JPS61206024A - Pressure sensitive type coordinates input device with keyboard function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the pressure sensitive type coordinates input device with the keyboard function, which prevents the error input with hands and is operated with a finger tip by providing newly the intermediate electrode divided in parallel so as to be orthogonal to the electrode, onto the electrode divided in parallel. CONSTITUTION:When a character, a pattern, etc., are inputted and an (a) point is pressured with a pen 37, the electric potential of the position of a corresponding high resistance film 2 is transferred through a (b) point of a pressure sensitive conductive sheet 17 to a (c) point of an intermediate electrode 20, the pressuring force conducts a pressure sensitive sheet 18 by the flexibility and further, the electric potential of the film 2 is also transferred to a (d) point of an electrode 27. Then, by closing successively switches 29-31, the electric potential in the X and Y directions the film, namely, coordinates can be detected. The width of electrodes 26-28 is selected so that it may not be wider than an interval 40 between the point (a) and a pressuring point (e) with hands, and the error input with hands is prevented. Further, when a division part drawn on the film 1 is pressured, the equivalent part of the sheet 18 between electrodes 19-21 and 26-28 are conducted, thereby the keyboard action can be executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a pressure-sensitive coordinate input device having a keyboard function.

(Prior Art) A pressure-sensitive coordinate input device using a pressure-sensitive conductive sheet has been known as a device for detecting the input position of handwritten characters, figures, etc. by the pressure of a ballpoint pen or the like. By the way, if a telephone or the like is equipped with such an input device to transmit character information, if the input device can also function as a keyboard for sending dialed numbers, the space on the operation surface of the telephone or the like can be saved. However, such a pressure-sensitive coordinate input device has not been proposed.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) Conventional pressure-sensitive input devices include those that allow input using pen pressure, such as a ballpoint pen, and those that allow input using pressure from a fingertip. However, no sufficient method has been proposed that allows input by any of the above methods from the same surface.

Generally, when pressing a fingertip, the pressing force per unit area is weaker than the writing pressure of a ballpoint pen or the like, so an input device that is sensitive to this must be designed with relatively high sensitivity. However, when drawing characters or figures with a ballpoint pen or the like, the input surface W is pressed by the finger holding the pen 37, especially the joint 39 of the little finger, as shown in FIG. ), which is difficult to prevent.

The present invention was devised in view of this point, and aims to provide a pressure-sensitive seat-like input device that prevents the above-mentioned erroneous manual input and also has the function of a keyboard that operates by pressing the fingertips. .

(Means for Solving the Problem) Therefore, in the present invention, a thin film resistor, a pressure-sensitive conductive sheet disposed opposite to the resistor, and an X
A pressure-sensitive shape seat that generates a potential gradient in the axial and Y-axis directions, and an electrode that extracts the potential of that part through the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet when pressure is applied to the resistor with a pen or the like. In the input device, the electrodes are divided in parallel,
Leads are led out from each of the divided electrodes, and a plurality of flexible intermediate electrodes and a second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet are provided between the electrodes and the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet, and the intermediate electrode is connected to the divided electrodes. It is constructed by arranging leads in a direction perpendicular to the electrode arrangement and leading out each lead.

(Embodiment) FIG. 2 is an exploded view showing a configuration example of a conventional pressure-sensitive seat-like input device. 1 is a film with a uniform high-resistance resistive film 2 attached to the back surface by, for example, coating, and around it are low-resistance films 3, 4, 5, 6 in the shape of an opening, and terminal parts at each of its four corners. 7,8,9,10 are formed, and are connected so as to be energized by the battery 32 via the switches 11 to 16.
．． 5 and 4.6, switches 11 to 1 are set so that a potential gradient is generated in a time-sharing manner in the X direction and Y direction of the high resistance film 2.
The opening and closing of 6 is controlled.

That is, in the X direction, switches 12, 13 and 14
15 is turned on, and when it is in the Y direction, switches 11 and 12
and 15 and 16 are controlled to be ON. When determining the X coordinate, detection is performed when a voltage is applied in the X direction, and when determining the X coordinate, detection is performed when a voltage is applied in the Y direction.

17 is a pressure-sensitive conductive sheet, and 38 is an electrode, which are stacked together with the film 1 and formed integrally. 36 is a detection output terminal connected to the electrode 38.

Next, the operation will be explained.

Now, when a certain point a on the film 1 is pressed by the pen 37, the potential at the position of the high resistance film 2 corresponding to the point a is transmitted to the point C' of the electrode 38 through the point b on the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 17. . By detecting these potential values from the detection output terminals 38 in synchronization with the operation timing of the voltages applied alternately in the X and Y directions, the X and X coordinates of the point a on the film 1 can be obtained. I can do it. However, when drawing characters, figures, etc. with the pen 37, there is a risk of erroneous manual input as explained in FIG. Although the above problem is solved by the characteristic that conduction does not occur unless a It has been extremely difficult to design the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 17, etc., considering the characteristics of the intended keyboard.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail.

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a pressure-sensitive seat-like input device having a keyboard function according to the present invention. Components having the same configuration as those in FIG. 2 are designated by the same reference numerals and redundant explanation thereof will be omitted.

As can be seen from the drawings, the difference from the conventional configuration is that a plurality of electrodes corresponding to the electrode 38 in FIG. 2 are divided in parallel, and each electrode 26, 27, 2
8 are arranged on the same plane with a slight gap between them by the insulating plate 25, and leads are led out from each of them and connected to the detection output terminal 36 via the switches 29 to 31.

Furthermore, a second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 18 is disposed between the electrodes 26, 27, 28 and the pressure-sensitive conductive note 17, and flexible intermediate electrodes 19, 20.21 are disposed above the second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 18. . The intermediate electrodes 19, 20, 21 are the electrodes 26,
They are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement of Nos. 27 and 28, and leads are derived from each. 22, 23. 24 is a buffer circuit whose output side is high impedance, 3
3, 34, and 35 are its input terminals. That is, the intermediate electrodes 19, 20, 21 and the electrodes 26, 27, 28 are arranged to form a key matrix (3×3 in the embodiment) via the second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 18.

Next, the operation will be explained.

When inputting characters, figures, etc., a potential gradient is generated in the X and Y directions of the high-resistance film 2 in the same manner as described in FIG. When point a is pressed by the pen 37 or the like, the potential at the position of the high resistance film 2 corresponding to the point a changes to the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 1.
It is transmitted to the 0 point of the intermediate electrode 20 through the point b of 7.
Since the intermediate electrode 1 and 21 have flexibility as described above, the pressing force also causes the second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 18 to conduct. Therefore, the potential of the high resistance film 2 transmitted to the 0 point is further transmitted to the electrode 27 (point d). So switch 2
By sequentially closing (scanning) 9 to 31, the X direction and Y direction of the high resistance film 2 transmitted to the electrode 27 are
Potentials in the directions, ie, the X and Y coordinates, can be detected. Even if there is an erroneous manual input as described above, the pressing point caused by the erroneous input may be moved to another electrode (for example, electrode 2).
6), the coordinate values of point a determined by the pen 37 will not be disturbed. As explained in FIG. 3, manual input errors are generally caused by the input surface W being pressed by the finger holding the pen 37, especially the joint 39 of the little finger. Therefore, we focused on the fact that there is a predetermined interval 40 between the pressing point a by the pen 37 and the pressing point # that causes incorrect manual input, and set the width of the electrodes 26-28 to be wider than this interval 40. If selected, the potentials at pressing point a and pressing point e will not be transmitted to the same electrode (and, normally, pressing point e, which causes manual input error, is closer than pressing point a by the pen 37. Therefore, if the switches 29 to 31 are scanned in the order of FIG. ) can prevent manual input errors.
Since the circuit and the like that sequentially close the switches 29 to 31 and effectively process only the first detection output are common, the details will be omitted.

Next, the operation as a keyboard will be explained.

As mentioned before, the function of the keyboard is that the intermediate electrodes 19, 20, 21 and electrode 2 are arranged perpendicularly to each other.
6, 27, and 28. In the IJ socks, ie, in the embodiment, 3×3 keys are obtained, and the number of keys can be increased by increasing the number of each. In the embodiment, the positions of the keys can be displayed, for example, by drawing 3×3 dividing lines on the top surface of the film 1. To operate as a keyboard, turn off all switches 11 to 16 and turn off terminals 33.
signals to i4 and 35 (for example, different MF
Add double signal. The positions of the 3×3 keys can be detected by scanning the switches 29 to 31 and using the MF multiplied signal obtained from the output terminal 36. In other words, if you press the section drawn on the top surface of the film 1 with your finger,
As mentioned in the previous explanation, the corresponding portion of the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet 18 disposed between the intermediate electrodes 19, 20.21 and the electrodes 26, 27.28 becomes electrically conductive, so that the above 3× The position of one of the 3 keys can be detected.

As explained above, according to the present invention, characters and figures can be input using pen pressure and input using fingers from the same surface, and erroneous manual input does not occur. When adopted in input devices, significant effects can be expected.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an exploded view of a pressure-sensitive coordinate input device with a keyboard function according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is an exploded view of a conventional pressure-sensitive coordinate input device, and Fig. 3 is for explaining manual input errors. This is a diagram.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A thin film resistor, a pressure-sensitive conductive sheet placed opposite to the resistor, and a potential gradient in the X-axis and Y-axis directions are created in the resistor, and when the resistor is pressurized with a pen, etc. A pressure-sensitive coordinate input device comprising an electrode for extracting the potential of that part through the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet,
The electrodes are divided in parallel, leads are led out from each divided electrode, and a plurality of flexible intermediate electrodes and a second pressure-sensitive conductive sheet are provided between the electrodes and the pressure-sensitive conductive sheet. , a pressure-sensitive coordinate input device with a keyboard function, characterized in that intermediate electrodes are arranged in a direction perpendicular to the arrangement of the divided electrodes, and leads are derived from each.