JP4376198B2 - Cursor moving device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention also relates to the cursor moving equipment.

  Recently, in electronic devices such as personal computers and other AV devices, for example, items such as volume, sound quality and stereo balance adjustment, broadcast channel selection, video editing position, etc. are displayed on the display as menus. It is common to perform various settings / adjustments by specifying the position and position.

At this time, an arrow-shaped cursor is displayed on the display, and the user moves the cursor to specify item selection and position. Alternatively, the menu may be highlighted to replace the cursor.
Examples of such a device for moving the cursor include a mouse, a track point, a joystick, a touch pad, and a cross key.

By the way, when the cursor is to be moved from the currently displayed position to another target position, the above-described cursor moving device cannot be moved to the target position by one operation. It must be made.
For this reason, it is necessary to make the movement speed of the cursor variable so as to increase the speed when moving to a far away place and decrease the speed when approaching the target position to stop at an accurate position.

  In the technique of Patent Document 1, two-dimensional coordinates are defined on the touch pad surface, the specific position of the pad surface is defined as the origin of the coordinates, and the pointer speed when the origin of the pad surface is instructed by the position indicating means is 0. And the two-dimensional coordinates on the pad surface designated by the position indicating means are defined as the velocity vector value of the pointer. This makes it possible to control the moving direction and moving speed of the pointer with an easy operation by slightly shifting the position of the position indicating means such as a finger almost stationary on the pad and without depending on the force. .

Further, in the technique of Patent Document 2, by providing a switching area in which the cursor moving speed can be switched around the touch pad, the feeling of speed required to bring the cursor closer to the target position is conversely approached to the target position. It has the precise stability required at the time, and the cursor movement speed can be freely switched without increasing unnecessary operation steps.
JP 2001-282450 A JP 2002-244809 A

  By the way, in a portable terminal device such as a digital camera, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), or a mobile phone, the device itself is compact as a device for controlling the cursor movement, so that a cross key, a touch pad, Track points are used.

However, in order to move to a target at a distance as described above, the cross key is operated by pressing and releasing the button and long pressing, so the operation becomes extremely troublesome and the cursor can be moved quickly. Is unsuitable.
Also, with the touchpad, the cursor movement speed can be controlled by the finger movement speed, but since the area is small for operating the finger, it is necessary to repeat the same operation many times to move a long distance. .

  There is also a track point that controls the movement of the cursor with the pressure of the fingertip, but because it is a structure that is susceptible to vibration, it cannot be controlled well in situations where there is vibration, such as walking or moving by train, car, etc. There is a drawback.

  For this reason, in order to solve the above-described problems with a portable terminal device which is a compact device, it is necessary to simultaneously satisfy the following requirements.

(1) Since the installed device is compact, the installation area and volume of the cursor moving device are minimized.
(2) The amount of operation is reduced in order to reduce the troublesomeness of the user.
(3) Since the mobile terminal device is portable, it is often operated by hand, and thus has a structure that is not easily affected by vibration.
(4) The movement of the cursor can be recognized not only by visual observation but also by touch and hearing.

From the above viewpoint, the above-described conventional technique is examined.
When mounted on a compact device such as a portable terminal device, Patent Document 1 has an area of each partition that is too small to know the boundary of the partition. Don't be.

  Further, in Patent Document 2, in order to switch the moving speed of the cursor, the finger is once moved to the switching area, the left or right button indicating the moving direction is touched, and then the finger is returned to the original position. Therefore, the amount of operation increases. Moreover, although the movement state of the cursor can be visually observed, it does not feel slow due to the touch of the finger.

The present invention was made in view of the circumstances as described above, to provide a readily operation can, mountable cursor movement equipment to the mobile terminal device according to the intention of the operator cursor movement With the goal.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention has the following configuration.
The cursor movement device of the present invention is a touch pad type cursor movement device that senses a position on a pad and operates the cursor, and the pad includes a stop of the cursor and selection at the position where the cursor exists. The stop instruction area to be executed and a plurality of divided areas that uniquely specify the moving speed and moving direction of the cursor. A position detection means for sequentially detecting a segmented region corresponding to a contact position on the pad surface , the cursor having a physical movement direction region according to a distance from the region, and the segment on the pad; a region property storage means for storing the moving instruction speed and the movement instruction direction of the partitioned area in correspondence with the position of the region, the division area detected in the previous SL position detecting means Hazuki by referring to the region property storage unit, acquires the movement instruction direction movement instruction speed, and includes output means for outputting the moving instruction speed and the mobile pointing direction to the external device, the.
Furthermore, the physical shape of the cursor movement device of the present invention is as follows.
(1) A mortar shape in which the distance from the deepest part can be recognized by a change in the angle of the wall surface when the entire pad is contacted, and the stop indication region is provided in the deepest part of the mortar shape, On the wall surface, the section areas having the same movement instruction speed are arranged at an equal distance from the stop instruction area and the angle of the wall surface is the same.
(2) Surface treatment is performed such that the segmented areas having the same movement instruction speed are equidistant from the stop instruction area and have the same friction amount.
(3) Projections having the same amount or the same size are disposed in the segmented areas having the same movement instruction speed at the same distance from the stop instruction area.

According to the present invention, by selecting the speed of the cursor movement in stages, the selected position on the device can be recognized by touch, it is possible to achieve that you reduce the amount of movement of the finger to be operated simultaneously, the cursor The movement can be easily operated according to the intention of the operator.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
First, the configuration of the touch pad will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a touch pad for moving the cursor in four directions (up, down, left and right).
The touch pad is provided with a selection location recognition function in which the moving speed of the cursor increases as it moves away from the center in the vertical and horizontal directions with the stop position button S for stopping the movement of the cursor as the center. However, when the stop position button S is touched or when the touch pad is not touched, the movement of the cursor is stopped.

  In this way, if you place it so that the speed increases as you move away from the center with the cursor stop position as the center, the movement speed decreases as the target position approaches, and when it is found, it is a natural action that matches the action of performing a selection act It is.

  For example, in FIG. 1, in order to move the cursor to the right, the direction can be specified by touching one of the areas indicated by R1 to R3 with a finger. Similarly, other directions can be selected by touching the area in each direction.

Further, as described above, each direction is divided into three regions R1 to R3, and each region is set such that the moving speed of the cursor changes stepwise in order from the central stop position S.
In FIG. 1, the moving speed is variable in three stages, the area R1 corresponds to “speed 1”, the area R2 corresponds to “speed 2”, and the area R3 corresponds to “speed 3”.
The moving speed of the cursor can be changed by touching any of these areas.

These movement speeds, the number of stages of change in movement speed, the size (area) of the area, and the like can be changed as necessary.
In other words, the moving direction of the cursor is not limited to four directions. For example, as shown in FIG. 2A, only in the vertical direction, or only in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 2B. You may arrange in.
Furthermore, the definition of the direction can be changed. For example, in the case of two directions as shown in FIG. 2B, the meaning can be changed so that the regions L1 to L3 are upward and the regions R1 to R3 are downward.

  Further, when the user taps the stop position button S for a short time, it means a selection action (corresponding to a single click with the mouse) at the position where the cursor exists. In addition, if an action of tapping twice in succession is performed, it means an execution action (corresponding to a double click with a mouse) at the position where the cursor exists.

In the touch pad described so far, the four-direction areas as shown in FIG. 1 are represented by crosses.
However, the shape of the touch pad is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the above-described cross-shaped region (the hatched line in FIG. (Part) may be used.
At this time, an area indicating a difference in moving speed may be taken only in the cross shape as shown in FIGS. Further, an area indicating a difference in moving speed may be provided on the entire touch pad, and a cross shape as shown in FIGS. 3B and 3D may be used.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3E, an area indicating a difference in moving speed may be provided on the entire touch pad so that only a change in moving speed can be recognized without directivity.
Further, as shown in FIG. 3 (F), the moving direction may be set as the rotation angle θ so that the change in the moving speed can be recognized.

Next, the touchpad used in the cursor movement device of the present invention is configured so that the finger can be identified in which direction of movement speed in which direction by simply touching with the finger.
For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the number of protrusions is increased or the size of the protrusions is increased as the small protrusions that can be recognized by the fingertips are separated from the center position on each region. As for the amount of these protrusions, the same amount of protrusions or protrusions of the same size are arranged at the same moving speed in each direction.
Thus, the operator can recognize the position from the center by changing the amount of protrusions felt at the fingertip, and can change the moving speed of the cursor associated therewith.

  Further, instead of the protrusions in FIG. 4, each region may be surface-treated with a different amount of friction. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, as the distance from the stop position button S increases, the amount of friction varies so as to have “smooth surface portion”, “slightly rough surface portion”, and “most rough surface portion”. Surface treatment is performed. In the touchpad shown in FIG. 5, the regions representing the same movement speed are separated by concentric circles, but of course, only the cross-shaped regions as described above may be surface-treated. Moreover, it is good also as a rectangle instead of a circle.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 6, the shape of the region in each direction may be a triangle or a trapezoid (FIG. 6A) that becomes narrower as the distance from the stop position button S becomes smaller (FIG. 6B). . The distance from the center may be recognized by feeling such a change in the width of the groove with a finger.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 7, the entire touch pad is formed in a mortar shape (FIG. 7B) that is deepest at the center of the stop position button S and becomes shallower away from the center. You may make it recognize the distance from the center by feeling with a finger.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 8, the entire touch pad is stepped (FIG. 8B), the center of the stop position button S is the bottom step, and the step further from the center is the upper step. You may make it recognize the distance from the center by feeling with a finger.

Next, with reference to FIG. 9, a cursor operation of a device incorporating the above-described touch pad will be described. In this description, the device is a jukebox in which a large number of music titles are recorded.
Music titles recorded in the device are displayed in a list on the display device, and a cursor (in this case, the cursor is displayed in reverse video) is displayed on the title to be selected.
The operator searches for a desired title by scrolling up and down the list of titles displayed on the display device, and selects a song so that the cursor comes to the desired title.
In order to scroll the list display in this way, bring the finger to an appropriate position indicating the moving speed of the touchpad upward (U1 to U3) or downward (D1 to D3), and the cursor moves to the desired title. The title is selected by pressing the stop position button S when it comes.

Next, the configuration of a device incorporating the cursor movement device of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a device incorporating the cursor movement device of the present invention. In this figure, a cursor movement device 100 and a display device 20 are connected to the device 10.

The device 10 takes the cursor movement direction θ and the movement speed v from the cursor movement device 100 at a time interval t, and calculates the movement destination cursor position (X, Y) from the current cursor position (x, y) as follows: Calculate with
X = x + v · t · cos θ
Y = y + v · t · sin θ

Here, the moving direction and moving speed sent from the cursor moving device do not have to have a unit system of angle or speed, and may be any one that can be converted into those unit systems.
The device 10 converts the cursor position (X, Y) obtained by this calculation formula so as to match the width of the window displayed on the display device 20, and displays it on the display device 20 together with the display list and the like.

Next, a detailed configuration of the cursor moving device 100 will be described. Referring to FIG. 10, the cursor movement device 100 includes a touch pad 110, a position detection unit 120, a control unit 130, a movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140, a region property storage unit 150, and an output unit 160.
The touch pad 110 is a touch pad having any one of the configurations illustrated in FIGS.
The position detection unit 120 detects the coordinates (x, y) of the touch position of the finger detected by a method such as pressure-sensitive, electrostatic induction, electromagnetic induction, etc. on the touch pad 110 and controls the coordinate position to the control unit 130. As a move event. Further, when the stop position button attached to the touch pad 110 is touched, the coordinate of the contact position is sent to the control unit 130 as a movement event of (0, 0), and when a single click or double click is performed, a single click event Alternatively, it is sent to the control unit 130 as a double click event.

When the received event is a click event, the control unit 130 sends the received click event to the output unit 160.
When the control unit 130 is a movement event, the coordinate position (x, y) is sent to the movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140.

The area property storage unit 150 stores an area range, a moving direction, and a moving speed for each area. The area property storage unit 150 may store the above information in a fixed manner, or may write new information via the device 10 or the like.
When changing the meaning of the movement direction described above, the value of the movement direction in the area property storage unit 150 may be changed.

  The movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140 determines which region of the region property storage unit 150 the received coordinate position (x, y) belongs to, and extracts the movement direction and movement speed corresponding to the found region. To the output unit 160 as a movement event.

  The output unit 160 sends the event information received from the control unit 130 or the movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140 as a triple (event type, movement direction, movement speed) to the device 10 at predetermined intervals. To do.

  By configuring the present embodiment as described above, the position of the finger can be tactilely recognized, the speed of cursor movement can be selected in stages, the amount of finger movement to be performed can be reduced, and the touchpad can be Since it is used, the structure is less susceptible to vibration.

<Embodiment 2>

  In the first embodiment, the position of the finger is recognized by processing the touchpad itself. In the second embodiment, a method for recognizing a position of a finger on the touch pad by a device separate from the touch pad will be described.

As the second embodiment, for example, a mechanism that vibrates the entire device or the touch pad is incorporated, the amount of vibration is increased or decreased according to the distance from the center position of the finger contact position, and the distance from the center position is recognized by a change in the amount of vibration. You may make it possible (FIG. 11).
Further, a level meter may be arranged and displayed in accordance with the moving speed of the cursor so that it can be visually recognized quantitatively (FIG. 12).
In addition, by incorporating a mechanism that emits a dial tone, the distance from the center position can be recognized by changing the scale, volume, and transmission interval of the dial tone according to the distance from the center position of the finger contact position. You may make it (FIG. 13).

FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the cursor movement device 100 according to the second embodiment. The same components as those in FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.
In FIG. 14, the cursor movement device 100 includes a touch pad 110, a position detection unit 120, a control unit 130, a movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140, a region property storage unit 150, an output unit 160, a level meter output unit 170, and a display device 175. , A sound output unit 180, a dial tone generation device 185, a vibration output unit 190, and a vibration device 195.
Among these, the level meter output unit 170, the sound output unit 180, and the vibration output unit 190 may not be provided all at the same time, and any one or more combinations may be used.

  The level meter output unit 170 receives the movement direction and the movement speed from the movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140, divides the movement speed into levels at least at the level of the movement speed, and displays the level meter on the display device 175. The display device 175 is installed near the display device 20 where the movement of the cursor can be seen.

The sound output unit 180 receives the moving direction and the moving speed from the moving direction / speed acquiring unit 140, divides the moving speed into at least the scales of the moving speed and outputs it to the dial tone generator 185 (for example, a speaker). Or by dividing the moving speed into volume categories at least at the moving speed stage and outputting a predetermined sound to the dial tone generator 185 with a volume corresponding to the category, or setting the moving speed to at least the moving speed. The length of the dial tone is divided into stages or more, and a predetermined tone corresponding to the length is output to the dial tone generator 185.
Moreover, you may make it output the sound which combined these scales, volume, and transmission intervals.

  The vibration output unit 190 receives the movement direction and the movement speed from the movement direction / speed acquisition unit 140, divides the movement speed into vibration classes at least at the stage of the movement speed, and sets the vibration device 195 at a frequency according to the classification. Vibrate the entire device or touchpad.

<Embodiment 3>
In the third embodiment, a method for recognizing a position of a finger on the touch pad by an apparatus integrated with the touch pad will be described.

In the third embodiment, for example, an electrode that generates an electrical stimulus having a strength corresponding to the distance from the center position is arranged on a touch pad in four directions, and when the finger comes into contact, the electrical is changed depending on the position. By changing the intensity of the stimulus, the distance from the center position may be recognized (FIG. 15).
In addition, a heat generating device that generates a temperature corresponding to the distance from the center position is arranged on the touch pad, and when the finger touches, the temperature changes depending on the position so that the distance from the center position is recognized. It may be (FIG. 16). Further, this heat generating device may be arranged only on the outermost side from the center position on the touch pad.

<Embodiment 4>
In the first to third embodiments described above, the cursor moving device is incorporated into the device. However, the cursor moving device and the device are separated, and the output from the cursor moving device is short-range wireless (for example, Bluetooth, infrared, etc.). ) And the cursor of the display device connected to the device may be moved in accordance with the movement direction and movement speed of the received cursor.

<Application of Cursor Movement Device of the Present Invention>
The cursor movement device of the present invention can be applied to a device having the following functions.
(1) It can be applied to control the speed of fast forward, fast reverse, slow playback and slow reverse playback of data having a time axis such as music and video.
(2) The present invention can be applied to a page turning speed of an electronic book, a selection operation of a mobile phone address book or an electronic dictionary item list.
(3) In game machines and game software, the present invention can be applied to movement of the virtual space and character movement operations.
(4) The present invention can be applied to a display area moving operation, a display magnification changing speed, or the like when a part of an image or a map is displayed.
(5) Various adjustments such as volume adjustment, heating power adjustment, lighting adjustment, air conditioning temperature and wind direction adjustment, cooking utensil temperature setting, tuner frequency adjustment, time setting and adjustment, speed of opening and closing operation of power windows of automobiles, etc. Applicable to.
(6) By connecting to a computer, it can be used to control the cursor movement speed of the cursor movement operation that is operated using the “Up”, “Down”, “Left”, and “Right” arrow keys on the keyboard and the scroll speed in the scroll operation. Can also.

<Embodiment 5>
The present invention is not limited only to the above-described embodiments. Each function (control unit, moving direction / speed acquisition unit, output unit, level meter output unit, sound output unit, vibration output unit) constituting the embodiment described above is programmed and written in a recording medium in advance. It goes without saying that the object of the present invention is achieved by executing these programs recorded on the recording medium. In this case, the program itself read from the recording medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiment, and the program and the recording medium recording the program also constitute the present invention.

Note that the program for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments includes a disk system (for example, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc.), a card system (for example, a memory card, an optical card, etc.), a semiconductor memory system (for example, a ROM, a nonvolatile memory). Etc.) and a recording medium of any form such as a tape system (for example, magnetic tape, cassette tape, etc.). Alternatively, the program stored in the storage device may be directly supplied from the server computer via the network. In this case, the storage device of this server computer is also included in the recording medium of the present invention.
As described above, by programming and distributing the functions of the above-described embodiment, the cost can be reduced, and the portability and versatility can be improved.

It is a figure explaining the structure of the touchpad (4 directions) used with the cursor movement apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the touchpad of 2 directions. It is a figure explaining a structure when utilizing a part of touchpad as a touchpad of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the touchpad which embedded the protrusion. It is a figure explaining the structure of the touchpad which performed the surface treatment. It is a figure explaining the structure of the touchpad with the groove | channel which consists of a triangle or a trapezoid. It is a figure explaining the structure of a mortar-shaped touchpad. It is a figure explaining the structure of a step-shaped touchpad. It is a figure explaining the structure of the apparatus carrying the cursor movement apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the function structure of the cursor movement apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure which can experience a moving speed with a vibration apparatus. It is a figure explaining the structure which can be visually observed with a level meter so that a movement speed can be experienced. It is a figure explaining the structure which can experience a moving speed with a dial tone generator. It is a figure explaining the other functional structure of the cursor movement apparatus of this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure which embedded the electrode in the touchpad. It is a figure explaining the structure which embedded the heat generating apparatus in the touchpad.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Apparatus, 20 ... Display apparatus, 100 ... Cursor movement apparatus, 110 ... Touch pad, 120 ... Position detection part, 130 ... Control part, 140 ... Movement direction and speed acquisition part, 150 ... Area property storage part, 160 ... Output 170, level meter output unit, 175 ... display device, 180 ... sound output unit, 185 ... dial tone generation device, 190 ... vibration output unit, 195 ... vibration device, D1-D3 ... cursor movement direction is downward, An area indicating the stage of movement speed, L1 to L3... An area indicating the direction of movement of the cursor to the left, an area indicating the stage of movement speed, and an area of R1 to R3. U1 to U3... An area where the direction of movement of the cursor is upward and the stage of movement speed is indicated. S is a stop position button.

Claims (4)

Sensing the position on the pad, a touchpad cursor movement device for manipulating the cursor, the pad includes a stop instruction area for selection or execution in the location of the cursor stops and cursor, It consists of a plurality of divided areas that uniquely indicate the moving speed and moving direction of the cursor, and the divided areas include physical areas according to the distance from the stop indicating area where the difference in moving instruction speed can be recognized when touched. shape has a movement instruction area of the cursor has been subjected, a position detecting means for sequentially detecting the divisional area corresponding to the contact position on the pad surface, the corresponds to the position of the segment area on the pad a region property storage means for storing the moving instruction speed and the moving direction instructed in partitioned area, before SL based on the detected divided area by the position detecting means and the area property storage Referring to stage, obtains the movement instruction direction movement instruction speed, cursor movement device, characterized in that it comprises output means for outputting the moving instruction speed and the mobile pointing direction to the external device, the. 2. The cursor movement device according to claim 1 , wherein a mortar shape that can recognize a distance from the deepest part by a change in an angle of a wall surface when the entire pad is contacted , the instruction area provided, the said conical wall, equidistant from segmented region is the stop instruction region having the same movement instruction speed, and the angle of the wall surface, characterized in Rukoto arranged to be the same Cursor movement device. 2. The cursor movement device according to claim 1, wherein a surface treatment is performed so that the divided areas having the same movement instruction speed are equidistant from the stop instruction area and have the same amount of friction. apparatus. The cursor movement device according to claim 1, wherein the segment areas having the same movement instruction speed are equidistant from the stop instruction area, and protrusions having the same amount or the same size are arranged. Mobile device.

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