JPS5968048A - Key switch for cursor movement - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To move a cursor at a high or low speed easily by outputting plural binary signals for cursor movement by the operation of a single key top. CONSTITUTION:A membrane keyboard 5 is provided under the lower hemispherical part 42 of a key top 41. This keyboard 5 is provided with a lower flexible printed circuit FPC11 which has fixed contacts 7 and 9 on a plate 13 and an upper FPC10 which has movable contacts 6 and 8 thereupon with a spacer 12 between. A slanting component of force applied to the key top 41 with a finger is transmitted as vertical force to the movable contact 6, which contacts the fixed contact 7. The contact information is sensed by a CPU to control the movement of the cursor on a CRT. Similarly, the movable contact 8 also contacts the fixed contact 9 by the lower part 42 of the key top 41 which moves horizontally. Information on the contacting is sensed by the CPU to control the movement of the cursor at different moving speeds.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (I) Technical Field The present invention relates to a key switch, and more particularly to a cursor moving key switch that outputs binary signals for cursor movement at different moving speeds by operating a single key top.

(] 0 Prior Art Conventional consoles of electronic devices with CRT display sections are often equipped with four cursor movement keys that indicate the direction of movement (up, down, left, and right).Other alpha i numerical and function keys are Unlike pressing each key top once to achieve the desired purpose, cursor movement keys are unique in that they are accomplished by pressing four keys in the process of moving the cursor to the desired position. This is also a drawback in terms of operability.In other words, since there are four key tops, it is inevitable to lose time and be troublesome in operation due to pressing and checking visually.

In this background, there is also a so-called membrane key date (hereinafter referred to as a thin film key), in which contacts are arranged in a matrix on two upper and lower flexible printed circuits, facing each other with a spacer in between. Yes 0 This keyboard allows the control panel to be beautifully finished with a colorful design, and because it does not allow dust or metal bottles to enter and has a simple structure, it is especially used for control panels for small electronic devices. There are many things.

If this thin film key is used exclusively to form a cursor movement key, it will be composed of four keys indicating the directions of movement: up, down, left and right. It is also possible to perform this operation by sliding your finger over the thin film and pressing down, but the fingertips get tired when operating for a long time, and it is difficult to operate from the fingertips like when operating individual key tops. It is difficult to obtain the confirmation feeling of a key touch when using a thin-film key.Purpose The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. In other words, we focused on the fact that the thin-film keyboard has a very simple structure, and from the viewpoint of operability, we created a single key top and operated it by sliding the key top over the thin-film keys, which would reduce fingertip fatigue. This was achieved by discovering that a good key touch feeling can be obtained without any problems. The purpose of this is to move the cursor by operating a single key top, and also to move the cursor at different speeds by changing the amount of operation of the single key top. To provide a key switch for cursor movement which outputs a binary signal for cursor movement and has a very simple structure.

(■) Embodiments Hereinafter, typical embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer equipped with a key switch for moving a cursor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This no J? - As shown in FIG. 6, a CPU 14, RAMI 5, and ROM 16 that control cursor movement are housed inside the main body 1 of the Sonal computer. Further, a display section 2 and a keyboard section 3 are provided externally.

Note that FIG. 2 is a plan view showing details of the keyboard portion 3 including the cursor moving key switch 4. As shown in FIG.

Next, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the cursor K on the display section 2
A case will be described in which the object is moved to the left [point (a)] as shown in FIG. This ringing operation is performed by moving the cursor by pressing the key top 41 diagonally to the left (arrow A) from above as shown in Figure 4 (see Figure 5 (B)). .Here, if there is a distance to point (a) and you want to move cursor K quickly, move key top 4 further to the left (arrow A) so as to cross one mountain, and press it diagonally above. [Figure 5 (see Q]) Regarding the structure of this key switch 4 for moving the cursor, as shown in Figure 5, there is a membrane key 7I4-5 under the hemispherical lower part 4! of the key top 4. (The above-mentioned thin film key refers to one hand) is provided.1 is a guide that smoothes the sliding movement of the key controller f4., and limits the sliding movement range of the hemispherical lower part 4. It also functions as a stopper.

As for the structure of this membrane key, RP-D 5, as shown in FIG. , spacer 1 on top of it
An upper FPC 10 having movable contacts 6 and 8 is provided on both sides of the FPC 2 . And the movable contact 6 is Keytra'f4.
is moved in the horizontal direction and a force is also applied from above as a component force from diagonally above, so that the lower part 4. of the key dog 4, which is directly above the key dog 4. The upper FPCIO is pushed and bent, and comes into contact with the fixed contact 7. The key top 41 has a hemispherical convex portion 42 at the bottom, so you can press the key top 4 with your finger. The diagonal compression force applied to the movable contact 6 is transmitted to the movable contact 6 as a pressing blade from the vertical direction, and good surface contact with the fixed contact 7 can be obtained. Furthermore, information based on this contact is sensed by the CPU 14 to control the direction of movement of the cursor. Similarly, the movable contact 8 has also been moved further horizontally at the lower part 4 of the key top 4I! The upper FPC 10 is then pushed and flexed to contact the fixed contact 9. Furthermore, information based on this contact is sensed by the CPU 14 to control the movement of the cursor at different movement speeds. For example, key tiger f4. When pressed diagonally to the left, the cursor K can be moved to the left by the movable contact 6x coming into contact with the fixed contact 7X, and then the key top 41 is moved to the left and pressed diagonally from above. In this case, the movable contact 8X comes into contact with the fixed contact 9X, so that the cursor K can be moved more quickly to the left, for example.

Next, the movable contacts 6 and 8 and the fixed contacts 7 and 9 are released;
The means for detecting closure will be explained with reference to FIG. In the figure, the fixed contact 7 and the movable contact 6, which is provided opposite to the fixed contact 7 with a spacer 12 in between, close as shown in FIG. 50) when a force is applied in the direction of arrow A. Therefore, the terminal 6t+ is short-circuited to the grounded terminal 7t, so that the terminal 6t+ is O? Output silt. However, when it is not closed, it is 5 delts due to the action of the pull-up resistor R. Similarly, the fixed contact 9 and the movable contact 8 are connected to arrow B.
When a force is applied in the direction of , the terminal closes as shown in FIG.
It outputs 0 delt by being shorted to l. However, when it is not closed, the voltage is 5 volts due to the action of the pull-up resistor R.

The CPU 14 is configured to periodically check the terminals 6t and 8t of the movable contacts 6 and 8. Alternatively, when at least one contact is closed, an interrupt is input to the CPU 14, thereby starting service to the key switch, and when all contacts are opened, an interrupt is input to the CPU 14 again. It may be configured to terminate the service to the key switch. In any of the above cases, contact information of the contacts is taken into the CPU 14 at a predetermined cycle while the key switch is being serviced.

Therefore, the terminals 6t+ and 8 of the plurality of movable contacts 6 and 8
By monitoring t+, it is possible to detect in which direction and at what speed the cursor is moved. Furthermore, if the periodically acquired contact information is the same, the CPU
14 repeats the same control. In other words, the cursor K is controlled to be repeatedly moved at the same speed and in the same direction.

Here, when the signals output from the plurality of terminals 6t are signals for regular movement of the cursor, even if the signals output from the plurality of terminals 8t are signals for high-speed movement of the cursor, or signals for slow movement of the cursor. It is clear that the signal may be a moving signal.

Furthermore, in the above description, it goes without saying that the display section 2 and the cursor movement key switch 4 may be configured separately from the main body of the device.

M Effects As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a control input for the movement of the cursor on the display section by operating a single key top, and moreover, the movement pressure when pressing the same key top is l! If
: By making it longer, you can easily move the cursor at high or low speeds, so even beginners can move the cursor quickly by blind touching while looking at the display, and it is very efficient with little time loss. be. Furthermore, even if the switch is operated for a long time, there is little fatigue in the fingertips, and since it has a thin-film key bead switch structure, the structure of the present invention is simple but extremely effective.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer equipped with a cursor moving key switch according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the key date section of FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 5(G), @ and (O are cross-sectional views of one embodiment of the cursor moving keyswitch according to the present invention, FIG. 5(6) is also a plan view, FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing a personal computer equipped with a cursor moving key switch according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a terminal configuration of the contacts of the cursor moving key switch according to the present invention. It is a circuit diagram showing an example. Here, 4 is a key switch for cursor movement, 5 is a membrane keyboard, 6, 8 are movable contacts, 7.9 are fixed contacts, 10 is an upper FPC, 11 is a lower FPC, 12 is a spacer, 13 is a plate0 Fig. 1 2 Fig. 2 3N 4N 5 @c)

Claims (1)

[Claims] ■ A key top with a convex portion on the lower surface is a thin film key having a plurality of contacts provided at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction on a plurality of concentric circles, and can freely slide on the surface of one key. A key switch for cursor movement, characterized in that it outputs an electrical binary signal for cursor movement in response to horizontal sliding and pressing operations of the single key top. The key switch 02 is characterized in that the contacts on the outer circumference always output a binary signal for faster cursor movement than the contacts on the inner circumference. Key switch for cursor movement as described in section. 3. The contact point on the outer circumference always outputs a binary signal for moving the cursor at a slower speed than the contact point on the inner circumference. Key switch for moving the cursor.