JPS5939769B2 - input device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] The present invention will be explained in the following order.

A...Industrial field of application B...Prior art C...Problems to be solved by the invention D...Configuration of the present invention E...Function F...Embodiments of the present invention (1) Writing to the information board (2) Reading from the information board (3) Blocking reading and writing by the magnetic field generator (
4) Detection of read blockage (5) Detection of write blockage (6) Application example G of the present invention...Effect of the invention A...Industrial application field The present invention detects information using an input pen. The present invention relates to an input device that performs input.

B...Prior Art Recently, with the widespread use of computers, there has been an increasing demand for simple information input devices.

As one method to satisfy this demand, an information input device using a pen touch method has been proposed. In a pen-touch information input device, for example, light-emitting diode elements are arranged in a matrix on an information board, the light-emitting diode elements are sequentially scanned and emitted, and this is detected by optical coupling with a light-receiving element provided inside the input pen. However, there are ways to identify input information. In another example, there is a method of sequentially applying voltage to electric wires arranged in a matrix, detecting the applied voltage by electrostatic coupling with an electrode provided at the tip of an input pen, and identifying input information.

In the conventional example of the first method, a large number of light emitting diodes must be arranged in a matrix, and it is necessary to select light emitting diode elements with uniform luminance, which not only reduces yield but also reduces the number of light emitting diodes. It is difficult to avoid the temperature dependence of the luminance of the diode element, and the degree of optical coupling is also affected by dirt on the information board or input pen, which may interfere with normal information input operation. This may occur.

In the second conventional example, a change in temperature causes a change in the electrostatic bonding force, which may lead to malfunction.

In addition, in both the first and second conventional examples, the information detection section is located inside the input pen, so there is an electric wire for returning the information detection signal generated inside the input pen to the main body of the device, and the inside of the input cabinet. An electric wire for supplying power to the information detecting section must be interposed between the input pen and the main body of the device. The electric wire attached to the input pen not only obstructs the operation, but also bends and stretches the electric wire due to the movement of the input pen, causing fatigue of the electric wire, and eventually causing a breakage accident of the electric wire. Furthermore, in order to detect weak light or changes in voltage, a complex detection mechanism must be provided inside the input pen, and furthermore, the detection mechanism must be housed in a pencil-shaped container that is easy to hold in the hand due to the operability of the input pen. There are restrictions that must be met.

Therefore, input pens generally have drawbacks such as being expensive and prone to failure. Problems to be Solved by the Invention The present invention aims to eliminate the drawbacks of the above-mentioned prior art. In addition to being highly immune to changes in temperature, humidity, and dirt, it also eliminates the need for electrical wires between the input pen and the device itself, which obstruct operations and become a major failure factor. The present invention provides an inexpensive information input device.

D...Configuration of the present invention Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on the drawings.

FIG. 1 is for explaining the operating principle of the input device, and the pit line 1 whose surface is covered with a thin ferromagnetic film called a magnetic thin film 3 is further called a word line 4. Wound with conductive wire.

Reference numeral 5 indicates the direction of the axis of easy magnetization of the magnetic thin film 3, and reference numeral 6 indicates the direction of the axis of difficult magnetization.

The arrow 7 indicates the direction of the current flowing through the conductive line 2, and the arrow 8 indicates the direction of the current flowing through the word line 4.

The hatched area indicated by 9 indicates the range covered by the magnetic field generated from the word line 4, and the arrows indicated by 10 and 11 indicate the direction of magnetization generated in the magnetic thin film 3, respectively.

Figure 2 shows the basic structure inside the information board, and the bit lines Bl, B2, B3, B4, B5 are connected to the word lines Wl, W2, W3, W4, W5 and each information on the information board. A matrix that is orthogonal at corresponding positions is formed.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing an example of the input pen 20 used in the present invention, in which the input pen 20 is fixed to a filler 13 made of a non-magnetic material within a case 12 made of a magnetically shieldable material such as permalloy. A permanent magnet 14 is housed.

The permanent magnet 14 is connected to a vertically movable pen tip 16 in a storage space 17 for the pen tip via a fixed space by a coil spring 15 made of a non-magnetic material. The material of the pen tip 16 is preferably a material with low residual magnetism, such as ferrite, which emits a magnetic field to the outside only while in contact with the magnet 14. With the above configuration, when the operator presses the pen tip 16 against the information board 21, the coil spring 15 is compressed by the force, and the pen tip 16 comes into contact with the magnet 14 to generate an external magnetic field.

When the pen tip 16 separates from the information board 21, the contact between the pen tip 16 and the magnet 14 is released by the stretching force of the coil spring 15, and the magnetic path is substantially cut off, so that no magnetic field is transmitted to the outside. Generation is also interrupted. FIG. 4 shows a part of an embodiment of an information board 21 constructed based on the present invention, in which one ends of the word lines Wl, W2 are arranged inside a substrate 19 made of a non-magnetic material and wired on the back side. It shows a state in which the pit lines B2, B3, and B4 are embedded, and a substrate 18 made of a nonmagnetic material on which the other ends of the word lines Wl and W2 are wired on the surface thereof is overturned.

Further, the intersection of the bit line B2 and the word line W1 is selected by the input pen 20. A 5-thick film made by vacuum-depositing a ferromagnetic material such as Vermalloy on the surface of a glass or metal plate, or electroplating it on a metal wire.
It is generally known that magnetic thin films with a size of 0 μm to several μm have a special property in that they are easily magnetized in a certain direction (easy magnetization axis), but are difficult to magnetize in a direction perpendicular to this direction (hard magnetization axis). It is being

It is also known that applying a magnetic field in the direction of the hard axis of magnetization facilitates reversal of the magnetization direction in the direction of the easy axis of magnetization. E
...Operation Next, the operation and effect in the above embodiment will be explained.

In FIG. 1, when a current is applied to the word line 4 in the direction shown by arrow 8 in a bit line 1 having a magnetic thin film 3 having an axis of easy magnetization in the direction of arrow 5 and an axis of hard magnetization in the direction of arrow 6, A magnetic field in the direction of the hard magnetization axis 6 is generated in the area indicated by the hatched area 9 .

In this state, when a current is applied to the conductive wire 2 in the direction shown by the arrow 7 and the current to the word line 4 is cut off, the diagonal line portion 9 of the magnetic thin film 3 is magnetized in the direction shown by the arrow 11. In this case, if the direction of the current flowing through the conductive wire 2 is opposite to the arrow 7, the shaded portion 9 will be magnetized in the direction shown by the arrow 10. After this, even if the current flowing through the conductive wire 2 is cut off, the diagonal line portion 9 will move in the direction of arrow 10 (or direction 11).
The magnetization is memorized.

The above series of operations is called "writing on magnetic thin film."

Next, the word line 4 is connected to the magnetic thin film 3 after writing.
When a current is applied in the direction of arrow 8, the magnetization direction of the shaded area 9, which has been magnetized in the direction of arrow 11 (or direction 10), changes to the direction of the difficult magnetization axis due to the action of the magnetic field created by the word line current. Can be tilted to 6.

As a result, the magnetic flux acting on the conductive wire 2 changes, and a voltage is induced across the bit wire 1. arrow 10 or 1
Due to the difference in the magnetization direction of 1, the polarity of the voltage induced at this time is also reversed. When the current flowing through the word line 4 is cut off, the magnetization direction tilted in the hard magnetization axis direction 6 returns to the original direction of the arrow 10 (or 11). The above series of operations is called "reading the magnetic thin film." Now, when a strong external magnetic field (not shown in the figure) is applied to the magnetic thin film 3 after writing, the external magnetic field causes the writing of the magnetic thin film 3. The contents (magnetization shown in the direction of arrows 10 or 11) are destroyed, and even if subsequent reading is performed, the expected voltage will not be induced across the bit line 1.

F...Embodiment of the present invention The present invention actively utilizes the phenomenon in which the written content of the magnetic thin film 3 is destroyed by this external magnetic field, causing an abnormality in subsequent reading. Let's discuss an example.

(1) Writing to the information board Bit lines Bl, B2, B3, B4, B5 and word line Wl
, W2, W3, W4, and W5 are arranged in a matrix in FIG.

With such a configuration, with current flowing through the word lines W1 to W5, current is caused to flow through the bit lines B1 to B5, and then the current from the word lines W1 to W5 is cut off.
The intersections of each bit line B5 and each word line W1 to W5 are all magnetized in the easy axis direction. Thereafter, even if the bit line currents B1 to B5 are cut off, the magnetization in the easy axis direction is retained and the writing at the intersection of the matrix is completed. 2) Reading from the information board Next, considering the case where reading is performed by passing current through only a specific word line W1, there is a read voltage at both ends of the bit lines B1 to B5 according to the previously written content. occurs respectively.

Similarly, by appropriately selecting one of the word lines W2, W3, W4, and W5 and passing a current through it, the read voltage corresponding to any word line can be set to the bit lines B1 to B.
It can be generated at both ends of 5. 3) Preventing reading and writing by the magnetic field generator At this time, if the written content is destroyed by an external magnetic field (not shown in the figure) before reading (for example, the intersection of B3 and W3), reading can be performed. When the write content is destroyed, the expected read voltage is not generated only at the location where the written content is destroyed, so the location can be identified.

, 4) Detection of read blockage, that is, the present invention is capable of detecting read blockage by passing current through the word line W to the bit line B for which writing has been completed.
The idea is to focus on the phenomenon in which a read voltage is generated at both ends of the bit line according to the written content, and to take advantage of the fact that if the stored content of the bit line is destroyed by an external magnetic field, the location of the destruction can be identified. be.

As shown in FIG. 4, among some of the bit lines B1 to B4 arranged in a matrix in the information board 21 and some of the word lines Wl and W2, a specific bit line B2 and word line W1 are connected to each other. When the intersection point is exposed to an external magnetic field H (not shown) generated from inside the input pen 20, the portion of the magnetic thin film selected by the external magnetic field H is prevented from normal writing or reading operations.

Therefore, even if a read current is applied to the word line W1, the expected read voltage will not be generated on the bit line B2, unlike the other bit lines B1, B3, and B4. A similar operation is performed on the unselected word line W using the input pen 20.
2, the read voltage is normally generated on the bit lines B1 to B4. In other words, when a read current is passed through a specific word line w, if the read voltage of a specific bit line B is not detected, the intersection of the specific word line w and the specific bit line B is detected by the input pen. is selected. In short, writing or reading is performed periodically and sequentially on the bit lines B and word lines w arranged in a matrix to correspond to each piece of information, and at the same time, the read voltage of the bit line B accompanying the read is detected. If an input pen 20 capable of generating a magnetic field is used to indicate proximity to the information board 21, the readout voltage of the portion of the bit line B to which the input pen 20 indicates proximity will no longer be detected. By utilizing this information, the information indicated by the proximity instruction using the input pen 20 can be determined.

(5) Detection of write block Next, an embodiment of the input detection means using the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The word line driver 30 operates on arbitrary word lines Wl, W2,
Apply current to W3, W4, and W5.

The write/read selection switch 33 connects the output of the bit line driver 31 to the bit lines B1 to B5 when writing to the magnetic thin film, and connects the input of the read voltage detector to the bit lines B1 to B5 when reading. To write to an arbitrary magnetic thin film, the bit lines B1 to B5 are connected to the bit line driver 31 by the selection switch 33, and the bit line driver 31 is applied while the word line driver 30 applies current to the arbitrary word line. This is achieved by applying a current to an arbitrary bit line using the method, and then cutting off the current to the bit line and word line.

Next, to read the magnetic thin film, the word line driver 30 applies current to one of the arbitrary word lines. At this time, the bit lines B1 to B5 and the read voltage detector 32 are connected by the selection switch 33, and the read voltage of the bit lines B1 to B5 due to the previous word line current is applied to the read voltage detector 32. . Now, suppose the bit line B1
If a location on the intersection of the word line W1 and the word line W1 is selected by the input pen 20, writing to or reading from the magnetic thin film on the intersection is blocked, so a read current is applied to the word line W1. At times, in the read voltage detector 32, only the read voltage of the bit line B1 is the same as that of the other bit line B.
Unlike 2 to B5, it will not be detected.

Therefore, conversely, the word line W1 specified by the word line driver 30 at this time and the read voltage detector 32
It is clear that the intersection point with the bit line B1 where no readout voltage is detected by the input pen 20 can be easily extracted as an electrical signal indicating that the input pen 20 has selected the bit line B1.
(6) Application example of the present invention In the above embodiment, bit lines B1 to B5 and word lines W1 to
Although the case where five W5s are arranged in a matrix has been described, it is clear that there is no limit to the number of bit lines and word lines that can be used in principle.

Also, of course, there is no limit to the number of pieces of information that can be selected at once with the input pen.

Furthermore, if the magnetic field generating part inside the input pen can prevent the required writing and reading operations of the magnetic thin film,
It is obvious that the same effect as in the above-mentioned embodiment can be obtained, and for example, a permanent magnet or an electromagnet can be used.

The present invention can be used in a variety of ways, and by displaying kanji at each intersection of a matrix as shown in Figures 2 and 4, it can be used as a kanji input device, as well as in various other applications such as position encoding input devices. The present invention can be applied to encoding input devices.

When the present invention is applied to a kanji input device, kanji characters, symbols, etc. may be displayed on an insulating board such as paper or plastic, corresponding to each intersection of a matrix. It goes without saying that various other modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. G...Effects of the Invention As explained above, according to the present invention, an information board provided with a means for detecting the storage state of magnetic thin films arranged in a matrix is provided with a magnetic field generating section provided inside an input pen. By applying magnetic force, the reading of the written content is prevented and the information specified by the input pen on the information board can be determined, which simplifies the structure of the input pen and eliminates the need for electric wires attached to the input pen. Not only can everything be omitted, but it has a simple structure, so it can be provided at a low price, and it can also be used without major changes to the magnetic thin film memory technology widely used in computers, making it possible to provide a highly reliable device. .

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a diagram of the operating principle of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a basic structural diagram inside the information board, Fig. 3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the input pen, and Fig. 4 is a partial cross-section of the information board and explains the function of the input pen. Figure for, No. 5
The figure is a block diagram showing an example of the input detection means. In the figure, 1...Bit line, 3...Magnetic thin film, 4...Word line, 5...Easy axis of magnetization, 6... Hard magnetization axis, 10, 11...
Magnetization direction, Bl, B2, B3, B4, B5...
Bit line, Wl, W2, W3, W4, W5...
Word line, 14...Magnet, 20...Input pen, 21...Information board, 30...Word line driver, 31.゛゜゜.゜bit line driver,
32...Read voltage detector.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An information board provided with a means for detecting at the time of reading that reading of a magnetic thin film is blocked by using a magnetization memory effect, and an input pen provided with a means for applying a magnetic field to the magnetic thin film. and a magnetic field generating section, by applying a magnetic field generated by the magnetic field generating section to the magnetic thin film, it is possible to prevent reading of the magnetic thin film written in advance, and to detect that the reading is blocked at the time of reading. An input device characterized in that the state on the information board is determined by determining the state on the information board. 2. The input device according to claim 1, further characterized in that a plurality of storage units of magnetic thin films are arranged so that positional information of the selected storage unit can be determined.