JPS62215811A - Apparatus for detecting movement - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To properly perform the indication operation of a working menu and the operation of coordinates indication, by moving an outer housing to an operation surface without pushing down the same when the working menu is indicated to output a high speed pulse from a movement detection means. CONSTITUTION:The pulse signal line from a roller 6 is connected to the change- over contact (c) of the switch 7 fixed to the upper part in an outer housing 1. When minute adjustment such as the indication of a working menu is unnecessary, the outer housing 1 is moved to an operation surface 3 without being pushed down. At this time, the change-over contact (c) of the switch 7 is connected to a fixed contact (a) and the pulse generated in the roller 6 is outputted from an external output line 9 as it is. Therefore, a relatively high speed pulse is outputted from the external output line 9 and sent to a computer system to rapidly perform the positional indication of a cursor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Object of the Invention] (Industrial Field of Application) The present invention relates to a movement amount detection device that indicates the movement of a cursor on a display screen in, for example, a computer system.

(Prior Art) A type of movement detection device that indicates the movement amount of a cursor on a display screen in a computer system is called a mouse.

A mouse is a ball that is rotatably housed in an outer casing that is large enough to be wrapped in the palm of the hand, with a portion of the ball protruding from the bottom of the casing. Further, inside the outer casing, there is provided movement amount detection means consisting of a roller or the like that outputs a pulse having a frequency proportional to the amount of rotation of the ball together with movement direction information.

Then, by moving the mouse on the desk (operation surface), the movement amount detection means outputs pulses with a frequency proportional to the amount of rotation of the ball and movement direction information, which are sent to the computer system and executed by the program in the computer system. The cursor is moved on the display screen.

By the way, the instruction operation by moving the cursor on the display screen is
It is broadly divided into the following two types.

One is the coordinate specification for specifying the points (picrels) that make up the screen, and the other is the specification in units of characters for selecting work menus, etc. Among these, specifying coordinates requires moving the cursor in small increments and specifying the position by fine adjustment.

However, the mouse only outputs pulses with a frequency proportional to the speed of movement on the desk, so when specifying coordinates, the mouse must be moved minutely on the desk, which is quite difficult.

Conventionally, to solve this problem, the following cursor moving device has been proposed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 198634/1983).
.

Move this cursor! The F71 unit U consists of a ball that is rotatably and vertically movable stored in the outer casing and a part of which protrudes from the bottom surface of the outer casing, and a ball that is supported in the outer casing so as to be able to rotate in the vertical direction and has a narrow end that is supported by a spring. An arm that is urged downward by a cone-shaped O-ra that is rotatably supported by this arm and receives rotation by contacting the upper part of the ball, and an output that outputs a signal proportional to the number of rotations of the roller. The means are provided.

By adjusting the downward suspension of the outer casing, the contact position of the ball with respect to the conical roller is changed, and the rotational speed of the roller is changed steplessly, so that the moving speed of the cursor is continuously slowed down. .

However, it is sufficient for the mouse movement to satisfy each of the two instruction operations as described above, and it is not necessarily necessary to control the cursor movement speed steplessly from slow to fast or from high to constant speed. . The above-mentioned cursor moving device controls the moving speed of the cursor steplessly, so the mechanical configuration inside the outer casing is quite complex.
When considered together with the characteristics required of a mouse, there is a problem in that it is difficult to put it into practical use.

Another conventional example of a cursor equipped with a cursor movement speed control means is a cursor that is provided with an instruction means for instructing high-speed movement of the cursor by pressing a button on the top surface of the outer casing, in addition to the mechanical structure inside the outer casing. There is a moving device (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 60-19
8629M).

The purpose of this moving device is to move the cursor to the target position with a small operating area.By pressing the push button, the cursor is moved largely to the vicinity of the target position, and then the push button is released and the The cursor is positioned at the target position by mouse operation.

However, the above-mentioned cursor moving device is not equipped with a means for fine-tuning the cursor, and the final cursor positioning is done manually on a desk, so as mentioned above, when specifying coordinates, etc. The problem was that it was quite difficult to operate.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) A cursor moving device equipped with a conventional cursor fine adjustment means (
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 198634/1983, the moving speed of the cursor was controlled steplessly, so there was a problem in that the mechanical configuration inside the outer casing was quite complex, and the cursor moving operation was based on the coordinates. It is only necessary to make fine adjustments only when specified, and it is not necessarily necessary to control the moving speed of the cursor steplessly.

This invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and has a relatively simple configuration, and when a minute position specification such as coordinate specification is required, movement amount detection can be performed reliably and easily. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a housing that is housed in an outer casing so as to be vertically movable and rotatable, and a part of which protrudes from the bottom surface of the outer casing. A ball that rotates in contact with an operating surface, a movement amount detection means that is attached to the outer layer and rotates in contact with the ball to detect the rotational displacement rJJffi of the ball, and a switch that is attached to the outer casing and is activated by the vertical movement of the eclipsed ball. , and a frequency dividing circuit that divides the output of the movement amount detecting means by the operation of a switch.

(Function) When specifying a work menu, etc., if the operating surface is moved without pushing down the outer casing, a high-speed pulse is output from the movement amount detection means, and a quick specifying operation is performed.

On the other hand, in the case of specifying coordinates, etc., when the outer casing is pushed down and the operation surface is moved, a switch is activated, and the pulse output from the movement amount detection means is divided into an appropriate ratio by the frequency dividing circuit, and the low-speed pulse is output from the device. is sent to properly specify the minute position.

(Example) An example of the present invention will be described below based on FIGS. 1 and 2.

Number 1 in Figure 1 is the outer casing, which is large enough to be wrapped in the palm of your hand. A ball 2 is housed within the outer casing 1 so as to be vertically movable and rotatable.

A portion of the ball 2 protrudes an appropriate amount from the lower surface of the outer casing, and rotates by contacting the operating surface (desktop) 3 when the outer casing 1 is moved.

A protrusion 4.4 is provided around the ball 2 on the lower surface of the outer casing 1.
is installed. The tip of the protrusion 4.4 is formed into a hemispherical shape, and the protrusion 4.4 has a compression spring 5.5.
It protrudes elastically and moves smoothly on the operation surface 3.

Also, inside the outer casing 1, there is a 160-
A (moving field detection means) 6 is provided.

The pulse (Fi line) from the roller 6 is connected to the switching contact C of the switch 7 fixed to the upper part inside the outer casing 1.

When the detection part 8 of the switch 7 is in contact with the ball 2 and the outer casing 1 is pushed down toward the operation surface 3, the switching contact C switches from the fixed contact a to the fixed contact b.

The fixed contact a of the switch 7 is directly connected to the external output line 9 , and the other fixed contacts are connected to the external output line 9 via the frequency dividing circuit 11 .

The frequency dividing ratio of the frequency dividing circuit 11 is set to, for example, 1/2.

Next, the action will be explained.

If fine adjustment is not required, such as specifying the work menu, use the outer casing 1.
Move the operation surface 3 without pressing down. At this time, the switch 7 has its switching contact C connected to the fixed contact a,
The pulses generated by the roller 6 are output as they are from the external output line 9. Therefore, a relatively high-speed pulse is output from the external output line 9, and is sent to a computer system (not shown) to quickly specify the position of the cursor.

On the other hand, if fine adjustment is required, such as specifying coordinates, the operation surface 3 is moved while pushing down the outer casing 1. At this time, the switch 7 has its switching contact C switched to the fixed contact S,
The pulses generated by the roller 6 are input to the frequency dividing circuit 11. Therefore, the pulse generated by the roller 6 is, for example, 1/
The frequency is divided into 2 and a low-speed pulse is output from the output line 9. Therefore, the amount of movement of the cursor corresponding to the unit movement amount of the movement amount detection device is reduced to 1/2, and minute position designation can be appropriately performed.

[Effect of the invention 1 As explained above, according to the structure of the present invention, the structure is relatively simple, and the outer casing can be moved at high speed with simple operations such as moving without pushing it or moving it while pushing it down. There are advantages in that two types of low-speed pulses can be reliably output, and operations such as work menu designation and coordinate designation can be performed extremely easily and appropriately.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the movement amount detecting device according to the present invention with the outer casing cut away, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the wiring of the same embodiment. 1: Outer casing, 2: Ball, 3: Operation surface, 6: Roller (moving field detection means), 7: Switch, 9: External output line, 11: Frequency dividing circuit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An outer casing; a ball that is housed in the outer casing so as to be vertically movable and rotatable and that protrudes from the lower surface of the outer casing and rotates in contact with an operation surface; a ball that is attached to the outer casing and contacts the ball; a movement amount detection means that rotates to detect the amount of rotational movement of the ball; a switch that is attached to the outer casing and is activated by the vertical movement of the ball; and the output of the movement amount detection means is frequency-divided by the operation of the switch. A movement amount detection device comprising a frequency dividing circuit.