KR19980024706A - Information processing device and information input method - Google Patents

Abstract

In the information processing apparatus, the first touch pad having a planar shape is touched by a finger, and the finger touching the first touch pad is moved on the first touch pad to move the pointer displayed on the apparatus. The second touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad is touched by a finger to perform a click operation.

Description

Information processing device and information input method

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a method of writing information to the information processing apparatus, and in particular, a good information processing apparatus suitable for a case where a pointer is moved to a desired position and a confirmation click operation is performed and good information writing to the information processing apparatus. It is about a method.

9 is a diagram showing a general configuration example of a conventional personal computer 1. As shown in the figure, the personal computer 1 is composed of a main body and an opening and closing portion which can be opened and closed freely. The main body 2 includes a keyboard 11 in which keys are arranged. The key is pressed to write characters such as alphabet symbols and numbers into the personal computer 1. The touch pad 12 is operated when the pointer displayed on the LCD 4 of the opening and closing part 3 is moved. In addition, compressible mechanical switches 13 and 14 are provided in front of the touch pad 12.

The main body 2 also includes a power lamp 15 that is lit when the power is on, a function lamp 16 that is turned on to indicate that a function associated with them is selected, and a stereo speaker 18 that outputs sound. The PC card slot cover 17 is removed during the process of mounting the PC card. The microphone 19 is provided on the upper right side of the LCD.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a general configuration example of a circuit for detecting inputs input through the touch pad 12 and the switches 13 and 14. As shown in the figure, n horizontal lines 22 and m vertical lines 23 are arranged to intersect with each other on the touch pad 12, which are connected to the controller 21. The controller 21 is also connected to the mechanical switches 13, 14 by lines 24, 25, respectively.

Next, the operation of the personal computer 1 will be described. When the personal computer 1 requests the movement of the pointer 5 displayed on the LCD 4, the user lightly touches the position on the touch pad 12 with a finger, and the user touches the finger touching the touch pad 12. It moves in the direction to which (5) moves. At this time, the pointer 5 is moved by the personal computer 1 toward the position on the LCD 4 in the same direction as the finger touching the touch pad 12. In detail, after the controller 21 identifies the change in the position of the finger touching the touch pad 12, the pointer 5 is moved and displayed at the new position on the LCD 4 according to the detection result.

The user mainly performs the click operation by pressing the mechanical switch 13 on the left side. On the other hand, the mechanical switch 14 on the right side is pressed to display a menu, for example. When they are pressed, the mechanical switches 13 and 14 are turned on. The controller performs processing when they are on to detect the on / off states of the mechanical switches 13, 14.

As described above, in the conventional personal computer 1, an input operation for facilitating a click operation was performed by the mechanical switches 13 and 14 through a complicated configuration associated with it. Therefore, not only many failures occur but also it is necessary to secure a stroke of a sufficient length in the vertical direction in order to press on / off the mechanical switches 13 and 14, which makes it difficult to thin the main body 2.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is a simpler configuration, an information processing apparatus with a thinner main body and a method of inputting information into an information processing apparatus which can reduce the number of failures and improve operation reliability. To provide.

According to one aspect of the present invention for realizing the above object, there is provided an information processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on an input to an information processing apparatus.

The device has the same basic structure as the first touch pad having a planar shape for moving a finger touching a position on the pad on the first touch pad when the pointer moves, and the first touch pad being touched by the finger when inputting a click command. And a second touch pad having a planar shape, and detection means for detecting movement of a finger when touching a position on the first touch pad and the second touch pad by a finger.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of inputting information into an information processing apparatus that performs predetermined processing on an input to the information processing apparatus.

The method comprises the steps of: inputting information regarding the movement of the pointer by performing an operation of moving a position of a finger touching the first touch pad having a planar shape, and using a second touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad. Performing a touch operation with a finger to perform a click.

In the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention and the method for inputting information into the information processing apparatus according to another aspect of the present invention, the information at the time of moving the pointer determines the position of the finger touching the first touch pad having a planar shape. The operation is input by performing an operation of moving over the first touch pad, and the click is input by performing an operation of touching a second touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad by a finger.

1 is a diagram showing a general external configuration of a personal computer to which the information processing device according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 shows a general internal configuration of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG.

3 is a plan view illustrating a layout of a touch pad illustrated in FIG. 1.

4 is a diagram illustrating a simple basic structure of the touch pad illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart used to describe an operation of inputting an input through the touch pad shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a flu chart used for explaining the operation of the personal computer shown in FIG.

8 illustrates a basic structure of a touch pad

9 is a perspective view of an external structure of a conventional personal computer

FIG. 10 is a diagram used to describe electrical interconnection of a touch pad of the conventional personal computer shown in FIG.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

1: personal computer 2: main body

3: opening and closing part 4: LCD

5: pointer 11: keys

12, 31, 32: touch pad 51: controller

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is further clarified through learning of the detailed description of some preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 is an external view showing a general configuration of a personal computer provided by the present invention. The same components as shown in FIG. 9 are denoted by the same reference numerals used in FIG.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 9, the personal computer 1 provided by the present invention is a touch pad 31 used as a left click button instead of a mechanical switch 13, 14 and a touch used as a right click button. Except for the fact that the pads 32 are provided in front of the touch pad 12, respectively, they have the same configuration as the conventional personal computer 1 shown in FIG. However, the PC card slot cover 17, the stereo speakers 18, and the microphone 19 shown in FIG. 9 are not shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the general internal structure of the personal computer 1 shown in FIG. The CPU 81 performs various types of processing by executing a program stored in the ROM unit 82. The RAM unit 83 appropriately stores necessary data and programs when the CPU 81 performs various types of processing. The detection circuit 84 detects an operation performed on the keyboard 11 and outputs a detection signal indicating the operation to the CPU 81.

The hard disk driver (HDD) 85 is used to suitably store a program executed by the CPU 81 and data necessary for the execution of the program. Floppy disk drive (FD) 86 stores and plays data to and from an attached floppy disk. The floppy disk itself is not shown in the figure.

The controller 51 detects an operation performed on the touch pads 12, 31, 32, and outputs a detection signal indicating the operation to the CPU 81. In the claims attached to the present specification, the touch pad 12 may be referred to as a first touch pad, and the touch pads 31 and 32 may be referred to as a second touch pad.

FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the layout of the touch pads 12, 31, and 32 shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a side view illustrating the layout of the touch pads 12, 31, and 32. As shown in the figure, the touch pads 12, 31, 32 are mounted on the top surface of the substrate 41, and the controller 51 is provided on the bottom surface of the substrate 41.

FIG. 5 illustrates a simplified basic structure of the touch pads 12, 31, and 32 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in the figure, the electrodes 61-1 to 61-4 are horizontally arranged on the lower surface of the touch pad 12, and the electrodes 62-1 to 62-5 are vertically arranged and horizontally The electrodes 61-1 to 61-4 are arranged to intersect all of the vertical electrodes 62-1 to 62-4. The horizontal electrodes 61-1 to 62-4 are connected to the pins H1 to H4 of the controller 51, respectively. It can be seen that the controller 51 is called a detection means in the claims attached hereto.

As shown in FIG. 5, electrodes 72-1 and 72-2 are horizontally disposed on the touch pad 31 disposed below the left side of the touch pad 12, and electrodes 71-1 and 71-are arranged horizontally. 2) is disposed vertically, and the horizontal electrodes 72-1 and 72-2 are arranged to intersect with the vertical electrodes 71-1 and 71-2, respectively. The vertical electrodes 71-1 and 71-2 are connected to the electrode 71-3 connected to the pin Lv of the controller 51. Similarly, the horizontal electrodes 72-1 and 72-2 are connected to the electrode 72-3 connected to the pin Lh of the controller.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, electrodes 74-1 and 74-2 are horizontally disposed on the lower surface of the touch pad 32 provided on the left and right lower surfaces of the touch pad 12, and the electrodes 73-1 are horizontally disposed. , 73-2 are vertically arranged, and the horizontal electrodes 74-1 and 74-2 intersect the vertical electrodes 73-1 and 73-2, respectively. The vertical electrodes 73-1 and 73-2 are connected to an electrode 73-3 connected to the pin Rv of the controller 51. Similarly, the horizontal electrodes 74-1 and 74-2 are connected to an electrode 74-3 connected to the pin Rh of the controller 51.

As described above, the touch pads 31 and 32 each have the same basic structure as the touch pad 12. By moving a finger over the touch pad 12 to touch the touch pad 12 having a planar shape with a finger, a predetermined pointer movement input can be input to the controller. Also, by touching the touch pad 31 or 32 having a planar shape, the click operation can be executed.

The input / output operation will now be described. When the key on the keyboard 11 is pressed, the detection circuit 84 outputs a detection signal indicating the operation of pressing the key to the CPU 81. Upon receiving the detection signal, the CPU 81 generates predetermined character data to display the data on the LCD 4, for example. In this way, the pointer 5 is displayed on the LCD 4 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for describing an operation in which an input is input through the touch pads 12, 31, and 32 illustrated in FIG. 5. When the user wants to move the pointer 5 to a predetermined position on the LCD 4, the user touches (presses lightly) the position on the touch pad 12, and the finger 5 touches the touch pad. Move onto the touch pad 12 in the direction of movement. Then, the pointer 5 is moved toward a new position on the LCD 4. The operation of touching the touch pad 12 executed by the user is detected by the controller 51 in step S1 of the flu chart. That is, when the user presses the touch pad 12, the capacitance of the touched position on the touch pad 12 changes. For example, suppose the user presses a point P on the touch pad 12 shown in FIG. 5 with a finger, in which case the capacitance between the horizontal electrode 61-3 and the vertical electrode 62-2 is different. It changes to a value larger than the capacitance between the electrodes. In step S1, the controller 51 detects a change in capacitance.

When the electrodes 61-1 to 61-4 to 62-5 are each set to a small value, it can be seen that the resolution of position detection is increased. However, if the pitch is short, even if only one position on the touch panel 12 is pressed by the finger, many intersection points or coordinate positions of the electrode whose capacitance changes are generated. In order to solve the above problem, when a change in capacitance is detected, the process flow proceeds to step S4, where the controller 51 determines the center point of the region having the intersection point (coordinate position) at which the capacitance is detected. The center point is regarded as the position designated by the user with the finger.

Thereafter, the flow advances to step S5 of the flow of processing, and the controller 51 calculates the amount of change from the initially detected center point to the currently detected center point. The change amount is the distance between two center points, the speed of change from the initial center point to the current center point, and the direction of the line connecting the two center points. The controller 51 then supplies the distance, speed and direction to the CPU 81. Thereafter, the flow of processing proceeds to step S6, where the CPU 81 is directed to the processing corresponding to the amount of change, that is, the distance, speed, and direction received from the controller 51. In more detail, the CPU 81 moves the pointer 5 from the current position to a new position away from the current position by the distance input in the same direction as the input direction at the same speed as the input speed.

On the other hand, if it is found that the touch pad 12 has not been touched in step S1, the flow of processing proceeds to step S2, whereby the controller 51 determines whether the correction capacitance between pins Lh and Lv has changed, that is, touches. A determination is made as to whether or not the pad 31 has been operated. Since the touch pad 31 is operated to perform the click operation as described above, it is not necessary to confirm the position on the touch pad 31 that is pressed. In other words, it is only necessary to determine whether the touch pad 31 has been operated. If the result of the determination made in step S2 indicates that the capacitance between the pins Lh and Lv changes, the controller 51 outputs the detection signal to the CPU 81. In this case, the flow of processing proceeds to step S7, where the CPU 81 executes processing corresponding to the detection signal received from the controller 51. In detail, the click operation performed by pressing the touch pad 31 confirms the selection item at the position on the LCD 4 indicated by the pointer 5. Therefore, the CPU 81 performs a process for the special selected item.

On the other hand, if it is found that the touch pad 31 is not touched in step S2, the flow of processing proceeds to step S3 so that the controller 51 determines whether the correction capacitance between the pins Rh and Rv has changed, that is, the touch pad. A determination is made as to whether or not (32) has been operated. Since the touch pad 32 is operated by performing an auxiliary click operation, it is not necessary to confirm the position on the pressed touch pad 32. In other words, it is only necessary to determine whether the touch pad 32 has been operated. It can be seen that the secondary click means change from computer to computer or from application to application. The result of the determination made in step S2 determines whether the capacitance between the pins Rh and Rv changes. That is, when the determination result that the touch pad 32 has been operated appears, the controller 51 outputs the detection signal to the CPU 81. In this case, the flow of processing proceeds to step S8, where the CPU 81 performs processing corresponding to the detection signal received from the controller 51. In detail, the CPU 81 performs an auxiliary click operation (for example, a double click) on the position on the LCD 4 indicated by the pointer 5.

Next, an operation input by moving the pointer 5 using the touch pads 12, 31, and 32 will be described with reference to the flute chart shown in FIG. 7. If the application window 101 for an application having a message is displayed on the LCD 4 as shown in Fig. 1, the application window 101 is also executed software which is operated when executing the application as shown in the figure. Button 102 and an end soft button 103 that is operated when commanding an end.

As shown in FIG. 7, the flute chart starts at step S21, and the CPU 81 determines whether a change in coordinate position has been input, that is, whether the touch pad 12 has been operated as described above. . If the touch pad 12 has been operated, the flow of processing proceeds to step S22, where the CPU 21 performs a process of changing the display position of the pointer using the position control means. In more detail, upon receiving data of the input distance, the input speed, and the input direction from the controller 51, the CPU 81 moves the pointer 5 to the new position as described above from the current position to the new position. It moves by the input distance in the same speed as the speed and the same direction as the input direction That is, the user can move the pointer 5 to the position of the execution soft button 102 or the end soft button 103.

On the other hand, if the touch pad 12 is found not to be operated in step S21, the flow of processing proceeds to step S23, where the controller 21 determines whether the execution soft button 102 has been operated. When the user operates the execution soft button 102, the user moves the pointer 5 to the position of the execution soft button 102, and then operates (clicks) the touch pad 31 or 32. If the execution soft button has been operated, the flow of processing proceeds to step S26, where the CPU 81 executes the application using the processing command means.

On the other hand, if it is found that the execution soft button 102 has not been operated in step S23, the flow of processing proceeds to step S24, and the CPU 81 determines whether or not the end soft button 103 has been clicked. If the end soft button 103 is clicked, the flow of processing returns to step S21 to repeat the processing as described above. On the other hand, if it is found that the end soft button 103 has been clicked in step S24, the flow of processing continues to step S25, and the CPU 81 ends the processing by using the processing command means. That is, when the application is not desired to be executed, the user moves the pointer 5 to the position of the end soft button 103 and then clicks the touch pad 31. At this time, the CPU 81 ends the process.

As described above, the touch pads 31 and 32 actually have the same structure as the touch pad 12. That is, basically only the touches on the touch pads 31 and 32 are detected, and when the operation to turn on the switches 13 and 14 shown in FIG. Similar to the touch pad 12, the touch pads 31 and 32 do not need a deep stroke for operation detection. Accordingly, the touch pads 12, 31, 32 itself may also be thinly formed in the main body 2 for providing the touch pads 12, 31, 32.

In addition, since the capacitance is detected in the system, there is basically no need for a moving part, and there is little risk of failure, thereby improving reliability.

In the above-described embodiment, the touch pads 31 and 32 are formed independently of the touch pad 12. However, the touch pads 31, 32 may be configured such that the touch pads 31, 32 form a single assembly with the touch pad 12. 8 shows an example in which the touch pads 31 and 32 are configured to form a single assembly with the touch pad 12. In the example shown in FIG. 8, the electrodes 61-1 to 61-12, 62-1 to 62-10 are arranged in the horizontal and vertical directions on the touch pad 12, respectively. The horizontal electrodes 61-1 through 61-12 are connected with pins H1 through H12 of the controller, respectively, and the vertical electrodes 62-1 through 62-10 are connected with V1 through V10 of the controller 51, respectively.

The touch pad 12 is divided into an area 12A for pointer movement input, an area 12B used as a left click button, and an area 12C used as a right click button. The electrodes 61-1 to 61-9 are disposed in the region 12A, and the electrodes 61-10 to 61-12 are disposed in the regions 12B and 12C. Therefore, the electrostatic force between any one of the pins H1 to H9 connected to the electrodes 61-1 to 61-9 and any of the pins V1 to V10 connected to the electrodes 62-1 to 62-10. When the capacitance controller 51 detects, a process of changing the coordinate attracting value is performed.

Meanwhile, an electrostatic force between any one of the pins H10 to H12 connected to the electrodes 61-1 to 61-12 and any one of the pins V1 to V10 connected to the electrodes 62-1 to 62-10. The change in capacity is detected by the controller 51 through the click operation. Regions 12B and 12C correspond to electrodes 62-1 to 62-5 and 62-6, respectively. Therefore, an electrostatic force between any one of the pins H10 to H12 connected to the electrodes 61-10 to 61-12 and any one of the pins V1 to V5 connected to the electrodes 62-1 to 62-5. The change in capacity is detected by the controller 51 through left click operation. On the other hand, an electrostatic force between any one of the pins H10 to H12 connected to the electrodes 61-10 to 61-12 and any one of the pins V6 to V10 connected to the electrodes 62-6 to 62-12. The change in capacity is detected by the controller 51 through a right click operation.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the area for moving the pointer and the area for the click button are integrated into a single area, the area of the single area shown as the planar area may be changed to that of the touch pad independently formed as shown in FIG. 5. Small compared to the total area.

As described above, a change in capacitance is detected through an operation performed on the touch pads 12, 31, and 32. It is also possible to employ a pressure sensing system or other detection system for detecting pressure.

The category of the information processing apparatus in which the operation on the touch pad is detected as an input may be a word processor or other apparatus other than a personal computer.

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to claims 1 to 8 and the method for inputting information into the information processing apparatus include a first terminal having information on the movement of the pointer having a planar shape on the first touch pad. Since the input is performed by performing an operation that uses the position of the finger touching the pad, and the click is performed by touching the second touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad, the touch pad is constructed. Simplification and thinning of the device can improve reliability.

Claims (8)

An information processing apparatus that performs a predetermined process on an input, A first touch pad having a planar shape for moving a finger touching a position on the pad over the first touch pad when the pointer moves; A second planar touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad touched by a finger upon input of a click command; And detecting means for detecting movement of a finger when touching a position on the first touch pad and the second touch pad by a finger. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the basic structure of the first and second touch pads includes electrodes crossing each other. The method of claim 1, Position control means for controlling the position of the pointer according to a detection result of the first touch pad output by the detection means; And processing instruction means for instructing a process corresponding to the position of the pointer in response to the detection result of the second touch pad output by the detection means. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and second touch pads are formed independently of each other. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first and first touch pads are formed in different regions of a single touch pad. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation of each of the first and second touch pads is detected in accordance with a change in capacitance. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an operation of each of the first and second touch pads is detected in accordance with a change in pressure. In the method of inputting information into the information processing apparatus which performs a predetermined process with respect to an input, Inputting information regarding the movement of the pointer by performing an operation of moving a position of a finger touching the first touch pad having a planar shape; And performing a click operation by touching a second touch pad having the same basic structure as the first touch pad with a finger, thereby clicking.