JPS6252631A - Position input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To give a function equivalent to a light pen input device and to enable a remote control by permitting a sensor installed in the vicinity of a display screen to receive the intensity of a wave beam subjected to the time division radiation along the prescribed indication axis in different directions and calculating the position of the indication axis. CONSTITUTION:When a remote control part is pointed so that the indication axis LC can hit a display screen 18 and the wave beam LB is radiated along the indication axis in terms of time division, the sensor 20 of a receiving part sequentially receives the wave beam LB, and transmits an electrical signal showing the intensity of said beam to a computing part. Since the intensity of the received wave beam LB relatively denotes a distance interval between a position on the display screen 18 of the optical axis of the wave beam LB and the sensor 20, the position of the indication axis can be calculated by combining a kind of intensities. According to the electrical signal showing the light intensity, the computing part executes the arithmetic operation, the calculates the position of the indication axis. Then a display 16 shifts the operation in a selected mode, and a dot display, etc., are carried out at the calculated position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a position input device, and particularly to a position input device that enables a desired position within a display surface to be selected remotely using light or a sound beam, The present invention relates to a position input device for remote sensing with a simple configuration.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, there is a light pen input device as shown in FIG. 7 as a device that can select a desired position within a display surface through the display surface. In Fig. 7, CRT display 1
When the tip 5a of the light pen 5 is placed on the screen 3, the position 3a is determined and a predetermined mode displayed there is selected or a dot is displayed there.

Such a light pen input device utilizes the fact that light is emitted from the phosphor screen of the screen 2 when an electron beam field-scans the screen 3 at a predetermined timing in the CRT display. The scanning position of position 3a, that is, the position within the screen is determined by measuring the elapsed time T (tO to tl) from point 3a to time point t1 when light is incident on the light pen 5.

Conventionally, methods for remotely sensing the rotation and movement of people or objects, such as robots, include methods that image the object to be detected with a two-dimensional image sensor or camera and perform image processing, methods that use electromagnetic or magnetic fields, etc. It has been known.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The light pen input device uses the screen 3 of the CRT display 1 as an input board as described above, so it has the advantage of having a simple device configuration and easy operation. There is a restriction that the user or operator must be in front of the CRT display 1 screen to perform input operations.
For example, it is not suitable for remotely controlling video games at home or remotely controlling slides at a conference.

Furthermore, the conventional remote sensing method as described above has a complicated device configuration and is expensive. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is possible to remotely select a desired position within a display surface using light or a sound beam, or to displace a person or an object using a simple and inexpensive structure. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a position input device for remote sensing.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The configuration of the present invention that achieves the above object includes at least three wave beam radiating means that time-divisionally radiate wave beams in different directions around a predetermined indicating axis. a remote control unit; a receiving unit that includes sensor means that is disposed on or near a display surface irradiated with the wave beam and sequentially outputs electrical signals representing the intensity of the wave beam when the wave beam is received; The display device is characterized by comprising: a calculation unit that calculates the position of the pointing axis within the display surface based on the electrical signal from the reception unit;

(Function) When the remote control unit is oriented so that the indicator axis hits a position within the display surface, and wave beams are emitted in a time-division manner at the indicator axis, the sensor means of the receiving unit receives the wave beams sequentially. and sends electrical signals representing the respective intensities to the calculation section.

Since the intensities of the wave beams received by the sensor means relatively represent the position of the optical axis of the wave beam within the display plane and the distance between the sensor means, these light intensities are combined to determine the direction of the indicating axis using a suitable equation. Position can be calculated.

The arithmetic unit then performs arithmetic processing based on the electrical signals representing the light intensity and determines the position of the pointing axis. The next display processing on the display according to the resulting position data, e.g. transition to the selected mode,
A dot or the like is displayed at the determined position.

(Embodiment) A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

In FIG. 1, an indicator pen 10 is a remote control part of this embodiment, and uses four sets of light sources and optical lenses provided inside to direct four light beams LBa-LBd around a central axis or an indicator axis LC. time-divisionally radiates in different directions. In this example, the light intensity of each light beam LBa-LBd is
In a plane perpendicular to the tip axis, the distance from the optical axis decreases linearly.

FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the indicator pen 10, and FIG. 2(a)
2(b) is a partially cutaway side view, and FIG. 2(b) is a front view. As clearly shown in FIG. 2(b), there are four light sources inside the indicator pen 10, such as lamps or light emitting diodes 12.
a to 12d are arranged at intervals of 90', and optical lenses 14a to 14d are arranged in front of them. These light sources 12a to 12d emit light with the same intensity in this order at constant time intervals To, and emit respective light beams LBa to LBd in a time-division manner. However, in this embodiment, the light emission time Tb-T of the three light sources 12b to 12d is
d are equal, and the light emission time Ta of the light source 12a is set longer than that. In order to cause the light sources 12a to 12d to emit light in sequence, a sequencer means such as a ring counter is used, and in order to make the light emission time Ta of the light source 12a relatively long, a timer circuit such as a multivibrator is used. used.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the indicator pen 10 is CR as shown.
When the instruction axis LC is directed toward the screen 18 of the T-display 16 and hits the position Qo, the light beams LBa-LBd
The optical axes of correspond to positions Qa-Qd around position QO, respectively. A light sensor 2 is located at the center of the display screen 18.
0 is set. The sensor 20 is the receiving section of this embodiment, and includes a photodiode or a phototransistor that flows a photocurrent proportional to the light intensity Pa-Pd when receiving the light beams LBa-LBd, and converts the photocurrent into a voltage. It consists of a circuit.

FIG. 3(a) shows the timing of the light beams LBa-LBd detected by the optical sensor 20 and the respective light intensities P.
a-Pd is shown. These light beams LBa-LBd are received at fixed time intervals To, and the reception time Ta of the light beams LBa is the reception time Tb- of the other light beams LBb-LBd.
It is longer than Td. In the figure, the light intensity Pa-Pd is Pd<Pc<Pa<Pb, which is the distance interval between the position of the photosensor 20 and the position Qa-Qd hit by the light beams LBa-LBd within the display screen 18. This is because Da-Dd is Dd>Dc>Da>Db. The optical sensor 20 sequentially outputs analog voltage signals 5a-8d at a level corresponding to the light intensities Pa-Pd at constant time intervals To.

FIG. 4 shows the circuit configuration of the receiving section and the calculating section of this embodiment. In this figure, the analog voltage signals 5a to 8d sequentially output from the optical sensor 20 of the receiving section 22 are
The signal Sa is supplied to the discrimination circuit 26 of No. 4, and the timing of the signal Sa is detected there.

That is, the discrimination circuit 26 selects the signal Sa based on the fact that the duration time of the signal Sa (the reception time Ta of the light beam LBa) is longer than the duration time (Tb-Td) of the other signals sb to Sd.
, and generates a timing signal ST as shown in FIG. 3(b). In response to this timing signal ST, the sampling circuit 28 operates to generate the signal 5a-5.
d levels are sequentially taken in and converted into analog voltage signals 5a by a subsequent analog-to-digital (A/D) converter 30.
-8d is successively converted into digital signals 5A-8D.

These digital signals S to SD pass through an input interface 32 to a central processing unit (CPU) 3.
4. The CPU 34 calculates the light intensities Pa-Pd of the light beams LBa-LBd detected by the optical sensor 20.
The screen self-position Qo (x+y) of the central axis of the pointing pen 10, that is, the pointing axis LC, is determined by performing arithmetic processing as described later on the basis of the digital signals 5A-8D representing the .

This position data (x, Y) is sent to another processing section and displayed on the screen 18 for the next display process, for example, position Qo (x, y).
Tonto display is performed. Note that the calculation unit 24 is a CRT.
It is provided on a substrate inside the display 16.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained with reference to FIG. In this figure, the pointing axis LC of the pointing pen 10 points to a position Qo on the screen 18, and at this time the light beam L B a
The optical axis of -L B d hits the position aQa-Qb on the screen 18. Since the distance interval Da-Dd between these positions Qa-Qb and the optical sensor 20 is Da>Db>Dc>Dd, the respective light intensities P a - P d are Da<Db<
Dc<Dd.

Now, if we take the XY coordinates like the arrows X and Y in Figure 5, we get
The general formula for determining the position KQo (x, Y) of the indicating axis LC is expressed as follows.

Here, Wx and Wy are the lengths of the screen 18 in the X and Y directions.

The output signals 5a-Sd of the optical sensor 20 representing the light intensities Pa-Pd, respectively, are the digital signal 5 as described above.
A-SD is sent to the CPU 34, and the CPU 34
calculates (x + Y) from the above equation based on these digital signals 5A-8D, and a dot is displayed at the position QO based on the position data (, x, Y) obtained as a result.

Therefore, when the pointing pen 10 is moved to move its pointing axis LC along the line shown in FIG. 5, a series of processes as described above are performed, and each point on the line is displayed as a continuous dot. A line is drawn on the screen 18.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, various modifications and changes can be made within the scope of the technical idea of the present invention. for example,
In the above embodiment, the remote control unit includes four light sources 12a to 12d.
are arranged at equal intervals to emit four light beams LBa-LBd in four symmetrical directions around the indicating axis LC.
c are arranged at equal intervals to radiate three light beams LBa-LBc in three symmetrical directions around the indicating axis LC, thereby increasing the detected intensity P a - of the light beams L Ba -LB c. The position Qo-(X, Y) of the pointing axis LC within the screen 20 can also be calculated based on Pc.

In addition, the above general formulas (1) and (2) represent each light beam LBa-L.
This is an example used when the intensity of Bd decreases linearly as it moves away from the optical axis, and appropriate correction may be added depending on the intensity distribution of the light beam.

Further, although a light beam is used as the wave beam in the above embodiment, it is also possible to use other suitable wave beams such as a sound wave beam. Further, it is applicable not only to CRT displays but also to various display devices such as liquid crystal displays and video projectors.

Furthermore, although the above embodiment is an example in which a desired position within the screen 18 of the display 16 is selected using the pointing pen 10, there is also an application example in which the position of the pointing pen 10 is detected conversely. In other words, point the indicator pen 1 at an appropriate location on the object to be detected, such as a person or object.
0 and set so that the light beam LB irradiates the optical sensor 20 of the display screen 18, the displacement of the object to be detected is detected as a change in the direction of the pointing pen 10, and the displacement is drawn on the display screen 18. An example of such an application is factory automation (FA
), there is remote sensing for robots, etc., and the device configuration is simpler and cheaper than conventional remote sensing devices.

Further, in the above embodiment, the light source (light beam emitting means 12a to
12d on the remote control unit, and display screen 1 from there.
Now fires a light beam towards 8. However, as shown in FIG. 6, the light sources 12a to 12d are
The remote control unit 60 is equipped with a refracting light beam arranged around the display unit 18 to emit light beams LBa' to LBd' from the display 18 side. The light source 1 is provided with a reflective material 62.
The light beams LBa' to LBd' from 2a to 12d may be reflected toward the display surface 18 to obtain emitted light beams LBa to LBd to the optical sensor 20. In this way, the degree of freedom in the configuration and shape of the remote control unit increases, and the applicability to the above-mentioned remote sensing device is further expanded.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, the present invention has the same advantages as a light pen input device because a desired position within the screen can be arbitrarily selected through the display surface. It is very easy to use and allows for highly interesting input operations for slides in meetings, etc. It is also possible to remotely sense the displacement of people and objects, and the device configuration is simple and the price is kept low. It will be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a position input device that can select any desired position on the screen of a CRT display, and FIG. 2 shows the internal structure of the pointing pen 10 in the above embodiment. , FIG. 2(a) is a partially cutaway side view, FIG. 2(b) is a front view, and FIG. 3 is a light beam L detected by the optical sensor 20.
A timing diagram of Ba-LBd, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the circuit configuration of the receiving section and calculation section of the above embodiment, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the operation of the above embodiment, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the present invention. FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing another embodiment (modified example), and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a conventional light pen input device. 10... Indication pen (remote control unit), 12a to 12d
...Light source, 14a-14d...Optical lens!
6... CRT display, 18... Screen, 2
0... Optical sensor, 22... Receiving section, 24...
- Arithmetic unit, 34...Central processing unit (CPU), 60
...Remote control unit, 62...Retroreflective material.

Claims (3)

[Claims] (1) a remote control unit that time-divisionally emits at least three wave beams in different directions around a predetermined indicating axis; a receiving section that has a sensor means that sequentially outputs electrical signals representing the intensities thereof when received; and a calculating section that calculates the position of the pointing axis within the display surface based on the electrical signals from the receiving section. A position input device comprising: (2) The position input device according to claim 1, wherein wave beam emitting means for emitting each of the wave beams is provided in the remote control unit. (3) Wave beam emitting means for emitting each of the wave beams is fixedly arranged in proximity to the sensor means, and the remote control section is configured to reflect the wave beam from the wave beam emitting means toward the display surface. The position input device according to claim 1, comprising a reflective material.