TWI777718B - Wheel sensing device - Google Patents

Abstract

The wheel sensing device includes a wheel, a first magnet, a second magnet, a first sensor and a second sensor. The wheel is used to rotate around an axis, and has n holes and n shielding portions arranged along the circumference of the wheel. Each hole is located between two shielding portions, and each shielding portion is located between two holes. The first magnet and the second magnet are disposed on the first side of the wheel. The first sensor and the second sensor are coupled to a controller and disposed on the second side of the wheel. The first sensor senses the magnetic flux of the first magnet. The second sensor senses the magnetic flux of the second magnet. The controller determines the scrolling direction of the wheel according to the outputs of the first sensor and the second sensor.

Description

Roller Sensing Device

The present invention relates to a roller induction device, in particular to a roller induction device that uses a sensor to receive the magnetic flux of a magnet and judge the rolling direction of the roller accordingly.

In the related fields of the input/output interface of the computer, the mouse device has become a common solution. Today, many mice are equipped with a scroll wheel to help the user to perform operations such as page turning.

However, how to improve the sensitivity of detecting the rotation and direction of the scroll wheel is a big challenge in the art.

According to the prior art, when the roller rotates, the shaft body can be driven to rotate accordingly, and the sensor detects the rotation of the shaft body to sense the rotation of the roller. This kind of mechanical structure is suitable for general applications such as word processing, but for high-speed applications, such as gaming, the processing speed is often too low to be sufficient for use. In addition, the mouse wheel of the prior art is also susceptible to factors such as dust accumulation, which further reduces the sensitivity.

An embodiment provides a roller sensing device, which includes a roller, a first magnet, a second magnet, a first sensor, and a second sensor. The roller is used to rotate around an axis, and has n holes and n shielding parts arranged along a circumference of the roller. The first magnet is disposed at a first position on a first side of the roller. The second magnet is disposed at a second position on the first side of the roller. The first sensor is coupled to a controller, and is disposed at a third position on a second side of the roller for sensing the magnetic flux of the first magnet. The second sensor is coupled to the controller, and is disposed at a fourth position on the second side of the roller for sensing the magnetic flux of the second magnet. Each hole is located between two shielding parts, each shielding part is located between two holes, the first position corresponds to the third position, the second position corresponds to the fourth position, and the controller is based on the first sensing The outputs of the sensor and the second sensor are used to determine a rolling direction of the wheel, and n is an integer greater than 1.

In order to reduce the above-mentioned deficiencies, the embodiment provides the roller sensing device 100, as described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the scroll wheel sensing device 100 in the embodiment. The roller sensing device 100 includes a roller 105 , a first magnet 110 , a second magnet 120 , a first sensor 115 and a second sensor 125 .

The roller 105 is used to rotate around the axis, and has n holes H and n shielding parts S disposed along the circumference of the roller 105 . Wherein, n is a positive integer and n>1, and the number of holes H is at least two, and the number of shielding portions S is at least two. Each hole H is located between two shielding portions S, and each shielding portion S is located between two holes H.

The first magnet 110 is disposed at the first position L1 of the first side S1 of the roller 105 . The second magnet 120 is disposed at the second position L2 of the first side S1 of the roller 105 . The first sensor 115 is coupled to the controller 155 , and is disposed at the third position L3 of the second side S2 of the roller 105 for sensing the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 . The second sensor 125 is coupled to the controller 155 , and is disposed at the fourth position L4 of the second side S2 of the roller 105 for sensing the magnetic flux of the second magnet 120 .

The first position L1 corresponds to the third position L2, and the second position L2 corresponds to the fourth position L4. The controller 155 determines the scrolling direction of the scroll wheel 105 according to the outputs of the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 .

According to the embodiment, the material of the shielding portion S can shield the magnetic flux. For example, the shielding portion S may be formed of a ferromagnetic material, such as iron, cobalt, nickel and alloys thereof. Therefore, when the roller 105 rotates so that the hole H is located between the magnet and the inductor, the inductor can receive the magnetic flux; and when the roller 105 rotates so that the shielding portion S is located between the magnet and the inductor, the inductor cannot receive the magnetic flux. According to whether the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 receive the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 and the second magnet 120, whether the roller 105 is rolling and the rolling direction can be determined accordingly.

According to the embodiment, when the roller 105 rotates so that one of the n holes H is located between the first position L1 and the third position L3, the first inductor 115 receives the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 to output the first level V1 to controller 155. When the roller 105 rotates so that one of the n shielding parts S is located between the first position L1 and the third position L3, the first inductor 115 stops receiving the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 to output the second level V2 to control device 155. The second level V2 is different from the first level V1. For example, the first level V1 may be a high level, and the second level V2 may be a low level. The hole H and the shielding portion S are not located between the first position L1 and the third position L3 at the same time.

According to the embodiment, when the roller 105 rotates so that one of the n holes H is located between the second position L2 and the fourth position L4, the second inductor 125 receives the magnetic flux of the second magnet 120 to output the third level V3 to controller 155. When the roller 105 rotates so that one of the n shielding portions S is located between the second position L2 and the fourth position L4, the second sensor 125 stops receiving the magnetic flux of the second magnet 120 to output the fourth level V4. The fourth level V4 is different from the third level V3. For example, the third level V3 may be a high level, and the fourth level V4 may be a low level. The hole H and the shielding portion S are not located between the second position L2 and the fourth position L4 at the same time.

According to an embodiment, the first level V1 may be selectively substantially equal to or different from the third level V3, and the second level V2 may be selectively substantially equal to or different from the fourth level V4. According to an embodiment, the first to fourth levels V1 to V4 may be voltage levels or current levels.

According to the output levels of the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125, the scroll wheel sensing device 100 can have four states, as shown in the first table: state The output level of the first sensor 115 The output level of the second sensor 125 first state The first standard V1 The third level V3 second state The second level V2 The third level V3 third state The second level V2 Fourth level V4 fourth state The first standard V1 Fourth level V4 (Table 1)

Figures 2 to 5 are schematic views of the roller, the magnet and the sensor in the first state to the fourth state of the first watch, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2 , when the wheel sensing device 100 is in the first state, the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 can respectively receive the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 and the second magnet 120 through the hole H.

As shown in FIG. 3 , when the roller induction device 100 is in the second state, the first sensor 115 is shielded by the shielding portion S, so it cannot receive the magnetic flux of the first magnet 110 . However, the second inductor 125 can receive the magnetic flux of the second magnet 120 through the hole H.

As shown in FIG. 4 , when the wheel sensing device 100 is in the third state, the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 are shielded by the two shielding portions S, respectively, so that the first magnet 110 and the second magnet 120 cannot be received. magnetic flux.

As shown in FIG. 5 , when the roller induction device 100 is in the fourth state, the first inductors 115 can respectively receive the magnetic fluxes of the first magnets 110 through the holes H. However, the second inductor 125 is shielded by the shielding portion S, so it cannot receive the magnetic flux of the second magnet 120 .

FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram of the level output by the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 in the embodiment. As shown in the waveform in FIG. 6 , in the first state, the outputs of the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 can both be at a high level; in the second state, the output of the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 The outputs can be low level and high level respectively; in the third state, the outputs of the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 can both be low level; and in the fourth state, the first sensor 115 and the second sensor The output of 125 can be high level and low level respectively.

According to an embodiment, when the wheel sensing device 100 enters the second state from the first state, enters the third state from the second state, enters the fourth state from the third state, or enters the first state from the fourth state, the controller 155 It is determined that the scrolling direction of the wheel 105 is the first direction.

According to an embodiment, when the wheel sensing device 100 enters the third state from the fourth state, enters the second state from the third state, enters the first state from the second state, or enters the fourth state from the first state, the controller 155 It is determined that the scrolling direction of the wheel 105 is the second direction. Wherein, the first direction is different from the second direction. For example, if the first direction is for the scroll wheel 105 to roll forward, the second direction is for the scroll wheel 105 to scroll backward.

According to an embodiment, the n holes H of the roller 105 may have the same shape, such as a fan shape, a circle, a rectangle, a triangle, or other suitable shapes. According to an embodiment, the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 may be Hall sensors, wherein the first sensor 115 corresponds to the polarity of the first magnet 110 and the second sensor 125 corresponds to the polarity of the second magnet 120 polarity. For example, if the N pole of the magnet points to the sensor, the sensor corresponding to the N pole must be used; and if the S pole of the magnet points to the sensor, the sensor corresponding to the S pole must be used.

The roller sensing device 100 provided by the embodiment uses the first sensor 115 and the second sensor 125 to sense the magnetic fluxes of the first magnet 110 and the second magnet 120 respectively, and judges the rolling of the roller 105 according to the change of the generated output level. direction, so it can effectively improve the operation speed. In addition, since the magnetic flux is less shielded by factors such as dust, the durability and sensitivity of the roller sensing device 100 provided by the embodiment can be improved compared with the mechanical structure or the optical structure. Therefore, the scroll wheel sensing device 100 provided by the embodiment is helpful for improving the related characteristics of the mouse scroll wheel. The above descriptions are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

100: Roller induction device 105: Roller 110, 120: Magnets 115,125: Sensor 155: Controller H: hole L1,L2,L3,L4: Location S: shade S1, S2: side V1, V2, V3, V4: Level

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the roller sensing device in the embodiment. Figures 2 to 5 are schematic views of the roller, magnet and sensor in Figure 1 in the first to fourth states, respectively. FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram of the level output by the sensor in the embodiment.

100: Roller induction device

105: Roller

110, 120: Magnets

115,125: Sensor

155: Controller

H: hole

L1,L2,L3,L4: Location

S: shade

S1, S2: side

Claims (10)

A roller induction device, comprising: a roller, used to rotate around an axis, with n holes and n shields arranged along a circumference of the roller; a first magnet, disposed at a first position on a first side of the roller; a second magnet disposed at a second position on the first side of the roller; a first sensor coupled to a controller, the first sensor is disposed at a third position on a second side of the roller for sensing the magnetic flux of the first magnet; and a second sensor coupled to the controller, the second sensor is disposed at a fourth position on the second side of the roller, and used to sense the magnetic flux of the second magnet; Wherein each hole is located between two shielding parts, each shielding part is located between two holes, the first position corresponds to the third position, the second position corresponds to the fourth position, the controller according to the first position The outputs of the sensor and the second sensor are used to determine a rolling direction of the wheel, n is a positive integer and n>1. The wheel sensing device of claim 1, wherein: When the roller is rotated so that one of the n holes is located between the first position and the third position, the first inductor receives the magnetic flux of the first magnet to output a first level; and When the roller is rotated so that one of the n shielding parts is located between the first position and the third position, the first inductor stops receiving the magnetic flux of the first magnet, so that the output is different from that of the first Level one and second level; One of the n holes and one of the n shielding portions are not located between the first position and the third position at the same time. The wheel sensing device of claim 2, wherein: When the roller is rotated so that one of the n holes is located between the second position and the fourth position, the second inductor receives the magnetic flux of the second magnet to output a third level; and When the roller is rotated so that one of the n shielding parts is located between the second position and the fourth position, the second inductor stops receiving the magnetic flux of the second magnet, so that the output is different from that of the third One of the levels, the fourth level; One of the n holes and one of the n shielding portions are not located between the second position and the fourth position at the same time. The wheel sensing device of claim 3, wherein the first level is substantially equal to the third level, and the second level is substantially equal to the fourth level. The wheel sensing device of claim 3, wherein: When the first sensor outputs the first level, and the second sensor outputs the third level, the wheel sensing device is in a first state; When the first sensor outputs the second level, and the second sensor outputs the third level, the scroll wheel sensing device is in a second state; When the first sensor outputs the second level and the second sensor outputs the fourth level, the scroll wheel sensing device is in a third state; and When the first sensor outputs the first level, and the second sensor outputs the fourth level, the wheel sensing device is in a fourth state; Wherein the roller sensing device is not in two states of the first state, the second state, the third state and the fourth state at the same time. The wheel sensing device of claim 5, wherein when the wheel sensing device enters the second state from the first state, enters the third state from the second state, enters the fourth state from the third state, or Entering the first state from the fourth state, the controller determines that the scrolling direction is a first direction. The wheel sensing device of claim 6, wherein when the wheel sensing device enters the third state from the fourth state, enters the second state from the third state, enters the first state from the second state, or From the first state to the fourth state, the controller determines that the scrolling direction is a second direction different from the first direction. The roller induction device of claim 1, wherein the n shielding portions are formed of a ferromagnetic material. The roller sensing device of claim 1, wherein the n holes have the same shape. The wheel sensor device of claim 1, wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are Hall sensors, the first sensor corresponds to the polarity of the first magnet, and the second sensor corresponds to on the polarity of the second magnet.

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