JP2558597Y2 - XY coordinate input device - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

The present invention is provided on a display device such as a CRT display , and controls a cursor position and inputs a figure.
The present invention relates to an XY coordinate input device used for performing such operations .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this kind of XY coordinate input device, a device using a rotating ball for controlling a cursor position and inputting a graphic is widely used.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the internal structure of a conventional example of such an XY coordinate input device. In the same figure, a rotating sphere 2 made of steel balls or the like is rotatably housed inside a casing 1, and a driven portion 3 a is brought into contact with the rotating sphere 2 so that a pair of bearings 4, 5 are pivoted. The supported first rotating shaft 3 and the second rotating shaft 6 that is also supported by the pair of bearings 7 and 8 by bringing the driven portion 6a into contact with the rotating sphere 2 make the respective axes perpendicular to each other. They are arranged in a positional relationship. Code plates 9 and 10 having slits (not shown) at regular intervals are fixedly provided on each of the rotating shafts 3 and 6, and a light emitting element 11 and a light receiving element 12 are provided on both sides of the code plate 9 therebetween.
Are arranged facing each other, and a light emitting element 13 and a light receiving element 14 are arranged facing each other with the code plate 10 interposed therebetween.

Therefore, when the rotating sphere 2 slightly projecting from an opening (not shown) of the casing 1 is rotated in an arbitrary direction by manual operation, the first and second rotating shafts 3 and 3 are rotated.
6 rotates in predetermined directions in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating sphere 2, so that the rotation angles of the code plates 9, 10 are detected by the optical elements 11, 12 and the optical elements 13, 14, whereby each The rotation angles of the rotating shafts 3 and 6 can be individually extracted, and the detection signals of the rotating angles of the two rotating shafts 3 and 6 obtained as described above are input to a display device (not shown) as the X coordinate component and the Y coordinate component of the rotating sphere 2. It has become so.

In order to ensure that power is transmitted between the rotating sphere 2 and each of the rotating shafts 3 and 6, the line connecting the driven portions 3a and 6a is vertically divided into two equal parts. The rotatable sphere 2 is rotatable on a straight line passing through the center of the sphere 2.
A biasing roller 15 is disposed to elastically contact the roller.

[0006]

By the way, such an XY coordinate input device is provided with a peripheral portion of an opening of a casing 1 and a rotatable projecting member protruding from the opening so that the rotatable sphere 2 can rotate smoothly. Although it is necessary to secure a slight clearance between the rotating sphere 2 and the sphere 2, if an excessive operating force is applied to the rotated sphere 2 during operation (particularly at the time of starting, etc.), the clearance within the range of the clearance is required. The rotated sphere 2 is likely to be displaced, and at that time, the bearings 4 and 5 and the bearings 7 and
There is a possibility that the first rotating shaft 3 and the second rotating shaft 6 supported by the rotating shaft 8 may receive a strong force from the rotating sphere 2, and these rotating shafts 3 and 6 may cause plastic deformation. there were. Therefore, conventionally, there has been proposed a type in which both the rotating shafts 3 and 6 are thickened to increase the mechanical strength. However, in such a case, the bearings and the like must be increased, which hinders miniaturization and cost reduction of the device. Will be done.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its purpose is to prevent the rotating shaft from being deformed even if it receives a strong force from the rotating sphere, which may hinder miniaturization and cost reduction. There is no XY coordinate input device.

[0008]

[MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS] To achieve the above object
According to the present invention, a casing having an opening and the casing are provided.
Rotating ball that is housed in the housing and partially projects from the opening
The body and the rotating sphere rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating sphere and rotate with respect to each other.
A pair of rotating shafts whose directions are orthogonal to each other, and both rotating shafts
And a code plate provided in each of the
And a rotation detector arranged opposite to the
The amount and direction of rotation can be detected by rotating the sphere
XY coordinate input device, the pair of rotation axes
Each pivot bearing can be pivotally supported by one pivot bearing.
In addition, the two rotating shafts are connected to the rotating ball by one spring member.
It characterized in that it was biased toward the side.

[0009]

According to the above-mentioned means, even if the rotating shaft receives a strong force from the rotating sphere, the rotating shaft can move the axis while pushing the spring member, so that the external force can be relieved. The rotating shaft is urged by the spring member even in the shaken state, so that it can be reliably linked to the rotation of the rotating sphere, and compared to the conventional product that required two bearings on one rotating shaft. Thus, the number of bearings can be reduced.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the internal structure of an XY coordinate input device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a partial sectional side view of the XY coordinate input device, and FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the rotation axis of the -Y coordinate input device, and the same reference numerals are given to portions corresponding to FIG. 4 described above.

The XY coordinate input device shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 rotates a rotating sphere 2 projecting from an opening 20 of a casing 1 in an arbitrary direction with a finger to display on a screen of a display device (not shown). The position of the cursor is controlled, and a pair of rotating shafts 3 and 6 interlocked with the rotation of the rotating sphere 2
Is significantly different from conventional products. That is,
The first rotary shaft 3 that makes the driven portion 3a contact the rotary sphere 2 has a pivot bearing 16 in which a portion near the code plate 9 is made of synthetic resin having high wear resistance as shown in FIG.
The end of the rotating shaft 3 opposite to the code plate 9 side is mounted on the pier 1a of the casing 1 and the terminal 17a of the torsion coil spring 17 extending linearly. Is constantly biased toward the rotating sphere 2 side.
Therefore, the rotating shaft 3 not only rotates in the circumferential direction in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating sphere 2, but also, as shown in FIG.
An axial deflection of sliding over is allowed. Similarly, the second rotating shaft 6 that makes the driven portion 6 a contact the rotating sphere 2 also has a portion near the code plate 10 supported by a pivot bearing 18 equivalent to the pivot bearing 16, Since the end opposite to the plate 10 is always urged toward the rotating sphere 2 by the other end 17b of the torsion coil spring 17 while being mounted on the ridge 1b of the casing 1, the rotation The shaft is allowed not only to rotate in the circumferential direction in conjunction with the rotation of the sphere 2 but also to slide on the jetty 1b with the pivot bearing 18 as the swing center. In this embodiment, a high-hardness support sphere 1 made of ruby or the like is provided at three places on the inner bottom surface of the casing 1.
The stability of the rotated sphere 2 and good operability are ensured by mounting the rotated sphere 2 on these supporting spheres 19 and supporting them at three points.

The construction of a portion of this embodiment which is not particularly described is the same as that of the above-described conventional example.
When the rotating sphere 2 projecting a little from 0 is rotated in an arbitrary direction, the first and second rotating shafts 3 and 6 whose axial directions are orthogonal to each other interlock with the rotation of the rotating sphere 2. The optical elements 1 rotate, and the rotation angles of the code plates 9 and 10 are
By detecting with the optical elements 1 and 12 and the optical elements 13 and 14,
The detection signal of the rotation angle of both rotating shafts 3 and 6 is X
The coordinate component and the Y coordinate component are input to a display device (not shown).

If an excessive operating force is applied to the rotating sphere 2 during operation, the rotating sphere 2 is moved within the clearance C between the peripheral portion of the opening 20 and the rotating sphere 2. There is a possibility that the first rotating shaft 3 and the second rotating shaft 6 receive a strong force from the rotating sphere 2 due to displacement, but even if such a strong external force acts, each of the rotating shafts 3, 6 Can push the ends 17a and 17b of the torsion coil spring 17 so that the axis can be shifted, so that the external force received by the rotating shafts 3 and 6 from the rotating sphere 2 is relieved, so that both the rotating shafts 3 and 6 are thickened. There is no concern about plastic deformation even if the mechanical strength is not increased by, for example, doing so, and the structure is advantageous for promoting miniaturization. In addition, even in the state where the axis is shifted, the rotating shafts 3 and 6 are urged toward the rotating sphere 2 by the torsion coil spring 17 so that they can be reliably linked to the rotation of the rotating sphere 2. Furthermore, even if the axis is shaken and the code plates 9 and 10 are slightly inclined, there is no danger of a detection error due to the optical reading type.
Therefore, high reliability can be expected. In addition, the number of bearings is reduced by half as compared with the conventional product which requires two bearings on one rotary shaft, and the torsion coil spring 17 which is not provided in the conventional product is inexpensive and has both rotary shafts 3. , 6 can be simultaneously urged, so that the cost of parts is greatly reduced.

In the above embodiment, the pivot bearings 16,
Although 18 is incorporated in the casing 1, the pivot bearing can be formed as a part of the casing by appropriately selecting the material of the casing.

[0016] In the above embodiments using a torsion coil spring 17 as a single spring member for urging the rotating shafts 3,6
Although the description has been given of the case in which the spring member is used, a spring member other than the torsion coil spring may be used.

Furthermore, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other XY coordinate input devices such as a so-called mouse.

[0018]

[Effect of the Invention] As described above, in the present invention, a pair of rotating shafts for rotating in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating sphere are provided.
Each can be pivotally supported by one pivot bearing.
Then, these two rotating shafts are moved toward the rotating sphere by one spring member.
Since the pair of rotating shafts receive a strong force from the rotating sphere during operation, they are linked to the rotating sphere in a state where the axes are swung, thereby increasing the mechanical strength by making the rotating shaft thicker. Therefore, there is no risk of deformation, and the number of bearings is reduced, so that the cost of parts can be reduced. As a result, it is possible to provide an excellent XY coordinate input device which is highly reliable and can be easily reduced in size and cost. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing an internal structure of an XY coordinate input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional side view of the XY coordinate input device.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of an operation of a rotation axis of the XY coordinate input device.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an internal structure of a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Casing 2 Rotating sphere 3,6 Rotation axis 9,10 Code plate 11,13 Light emitting element 12,14 Light receiving element 16,18 Pivot bearing 17 Torsion coil spring (spring member) 20 Opening

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A casing having an opening, a rotated sphere housed in the casing, a part of which protrudes from the opening, and an axial direction of the rotating sphere which is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the rotated sphere, is orthogonal to each other. A pair of rotation shafts, a code plate provided on each of these rotation shafts, and a rotation detector arranged to face each other with the code plates interposed therebetween. In the XY coordinate input device capable of detecting the amount and the rotation direction, the pair of rotation axes
Each pivot bearing can be pivotally supported by one pivot bearing.
Moni, X-Y coordinate input apparatus characterized by biasing the these two rotary shafts to one spring member above the rotated spherical side.