KR20100124514A - Optical pointing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An optical pointing device is disclosed. Since the optical pointing device has a hemispherical surface, the first reflective member, the second reflective member, the diaphragm, and the lens may be formed by using one mold. Therefore, the cost is reduced.

Description

Optical pointing device {OPTICAL POINTING APPARATUS}

The present invention relates to an optical pointing device.

The portable terminal is provided with a keypad composed of a plurality of buttons for inputting letters and numbers, and a user inputs and outputs various information by operating a button of the keypad.

However, as wireless Internet services such as WIBRO (Wireless Broadband) services are commercially available these days, an operating system supporting a Graphical User Interface (GUI) is also used in portable terminals. As the operating system of the GUI is used as the user interface in the portable terminal, an optical pointing device suitable for the portable terminal is adopted and used in the portable terminal.

The optical pointing device collects the light of the light source in the condenser, and simultaneously captures and transmits the light refracted by the condenser to the controller.

1 is a perspective view illustrating main parts of a conventional optical pointing device.

As shown, the light collecting part 10 for collecting light includes first and second reflecting members 11 and 13 having reflecting surfaces 11a and 13a, a first reflecting member 11 and a second reflecting member ( 13 has a lens 15 positioned between the lens 15 and the aperture (not shown) located between the lens 15 and the second reflecting member 13.

The light collecting part 10 of the conventional optical pointing device as described above has a cover in which a mold and an injection hole are formed in order to shape the first reflecting member 11, the second reflecting member 13, and the aperture, respectively. do. On the other hand, since both surfaces of the lens 15 are formed as spherical surfaces 15a, in order to mold the lens 15, a pair of molds having a shape of a corresponding male is required.

Therefore, the lens 15 may not be formed using the first reflecting member 11, the second reflecting member 13, and the mold for molding the aperture, and the lens 15 should be molded using a separate mold. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the cost rises.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems of the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical pointing device that can reduce the cost.

The optical pointing device according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the cover through which light is transmitted; A light source installed inside the cover and irradiating light toward a subject in contact with the cover; A first reflecting member reflecting light reflected from the subject, a lens converging and emitting light reflected from the first reflecting member, a second reflecting member reflecting light emitted from the lens, the lens and the second A light collecting unit having an aperture disposed between the reflective members and installed inside the cover; An image sensor which receives and captures light transmitted from the condenser;

The lens has a hemispherical surface.

In the optical pointing device according to the present invention, since the lens has a hemispherical surface, the first reflecting member, the second reflecting member, the iris, and the lens of the light collecting part can be molded by one mold. Therefore, the cost is reduced.

Hereinafter, an optical pointing device according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the optical pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a perspective view of the lens shown in FIG.

As illustrated, the optical pointing device according to the present embodiment has a cover 110, a light source 120, a light collecting unit 130, an image sensor 140, and a printed circuit board (PCB) 150.

The cover 110 is formed of a synthetic resin or the like and transmits light. At this time, one side of the cover 110 may be provided with a detection sensor 113 for detecting a subject such as a finger. In addition, a blocking film 115 for blocking light is formed at the remaining portions except for the portion where the detection sensor 113 is installed.

The light source 120 is installed inside the cover 110 to correspond to a portion of the cover 110 in which the blocking film 115 is not formed, and is provided as a laser diode, a light emitting diode (LED), a tungsten light source, or an optical fiber light source. It emits light.

The light collecting unit 130 is installed inside the cover 110 and has a first reflecting member 131, a second reflecting member 133, a lens 135, and an aperture 137.

The first reflecting member 131 has an inclined reflecting surface 131a, and after reflecting from the light source 120 to the subject, reflects the light reflected from the subject. The lens 135 is disposed between the first reflecting member 131 and the second reflecting member 133 to converge and diverge the light reflected from the first reflecting member 131.

The second reflecting member 133 has an inclined reflecting surface 133a and reflects the light emitted from the lens 135 to be sent to the image sensor 140. The aperture 137 is disposed between the lens 135 and the second reflective member 133 to adjust the amount of light.

Since light is refracted by the light collecting unit 130, the light pointing device can be made slim.

The image sensor 140 is provided as a charge-coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) device in which a plurality of pixels are arranged on a surface thereof, and is installed on the second reflective member 133 side. Receives and captures the reflected light.

PCB 150 is coupled to the lower surface of the cover 110, and the image sensor 140 is connected and at the same time connected to the control unit of the product, such as a portable terminal.

The operation of the optical pointing device according to the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.

When a subject such as a finger touches the detection sensor 113, the controller of the product turns on the light source 120 by the detection of the detection sensor 113. Then, the light of the light source 120 is irradiated to the subject, the light reflected from the subject is refracted and collected by the light collecting unit 130 is transmitted to the image sensor 140.

Then, the image sensor 140 receives and captures light. That is, the image sensor 140 converts the movement of the subject into a displacement value and the like, and the converted displacement value is transmitted to the controller of the product.

Then, the controller displays the information corresponding to the displacement value according to the movement of the subject in the form of a pointer, a cursor, or a bar on the display of the product.

That is, the optical pointing device tracks the movement of the subject, so that the control unit displays information according to the movement of the subject on the display of the product.

Since the first and second reflecting members 131 and 133 of the light collecting part 130 have a substantially triangular prism shape and the diaphragm 137 has a rectangular plate shape, the first reflecting member 131, the second reflecting member 133, and the aperture ( 137 may be molded at the same time using a single mold.

In the optical pointing device according to the present embodiment, the lens 135 may be formed by using a mold together with the first reflecting member 131, the second reflecting member 133, and the aperture 137. ) Is formed into a cylindrical hemispherical surface 135a. Then, all the components of the light collecting part 130 can be molded by using a single mold, which is economical.

The hemispherical surface 135a of the lens 135 may be formed on both sides of the opposing lens 135.

4 is a perspective view of a lens according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and only a difference from FIG. 3 will be described.

As shown, the lens 235 is formed in a sheet having a hemispherical surface, it is provided in a pair having a mutual interval.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of an optical pointing device according to another embodiment of the present invention, and only a difference from FIG. 2 will be described.

As illustrated, inclined first and second reflective surfaces 233a and 233b are formed on the second reflective member 233 of the light collecting unit 230. The first reflecting surface 233a reflects the light passing through the aperture 237, and the second reflecting surface 233b reflects the light reflected from the first reflecting surface 233a to the image sensor 240. .

When the second reflecting member 233 has two reflecting surfaces, the normal is transmitted to the image sensor 240, and as shown in FIG. 2, the reflecting surface 133a is provided to the second reflecting member 133. In this case, the reverse phase is transmitted to the image sensor 140.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims. Of course.

1 is a perspective view of main parts of a conventional optical pointing device.

2 is a cross-sectional view of the optical pointing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a perspective view of the lens shown in FIG.

4 is a perspective view of a lens according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view of an optical pointing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

110: cover 120: light source

130: light collecting unit 140: image sensor

Claims (4)

A cover through which light passes; A light source installed inside the cover and irradiating light toward a subject in contact with the cover; A first reflecting member reflecting light reflected from the subject, a lens converging and emitting light reflected from the first reflecting member, a second reflecting member reflecting light emitted from the lens, the lens and the second A light collecting unit having an aperture disposed between the reflective members and installed inside the cover; An image sensor which receives and captures light transmitted from the condenser; The lens has a hemispherical surface (半球 面) (optical pointing device). The method of claim 1, The lens is formed in a cylindrical shape and the hemispherical surface is formed on both sides. The method of claim 1, The lens is formed of a single sheet, the optical pointing device provided in a pair having a mutual interval. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3, And a reflective surface of the second reflective member is two.

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