JPH04108245U - coordinate input device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To miniaturize a photo interrupter and accurately set the phase relationship between two pulses obtained from the photo interrupter to a specified phase relationship. [Structure] Two light emitting elements 8A and 8B that emit light in a spread manner are molded with a transparent mold member 15 on one protrusion of the support 12, and on the other protrusion,
A light receiving element 9A faces the light emitting element 8A, and a light receiving element 9B faces the light emitting element 8B, both of which are molded with a transparent mold member 16. A light shielding member 17 is provided on the surface of the mold member 15 facing the mold member 16 to block light from the light emitting element 8A to the light receiving element 9B and light from the light emitting element 8B to the light receiving element 9A. Thereby, the light receiving element 9A receives only the light from the light emitting element 8A, and the light receiving element 9B receives only the light from the light emitting element 9B.

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea]

0001

[Industrial application field]

This invention enables the cursor to be used on display devices used in personal computers, etc. The present invention relates to a coordinate input device for inputting position coordinate data, graphic data, etc.

0002

[Conventional technology]

A type of coordinate input device for cursor position coordinate data and graphic data on display devices. , is equipped with a sphere, and the display position of the cursor on the display screen changes by rotating this sphere. The display position of the cursor can be changed arbitrarily.

0003 In the above coordinate input device, as shown in Fig. 4, the sphere 1 has its center point It is rotatably attached to the center and rotates 90° from the center point of the surface of this sphere 1. radial direction of the angular interval (hereinafter referred to as the X direction and Y direction in the XY coordinate system) Rollers 3X and 3Y fixed to rotatable shafts 2X and 2Y apply pressure to two points in the At the ends of these shafts 2X and 2Y, the same size Disk-shaped choppers 4X and 4Y with multiple slits are fixed. Ru. For each chipper 4X and 4Y, a light emitting element (not shown), which is an LED, is installed. Photo interrupter 5X, 5Y equipped with a phototransistor and a light receiving element that is a phototransistor. is provided, and there are slits of choppers 4X and 4Y between the light emitting element and the light receiving element. Place the photo interrupter 5X against the chopper 4X, 4Y so that the outer periphery fits in. , 5Y are arranged. This chiyotsupa 4X, 4Y and photo interrupter 5X, 5Y constitute optical encoder sections 6X and 6Y.

0004 Therefore, if you rotate the sphere 1 in the X direction with your fingertips, the roller 3X will rotate the sphere 1. The Yaft 2X rotates and the Chotsupa 4X rotates. When sphere 1 is rotated in the Y direction, , the shaft 2Y is rotated by the roller 3Y, and the chopper 4Y is rotated. Sphere 1 When the is rotated in a direction different from the The feet 2X, 2Y rotate, and the choppers 4X, 4Y rotate. photo interrupter Power supply voltage V is applied to 5X and 5Y, and these light emitting elements always emit light. There is. When the choppers 4X and 4Y rotate as described above, the The slits and the wing-like parts between the slits are sequentially connected to photo interrupters 5X and 5Y. The light is sent from the light-emitting element to the light-receiving element by passing between the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element. The output of the light receiving element changes in level, and the output of this light receiving element changes. becomes the output pulse of the optical encoder sections 6X and 6Y.

[0005] When the sphere 1 is rotated in the X direction and one pulse is output from the optical encoder section 6X, , the cursor will move in the direction corresponding to the X direction (for example, vertically) on the screen of the display device. Move by a unit distance (for example, 1 dot) and similarly rotate sphere 1 in the Y direction. When one pulse is output from the optical encoder section 6Y, the cursor corresponds to the Y direction. Move a unit distance in a direction (for example, horizontally).

Further, if the rotation of the sphere 1 in the X and Y directions is respectively forward rotation, and the rotation in the opposite direction is called reverse rotation, then in order to be able to determine the forward and reverse rotation, the optical encoder section 6 The output pulse of the optical encoder unit _6Y is made to consist of two pulses _P It is made up of two pulses P _YA and P _YB that have different phase relationships depending on whether the direction is forward or backward rotation. Note that the pulses P _XA and _PYA will be referred to as A-phase pulses, and the pulses P _XB and _PYB will be referred to as B-phase pulses.

For this purpose, the optical encoder sections 6X and 6Y include a pair of a light emitting element 8A and a light receiving element 9A, and a pair of a light emitting element 8B and a light emitting element 8B, as shown in FIG. Two optical sensors are provided as a pair with the light receiving element 9B, and the light emitting elements 8A and 8B are caused to emit light by being driven by the control unit 11, and the A-phase pulse P _A is transmitted from the light receiving element 9A to the light receiving element 9B. The B-phase pulse P _B is obtained from each of the following. The light-emitting elements 8A and 8B and the light-receiving elements 9A and 9B are arranged in the rotational direction of the chopper 4 (FIG. 4), and the light-receiving element 9A faces the light-emitting element 8A, and the light-receiving element 9B faces the light-emitting element 8B. The outer periphery of the chopper 4, which rotates between the light emitting elements 8A, 8B and the light receiving elements 9A, 9B, is provided with a slit.

[0008] Conventionally, the light emitting element 8A and the light receiving element 9A are attached to a common support to take photos. As an interrupter, the light emitting element 8B and the light receiving element 9B are commonly mounted on different supports. I installed it and used it as a photo interrupter. Therefore, in FIG. There are two photo interrupters 5X in the coder section 6X, and a photo interrupter 5X in the optical encoder section 6Y. Two interrupters 5Y are provided in each case. Below, based on Figure 6, this The positional relationship of these two photo interrupters can be determined by comparing the light emitting elements of these photo interrupters. The positional relationship of the children will also be explained. However, in the same figure, 4 is Chiyotsupa 4X or 4Y and 7 are the slits, and 8A and 8B are the optical encoder sections 6X or 6Y. This is a light emitting element for each interrupter.

[0009] In FIG. 6, n slits 7 are now provided on the outer periphery of the chopper 4. Then, the pitch θ of the slit is 360°÷n. Light emitting elements 8A and 8B are here. If N is an odd number multiple of 1/4 of the pitch θ of 1) They are placed apart by a distance d corresponding to θ/4.

Therefore, the output pulse of a light receiving element (not shown) facing the light emitting element 8A is referred to as an A phase pulse P _A , and the output pulse of a light receiving element (not shown) facing the light emitting element 8B is referred to as a B phase pulse P _B. Assuming that the chopper 4 rotates in the direction of arrow R from the state shown in the figure, where the distance d between 8A and _8B corresponds to 3θ/4, as shown in FIG. In _B , the phase is 1/4 cycle (90°) ahead of these pulses. On the other hand, when the chopper 4 rotates in the direction opposite to the arrow R from the state shown, as shown in FIG. 8, the phase of the B-phase pulse P _B with respect to the A-phase pulse P _A is 1/4 It is delayed by a period (90°).

In FIG. 5, such A-phase pulses P _A and B-phase pulses _{P B} are obtained from the light-receiving elements 9A and 9B, and each edge of these A-phase pulses P _A and B-phase pulses P _B is an up-down counter. 9, and the count value N is supplied to the control section 11. Further, the rotational direction of the chopper 4 at each edge of these A-phase pulses P _A and B-phase pulses _PB is detected by a rotational direction detection latch circuit 10 . As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, since the phase relationship of the B-phase pulse P _B to the A-phase pulse P _A differs by ±90° depending on the rotation direction of the chopper 4, the output signal V of the rotation direction detection circuit 10 The level of _R differs depending on the direction of rotation of the chopper 4, and represents this direction of rotation. Depending on the level of the output signal V _R of the rotation direction detection circuit 10, the up/down counter 9 counts up or down. The control unit 11 processes the count value N from the counter 9 and moves the cursor on the display screen by a distance corresponding to the count value N in a direction corresponding to the level of the signal _VR .

By the way, in FIG. 4, in order to create the two-phase A and B pulses in the optical encoder units 6X and 6Y, two photointerrupters each having a light emitting element and a light receiving element are conventionally used as described above. Used. These photointerrupters were arranged so that the A-phase pulse P _A and B-phase pulse P _B having the above-mentioned phase relationship could be obtained from them.

[0013] However, according to this configuration, each optical encoder section 6X, 6Y has two It is very difficult and time-consuming to adjust the position of two interrupters as described above. It is something that Moreover, the fact that two photo interrupters are used means that A photo interrupter has a structure in which a light emitting element and a light receiving element are attached to a support. Since the photo interrupter has a space determined primarily by this support, The optical encoder section is large due to the space between these two photo interrupters. Becomes a mold.

[0014] In contrast, two light-receiving elements are placed opposite to one light-emitting element. (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 18462/1982). This is two light receiving The width of the element is approximately 1/4 times the slit pitch of the chipper, and these light receiving elements are The light emitting element is provided on the same substrate to face the light emitting element. This board is circular and has a chip. It is installed coaxially with Jotsupa. According to this, since there is only one light emitting element, there are multiple light emitting elements. There is no need to adjust the position between the light emitting elements, which is required when using individual light emitting elements, and there is no need to adjust the position between the two light receiving elements. The positional relationship between the elements can also be set with high accuracy when mounting them on the substrate.

[0015]

[Problem that the idea aims to solve]

However, according to the above conventional technology, the two light receiving elements are mounted on the same substrate. However, the light emitting element is mounted independently from the light receiving element. Therefore, luminescence In order for the light from the element to be efficiently received by each light-receiving element, two light-emitting elements are required. The light-emitting element and the light-receiving element must face each other in the middle. It is necessary to adjust the positional relationship with the child, which takes a lot of time and effort.

[0016] Also, if there is one light emitting element for two light receiving elements, these light receiving elements will emit light. Only half of the light from the photodiode can be received, increasing the output level of the photodiode. I can't. If you try to increase this output level, you will need to use high output and expensive light emitting. element is required.

[0017] On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 9, the light emitting element 8A and the light receiving element 9 A photo toy supporting the pair of light emitting element 8B and light receiving element 9B and the pair of light emitting element 8B and light receiving element 9B. An interrupter can be considered. These light emitting elements 8A, 8B are placed on the support body 12 at predetermined intervals. A transparent mold member 15 is placed in the recess 13 provided in one of the protrusions of the The light receiving elements 9A and 9B correspond to the light emitting elements 8A and 8B, respectively. A transparent mold is placed in a recess 14 provided in the other protrusion of the support 12. It is molded by member 16.

[0018] According to this configuration, the light from the light emitting element 8A is received by the light receiving element 8B, and the light is emitted. The light from the element 8B is received by the light receiving element 9B, but the light from the light emitting elements 8A, 8 Since the LED used as B emits light spread over a range of approximately 180°, Viewed from a planar section including light emitting elements 8A, 8B and light receiving elements 9A, 9B in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10, which is a cross-sectional view, part of the light LA1 from the light emitting element 8A is transmitted to the light receiving element. The light is received by the light receiving element 9A, but the other part LA2 is also received by the light receiving element 9B, and the light is emitted. A part of the light LB1 from the optical element 8B is received by the light receiving element 9B, but the other part LB1 is received by the light receiving element 9B. 2 will be received by the light receiving element 9A. For this purpose, the light emitting elements 8A and 8B No matter which direction the chopper 4 passing between the light receiving elements 9A and 9B rotates, the light is not received. The light reception start timing of elements 9A and 9B, and therefore the rise time of these outputs. There is a possibility that an error will occur in detecting the rotation direction of Chipper 4 as the timing approaches. comes out.

[0019] In order to prevent this, a pair of light emitting element 8A and light receiving element 9A, and a pair of light emitting element 8A and light receiving element 9A, The pair of light-receiving element 9B and light-receiving element 9B may be spaced sufficiently apart from each other. Then, the photo interrupter becomes large.

[0020] The purpose of this invention is to solve this problem and reduce the space occupied by the photo interrupter. We have developed a coordinate input device that has been made smaller to prevent malfunctions. It is about providing.

[0021]

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention includes a first light emitting element, a second light emitting element, and the first light emitting element. A first light receiving element facing the optical element, and a second light receiving element facing the second light emitting element. a photointerrupter having a second light emitting element with respect to the first light receiving element; light from the first light emitting element to the second light receiving element. A light blocking member is provided to block light.

[0022]

[Effect]

The light blocking member allows the first light receiving element to block light from the first light emitting element facing it. The second light-receiving element also receives only the light from the second light-emitting element facing it. Shine. For this purpose, the light reception start timing of the first light receiving element due to the rotation of the tipper is the light-shielding start timing, the light-receiving start timing of the second light receiving element, and the light-shielding start timing. Timing is performed between a pair of a first light emitting element and a first light receiving element and a pair of a second light emitting element and a second light receiving element. This is a time lag depending on the distance between the pairs with the optical element, and the distance between these pairs is measured by the chip. The first and second receivers are the smallest that satisfies an odd multiple of 1/4 of the slit pitch. The phase relationship of the output of the optical element can be set to a predetermined value.

[0023]

【Example】

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 shows a photo interrupter that forms the main part of an embodiment of the coordinate input device according to the present invention. 9 is a perspective view showing a light shielding plate 17 as a light interference stopper. Corresponding parts are given the same symbols.

[0024] In the same figure, the mold member 15 on the side where the light emitting elements 8A, 8B are provided. A light shielding plate 17 is provided on the surface facing the other mold member 16. mall The light emitting element 8A molded with the mold member 15 and the other mold member 16 are molded. The light-receiving element 9A is opposite to the light-receiving element 9A, and the light-emitting element 8B and the light-receiving element 9B are also opposite to each other. They are facing each other. The light shielding plate 17 blocks light from the light emitting element 8A toward the light receiving element 9B and the light emitting element. The size and molding material are adjusted so as to block light from the element 8B toward the light receiving element 9A. 15 is set at a position on the above surface, and absorbs and blocks the irradiated light.

[0025] FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of FIG. 1. As is clear from the figure, the sphere (not shown) The outer periphery of the chopper 4 fixed to the shaft 2 that rotates with the rotation is attached to the support 1 The slit 7 (Fig. 6) of the chipper 4 is inserted between the two protruding parts of the chipper 4. The provided portions include light emitting elements 8A and 8B (not shown) and light receiving elements 9A and 9B ( (not shown). A control wire is connected to the light emitting element 8A via a conductive wire 18A. A voltage is applied from the controller 11 (FIG. 5), and a voltage is applied from the light receiving element 9A through the conductor 19A. route is output. The same applies to the light emitting element 8B and the light receiving element 9B.

[0026] Figure 3 is a cross section seen from a plane including the light emitting elements 8A, 8B and light receiving elements 9A, 9B in Figure 1. It is a front view. As is clear from the figure, the light emitting elements 8A and 8B such as LEDs are directional. Therefore, part of the light output from the light emitting elements 8A and 8B is LA1 and LB1. are directed to the light receiving elements 9A and 9B facing each other, but the other part LA2 and LB2 are light receiving elements. Head toward elements 9B and 9A. However, since the light shielding plate 17 is provided, the light L A2 and LB2 are shielded, and only the light LA1 from the light emitting element 8A is transmitted to the light receiving element 9A. In addition, only the light LB1 from the light emitting element 8B is received by the light receiving element 9B. It becomes.

[0027] According to this, there is a chipper between the light emitting elements 8A, 8B and the light receiving elements 9A, 9B. The phase of the output of the light-receiving elements 9A and 9B obtained by rotating the light-emitting element Distance between the pair of element 8A and light receiving element 9A and the pair of light emitting element 8B and light receiving element 9B It will be according to. Therefore, this distance is 1/1 of Chiyotupa's slit pitch. 4, and the light-emitting elements 8A, 8B and the light-receiving elements 9A, 9B are physically The output of the light receiving elements 9A and 9B is also the minimum value that brings the state as close as possible to The phase difference can be set to 90°, and the photo interrupter can be It is possible to accurately detect the rotational direction of the tipper while maintaining the size of the tipper.

[0028] The basic configuration of this embodiment is the same as that shown in FIG. The photo interrupters described above are used as the photo interrupters 5X and 5Y.

[0029]

[Effect of the idea]

As explained above, according to the present invention, the photo interrupter can be miniaturized while , it is possible to obtain a two-phase signal with an accurate predetermined phase as the sphere rotates, which greatly improves It is possible to provide a coordinate input device that is downsized and does not malfunction.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a photo interrupter, which is a main part of an embodiment of a coordinate input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view showing the attached state of the photo interrupter shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the photo interrupter showing the effect of the light shielding member in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing the overall configuration of a mechanical section of the coordinate input device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a circuit section of the coordinate input device.

6 is a diagram showing the arrangement relationship of two optical sensors provided in the optical encoder section of FIG. 4. FIG.

[Fig. 7] For the arrangement relationship of the optical sensors shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 6
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the phase relationship of the output pulses of these optical sensors when the chopper rotates in the direction of arrow R.

[Fig. 8] In contrast to the arrangement relationship of the optical sensors shown in Fig. 6, Fig. 6
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the phase relationship of the output pulses of these optical sensors when the chopper rotates in a direction opposite to arrow R.

9 is a perspective view showing an example of a photo interrupter that can be used in the optical encoder section of the coordinate input device shown in FIG. 4. FIG.

10 is a plan view showing the light receiving state of each light receiving element in the photo interrupter shown in FIG. 9; FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 sphere 2X, 2Y shaft 3X, 3Y roller 4X, 4Y Chiyotsupa 5X, 5Y photo interrupter 6X, 6Y optical encoder section 7 Slits 8A, 8B Light emitting element 9A, 9B Photodetector 12 Support 15, 16 Mold member 17 Light shielding member

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. First and second light-emitting elements, a first light-receiving element facing the first light-emitting element, and a second light-receiving element facing the second light-emitting element are attached to the same support. The chipper, which rotates as the sphere rotates, chops the light from the first and second light-emitting elements, so that the first and second light-receiving elements have different phases from each other. In the coordinate input device to obtain pulses, a light shielding member is provided to block light from the first light emitting element toward the second light receiving element and light from the second light emitting element toward the first light receiving element. , the first light receiving element receives only light from the first light emitting element, and the second light receiving element receives light from the second light emitting element.
A coordinate input device characterized in that it is configured to receive only light from a light emitting element.