with the tablet 2, and the displayed figures and the like are erased. The color of the digital ink to be drawn may be changed to a different color accordingly, and the color of characters and graphics may be changed locally.

[0013]

As described above, according to the present invention, since characters and images are displayed using digital ink having a thickness proportional to the area of the finger or pen in contact with the tablet, a trajectory having an arbitrary thickness is displayed. In addition to being able to input, the thickness of the input trajectory can be varied, and various operations such as simulating a brush whose thickness gradually changes can be easily executed.

In addition, since characters and images are displayed with digital ink of different colors according to the area of the finger or pen in contact with the tablet, it is possible to change or erase the displayed characters or figures with a simple operation. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a waveform diagram showing output signals of the tablet.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Computer input device 2 Tablet 3 Image display means 4 Contact area calculation means 5 Coordinate calculation means 6 Drawing means 7 Computer 8 Contact area determination means

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tomohiko Beppu 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Inside Rico Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takao Inoue 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Rico Co., Ltd. − Inside

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A coordinate input means for outputting a signal in accordance with a contact area of an object touching an input surface and a contact position of the object on the input surface, and a contact area for calculating a contact area from a signal output by the coordinate input means. A computer input device, comprising: a calculation unit; and a drawing unit that creates a drawing with digital ink having a thickness corresponding to the contact area calculated by the contact area calculation unit. 2. A coordinate input means for outputting a signal corresponding to a contact area of the object with the input surface and a contact position of the object on the input surface, and a contact area for calculating a contact area from a signal output by the coordinate input means. Calculating means, a contact area determining means for comparing the contact area calculated by the contact area calculating means with a predetermined value, and a calculated contact area when the calculated contact area is smaller than a predetermined value is set and defined. A computer input device comprising drawing means for forming a drawing having a thickness corresponding to a contact area with digital ink of a different color when the value is larger than a value.