JPH0823799B2 - Coordinate input device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a coordinate input method and device for inputting position coordinates on a display screen of a display device provided in a computer device or the like.

[Prior art]

A computer device or the like is provided with a display device for inputting and outputting data. Then, as a mark indicating which position on the display screen of the display device is the processing target position, a cursor, a display symbol called an icon, or the like (hereinafter collectively referred to as a cursor) is used. Various coordinate input devices are used to move the cursor to any coordinate position on the display screen. Among them, generally, what is called a mouse, a join stick, a trackball, etc.
Since the cursor can be moved in any direction on the display screen, its operation is easy and practically effective.

A mouse is generally a device having three bearings on the bottom, and it is operated by rolling it on a desk to obtain coordinate values from the rotation angle of the bearing. Generally, the joystick is a device having an operation rod, which is used to obtain a coordinate value by grasping the operation rod and tilting the operation rod to an arbitrary position such as front, rear, left and right. Further, a trackball is provided with a ball rotatable in any direction, and the ball is rotated with a palm or a fingertip to obtain a coordinate value from the rotation angle of the ball. These devices simultaneously output an X-axis movement amount signal and a Y-axis movement amount signal that determine the movement direction and movement amount of the cursor by the movement operation. The computer body inputs the movement amount signals of these axes, and controls the movement of the cursor on the display screen by an amount corresponding thereto. When controlling the movement of the cursor, the ratio of the movement amount of the cursor to the movement amount of the operation unit is predetermined, and the movement of the cursor is controlled in proportion to the movement amount of the operation unit based on this ratio.

As a reference for the above technology, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-14 / 1983
9535, JP58-129643, JP59-111524, JP59-2
2126, Shokai 57-29941, Shokai 59-6240, Shokai 58-9043
There are three.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In specifying the coordinate position on the display screen, a relatively fine position of the coordinate is specified, that is, fine adjustment is performed, and a relatively long distance such as one end to the other end of the display screen is quickly specified, that is, coarse adjustment is performed. There are cases such as
That is, in the case of fine adjustment, it is necessary to reduce the movement amount of the cursor in comparison with the movement amount of the operation unit of the coordinate input device, and in the coarse adjustment, it is necessary to reduce the movement amount of the cursor in comparison with the movement amount of the operation unit. It is necessary to increase the amount of movement.
These requirements are contradictory, and the conventional one in which the ratio of the cursor movement amount to the movement amount of the operation unit is predetermined cannot satisfy these requirements. This cursor movement ratio can be changed by a setting operation by a program or the like, and there is also a special switch such as a switch which can be changed by this operation. However, this requires a special operation, and performing this kind of work during the coordinate designation work is extremely troublesome for the operator.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a coordinate input method and apparatus that match the operation feeling of the operator and have good operability.

[Means for Solving Problems] In the coordinate input method for moving and displaying the cursor displayed on the display screen to the corresponding coordinate position on the display screen with the physical movement of the operation unit. A first step of detecting a movement amount of the operation unit in a predetermined period, and a movement ratio of a cursor on a display screen with respect to a physical unit movement amount of the operation unit based on the detected movement amount. And a third step of calculating the moving amount of the cursor on the display screen with respect to the moving amount of the operation unit based on the determined moving ratio of the cursor, and the calculated moving amount of the cursor. And a fourth step of controlling movement of the cursor on the display screen based on the above.

Further, the above object is to provide a moving rate calculating means for calculating a moving amount of the operating unit per unit time, and a cursor moving ratio for determining a moving ratio of the cursor to a predetermined unit moving amount of the operating unit for the moving rate. This is achieved by providing the determining means and the display means for moving and displaying the cursor in accordance with the movement amount of the operation unit based on the determined cursor movement ratio.

[Action]

It is a human habit when manipulating objects to move an object quickly when moving an object far away and to slowly move an object when finely adjusting a position. Therefore, in the coordinate input, when the cursor is moved over a relatively long distance from one end to the other end of the display screen, the operation unit is quickly moved. Thus, in step 1, a larger movement amount is detected, and in step, a larger movement ratio is determined based on this movement amount. Then, in step 3, a larger cursor movement amount is calculated, and in step 4, the cursor movement control is performed faster and further.

On the contrary, when a fine coordinate position is designated, the operation unit is slowly moved. Therefore, in this case, a smaller movement amount is detected in step 1, and a smaller movement ratio is determined in step 2 based on this movement amount. Then, in step 3, a smaller cursor movement amount is calculated, and in step 4, the cursor is controlled to move more slowly and closer.

On the other hand, according to the device of the present invention, when the operation unit is operated quickly, the movement amount of the operation unit per unit time increases, and the movement rate calculation means calculates the movement rate of a large value. Accordingly, the cursor movement ratio determination means determines the cursor movement ratio to a large value. Based on this, the display means moves and displays the cursor at a high speed and further.

On the contrary, when the operation unit is slowly moved, the movement amount of the operation unit per unit time becomes small, and the movement rate calculation unit calculates the movement rate of a small value. Accordingly, the cursor movement ratio determining means determines the cursor movement ratio to a small value. Based on this, the display means moves the cursor closer and displays it at a slower speed.

That is, for faster movement of the operation unit, the cursor can be moved further at a faster speed following it, and for slower movement of the operation unit, a cursor can be moved closer to it at a slower speed following it. Can be moved.
That is, it is possible to obtain a coordinate input method and device that are more operable and that match the operation feeling of the operator.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described.
In this embodiment, the case where the above-mentioned mouse is used as the coordinate input operation device is shown.

2 and 3 are diagrams for explaining the outline of the mouse. In this figure, M is a mouse, 2 is a flat plate such as a mat or desk, 3 is a processing device such as a personal computer, and 4 is a display device. The mouse M moves the entire operation unit on the mat 2 to determine the coordinate position on the screen SC of the cursor CS displayed on the screen SC of the display device 4. Now, referring to FIG. 3, the display device 4
It is assumed that the cursor CS points to the point A'on the screen SC and the mouse M is also positioned at the point A on the mat 2 correspondingly. Now, move mouse M to point B on mat 2.
When the mouse M is moved to, the mouse M detects the movement amount ΔX in the X-axis direction and the movement amount ΔY in the Y-axis direction, and sends the information to the processing device 3. The processing device 3 calculates the coordinate value of the cursor CS based on the information, and the result is the X-axis coordinate storage unit XV, Y of the display device 4.
Store in the axis coordinate storage unit YV. The display device 4 has these storage units.
Based on the contents of XV and YV, the cursor CS is consequently moved to the point B'on the screen SC and displayed.

Hereinafter, FIG. 4 will be described. M is a mouse,
As shown in FIG. 5, the case 15 includes a case 15 and the ball 5 rotatably held by the case 15. Case
An X-axis direction detection roller 6 that comes into contact with the ball 5 and is rotated by the rotation of the ball 5 and a similarly-configured Y-axis direction detection roller 7 that is provided at a position perpendicular to the X-axis direction detection roller 15 are provided inside 15. It is. A pulse generator 8 is connected to the roller 6, and generates a pulse signal 8P as the roller 6 rotates. A pulse generator 9 is connected to the roller 7 and generates a pulse signal 9P as the roller 7 rotates. CTRX is an X-axis counter for measuring the movement amount in the X-axis direction, and CTRY is a Y-axis counter for measuring the movement amount in the Y-axis direction. The count values of the counters CTRX and CTRY are configured to be input to the processing device 3 in the form of 10-bit binary data. In addition, by the reset command signals RX and RY from the processing device 3, the counter CT is separately provided for the X and Y coordinates.
The configuration is such that the count values of RX and CTRY can be reset, that is, cleared to zero.

With such a configuration, when the mouse M is moved, the ball 5 is rotated according to the movement, and the rollers 6 and 7 contacting in the X-axis and Y-axis directions are rotated. This rotation is transmitted to the pulse generators 8 and 9, and the pulse generators 8 and 9 generate pulses 8P and 9P according to the rotation amount, that is, the movement amount. These pulses 8P and 9P are input to the corresponding pulse counters CTRX and CTRY and counted. Therefore, the movement amount of the mouse M can be detected by referring to the count values of the counters CTRX and CTRY.

The counters CTRX and CTRY are connected to the processing device 3 so that the count values of the counters CTRX and CTRY can be referenced by the processing device 3 including a microcomputer and the count values can be controlled by the processing device 3. . Since the mouse M gives various commands to the position where the current cursor CS is located, normally a plurality of key switches SW1,
Equipped with SW2. In the case of the embodiment, this is shown for two things. These switches SW1 and SW2 are also input to the processing device 3 so that their ON and OFF can be confirmed by the processing device 3. The processing device 3 includes a read only memory (hereinafter referred to as ROM) 3a and a random access memory (hereinafter referred to as RAM) 3b inside. Predetermined programs and data are stored in these memories 3a and 3b, and the processing device 3 realizes prescribed processing by executing these programs. The display device 4 includes the display screen SC, the X-axis coordinate storage unit XV, and the Y-axis coordinate storage unit YV as described above.

FIG. 1 shows an outline of the operation of this embodiment. It is assumed that the cursor CS is displayed on the display screen SC. Therefore, the mouse M at the bottom of the figure is moved, but here, three movement modes S1, S2, S3 are shown. The movement forms S1, S2, and S3 have the same moving distance L, but the moving speed is changed in three ways. The arrows A1, A2, and A3 in FIG. 1 have different thicknesses, which represent the moving speed. The thicker this is, the higher the speed is, that is, the faster the moving speed is. . In addition, the movement modes of the mouse M S1, S2, S3
Corresponds to the movements S1 ′, S2 ′, S3 ′ of the cursor CS on the display screen SC. That is, when the mouse M is moved very slowly between the same distance L as shown in the movement form S1, the cursor CS does not move on the display screen SC as shown by the cursor movement S1 'on the screen SC. This is effective in the following cases. That is, the mouse M is a mat,
This is the case where the mat, the desk, or the like subtly vibrates due to some factor or the mouse M slightly vibrates due to a slight inclination of the mat, the desk, or the like while being left on the desk or the like. Such a state is an unexpected movement of the mouse M by the operator, and it is judged internally that the mouse does not move with respect to such a minute change in position.
Prevents the position of the cursor CS from vibrating unstablely on the display screen SC.

Further, when the mouse M is moved a little faster as shown in the movement form S2, the cursor CS on the screen SC is slightly moved as shown in the action S2 '. This corresponds to the fine adjustment described above. Furthermore, when the mouse M is moved very quickly as shown in the movement mode S3, the cursor on the screen SG
CS moves greatly as shown in operation S3. This corresponds to the rough adjustment described above.

That is, as will be apparent from the embodiments described in detail below, even if the moving amount of the mouse M is the same, the moving ratio of the cursor automatically changes according to the moving speed, and the moving speed of the cursor changes. It is a thing.

In the present embodiment, the case where the dot matrix display system is adopted as the display device 4 is shown. For example, the display screen SC is formed with 640 horizontal dots and 400 vertical dots.

FIG. 6 shows an example of temporal changes in position when the mouse M is actually moved by hand. Where the position is
The pulse from the mouse M is represented by the count value counted by the counters CTRX and CTRY. v _{1 to} v ₉ represent the rate of change in position at 0.1-second intervals, that is, the velocity. A value 10 times this value is used here as the moving speed K (pulse /
Seconds). Then, according to the size of the value K, the cursor movement ratio Km (dots / dots) which is pre-classified into areas A, B, C and D as shown in FIG.
Pulse) is determined in advance for each area A, B, C, D.

FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10, and FIG. 11 are flow charts showing various processing means. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing a main routine, and FIG. 9, FIG. 10, FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the serve routine referred by a routine. As described above, what is shown in the flowchart is stored in the ROM 3a or the RAM 3b in the processing device 3 in the form of a program. When the processing device 3 executes the program, a predetermined functional unit is achieved.

FIG. 12 shows a temporary storage unit and the like necessary for executing each of these processes, and these are set to a predetermined address in the RAM 2 at the initial point of time of the program for executing each process. In this figure, XCOUNT is a storage unit that stores the count value of the X-axis counter CTRX, YCOUNT is a storage unit that stores the count value of the Y-axis counter CTRY, and XYMAX is a storage unit XCOUNT, YC.
Of the OUNTs, the storage unit stores the storage content having the larger storage content count value. When the mouse M moves in a tilted manner with respect to the XY plane, depending on the movement direction of the mouse M, the mouse M moves along both the X and Y axes. This embodiment has a configuration in which the movement rate of the axis that has moved a great amount is reflected in the other axis, and in order to realize this, this storage unit XY
MAX is set. KM is a storage unit that stores a cursor movement ratio of how many dots the cursor CS is moved on the display screen SC per unit movement amount of the mouse M. In the case of this embodiment, it is determined based on FIG. Remembered. DOTX, D
OTY is a storage unit that stores the number of moving dots on the display screen SC calculated based on the cursor moving ratio Km from the count values stored in the storage units XCOUNT and YCOUNT.

The routine shown in FIG. 8 is generally started at a cycle of about 10 milliseconds in a series of processing of the computer device by, for example, a periodic timer interrupt. Then, a series of processes are performed and the process returns to the process before the interruption. When this routine is activated, step 8a is executed, and then step 8b is executed. Step 8a is the coordinate reading means PR
D, Step 8b is a coordinate value magnitude determining means XYC, and both means P
RD and XYC form the movement rate calculation means DDC. The detailed structure of the coordinate reading means PRD shown in step 8a is as shown in FIG. First, the means PRD is started, and the step 9a is started.
At, read the movement amount of the mouse M in the X-axis direction, that is, the count value of the X-axis counter CTRX, and store this value in the storage unit.
Remember in XCOUNT. In the following step 9b, the reset command signal RX is output to reset the contents of the X-axis counter CTRX. In step 9c, the amount of movement of the mouse M in the Y-axis direction, that is, the count value of the Y-axis counter CTRY is read and stored in the storage unit YCOUNT. In the following step 9d, the reset command signal RY is output to reset the contents of the Y-axis counter CTRY. And step 9e
Then, the reset command signals RX and RY are continuously output for a fixed time, for example, about several tens of microseconds, and the output of the reset command signals RX and RY is stopped in step 9f. The means P
The RD is executed at regular time intervals by interruption or the like as described above. In the case of this embodiment, the time interval is 10 [milliseconds]. The contents of the X, Y-axis counters CTRX, CTRY are read and cleared at each time interval. Therefore, the movement amounts of the mouse M in 10 [milliseconds], that is, the count values of the counters CRTX and CRTY are sequentially stored in the storage units XCOUNT and YCOUNT. This is the movement rate of the mouse M. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing in detail the coordinate value size determining means XYC shown in step 8b. By the means XYC being activated,
First, in step 10a, the contents of the storage unit XCOUNT and the storage unit YCOUN
The content of T is compared and the magnitude is judged. When the content of the storage unit XCOUNT is large, the content of the storage unit XCOUNT is stored in the storage unit XYMAX in step 10b. On the contrary, if the content of the storage unit YCOUNT is less than or equal to the storage content of the storage unit XCOUNT, the content of the storage unit YCOUNT is stored in the storage unit XCOUNT in step 10c.
Remember in YMAX. As a result, the change rate of the axis having the largest change rate among the X and Y axes is stored in the storage unit XYMAX.

After the processes of steps 8a and 8b are completed, the processes after step 8c are performed. Steps 8c, 8d, 8e, ..., 8i are steps for configuring the cursor movement ratio determining means CSR. That is, the means CSR determines how many dots to move the cursor CS on the display screen SC per unit movement amount of the mouse M. this is,
In the case of this embodiment, it is programmed in advance so as to be determined based on FIG. That is, in steps 8c, 8d, and 8e, it is investigated which of the areas A, B, C, and D in FIG. 7 the value of the storage unit XYMAX falls into, and if the result is the area A, step
8f cursor movement ratio K ₀ , that is 0 [dot / pulse]
Is stored in the storage unit KM, the cursor movement ratio K ₁ is stored in the storage unit KM in step 8g if it is the B region, that is, 0.5 [dots / pulse] is stored in the storage unit KM in the region C, and the cursor movement ratio K ₂ is stored in step 8h in the C region. That is, 1 [dot / pulse] is stored in the storage unit KM, and if it is the D area, the cursor movement ratio K ₃ ,
That is, 2.5 [dot / pulse] is stored in the storage unit KM.

Subsequently, step 8j is execution of the display means DSP, and the means DSP controls movement of the cursor CS on the display screen SC based on the cursor movement ratio Km determined by the cursor movement ratio determination means CSR. FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing the means DSP in detail. First, in step 11a, a dot change calculation process for the X axis is executed, and in step 11b, a dot change calculation process for the Y axis is executed. To do. This multiplies the cursor movement ratio Km determined by the cursor movement ratio determination means CSR by the values of the storage units XCOUNT and YCOUNT corresponding to each axis, and stores the results in the respective storage units DOTX and DOTY. In step 11e, there is no change in the movement of the mouse M, that is, the storage unit D
It is determined whether the contents of OTX and DOTY are both zero. If they are not both zero, the cursor currently displayed on the display screen SC is erased in step 11d, and the process proceeds to step 11e. If both are zero, without executing the process of step 11d,
The processing moves to step 11e. In step 11e, mouse M
The X coordinate on the display screen SC with the movement of
In step 11f, the Y coordinate is calculated. That is, X, Y
The values calculated in steps 11a and 11b and stored in the storage units DOTX and DOTY are integrated and stored in the axis coordinate storage units XV and YV, respectively. Then, in step 11g, as in step 11c, the contents of the storage units DOTX, DOTY are examined, and if there is a change, the display screen S stored in the X, Y-axis coordinate storage units XV, YV in step 11h.
The cursor CS is displayed at the coordinate position on C and the process returns to the main routine. In step 11g, the memory section DOTX, DOTY
If both contents are zero, the process returns to the main routine without executing step 11h.

Next, the above-mentioned embodiment will be described with specific numerical values by using the data shown in FIGS. In FIG. 7, the speed range is set as follows.

That is, 40 [pulses / second] ≧ A area ... (1) 40 [pulses / second] <B area ≦ 70 [pulses / second] ....
(2) 70 [pulses / second] <C region ≤ 150 [pulses / second]
(3) 150 [pulses / second] <D area ... (4) Fig. 13 shows the movement of the mouse M in Fig. 6 divided into 0.1-second intervals, and the amount of movement of the count value for each interval, speed,
FIG. 7 shows an area on FIG. 7 classified by speed, an increment of dots obtained by multiplying a cursor movement ratio Km determined from the area by a movement amount, and an integrated value thereof.

For example, to change to 0-4 pulses from Figure 6 in the section v _1, the amount of movement 4, speed at 40 [counts / sec],
Since this belongs to the area A and the cursor movement ratio Km is zero, the dot increase is 0 dot and the integrated value is 0. That is, the cursor CS on the screen SC does not move by moving the mouse by 4 pulses. Hereinafter, when moved to v ₁ to v _8, mouse M will be moved 36 counts, the cursor CS on the screen SC will move 21 dots. Fig. 15 shows the movement in the form of a graph. This figure is the sixth
Corresponds to the figure. FIG. 14 shows the movement amount of the mouse M and the movement amount of the cursor CS by selecting three typical sections v _{1 to} v ₈ , v ₉ , and v _{4 to} v ₆ from FIG. is there. Example 1 is a case where the mouse CS is moved at a normal speed, and the cursor CS is moved at a speed suitable for a fine positional adjustment of 21 dots with respect to the movement of the mouse M of 36 counts. Example 2 is a case where the mouse M is moved fast, and when the mouse M moves for 21 counts, the cursor moves as far as 47 dots, and moves far, and the speed is suitable for moving the large cursor CS. Example 3
Indicates that when the mouse M is moved very slowly or is vibrated, the cursor CS does not move when the mouse M moves for 5 counts. No action will be taken.

As described above, the routine shown in FIG. 8 is repeatedly executed at 10 [millisecond] intervals in this embodiment, and the mouse M
The movement of the cursor CS on the display screen SC is controlled while automatically changing the ratio of the cursor movement, that is, the cursor movement ratio Km based on the movement of the cursor and the moving speed thereof. Therefore, when the moving speed of the mouse M is very small, by setting the moving ratio Km to 0, it is possible to prevent the unstable movement of the cursor CS against the slip and vibration of the mouse M. Further, when the moving speed of the mouse M is slightly slow, by decreasing the moving ratio Km, the cursor CS moves slowly and smoothly, and relatively fine adjustment can be performed. Furthermore, when the moving speed of the mouse M is very high, the moving ratio Km
By increasing the value, the cursor CS moves greatly, so that the operation of moving the cursor CS far can be efficiently performed. All of the above operations are switched depending on the moving speed of the mouse M. For example, when the operator slowly moves the mouse M for fine adjustment, the moving speed of the cursor CS automatically becomes slow. Further, when the mouse M is moved in a hurry to move the cursor CS far away, the cursor CS also automatically moves faster, which enables a more ergonomic operation.

As described above, in the embodiment, the case where the mouse M is used as the operation device for instructing the movement amount of the cursor has been described, but it is also possible to use the above-mentioned trackball, joystick, or the like, and to have the same function. If it has it, it will not be limited to these. Further, in the embodiment, the case in which the cursor movement ratio Km is set to four types is shown, but this number may be more or less than this, and if it is plural, the number is not limited. Absent.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, since the cursor movement ratio can be automatically changed according to the moving speed of the operation unit that indicates the moving amount of the cursor, coordinate input with better operability that matches the operation feeling. The device can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the movement of an operation unit and a movement of a cursor in the embodiment in contrast, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a coordinate input device, and FIG. 3 is an example of movement of a cursor on a display screen. 4 is a front view of a display screen showing FIG. 4, FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing an example of a mouse showing an operation unit, and FIG. 6 is a view showing movement of the operation unit. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a change with time in the moving position, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of setting the cursor movement positive in the embodiment, FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a main processing routine, and FIG. 9 is referred to in FIG. Flowchart showing an example of the coordinate reading means, tenth
8 is a flow chart showing an example of the coordinate value magnitude determining means referred to in FIG. 8, FIG. 11 is a flow chart showing an example of the display means referred to in FIG. 8, and FIG. FIG. 13, FIG. 14, FIG. 14 and FIG. 15 are explanatory views for explaining the embodiment more specifically. M: operation part, 6, 7, 8, 9, CTRX, CTRY: detection means, PRD, XYC: movement rate calculation means, CRS: cursor movement ratio determination means, DSP: display means, SC: display screen, CS: cursor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A cursor movement amount on a display screen by a movement operation and an operation unit capable of arbitrarily instructing a movement direction thereof, a movement amount detection unit for detecting the movement amount of the operation unit, and the movement amount detection unit. The movement amount detected by, and a moving speed calculation means for calculating the moving speed of the operating unit by a predetermined unit time, and the moving speed of the operating unit is divided into a plurality of regions within a predetermined range, Means for holding a fixed movement ratio of the cursor movement amount with respect to the movement amount of the operation unit in a region, and holding means of the holding means according to the movement speed of the operation portion calculated by the movement speed calculation means. One of the cursor movement ratio determining means for determining the movement ratio, and the table corresponding to the movement amount in the operation section based on the movement ratio determined by the cursor movement ratio determining means. Coordinate input device characterized in that it comprises a cursor display means for performing movement display of the cursor on the screen.