JPH11296295A - Pointing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pointing device capable of reducing its dimensions, especially height. SOLUTION: In the pointing device for moving a pointing position on a screen, X direction pressure detectors 2a, 2b for detecting pressure as the electrical quantity indicating the moving distance in the X direction, and Y direction pressure detectors 2c, 2d for detecting pressure as the electrical quantity indicating the moving distance in the Y direction are arranged on the same plane and the upper surfaces of these detectors 2a to 2d are covered with silicone rubber 3. The silicone rubber 3 is provided also beneath the detectors 2a to 2d so that these detectors 2a to 2d are held between both the silicone rubber 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a display such as a personal computer, and more particularly to a pointing device for moving a pointing position on a screen of a display indicated by a cursor or the like. Related to a simple pointing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A mouse is widely used as a pointing device for pointing a position by moving a cursor or the like on a display screen of a personal computer or the like. This mouse has a rotatable ball on the bottom surface, and moves the cursor on the screen by rotating the ball when the mouse is slid along a flat surface such as a desk. However, the mouse has a problem that a plane for sliding is required and a problem that response is slow. For this reason, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
In the pointing device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 89, as shown in FIG. 6, a bar 21 as a pressing portion is set upright on a plate-shaped metal elastic body 23, and an insulating layer 24 is formed on the surface of the metal elastic body 23. Further, four resistive elements 22 were provided around the bar 21 on the surface of the insulating layer 24 (up, down, left and right). With such a configuration, the resistance element 22 is distorted by tilting the bar 21 in a desired direction, thereby changing the resistance value and moving the cursor on the screen. In the load sensor disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-244559, as shown in FIG. 7, a shaft is set up on the upper surface of the mounting base 33, and the operation unit 31 is provided above the shaft, and around the lower shaft. Four distortion detecting elements 32 are provided, and the operating section 31 is tilted in a desired direction to apply distortion to the distortion detecting element 32, thereby changing a resistance value and moving a cursor on the screen. Also, JP-A-7-302
In the pointing device disclosed in JP-A-163-163, FIG.
As shown in the figure, the post 41 is erected on the hard base 43,
Thick film resistors 42 are provided on four surfaces below the post 41,
By tilting the post 41 in a desired direction, the thick film resistor 42 is distorted, thereby changing the resistance value and moving the cursor on the screen. In addition, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
The load sensor disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2000-265348 is provided for the purpose of reducing the height.
As shown in the figure, a distortion detecting element 52 is provided on a substrate 53,
A shaft 54 is erected on the base 53, and a plate-like operation unit 51 is provided substantially horizontally at the tip of the shaft 54, and the substrate 53 is deformed by a partial pressure when a desired position of the operation unit 51 is pressed from above, Thereby, the resistance value of the distortion detecting element 52 is changed, and the cursor on the screen is moved.

[0003]

However, in the prior art replacing the above-mentioned mouse, although the problem of the mouse has been improved, the problem that the protruding height is high still remains. The prior art disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-265348 is improved in height in comparison with the prior art, but the degree of improvement is small because the vertical axis is set. It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and to provide a pointing device that can be reduced in size, particularly in height.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pointing device for moving a pointing position on a screen, wherein a pressure is used as an electric quantity indicating a moving amount in the X direction. X-direction pressure detecting means for detecting, and Y-direction pressure detecting means for detecting pressure as an electric quantity indicating the amount of movement in the Y direction are provided on the same surface, and the upper surfaces of the X-direction pressure detecting means and the Y-direction pressure detecting means are provided. Is covered with a plate-like elastic member. In the invention described in claim 2, the X-direction pressure detection means and the Y-direction pressure detection means are sandwiched by plate-like elastic members provided above and below them. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the upper and lower surfaces of each pressure detecting means are formed in a triangular shape. In the invention according to claim 4,
In the information processing device provided with the pointing device, the pointing device is attached to the information processing device with a drip-proof structure.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, when a proper position of the plate-like elastic member is pressed from above,
X-direction pressure detecting means and Y through the plate-like elastic member
A pressure is applied to the direction pressure detecting means, and an electric quantity indicating a moving amount in the X direction and the Y direction is detected based on the pressure, so that the cursor can be linearly moved to any pointing position on the screen. Since there is no portion protruding from the operation surface, the height can be reduced. According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the X-direction and Y-direction pressure detecting means are sandwiched by the plate-like elastic members provided above and below the X-direction and Y-direction pressure detecting means, the detection position range of the pressure detecting means is widened and the detection accuracy can be improved. Further, the durability of the pressure detecting means can be improved. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the detection position range (detection area) of each pressure detection unit is widened.
Even when the pushing position is away from the center position, the pressure detecting ability in the boundary region between the X-direction pressure detecting means and the Y-direction pressure detecting means is enhanced. According to the fourth aspect of the invention, water droplets and the like do not enter the information processing apparatus from outside the information processing apparatus.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of a pointing device and the like showing a first embodiment of the present invention. The pointing device of the present embodiment is used as the operation unit 1 of the information processing device.
Is shown in a state of being incorporated parallel to the operation surface,
As shown, the pointing device of this embodiment is
A plurality of pressure detectors 2 for detecting pressure as an electric quantity indicating an amount of movement in the X direction or the Y direction are provided on the same plane, and a plate-like elastic member, for example, silicon rubber 3 is disposed above and below the pressure detectors 2. Multiple pressure sensors 2 by rubber 3
Is sandwiched. A partial pressure space 4 is provided below the lower silicon rubber 3 as needed. As the pressure detector 2, a pressure detector whose resistance changes when pressure is applied is used. In the above, the main role of the upper silicon rubber 3 is to apply a pressing force applied to a narrow area (area) with a fingertip or the like at the time of pointing to a wide area, thereby moving the cursor linearly (vertically) to any position on the screen. (In other words, 360 degrees in all directions instead of being moved sideways). However, since the silicon rubber 3 is an elastic member, a drip-proof structure can be realized. That is,
By adopting a structure that eliminates a gap between the housing of the operation unit 1 and the upper surface of the upper silicon rubber 3 so that water droplets can enter, water droplets and the like can be introduced into the apparatus from above the silicon rubber 3 as an external space. You can keep them out. When assembling the pointing device as shown in FIG. 1, first, a plurality of pressure sensors 2 are bonded to the lower silicon rubber 3 and the upper silicon rubber 3 is bonded from above. In FIG. 1, the pressure detector 2 is shown thicker for the sake of illustration and description, but the actual thickness is smaller than the illustrated thickness. Further, since the silicon rubber 3 is an elastic body, it is not necessary to provide a depression corresponding to the thickness of the pressure detector 2 on the silicon rubber 3 side. That is, the pressure sensor 2 is formed by the silicon rubber 3 having a flat surface.
, A depression as shown is formed,
Watertight and airtight assembly is completed.

FIG. 2 shows an arrangement example of the pressure detector 2 when the pressure detector 2 is viewed from above, and an example of wiring thereof. As shown, each pressure detector 2 in this embodiment is
Are X-direction pressure detectors 2a and 2b and Y-direction pressure detectors 2c and 2d. Each pressure detector 2 can be regarded as a resistor whose resistance value changes in accordance with the applied pressure. Therefore, FIG. 2 can be rewritten as an XY movement amount detection circuit having a bridge configuration as shown in FIG. Can be. FIG. 1 shows X-direction pressure detectors 2a and 2b among the four pressure detectors 2 described above. In FIG.
Ra, Rb, Rc, Rd are pressure detectors 2a, 2
b, 2c, and 2d, and the resistance value changes according to the applied pressure. As is clear from FIG. 3, the resistors having the resistance values Ra and Rb (the pressure detectors 2a and 2b)
b) are connected in series, a power supply voltage Vp is applied to both ends thereof, and a voltage at a connection point between the two resistors 2a and 2b is extracted as an output voltage and supplied to the differential amplifier circuit 5a. The X-direction detection output voltage amplified by the amplifier circuit 5a has a value corresponding to the pressure applied to the pressure detector 2a or the pressure detector 2b. Similarly, the resistance values Rc, Rd
Resistors (pressure detectors 2c and 2d) are connected in series,
A power supply voltage Vp is applied to both ends thereof, and a voltage at a connection point between the two resistors is taken out as an output voltage and supplied to the differential amplifier circuit 5b, so that the Y-direction detection output amplified by the differential amplifier circuit 5b is output. The voltage has a value corresponding to the pressure applied to the pressure detector 2c or the pressure detector 2d.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. First, assuming that the user presses the point P shown in FIG. 2 with a fingertip from above the upper silicon rubber 3,
The upper silicon rubber 3 in the vicinity is pushed, and the silicon rubber 3 applies pressure to the X-direction pressure detector 2b and the Y-direction pressure detector 2d. In this example, since the pressed position P is closer to the X-direction pressure detector 2b than the Y-direction pressure detector 2d, the pressure is applied to the X-direction pressure detector 2b more than the Y-direction pressure detector 2d. Thus,
The resistance values Rb and Rd shown in FIG. 3 change. In the above example, the resistance value Rb changes more. Also, if you press hard,
The resistance values Rb and Rd greatly change in proportion to the pressing force. Then, the X-direction detection output voltage and the Y-direction detection output voltage change, the amount of change is obtained by the information processing device, and the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the cursor position on the screen change according to the change amount. As a result, the cursor position on the screen moves in the direction of the vector QP shown in FIG. 2 by a movement amount proportional to the pressing force. Note that the change amount is obtained on the information processing apparatus side when another key such as a return key is pressed, for example. Alternatively, the input detection output voltage may be continuously sampled and acquired every moment, and the last value may be adopted. However, in this method, it is necessary to exclude the value at the time of releasing the finger even if it is the last value. Therefore, for example, the timing at which the pressing is stopped is detected, and the value of the last one second of the pressed time is ignored. It is necessary to devise something.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, FIG.
By pressing a desired position on the upper surface of the pointing device with a fingertip or the like, the cursor can be moved to a desired position on the screen in the same manner as a conventional mouse. Further, since a space for sliding on a desk or the like like a mouse is not required, and a vertical bar or the like is not required for the operation unit of the pointing device, the projecting height can be reduced as compared with a conventional pointing device of the same type. In addition, when the pointing device is attached to the information processing device housing, the attachment structure can be a drip-proof structure, so that water droplets and the like do not enter from above the pointing device exposed to the outside. Further, since the pressure detector 2 is sandwiched between the silicon rubbers 3 provided above and below, the durability of the pressure detector 2 can be enhanced.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of a main part of a pointing device showing a second embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, in this embodiment, each pressure detector 11 (11a, 1
1b, 11c, and 11d) are formed in a triangular shape. That is, the width of each pressure detector 11 is increased toward the outside as viewed from the center position Q of the four pressure detectors 11. In such a configuration, the center position Q
Even if the position deviated in the outer diameter direction from
Since the gap (gap) between the directional pressure detector and the Y-direction pressure detector does not widen so much, the pressure can be reliably detected even when the gap (gap) is depressed. FIG. 5 is a top cross-sectional view (a) and a vertical cross-sectional view (b) of a pointing device showing a third embodiment of the present invention. As shown,
In this pointing device, a pressure detector 12 (12a, 12b, 1) is provided between an upper silicon rubber 13A protruding in an arc shape and a lower silicon rubber 13B formed in a mountain shape.
2c, 12d). That is, the surface on which the pressure detector is sandwiched and the upper surface of the pointing device pressed by a fingertip or the like are not limited to flat surfaces. Although the outer shape of the silicon rubber shown in FIG. 4 is rectangular (square), it may be circular as shown in FIG.

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the plate-like elastic member is pressed from above, pressure is applied to the X-direction pressure detection means and the Y-direction pressure detection means via the plate-like elastic member, and the pressure at the position is reduced in the X direction. And the electric amount indicating the amount of movement in the Y direction, the cursor can be linearly moved to any pointing position on the screen.
Further, since no space for sliding like a mouse is required, and no bar or the like is required for the operation unit of the pointing device, the height can be made lower than that of a conventional pointing device of the same type. Claim 2
In the described invention, the upper and lower sides of the X-direction and Y-direction pressure detecting means are sandwiched by the plate-like elastic members, respectively, so that the durability of the pressure detecting means can be enhanced. Moreover, the range of the detection position by the pressure detecting means is widened, and the detection accuracy can be improved. According to the third aspect of the present invention, the pressure detecting means is arranged at a predetermined circumferential interval around the center position, and the width of each pressure detecting means is gradually increased toward the outer diameter direction. Since the detection position range (detection area) of each pressure detecting means is widened, even if the pushing position is away from the center position, the pressure detecting ability in the boundary region between the X direction pressure detecting means and the Y direction pressure detecting means can be improved. Thus, the movement amount intended by the operator can be reliably detected. According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the pressure detecting means is hermetically sealed by the waterproof structure, water droplets and the like do not enter the information processing apparatus from outside the information processing apparatus, so that the reliability and durability of the information processing apparatus are improved. Can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a pointing device and the like showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a pointing device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram of a main part of a pointing device showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a main part of a pointing device showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views of a pointing device showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a pointing device showing an example of the related art.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a load sensor showing another example of the prior art.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a pointing device showing another example of the prior art.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a load sensor showing another example of the prior art.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 operation unit, 2 pressure detector, 3 silicon rubber, 4
Voltage division space, 5 differential amplifier circuit, 11 pressure detector,
12 Pressure detector, 13 Silicon rubber

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pointing device for moving a pointing position on a screen pointed to by a cursor or the like, an X-direction pressure detecting means for detecting an electric quantity indicating an amount of movement in an X direction based on pressure, and a movement in a Y direction. Y-direction pressure detecting means for detecting an electric quantity indicating the amount based on pressure is provided on the same surface, and the upper surfaces of the X-direction pressure detecting means and the Y-direction pressure detecting means are covered with a plate-like elastic member. A pointing device characterized by the following: 2. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the X-direction pressure detection means and the Y-direction pressure detection means
A pointing device characterized by being sandwiched between plate-like elastic members provided above and below the pointing device. 3. The pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the planar shape of each pressure detecting means is a triangular shape that becomes wider toward the outer diameter direction. 4. A pointing device according to claim 1, wherein the pointing device is attached to the information processing device with a drip-proof structure. Information processing device provided.