KR100437891B1 - operate method and ball switch in multi direction - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a ball switch having a multi-direction to simplify the complicated switch system provided in the electronic device, such that the rotation direction of the ball is constantly controlled by using the rotational force of a plurality of wheels and click encoder, and to be a quick operation and It relates to the operation method.

The present invention relates to a panel comprising: first and fourth fixtures each having an orthogonal shaft hole in a diagonal direction; A ball knob mounted on the panel; Conversion means for converting rotation of the ball knob into an electrical signal; A CPU connected to the converting means and the sound generator; A switch unit for limiting rotation of the ball knob and selectively generating an output value from the CPU; It is composed of a signal generator connected to the CPU to reduce the movement of the finger to be a quick operation and to use conveniently without any additional knowledge process.

Description

Ball switch having multiple directions and its operation method {operate method and ball switch in multi direction}

The present invention relates to a ball switch having a multi-direction and a method of operating the same, and in particular, by using a plurality of wheels and frictional force to control the rotation direction of the ball in the up, down, left and right and the pressing direction to simplify the complicated switch system provided in the electronic device, etc. This is to reduce the production cost and at the same time to be a quick and accurate operation.

In general, electronic devices such as TVs, VCRs, A / Vs, remote controls, monitors, and home automation devices are equipped with a number of function keys to turn them on or off, change setting modes, adjust screens, and make new settings.

In addition, with the development of electronic technology, convenient functions are added to various devices, and as the number of switches controlling the device increases, the switch leaves the simple ON / OFF function and the setting mode or screen adjustment stored in the memory according to the number of switch presses and the operation sequence. And a reset function.

In this example, Korean Patent Registration Application No. 1997-68598 has proposed a motion control apparatus and method thereof for a television using a ball mouse (hereinafter, "operation control apparatus and method").

The proposed motion control device is a motion control device of a television using a ball mouse, which has a ball mouse installed at the front of the television to control channel up / down and volume up / down, and Y for the ball mouse. Y-axis rotation detection means for detecting the rotation in the axial direction to provide a detection signal.

In addition, the X-axis rotation detection means for detecting the rotation in the X-axis direction with respect to the ball mouse to provide a detection signal, Y-axis and X for converting the detection signal from the Y-axis and X-axis rotation detection means into a digital signal It is provided with an axis signal processor.

In addition, after calculating the Y-axis and X-axis rotation amount based on the detection data from the Y- and X-axis signal processing units, the Y-axis rotation amount and the X-axis rotation amount are compared and the television of the axis corresponding to the large rotation amount A control unit for controlling a function, and a channel control unit for adjusting the up or down of the channel under the control of the control unit.

In addition, it is provided with a volume control unit for adjusting the volume up or down according to the control of the control unit to be able to easily control the channel and volume.

However, this operation control device of the Dell is difficult to select the direction of rotation, and when the input after selection, it is inconvenient to use by pressing the other switch.

On the other hand, in the case of a complicated device, it is usually equipped with a main switch and a plurality of sub switches. For operation, press the main switch to select a menu or a function, and then press the sub switch again to change to a desired setting mode. Color adjustment, size adjustment, volume adjustment, balance adjustment, etc.

However, in order to smoothly adjust all the electronic devices, a large number of switches are required, and the volume of the product becomes large, and the method of use is complicated, and it takes a long time to understand the correct function.

In addition, due to these problems, the general users use only the most basic functions, and users who are familiar with all of the functions have problems that they cannot fully utilize due to inconvenience of operability.

In the case of a remote control for remote control of electronic devices, the size becomes larger than necessary, and when selecting and pressing a switch, it is inconvenient to find and read a number of function display characters of the switch, and a malfunction is caused by the proximity being pressed. there was.

In order to solve this problem, the applicant has limited the "ball switch having a multi-direction" (hereinafter referred to as "ball switch") of the patent application No. 2000-47940 (2000.8.18).

As shown in FIG. 7A or FIG. 7B, the proposed ball switch is provided with the first to fourth fasteners 9 to 12 each having an orthogonal shaft hole 14 and a flow stopper 15 in a diagonal direction. A bracket (2) having a hinge portion (13) integrally formed with a hinge hole (21) between the first and second fixtures (9, 10), and a ball knob (3) mounted on the bracket (2); A converting means 4 for converting the rotation of the ball knob 3 into an electrical signal, a CPU 6 connected to the converting means 4 and the sound generating unit 5, and the rotation of the ball knob while limiting the CPU ( 6) is composed of a selection control means (7) to generate the output value selectively in a plurality of wheels and frictional force to control the rotational direction of the ball by using a constant switch system to simplify the complex It can be operated quickly and convenient to use without any additional knowledge.

However, the rotation of the ball knob constituting such a ball switch is limited by the corners of the first to fourth fasteners, and the rotating shaft having wheels provided on both sides of the ball prevents the flow of the ball knob by a separate flow prevention ball. There is a problem that the price of the product is increased by increasing the manufacturing process is provided to rotate in contact with the knob.

Therefore, the present invention has been made in order to solve such a problem, the panel provided with each of the first to fourth fasteners having an orthogonal shaft hole in a diagonal direction; A ball knob mounted on the panel; Conversion means for converting rotation of the ball knob into an electrical signal; A CPU connected to the converting means and the sound generator; A switch unit for limiting rotation of the ball knob and selectively generating an output value from the CPU; It is composed of a signal generator connected to the CPU to have a large number of contacts to control the up and down, left and right rotation of the ball and the pressing direction of the front and rear to simplify the complicated switch system to reduce the manufacturing cost and at the same time to enable fast operation.

1 is an exploded perspective view of a ball switch having a multi-direction in accordance with the present invention.

2 is a perspective view of a ball switch having a multi-direction in accordance with the present invention.

3 is a plan view of a ball switch having a multi-direction in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 4a, b is an illustration showing an operating state of the ball switch push sensor having a multi-direction in accordance with the present invention.

5 is a block diagram of a ball switch having a multi-direction according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a flow chart illustrating a character input process using a ball switch according to the present invention. Figure 7a is a block diagram of a ball switch having a multi-direction according to the prior art. Figure 7b is a ball switch having a multi-direction according to the prior art. Exploded perspective view.

<Brief description of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

2: Panel 3: Ball Knob

4: conversion means 5: sound generator

5a: Speaker 6: CPU

9-12: 1st-4 fasteners 14: Shaft work

22-25: 1st-4th click encoder 26-29: rotating shaft

33: support plate 33a: hinge ball

34: hinge axis 36: support ball

38: stopper 39: push sensor

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the ball switch 1 having a multi-direction according to the present invention includes a panel 2, a ball knob 3 having a spherical shape mounted on the panel 2, and a ball knob ( 3) a plurality of conversion means (4) for converting the rotation of the electric signal to the electrical signal, and the output value through the signal generator (6b) to the electronic, electrical device (6a) to be controlled by receiving an electrical signal from the conversion means (4) The CPU 6 to be output and the switch portion 7 which restricts the rotation direction and rotation of the ball knob 3 and selectively generates an output value at the same time.

Here, the panel 2 may be a body of an electronic device, and may be separately provided as a PCB 8 so as to be fixed or attached to a body in the electronic device. The panel 2 may be formed diagonally on the upper surface of the PCB 8. The ball knob 3 is provided with the 1-4 fasteners 9-12 and the 1-4 click encoders 22-25, and is provided with the hinge part 13b provided in the one side of the through-hole 13a. Is provided to be seated to a predetermined depth.

The first to fourth fasteners 9 to 12 are formed with shaft holes 14 that penetrate one side, and are fixed to the upper surface of the PCB 8 by soldering as fixing means.

The ball knob 3 is preferably used that is coated with a soft rubber material on the outer surface.

The converting means 4 comprises first to fourth click encoders 22 to 25 provided to face the first to fourth fasteners 9 to 12 fixed to the panel 2, and respective first to fourth fasteners ( And rotating shafts 26 to 29 provided to be connected to the first to fourth click encoders 22 to 25 while being rotatably fixed between the shaft holes 14 of 9 to 12.

Here, the first to fourth click encoders 22 to 25 rotate the rotating shafts 26 to 29 and simultaneously convert the rotation into an electrical signal, and at the same time, a click vibration that can feel a click sound or a click degree is clicked. It is desirable to provide so that it is generated.

Each of the rotary shafts 26 to 29 is rotatably provided in up, down, left and right four directions, and the vertical and horizontal directions are automatically adjusted even if the ball knob 3 is pushed in the substantially vertical and horizontal directions to the rotary shafts 26 to 29. It is equipped to be fitted with.

That is, when the ball knob 3 is pushed in the direction slightly inclined upward and downward from the horizontal direction, the rotating shafts 26 to 29 abutting on both sides serve as hinge shafts supporting the ball knob 3 on both sides. The ball knob 3 is easily rotated.

In the CPU 6, the movement of the ball knob 3 is converted into an electric signal by the first to fourth click encoders 22 to 25 of the converting means 4, and at the same time, up, down, left and right and the switch section It is connected to the sound generating part 5 which has the speaker 5a which generate | occur | produces five different types of sound according to ON / OFF of (7).

In addition, a signal generator 6b for generating a signal for controlling the electrical and electronic devices 6a is connected to the other output terminal of the CPU 6.

The setting of the intrinsic sound heard through the speaker 5a can be symbolically related to the operation direction of the switch. The high sound is short in the up direction, the low sound is short in the down direction, and the high sound is in the left direction. It is preferable that the sound going down to a low tone is short, and the sound going up from a low to a high tone is short in the right direction, and the pressing direction makes a middle sound long to make a clear division.

The switch portion 7 forms a hinge hole 33a at one side of the hinge portion 13b formed on the PCB 8 and includes a stopper 38 having a support ball 36 supporting the ball knob 3. It consists of the support plate 33 which has, and the push sensor 39 provided in the bottom surface of the panel 2 located in the place which opposes the stopper 38. As shown in FIG.

The operation of the present invention configured as described above is as follows.

First, when the ball knob 3 is pushed to the left using a finger, the ball knob 3 supported by the support ball 36 is rotatable between the first fixture 9 and the first click encoder 22. It rotates in contact with the surface of the provided rotary shaft 26.

At this time, when the ball knob 3 is pushed in the inclined direction (arrow of FIG. 3) having a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the horizontal direction on the left side in the process of pushing the ball shaft 3 to the left direction with the rotation shaft 26, the ball knob 3 A plurality of rotary shafts 26 and 27 are in contact with the surface of the encoder and are connected to the first and second click encoders 22 and 23 to the rotary shafts 26 and 27, thereby increasing the number of encoders and clicking on the angle. Rotation is limited as the load on the device increases.

When the direction in which the ball knob 3 is pushed with the finger in this state is changed only slightly, the rotation direction of the ball knob 3 is limited to the horizontal direction by the rotation shafts 27 and 29 on both sides, so that the upper and lower rotation directions are limited. .

That is, even if the user applies the force to the ball knob 3 at an angle, the rotation shafts 26, 27, 28, 29 are driven constantly so that accurate manipulation is possible.

In this process, as the rotary shaft 26 is rotated by the ball knob 3, an electrical signal is generated by the first click encoder 22 provided at the distal end of the rotary shaft 26, and vibrates with a click sound. Is generated.

The vibration is transmitted to the user's finger via the rotary shafts 26 to 29 and the ball knob 3, thereby recognizing that the rotary shaft 26 is being rotated. You'll see how many clicks you moved.

The electric signal generated by the ball knob 3 is applied to the CPU 6 as an ON / OFF signal, and at the same time, the CPU 6 is connected to the sound generator 5 through the speaker 5a connected to the sound generator 5. By generating different sounds, it is possible to know in which direction the ball knob 3 is operated (rotated).

When the ball knob 3 is pressed in the direction of the support plate 33, the ball knob 3 rotates around the hinge hole 33a while compressing the support ball 36, thereby turning on the push sensor 39. The CPU 6 transmits an output force value to the electric and electronic device 6a to be controlled through the signal generator 6b to control the device.

When the finger is released from the ball knob 3, the ball knob 3 returns to the center by the elastic force of the push sensor 39, thereby waiting for the next operation.

Only the pushing of the ball knob to the left side of the operation of the present invention has been described, but the right side, the upper side and the lower side are driven through the same process.

The ball knob used in the present invention can basically handle all five switch functions such as up and down, left and right directions and pressing, and when using the up and down or left and right as a volume function, three switches and one volume or one switch And two volume functions. In addition, the functions of the four directional switches can be used to handle the combined functions of one fixed mouse and one switch.

In the case of four-way switch operation, one click is divided shortly and three or more clicks are divided long, and nine switch functions can be handled together with the push function. Simultaneously with the release, the pressure of the pressing force of the pressing sensor 39 may be sensed and used.

Another method of operation is to determine the direction of rotation of the ball, which corresponds to the numerical arrangement of the telephone. For example, 1 = up, then rotate left and press. 2 = Rotate upwards and press. 3 = Rotate up then rotate right then press. 4 = Rotate left and press. 5 = Just press Enter = Just press twice. 0 = Rotate down 2 clicks and press.

As another method of operation, the user may scroll in four directions of the map when searching the map of the Internet, and move the display part up or down while pressing the ball knob 3 at the scrolled position.

In another operation method, when the web is searched on the Internet, the search box and the execution command portion of the web page are rotated back and forth, left and right of the ball knob to quickly move the cursor to a predetermined position, and the next ball knob (3). Rotating the ball knob back and forth and left and right while pressing will change the web search box.

On the other hand, when using a combination of the movement direction of the ball in the device equipped with a display device it is possible to directly enter a character without a keyboard (shown in Figure 6).

That is, in the case of Korean character input, the consonant input mode is selected by moving the ball knob upward, scroll the ball knob up and down, press the consonant, and select consonant. You can type it as you draw.

In addition, in the case of English characters, a predetermined alphabet can be selected and used according to the movement of the ball knob according to the shape of the character.

According to the present invention, when used in combination with the display, the function of the operation direction of the switch is displayed on the screen, and the function changes every time the menu is changed. It can be applied directly to the TV or monitor provided without using a separate device.

In the case of using a plurality of ball knobs of the present invention to be linked with the screen display function of the TV, one may be used as a menu setting in two stages by operating the left and right up and down, and the other may be used to set the function.

If you adjust the screen with one ball knob on the computer monitor, you can move up, down, left, and right in one menu to match the screen direction. It can be used to make it possible.

When applied to the vehicle's audio or air conditioning control, it can be used to select the up and down radio broadcast or CD, and the left and right volume can be used, and pressing can be used to select the radio broadcast frequency and CD player.

In case of using the left and right as the sub menus by interlocking with the display and using the left and right as sub menus, the main menus are arranged vertically on the screen, and one of the menus is selected to select and the sub menu of the corresponding menu is displayed. It is displayed horizontally, and when the status of the menu is displayed above and below the auxiliary menu, it is possible to easily grasp all the menu systems without moving the finger and use it conveniently.

In addition, when inputting the time of the electronic device, left and right can be entered by clicking to select year, month, day, hour, and minute, and the up and down can be used as the number up and down functions.

On the other hand, when the present invention is applied to a TV, when selecting a channel up and down and applying the left and right to the volume control, the channel can be selected at one point, the volume control can be performed immediately after the selection, You can change the number in multiples.

In addition, when the multi-dimensional function of the ball knob used in the present invention is applied to all electronic devices (including home automation), the operation can be conveniently performed. Can handle all of the various operations.

As described above, the present invention allows the rotational direction of the ball to be uniformly controlled by using the rotational force of a plurality of wheels and click encoders, thereby simplifying the complex switch system provided in the electronic device and quickly operating the same. It is intended to be used conveniently without additional knowledge. In addition, the switch function characters and display characters can be easily and easily operated in the dark without seeing.

Claims (9)

A panel (2) provided with each of the first to fourth fixing tools (9 to 12) having the orthogonal shaft holes (14) in a diagonal direction; A ball knob 3 mounted on the panel 2; Conversion means (4) for converting rotation of the ball knob (3) into an electrical signal; A CPU 6 connected to the converting means 4 and the sound generating section 5; A switch unit 7 for limiting rotation of the ball knob 3 and provided to generate an output value from the CPU 6; A ball switch having a multi-direction, characterized by comprising a signal generator (6b) connected to the CPU (6). The method of claim 1, The converting means (4) comprises a rotating shaft (26 to 29) inserted between the shaft hole (14) of the first to fourth fixing sphere (9 to 12); First to fourth click encoders 22 to 25 fitted with one end of the rotary shafts 26 to 29; A ball switch having multiple directions, characterized in that the lower ends of the first to fourth click encoders (22 to 25) are fixed to the upper surface of the panel (2). The method of claim 1, The sound generator (5) is a ball switch having a multi-directional, characterized in that different sound is generated according to the up, down, left and right and pressing direction of the ball knob (3) through the speaker (5a). The method of claim 1, The switch unit 7 includes a support plate 33 having a hinge hole 33a; A hinge shaft 34 inserted into the hinge hole 33a; A stopper 38 provided with the support ball 36 in the center of the support plate 33; Ball switch having a multi-direction characterized in that consisting of a push sensor 39 provided between the upper end of the free end of the support plate 33 and the bottom of the bracket (2). The method of claim 2, The rotary shafts 26 to 29 support both sides of the ball knob 3 so that the rotational direction of the ball knob 3 is rotated in any one of up, down, left and right directions. The method of claim 2, The first to fourth click encoders (22 to 25) is a ball switch having a multi-directional direction characterized in that any one of the click sound or click vibration is generated while the rotating shaft (26 to 29) is rotated. A method of operating a ball switch having a multi-directional direction, characterized in that scrolling in the four directions of the map when searching the map on the Internet, and moving the display part up and down while pressing the ball knob in the scrolled position. When searching the web on the Internet, rotate the search box and execution command displayed on the web page back and forth and left and right of the ball knob to quickly move the cursor to a predetermined position. Rotating to a multi-directional ball switch operation method characterized in that the web search window is changed. Move the ball knob upward to select the consonant input mode, scroll the ball knob up and down to select the consonant, and use the long and short movements of the ball knob downwards and leftwards to select the vowel as if it were a Korean character. Method of operating a ball switch having a multi-directional, characterized in that it is possible to input.