JPH0375912A - Pen type computer input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a pen type computer input device easy to operate by superminiaturizing the part which receives rotation of a ball by a ball bearing and detects its rotation to detect the direction and the extent of movement. CONSTITUTION:A fixing shaft 15 is fixed to a holing body 14, and the inner wheel of a ball bearing 16 is fixed to the shaft 15 and the outer wheel is brought into contract with the ball, and the outer wheel of the bearing 16 is smoothly rotated by rotation of the ball. The outer wheel of the bearing 16 is provided with a contact plate 17 and it is simultaneously rotated. The contact plate 17 has a specific sectional form and is made of a conductive material as the whole and has an insulating material 20 buried on the surface. The material 20 is provided in two columns to equally divide the peripheral surface, and these two columns are shifted from each other by a 1/4 pitch. Contacts 18a and 18b are provided to face the pattern of the insulating material 20, and wires 19a and 19b are connected to them. Since the holding body 14 and wires 19 are made conductive and non-conductive in accordance with movement of the ball 11, this state is detected and counted to measure the extent of movement.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pen-type computer input device for moving a cursor and inputting figures in a computer system.

2. Description of the Related Art Traditionally, input devices for computers and the like include keyboards, mice, digitizers, light pens, tablet terminals, and the like. Among these, a mouse is a device that relatively moves a cursor displayed on a CRT, and can be moved at high speed and can be operated relatively easily, such as freely drawing figures. There are two main types of mice depending on the method of detecting the amount of movement. One is a mouse that holds a ball inside the mouse and detects the amount of movement by the rotation of the ball when it is moved, and the other is an optical sensor that moves the ball on a board with lines drawn in a grid pattern vertically and horizontally. There is a method that detects the amount of movement.

How to use it varies depending on the software of the computer system, but when inputting a figure using a mouse, if you want to draw a line freely, move the mouse to move the cursor on the screen in the direction you want to draw. However, there are the following issues here. Since a device called a mouse is used to move the cursor, it is not possible to accurately draw the detailed expressions that you want to draw. This is because it is difficult to make minute movements of the mouse itself due to its size and structure, and also because its movements cannot be directly monitored. Therefore, it is very difficult to input characters.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, conventional input devices for computers have a problem in that when inputting figures such as free curves, it is very difficult to draw the figures as desired.

The present invention solves the following two problems of the prior art, and aims to provide a device that inputs figures into a computer exactly as drawn.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above object, we have developed a mechanism that allows the balls to contact each other and freely rotate in any direction, and a mechanism that receives the rotation of the balls and transmits the rotation in the directions of two orthogonal axes to a fixed axis. An electric circuit is established between a ball hair ring outer ring that rotates around the outer periphery and a contact point that forms an insulating phase and a conductive material so as to equally divide the circumference on the end face of the hair ring outer ring and slides on that surface. and a means for detecting the direction of the computer input device.

Effect The present invention uses the above structure to control the direction and amount of rotation of the ball.
Since the rotation of the outer ring of the ball hair ring is transmitted and the rotation is detected, the overall structure can be made extremely small, and minute amounts of movement can be detected. This allows you to input shapes as if you were writing them with a pen.

Embodiment Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram showing how to use the pen-type computer input device of the present invention. 1st
The figure shows a computer 2 connected to a pen-type computer input device 1, and a free curve 4 drawn on a recording paper 3 being displayed 5 on the screen. Next, FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of a pen-type computer input device. In FIG. 2, a ball 11 is installed at the tip of a pen shaft 10, and by moving the ball 11 while pressing against it, the ball 11 rotates and outputs the direction and distance of the movement. Two switches 12 and 13 for input control are provided on the pen barrel 10 at positions that can be operated with a fingertip. Next, FIG. 3 shows a sectional view of the holding portion of the ball 11. In FIG. 3, the ball 11 is held by a holder 14, supported by a ball bearing 16, and rotated in any direction. Also, 17X Y 18-X Y,
are contact plates, which count the number of pulses according to the amount of rotation of the ball 11.

The operation of the above configuration will be explained below.

In FIG. 3, a ball 11 is assembled at the tip of a holder 14, and a ball ring 1 rotates around a fixed shaft 15.
6 and can rotate in any direction within it. The fixed axes 15-X and 15-Y are perpendicular to each other, and the direction of rotation of the ball can be divided into two hectors. The ball rings 16-χ, Y are provided with contact plates 17-X, Y which rotate in conjunction with their outer rings, and the contact IL-X
, Y, and is configured to count the number of pulses corresponding to the amount of rotation of the ball 11.

Fig. 4 shows an enlarged block diagram of the ball hair ring.

The fixed shaft 15 is fixed to the holder 14. Fixed shaft 15
The inner ring of the ball ring 16 is fixed to the ball, and the outer ring is in contact with the ball. The rotation of the ball 11 causes the outer ring of the ball bearing 16 to rotate smoothly. A contact plate 17 is provided on the outer ring of the ball ring 16 and rotates at the same time. The contact plate 17 has a cross-sectional shape as shown in FIG. 4(B). The entire contact plate is made of conductive material, and an insulating material 20 is embedded in the surface. The conductive material is connected to the fixed shaft 15 and the holding body 14 so as to be electrically conductive thereto. The insulating material 20 is provided in two rows so as to equally divide the circumference, and the positions of the two rows are shifted by a quarter pinch. In the example shown in this figure, the circumference is divided into four equal parts, so they are shifted by 45 degrees. Contacts 18-a and 18-b are respectively insulated and provided so as to face the patterns of two rows of insulators 20,
Wires 19-a and 19-b are connected. Since the conduction between the holder 14 and the wire 19 turns on and off as the ball 11 moves, the amount of movement can be measured by detecting and counting this.

With the above configuration, it is possible to make the configuration for detecting the direction and amount of movement of the ball extremely small. For example, since ball hair rings with a diameter of 3 mm are easily available, it is possible to easily incorporate a ball, a rotation detecting section, etc. into a ball hair ring with a diameter of 10 mm or less. Therefore, it is easy to construct a pen-shaped input device that is incorporated into the tip of the pen shaft.

In this way, the sensor that detects the direction and amount of movement can be miniaturized, and a pen-shaped computer input device that is easy to operate can be realized.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention directly receives the rotation of the ball by the ball hair ring and detects the rotation, thereby making it possible to miniaturize the part that detects the direction and amount of movement. It is possible to provide a computer-powered device that allows drawing input as desired and is easy to operate.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall block diagram of how to use a pen-shaped computer input device in an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a pen-shaped computer input device in an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a ball holding section in an embodiment of the present invention, and an enlarged view of a rotation detection section in an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Pen-type computer input device, 10...
...Pen barrel, 11...Ball, 14...
...Holding body, 15...Fixed shaft, 16...
... Ball bearing, 17 ... Contact plate, 18
······contact.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a mechanism that allows the balls to contact each other and freely rotate in any direction; a ball bearing outer ring that receives the rotation of the balls and transmits the rotation in two orthogonal axes, and rotates around the outer periphery of a fixed shaft;
An insulating material and a conductive material are formed on the end face of the outer ring of the bearing so as to equally divide the circumference, and an electric circuit is provided between the end face of the bearing outer ring and a contact that slides on the end face of the bearing, and means capable of detecting the angular amount and direction of rotation is provided. A pen-shaped computer input device characterized by: