JPS63159919A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To facilitate the operation of an electronic equipment together with reduction of its power consumption by adding a means to the holding part of an input pen to detect a contact of an operator and performing the power supply control of an equipment based on the detection output of said detecting means. CONSTITUTION:The electrodes 11 and 12 conduct when an operator starts an input of coordinates and touches these electrodes 11 and 12 provided at the holding part of a coordinate input pen 1. A power supply control circuit 4 supplies power when the operator touches the electrodes 11 and 12 and stops the supply of power when the operator detaches his/her fingers from both electrodes 11 and 12. Then the supply of power is started immediately to a coordinate input plate 3 and a coordinate arithmetic circuit 5 when the operator touches the holding part of the pen 1. Thus, the operator can finish the start of a part needed for input of coordinates with the sufficient margin of time before a contact is secured between the plate 3 and the pen 1. Furthermore, the power supply is cut off immediately when the operator detaches his/her finger from the pen 1 after the operator stops operations. Thus, the power consumption is reduced for an electronic equipment.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an electronic device, and particularly to an electronic device having means for inputting coordinates using an input pen.

[Conventional Technique $1 Conventionally, there is a known technique for saving power consumption in battery-powered electronic devices such as calculators by cutting off the power if the device is not operated for a certain period of time or more. This type of device usually uses a timer or the like to measure the amount of time the device is not being operated, and when the measured value exceeds a predetermined value, the power is cut off.

On the other hand, various devices are known for inputting coordinates using an input pen, such as a digitizer tablet, a transparent touch panel, or an ultrasonic diaphragm. Systems in combination with processing devices are also known.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the coordinate input device as described above, for example, a device that performs detection using ultrasonic vibration as a medium, a vibrator is attached to the input pen or the detection plate to generate vibration. Such driving consumes a relatively large amount of power, so if the driving of the vibrator constituting the detection section is stopped when no input is being performed, power consumption can be considerably reduced.

As a power supply control method for this purpose, the above-mentioned method using a timer may be considered, but this method has a problem in that when the power is automatically turned off, it is troublesome to turn the power on again.

Further, a configuration has been considered in which the input pen is provided with a switch, and by operating this switch when inputting coordinates, the main power is turned on only when coordinates are input, or the power of the detection section is turned on. However, with this method, there may be cases where the operator touches the input pen to the coordinate input board before operating the switch, and this time lag may make it impossible to accurately detect the input coordinates immediately after the start of the operation.

Furthermore, considering the power supply start-up time and the time required for the circuit to shift to a steady state in which it can operate stably, it may not be possible to follow a quick coordinate input operation. Furthermore, this method has the disadvantage that it is cumbersome to operate.

The above problems are common to various coordinate input methods.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides an electronic device having a means for inputting coordinates using an input pen, in which an operator is attached to a holding portion of the input pen. A configuration was adopted in which a means for detecting contact was provided and the power supply of the device was controlled based on the detection output of this detection means.

[Function] According to the above configuration, the power supply can be controlled by the operator touching or not touching the holding part for operation, so there is no need for troublesome operation, and the operator can start the operation. Sufficient startup time can be expected.

[Example] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a data processing system including a coordinate input mechanism employing the present invention. 1 in Figure 1
, 3 are a coordinate input pen and a coordinate input board 3, which constitute a coordinate input section, respectively, and are configured based on a predetermined detection method.

For example, in the ultrasonic vibration method, the coordinate input pen l is constituted by a vibrating pen incorporating a piezoelectric element or the like as a vibrator. The coordinate input board 3 is configured as a vibration transmission board incorporating sensors for vibration detection at a plurality of positions. The coordinate calculation circuit 5 that processes input information is a microprocessor,
It is constructed using memory, etc. In the ultrasonic vibration method, the coordinate calculation circuit 5 measures the vibration transmission time from the vibration detection timing of the vibrator of the coordinate input plate 3, and determines the input coordinates based on this. The input coordinate data is input to an information processing device 7 as a host system such as a personal computer.
is input.

In the above configuration, a power supply voltage is supplied to the coordinate input board 3 and the coordinate calculation circuit 5 from the power supply unit 6. The power supply section 6 is configured according to a known predetermined system such as a dry battery, a rechargeable battery, or a stabilized power supply.

The power of the power supply unit 6 is supplied to the coordinate input board 3 via the power supply control circuit 4.
, are supplied to the coordinate calculation circuit 5. In addition to manual control using a power switch, the power supply control circuit 4 controls the coordinate input board 3 and the coordinate calculation circuit according to whether the operator touches the holding part of the coordinate input pen 1 using a sensor, which will be described later, attached to the coordinate input pen 1. Automatically controls power supply to 5. Power control circuit 4
is composed of circuits such as analog switches and relays. Further, in the figure, reference numeral 2 denotes a detection circuit that processes a detection signal from a sensor attached to the coordinate input pen 1.

When the operator touches the holding part of the coordinate input pen 1 to input coordinates, if power is immediately started to be supplied to the coordinate input board 3 and the coordinate calculation circuit 5, the operator can move the coordinate input pen l to the coordinate input pen 3.
The activation of the part necessary for inputting coordinates can be completed with enough time before touching the button. Further, if the power is immediately shut off when the operator stops operating and takes his finger off the coordinate input cape, the power consumption during non-operation can be reduced.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the configurations of the sensor and detection circuit 2 provided in the coordinate input pen, respectively.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 2, electrodes 11 and 12 are provided at a holding position near the tip of the coordinate input capen, which is held by an operator's finger during operation. The electrodes 11.12 are arranged in the form of a comb and are interleaved with each other.

Inside the coordinate input pen 1, there are components (not shown) necessary for coordinate input depending on the coordinate input method (such as a transducer in the case of an ultrasonic method).
is stored.

The electrodes 11 and 12 are connected to the detection circuit 2 as shown in FIG. 3 through electric wires 13. The zero circuit is composed of a comparator 31 composed of an operational amplifier and the like, and resistors 32 and 33. Comparator 31 (7) One input terminal is resistor 3
2 to the power supply voltage. The power supply voltage is constantly supplied from the power supply unit 6.

The other input terminal of the comparator 31 is similarly pulled up to the power supply voltage and is connected to the electrode 12. Electrode 11 is connected to ground potential. The output terminal 15 of the comparator 31 is connected to the power supply control circuit 4.

In such a configuration, when the operator attempts to start coordinate input, the electrode 11 provided on the holding portion of the coordinate input pen l
．． When touching 12, electrodes 11.12 become conductive. When the open electrodes 11 and 12 become conductive, the balance of the input terminals of the comparator 31 changes, and the output state changes. Depending on the polarity of the input terminal of the comparator 31, a signal change having a predetermined direction can be extracted from the output terminal 15 depending on whether the operator touches the electrode or releases the electrode. Accordingly, it can be determined whether or not to supply power from the power supply section 6 to the coordinate input board 3 and the coordinate calculation circuit 5.

Of course, the power supply control circuit 4 supplies power when the operator touches the electrodes 11.12 of the coordinate input pen 1 holder as described above, and stops the power supply when the operator removes his/her finger from the electrodes 11.12. control.

According to such a configuration, when the operator touches the coordinate input pen 1 to start inputting coordinates, the coordinate input board 3 immediately closes.
, the coordinate calculation circuit 5 is supplied with power, and the coordinate input pen l starts inputting coordinates to the coordinate input board 3 with sufficient margin. The components of the coordinate calculation circuit 5 can be activated.

Therefore, it is possible to always input accurate coordinates without requiring any troublesome operations and without causing errors in input due to circuit start-up time lags. Of course, since power is supplied only when necessary for inputting coordinates, power consumption is significantly reduced.

FIGS. 4 and 5 show different configurations of the detection section.

In FIG. 4, the holding part of the coordinate input pen l has a single electrode 14.
is provided surrounding the coordinate input pen l. This electrode 14 is connected via an electric wire 13 to a detection circuit 2 shown in FIG.

The detection circuit 2 includes an amplifier 41, a capacitor 42. coil 43
and a frequency discriminator 44. amplifier 41,
The capacitor 42 and the coil 43 constitute an oscillation circuit.The 0 oscillation frequency is the capacitor 42 and the coil 43 connected in parallel.
determined by the tuned circuit. The electrode 14 is this LC
0 frequency discrimination circuit 44 connected to one end of the tuned circuit
outputs a signal from the signal line 15 to the power supply control circuit 4 in accordance with the deviation of the output signal of the amplifier 41 from the frequency determined only by the capacitor 42 and the coil 43.

According to such a configuration, when the operator touches the electrode 14, the time constant composed of the capacitor 42 and the coil 43 changes due to the capacitance of the human body. As a result, the amplifier 41
The oscillation frequency increases and fluctuates from a predetermined value determined by C.

Therefore, when the frequency of the output signal of the amplifier 41 fluctuates from a predetermined value, the frequency discriminator 44 detects that the operator has touched the holder of the coordinate input pen l, and when the frequency has converged to a predetermined frequency, the operator can input the coordinates. It is possible to detect that the pen l has been released. The relationship between the operating state of the electrodes and the power supply control is exactly the same as described above.

The above configuration also provides the same effects as described above. The structure shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 has the advantage that the structure of the coordinate input pen 1 is simple and inexpensive because only one electrode is required.

Although a configuration in which the information processing device 7 and the coordinate input unit are separate units has been shown below, they may be integrated to configure a system that performs predetermined data processing. For example,
In such a system, a display device that displays data based on input coordinates may be provided, but the power supply of this display device may also be controlled at the same time according to the output of the sensor in the holder of the coordinate input pen l. can. In that case, the power to the entire display system may be shut off, but it is also conceivable to restore the display data at the time of the first operation without shutting off the power to the memory that holds the display data.

Of course, various detection methods can be applied as the coordinate input method.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in an electronic device having a means for inputting coordinates using an input pen, there is a means for detecting that an operator has touched a holding portion of the input pen. Since the configuration is such that the power supply of the S device is controlled based on the detection output of this detection means, the power supply can be controlled depending on whether the operator touches the input pen or not, making the operation extremely easy. It also has the advantageous effect that it is possible to input coordinates reliably without being affected by circuit start-up time lag, and power consumption can be greatly reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a data processing system employing the present invention, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a coordinate input pen according to the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a coordinate input pen according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of a different coordinate input pen, and FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the detection circuit for the structure of FIG. 4. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Coordinate input pen 2... Detection circuit 3... Coordinate input board 4... Power supply control circuit 5... Coordinate calculation circuit 6... Power supply section 7... Information processing device 31
...Comparator 41...Amplifier 44...
・Frequency discriminator Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an electronic device having a means for inputting coordinates using an input pen, a means for detecting that an operator has touched a holding portion of the input pen is provided, and the power supply of the device is controlled based on the detection output of the detection means. An electronic device characterized by: