JPS60175137A - Manual operation type computer control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To control a computer by a single hand by assigning basic operations at the interactive use of the computer to five keys, and at the grasp of a mouth, opposing five fingers to the five keys. CONSTITUTION:The body 11 is formed by coating a plane bottom plate 11a with a cover 11b, the front part of the plate is formed like a semicircle having a radius R1 and the back part is formed almost like a semi-ellipse. As to vertical sectional phases, the front part of the cover 11b is formed like a 1/4 circle having a radius R2 and the back part is formed like an arc surface of a radius R3 so that a peripheral side with height (h) from the bottom plate 11a is formed and its upper edge is coupled with the front part of the cover 11b almost like a curved surface. The body 11 can be grasped by a normal adult's hand so that the curved cover 11b can be almost adhered to the palm of the hand. At the grasp of the body 11, five fingers of the hand are opposed to five keys respectively.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a hand-operated computer control device that controls a computer in an interactive manner by specifying points on the display screen of the computer.

<Prior Art> Typical conventional devices of this type include a digitizer and a mouse. The former required a special board to detect pressure or magnetic lines of force, and could only be used to indicate coordinates on a display screen.

The latter mouse has 2 to 3
Keys 2 were provided and were coupled by a cable 3 to a display device 4 of a personal computer or computing workstation.・For example, as shown in FIG. 2, a υ pole 5 is rotatably held in the main body 1 with a υ pole 5 slightly protruding from the bottom surface thereof. For example, the mouse is disclosed in U.S. Patent No.
, 987.685, when the ball 5 is rotated (not shown in the figure), two mutually perpendicular rotation axes that are in rolling contact with the circumferential surface of the ball 5 rotate. The ball 5 rotates depending on the direction of rotation, and these rotations cause the ball 5 to
is detected as movement in the X direction and in the X direction. Main body 1
By rotationally moving the ball 5 on a flat surface using the cursor, the point on the screen is moved vertically and horizontally. Therefore, it can be operated simply on any flat surface such as a desk, without using a special board like a digitizer. Moreover, by operating the keys 2 on the mouse body 1, the mouse has the advantage that it can be used not only to specify coordinates on the display screen but also to specify a range.

However, the number of keys 2 is small, and the way they are used differs depending on the application, resulting in an unsatisfactory ergonomics.

<Summary of the Invention> In order to eliminate these drawbacks, the present invention increases the number of keys on the mouse to five, places these five keys at positions corresponding to the fingertips of the hand when gripping the main body, In addition, by assigning functions that are universally used when interacting with a computer display to five keys, the human-machine interface is improved and the operator can control the computer most effectively with one hand. This is what I did.

<Example> mechanical configuration FIGS. 3 and 4 show an embodiment of the present invention.

The main body 11 has a flat bottom plate tia covered with a cover 11b, and the front part has a semicircular shape with a radius R1, and the rear part has a semielliptical shape and extends in the front and back direction. has been lengthened. The vertical cross-sectional shape of the front part of the cover 11b is a quarter circle of radius R2, and the rear part forms a circumferential surface with a height h above the bottom plate 11a, and its upper edge and the front part of the cover 11b form a circumferential surface with a height h. are arc-shaped surfaces with a radius R3 so as to be connected by a y-curved surface. The main body 11 is sized so that a normal-sized adult can hold the curved cover 11b tightly in the palm of his/her hand. When gripping the main body 11, the five fingertips are located opposite to the fingertips, respectively, with a shrimp, a finger key 12a, and an index finger key 12b.
1 Middle finger key 12C1 Ring finger key 12d1 Little finger key 12e
is provided on the main body 11. In FIGS. 3 and 4, a thumb key 12 is provided on the circumferential surface between the front and rear parts of the cover 11b.
keys 12b, 12c, 12d, and 12e are sequentially provided around the circumferential surface of the front part of the cover 11b.

For example, R1=R2=40 tml, 13=80+m
s1 width L t=80 darkness, rear end width L2=40tm+,
Front-back length t3 = 100m, circumferential height h = 20
mm, key 12a.

Center distance angle θ of 12b = 40°, keys 12b and 1
The interval angle θ2 of 2C112C and 1'2d112d and 12e is set to 03=04-45°.

This shape was determined as follows. That is, the third
As shown in Figures and Figure 4, one is relatively small and can be held and moved with part of the palm (L-shaped);
? As shown in Figure 85 and Figure 6, the palm of the hand is held in close contact with the whole object.The length and height of the front and back are larger than those in Figures 3 and 4 (■ shape). The wedge shapes shown in Figures 1 and 2 were made with clay, and the number of keys was increased to five and a rotary dial was attached (I shape). We asked three subjects to evaluate the operation. As a result, all three people judged that the operability of ■Kata was poor, ■Kata h1 person said it was good, the other two people said it was bad, and ■Shape A1 person said it was bad, but 2 people said it was good. And so. ■It is difficult for people with small hands to grasp the entire shape. Regarding this ■ shape, the dimensions of the keys 12a-128 and the dial were determined by reciprocating the positions of the keys 12a-128 along the circumferential surface of the cover 11b and collecting impressions from the test subjects.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, the bottom plate 1 is placed above the thumb key 12a so that it can be operated with the thumb holding the main body 11.
A rotary dial 13 parallel to the rotary dial 1a is provided inside the cover 11b with a portion protruding outward. Rotating dial 13
The rotating shaft of is connected to a rotary encoder 14.

Between the front part and the rear part of the cover 11b, the main body 1
1, an analog input mechanism, e.g. a slide variable resistor (slide volume) 15, extends in the width direction into the main body 11.
It is housed by extending in the width direction. The operating rod of the variable resistor 15 is connected to the thumb key 12a.

The thumb key 12a is biased outwardly by a return spring 16. The thumb key 12a is attached to the operating rod of the variable resistor 15 so that it can be shifted in the front-back direction, and one end of the interlocking body 17 is attached to the thumb key 12a, and the other end of the interlocking body 17 slides. The operator of switch 18 is inserted.

A distance detection ball 19 is rotatably held in the rear part of the main body 11 by a solenoid shaft, and the distance detection ball 19 projects slightly outward from the bottom plate 19a. The distance detection ball 19 is located within the distance detection device 21, and the ball 1
Two mutually orthogonal rotation axes (not shown) that are in contact with the 90 rotations are rotated corresponding to the longitudinal component and the lateral component of the 90 rotations, respectively. Inside the main body 11, a plate 22 for mounting parts is arranged parallel to the bottom plate 11a. Rotary encoder 14Fi is installed on plate 23, and parts are attached on plate 22.
Fixed. The cord 24 connected to each part is connected to the main body 1.
1 to the outside. In order to hold the main body 11 in one's hand, most of the circuits of this control device are separated from the main body 11 and placed in a housing 25, as shown in FIG. Power is power supply 2
6 is supplied.

To operate this control device, hold the main body 11 with one hand, place each of the five fingers on the corresponding keys 128 to 12e, and in this state place the main body 11 on a flat surface.
The ball 19 is moved back and forth, left and right, the ball 19 is rotated, and the amount of movement is detected. As with conventional mice, the amount of movement is generally detected by a method such as converting the amount of rotation of two axes that touch and rotate orthogonally to the ball into electrical signals using a rotary encoder. The cursor on the display screen moves up, down, left and right in proportion to the amount of movement of the main body 11, and can indicate a point on the display screen.

The five keys 12a to 12e and the rotary dial 13 have the following functions. The thumb key 12a is of an analog operation type, and provides an output proportional to the depression (insertion into the main body 11) of the foot or finger. Since the thumb key 12a is further connected to a switch 18 for switching back and forth, a shift operation can be realized, and a direction (from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top of the display screen) can be given to the press. The index finger key 12b1 middle finger key 12C1 ring finger key 12d1 little finger key 1213 is a digital on/off key. Rotating the rotary dial 13 with your finger raises the connected rotary encoder 14.
rotates, and an output proportional to the amount of rotation is obtained. The thumb key 12a can be switched back and forth and pressed down, and can be shifted forward as shown by the broken line in FIG. 11 from the initial position shown in FIG. This is a shift operation. on the other hand,
The state in which the thumb key 12a is pressed is as shown in FIG. 12, the slide volume 15 operates in response to this pressing, and the amount of pressing is detected. When the thumb is released from the key 12a, the key 12a is smoothly returned to its original position by the force of the return spring 16.

The preferred usage of these keys and dials is shown below.

- Thumb key 12a: (motion key) Simply moves the arranged data back and forth, for example, moves (scrolls) the text file screen in the vertical direction. A quick click operation advances to the next page, and a slow key press controls the speed of continuous scrolling in proportion to the amount of press. Fast click movements are detected by the computer. In the shift mode, which is achieved by pulling the key further toward you (backward) (in the direction of the arrow in Figure 11), a quick click action will take you back to the previous page, and a slow key press will take you back to the previous page. Performs continuous scroll control. The thumb key 12a is provided with such a function because the thumb is normally used to turn the pages of a notebook or the like.

- Index finger key 12b: (big key) Specifies the target pointed to by the cursor on the display screen.

・Middle finger key 12 c: (Menu key) A key to display the menu. While this key is pressed, the menu is displayed on a part of the display screen. When you set the cursor to the item to be selected and release your finger, selected. This menu is used to select options for command instructions, etc., and the menu of options is usually application dependent. On the other hand, the other four keys 12a of this device,
The functions corresponding to 12b, 12d, 12e and the rotary dial 13 are universal and effective in all applications.

- Ring finger key xzd: (non-execution key) Pressing this ring finger key 12d disables the last operation performed by the operator and returns the system to the previous state.

- Little finger key 12e: (end key) Indicates the end of a specified series of operations (for example, creating a polygon with a series of points on the display screen, etc.). It is also used to return to a processing level one level higher in the hierarchy from the processing level that has been performed up to that point.

- Rotation dial 13 Used to rotate figures and images on the display screen around the cursor position. This function is important for graphic applications such as the Turtle Graphics of ``LOGO'', which is famous as an artificial intelligence language.

Circuit configuration Next, an embodiment of the circuit configuration of the present invention will be described.

As shown in Fig. 13, the on/off key (middle finger key 12C1)
The ring finger key 12d, the little finger key 12e, and the shift function of the thumb key 12a) are connected to a programmable parallel interface (PPI) 29 of a microprocessor (control unit) 28 through a key input circuit 27. Analog keys (
(the press of the thumb key) is connected to the digital interface 32 through an 8-bit AD conversion circuit 31. The rotary encoder 14 controlled by the rotary dial 13 and the two distance detection mechanisms 21x and zty driven by the distance detection ball 19 pass through a rotary dial angle detection circuit 33a and distance detection circuits 33x and 33y, respectively. It is connected to the interface 34. The circuit 33a, 33X+33 through the interface 35 of the microprocessor 28
7 can be controlled. There is a ROM in the microprocessor 28.
36, a RAM 37, and an asynchronous serial port 38 are provided, and data can be sent from the serial port 38 to a computer (not shown) through a connection line 39.

In the key input circuit 27, for example, as shown in Figure 14, when a key is pressed, a corresponding switch is turned on. As shown in FIG. 15, the analog AD conversion circuit 31 has both ends of the slide volume 15 connected to the power supply 41,
The movable element of the volume 15 moves in response to depression of the thumb key 12a, and the voltage obtained at the movable element is converted into a digital signal by the ADf converter 42.゛When the rotary dial 13 is rotated as shown in Fig. 16, the rotary encoder 14 generates a sine wave signal S whose phase is shifted by 90 degrees from the sine wave generating circuit 43 as shown in Fig. 17.
a and Sb are generated, and these sine wave signals are shaped into square waves Pa and Pb, respectively, as shown in FIG. 17 by Schmidt waveforms 44 and 45. Depending on the direction of rotation of the rotary dial 13, one of the sinusoidal signals Sa and Sb may have a delayed phase when the appropriate phase is reached.

For example, as shown in FIG. 18, the distance detection mechanism section 21X
The slit plates 46a and 46b are rotated by the rotation of the X component during the rotation of the distance detection ball 19, and the outputs of the light-emitting confections 47a and 47b and the light receiving elements 48a and 48b, which are opposed to each other with these slit plates 46a and 46b in between, are rotated. are shaped into square waves by Schmitt elements 49a and 49b, respectively. The slits of the slit plates 46a and 46b are angularly shifted by 90 degrees, and the hals P a and P b are different from each other so that the slits advance in phase in the rotational direction. The rotation direction can be detected from the phases of the output pulses Pa and Pb. The distance detection mechanism section 21y is similarly configured. 16th
The sine wave generating circuit 43 in the figure is also the slit plate 46a146b1 light emitting elements 47a and 47b in FIG.

It can be composed of light receiving elements 48a and 48b.

For example, as shown in FIG. 19, the rotary dial angle detection circuit 33a uses a square wave signal pa that is slightly delayed by a delay circuit 51 to produce a delayed signal Pd as shown in FIG. The output pulse pt is supplied to the ND circuit 52, and the AND circuit 53 calculates the logical product of its output and the square wave signal Pa. It is output as signal C as shown in FIG. This output C sets the counter 55 in an up-counting state or a down-counting state depending on whether it is at a high level or a low level. counter 55
counts the square wave signal pa. Circuit 33x+aay
The N path 33a is also configured similarly to the N path 33a.

In this example, as shown in FIG. 13, the index finger 12b is connected to the AD conversion circuit 56 like the thumb key 12a, making analog input possible. In this example, the index finger 12
b is used as the on/off key, but for functionality, the index finger key 1
If the analog input by 2a is important, for example, the enlargement of the figure can be considered, and for this reason, the circuit configuration is designed to be able to handle the analog input. With this configuration, in order to detect the input of the on/off index finger key 12a, it is sufficient to identify whether the outputs of the AD switching circuit 56 are all @0'' or all 11#.The on/off index finger key 12a is detected by the key input circuit. It may be connected to 27.

Transfer Format Next, the data transfer sent to the computer by the microprocessor 28 will be explained. The transfer format is the second
As shown in FIG. 1A, following an address that specifies the type of data to be sent, data of the type specified by that address is successively sent. Here, address and data are both the second
As shown in FIG. 1B, each bit consists of 12 bits, 1 start bit, 8 bits for address or data content, 1 bit for parity, and 2 stop bits. The address frame definition is shown in Figure 21C, and the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th bits are key data, AD conversion circuit data, rotary dial data, etc.
Indicates whether it is XY direction detection data, and one of these ρ is 1
It will be made 1#.

As shown in Figure 21D-G, the data contents are of four types.In the case of key data, the 5th bit, 6th bit, 7th bit, and 8th bit are as shown in Figure 211. They are assigned to the little finger key, ring finger key, middle finger key, and thumb key, respectively, and when on, the corresponding pit is II 17+
It is said that The 8th bit indicates whether the thumb key 12a is shifted forward or backward, and is set to 0 or 1. The output data of the AD conversion circuit is the thumb key 1 from the AD conversion circuit 31.
As shown in FIG. 21E, 4-bit data indicating the amount of depression of the index finger 2a is assigned to the 1st to 4th bits, and 4-bit data indicating the amount of depression of the index finger from the AD conversion circuit 56 is assigned to the 5th to 8th bits. The rotation dial data indicates the amount of rotation from the circuit 35a (contents of the counter 55) as shown in FIG. 21F.
The 1st to 6th bits are assigned as indicated by Vt, and the 7th bit indicates the rotation direction, 1 for counterclockwise and 0 for clockwise.
It is said that The amount of X and Y movement of the ball 19 is determined by the circuits 33x and 3.
Data from 3y is given to the 1st to 6th bits, the 7th bit indicates the direction of movement, 11" in the negative direction and 10# in the positive direction, and the 8th bit indicates that the Y axis is Y. Indicates whether the axis is clogged or the remains of circuits 33x and 33y, 'l''
Let o be the Y-axis, and o'' be the Y-axis.

Transfer operation microprocessor 28 has parallel interface 29
, 32, 34, etc., the signals are processed and transferred to the computer via the asynchronous serial port 39 in the data format shown in FIG. The transfer operation will be explained below. Figure 22 shows the main routine of the transfer operation. After performing the start process, each part is initialized,
The process moves to the key switch processing routine, then moves to the AD conversion processing routine, then executes the rotary dial processing routine, and then returns to the key switch processing routine via the distance detection ball disposal routine.

The start processing and initial settings in Figure 22 are as shown in Figure 23. Clear each register, set the serial mode to transmit mode, then set the transfer rate and baud rate, and then set the input/output port. is initialized, and then the counter 55 and its counterpart (FIG. 19) are cleared.

As shown in FIG. 24, the key switch processing routine inputs key data, waits for a certain period of time, then inputs the key data again. The former key data D1 and the latter key data D
2 and 2 match, and if they do not match, end this routine. If they match, check if the match has been obtained 10 times in a row, and if it is less than a certain number of times, for example, 10 times, wait for a certain period of time. Returning to step 9, the key data is then input again and compared with the previous input key data. When a match is obtained 10 times, the key data is compared with the previously stored state, and if it matches, it is not new data and this routine ends. When something that was off turns on, a parity bit is added to the new data and sent out as serial data. The reason for checking whether the same input force is used 10 times is to avoid the influence of short-term fluctuations in key data input due to chatter.

The AD conversion processing routine takes in the output data of the AD switching circuit as shown in Fig. 25, and if the taken data matches the previous AD conversion data and there is no change, this routine ends, and if there is a mismatch, the new If it is determined to be data, a validity bit is added to the data and the new AD
Send variable output data serially, then send key data serially, use this key data to send data indicating the direction of thumb shift as shown in Figure 21, and end this routine. .

As shown in FIG. 26, the rotary dial processing routine checks the interface 34 that receives the rotary dial, and checks whether the counting operation of the counter 55 (FIG. 19) has stopped, that is, the preparation state has ended. When the counting operation of the counter 55 stops and data is taken in, the contents of the counter 55 are taken in and then the counter is cleared. If the imported data is 0, this routine ends,
If it is not 0, parity is added to the data and sent out serially.

In the distance detection ball processing routine, as shown in FIG. 27, the distance detection circuit 33X of the distance detection ball is checked to see if its counter is in the data capture state, and when it is in the data capture state, the X data is captured. Clear the counter in the distance detection circuit 33x, and then
3y is selected, and when that mountain becomes ready for data acquisition, the X data is acquired and the counter in the circuit 33y is cleared. After that, it is checked whether the imported X data is 0, that is, there is no change. If there is no change, it is checked whether the imported X data is 0. If the X data is 0, this routine is terminated. If it is not 0, or if the X data is not 0, a parity bit is added to the X data and sent out serially, and then a parity bit is added to the X data and outputted serially, and the routine ends.

Effects> As explained above, this invention allocates basic operations when using a calculator interactively (dialogue format) to five keys, and each key corresponds to each hand when gripping the main body. Since it is installed at the phase position, it is easy to operate, and the computer can be controlled most effectively with one hand.

Additionally, the functions assigned to the five keys are sufficient for many interactive applications, allowing the operator to perform most jobs with only one hand, except for text entry.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is an external perspective view of a conventional mouse and a connected workstation, Figure 2 is a side view of the conventional mouse, and Figure 3 is a side view of the conventional mouse.
The figure is a plan view showing an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 4 is a side view thereof, Fig. 5 is a plan view showing a comparative example of a mouse, Fig. 6 is a side view thereof, and Fig. 7 is a side view of the mouse. FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another comparative example, FIG. 8 is a side view thereof, FIG. 9 is a view showing one configuration example of this device, FIG. 10 is a plan view and side view showing the thumb key mechanism, and FIG. 11 is a plan view showing another comparative example. A plan view and a side view showing the shifted state, FIG. 12 is a plan view showing the pressed state of the thumb key mechanism,
FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing an example of the electrical configuration of the present invention;
FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a key input circuit, FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an AD conversion circuit, and FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a rotary encoder 140.
A block diagram showing an example, FIG. 17 is a waveform diagram for explaining the operation of FIG. 16, FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of a distance detection mechanism, and FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing an example of a rotary dial angle detection circuit. Fig. 20 is a waveform diagram used to explain Fig. 19, Fig. 21 is a diagram showing an example of a transmission format, Fig. 22 is a flowchart showing the overall processing operation, and Fig. 23 is a start processing and initial setting operation. FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing an example of a key switch processing routine, FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing an example of an AD changeover processing routine, FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing an example of a rotary dial processing routine, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a distance detection ball processing routine. 11: Main body, 12a: Thumb key, 12b two index finger keys,
12C: middle finger key, 12d: ring finger key, 12e: little finger key, 13: rotary dial, 14: rotary encoder,
15 Nislide volume, 16: Return spring, 1
8 Ni slide switch, 19: Distance detection ball, 25:
Control Io circuit body, 26: Power supply, 27: Key input circuit,
28: Microprocessor as control unit, 31.56
: AD conversion circuit, 21 x, 21 y *Rotary encoder as distance detection mechanism, 33a: Rotary dial angle detection circuit, 33x. 33y: distance detection circuit. Patent Applicant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation Agent Takui Kusano 1 Figure '7I73 Figure 7174 Figure 7I76 Figure 77 Figure O 9 Figure 6 Dimension 10 Figure 11 Figure Za Ka13 Figure 714 Figure 716 Figure 3 721 Figure A □Gin simultaneous use 81 Toward? 21 Fertility B +2345678 Thumb ↓ Inferior amount Inhuman (Iris 1 Inferior amount Temporary 12345678 12345678 - OFF I'i!if? 22 [D v2311D 7t724 figure

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a hand-operated computer control device that controls a computer by manually moving it on a flat surface, pointing to a point on the display screen of a computer, and talking to the computer. It has a main body that can be held tightly in the palm of an average-sized adult's hand, five keys located at the positions of the five fingers when gripping the main body, and A rotary dial that can be operated with the thumb, a shift mechanism that can shift the thumb key operated by the thumb, and a linear reciprocating movement of the thumb key by the thumb. an analog input mechanism that enables analog input by moving the user's hand; a distance detection ball that is rotatably held in the main body and protrudes from the bottom surface opposite to the surface that comes into close contact with the palm of the hand; and the distance detection balls are perpendicular to each other. a distance detection mechanism that detects the rotation of the two axes, a key input circuit to which the five keys are connected and outputs the operation status of the keys, and the analog input @
An AD conversion circuit that converts the analog input inputted into a digital input into a digital input, a rotary dial angle detection circuit that outputs rotary dial data indicating the operating rotation angle of the rotary dial, and two from the distance detection mechanism. a distance detection circuit that outputs distance data corresponding to each rotation; key input from the key input circuit; digital input from the AD converter; rotation dial data from the rotation dial angle detection circuit; and the distance detection circuit. A hand-operated computer control device that is similar to the control section that takes in distance data from a distance, converts it into a predetermined format, and sends it to the computer.