JPH10161763A - Three-dimensional input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a three-dimensional input device with simple structure by providing a center shaft member connected to a housing so as to be movable and a means for giving six free degrees to a three-dimensional object. SOLUTION: The three-dimensional input device 10 comprises of the housing member 110, the center shaft member 120 connected to the housing material 110 with its spherical part 121 so as to be movable, a connecting shaft member 130 pressurized into the upper end part of the center shaft member 120 and a grip 140. The grip 140 is connected to the connecting shaft member 130 and a null part is provided on the inner surface of a lower hollow part of the grip 140. The connecting shaft member 130 is provided with a pin extending from its outer peripheral surface to an external side. The pin is brought into contact with the null part of the grip 140 so that friction force is applied between them so as to support the grip 140. The four means for giving back and forth progressive action, vertical progressive action, yaw rotation and pitch and roll rotation to the three-dimensional object are also provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a three-dimensional input device, and more particularly to a three-dimensional input device having a simple structure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an object has six degrees of freedom if there is no restriction. As shown in FIG. 1, the object can translate back and forth along the X axis, up and down along the Y axis, and left and right along the Z axis. Also, the object can rotate about any one of these axes. In aviation terms, these rotations are called roll (X-axis), yaw (Y-axis), and pitch (Z-axis).

As shown in FIG. 2, Jeffrey
W. U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,7 issued to Hegg et al.
No. 01 describes a hollow grip 10, a universal joint 12, a pitch shaft member 14A, a roll pivot shaft member 16A, a rigid shaft member 20B, a rotary swash plate 24 having an opening 21, a grip 10 and a rotary swash plate 24. Rigid connecting member 18, linear bearing 28, flexible joint 3 between
0, a pulley assembly 34, a plunger / pickoff assembly 36, a base 40, and a mounting plate 42.
The universal joint 12 has a pitch shaft member 14 and a roll pivot shaft member 16 mounted in the center of the hollow portion in the grip 10. The rotating swash plate 24 has first and second surfaces, the first surface being attached to the grip member 10 by a hollow rigid connecting member 18, and a rigid shaft 20 through an opening 21.
In the hollow portion of the grip 10. In addition, the swash plate 24 provides a means for mounting at least four linear bearings 28. The linear bearings 28 are aligned parallel to the pair along the roll axis 16 and the pitch axis 14 and are attached to the rotary swash plate 24. Note that the linear bearings 28 are each connected to a plunger / pickoff assembly 36 through a flexible joint 30. Flexible joint 30 moves via pulley assembly 34. Four sets of linear bearings, flexible joints, pulley assemblies and plunger / pickoff assemblies for providing a means for providing electrical signals in response to roll +, roll-, pitch +, pitch-direction movements It is.

[0004] As shown in FIG. 3, to provide yaw rotation, a shaft extension member 20A, a bearing mechanism 90 and a second rigid support base 92 may be included in the hand controller of FIG. The shaft extension member 20A is an extension of the rigid shaft member 20B that passes through the opening in the first support surface. Further, the shaft extension member 20A
Is mounted on a bearing mechanism 90 provided on the second support base 92. Shaft extension member 20A, bearing mechanism 90 and second
The combination of the support bases 92 operates to allow the base 40 to rotate about the centerline of the grip 10 and also provides yaw rotation provided to the pitch roll.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a three-dimensional input device having a simple structure.

[0006]

According to one embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a three-dimensional input device for providing a three-dimensional object with six degrees of freedom. A central shaft member movably connected to the housing member, and a connecting shaft member having a pin extending outward from an outer peripheral surface thereof and being press-fitted into an upper end of the central shaft member;
A grip having an upper hollow portion and a lower hollow portion, being connected to the connecting shaft member, and having a null portion provided on an inner surface of the lower hollow portion to contact a pin of the connecting shaft member to apply frictional force; First to give vertical and horizontal translational movement to a three-dimensional object
Means for imparting vertical translation to a three-dimensional object, third means for imparting yaw rotation to a three-dimensional object,
And a fourth means for providing pitch and roll rotation to the three-dimensional object.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A three-dimensional input device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

Referring to FIG. 4, three-dimensional input device 100
A housing member 110, a center shaft member 120 movably connected to the housing member 110 via the spherical portion 121, a connection shaft member 130 press-fitted into the upper end of the center shaft member 120, and a grip 140. including. As shown in FIG. 5, the housing member 110 has a cross-shaped slot 111 for restricting the movement of the central shaft member 120. The cross-shaped slot 111 serves to guide the center axis 120 so as to tilt forward and backward and left and right. Referring to FIG. 7, the upper hollow portion 141 and the lower hollow portion 1
The grip 140 having the connecting member 42 is connected to the connecting shaft member 130 through a spring 132, and the inner surface of the lower hollow portion 142 of the grip 140 is provided with a null portion 143. The connecting shaft member 130 extends outward from the outer peripheral surface thereof. Existing pin 13
One. Since the pin 131 of the connecting shaft member 130 is in contact with the null portion 143 of the grip 140, a frictional force is applied between them to support the grip 140. The present invention also provides a first means for providing a three-dimensional object with a back-and-forth translation along the X axis, a second means for providing a three-dimensional object with a vertical translation along the Y-axis, and a yaw rotation for the three-dimensional object. And a fourth means for applying pitch and roll rotation to the three-dimensional object.

As shown in FIG. 6, the first means has a concave pressure plate 151 and two pairs of first switches 152, and the pressure plate 151 is attached to the lower end of the center shaft member 120. When the grip 140 is tilted in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction along the cross-shaped slot 111, one of the switches is pressed by the pressing plate 15.
1 is suitably positioned on the housing member 110 to selectively contact the first. With such a configuration, the three-dimensional object can move back and forth along the X axis and left and right along the Z axis.

Returning to FIG. 7, the second means is the grip 14
0 and a pair of pressurizing protrusions 161 that extend inward from the inner surface of the lower hollow portion 142 and are separated from the null portion 143 of the grip 140 by a predetermined distance. A second switch 162. The pair of second switches 162 are provided on the outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft member 130 such that the pressing protrusion 161 is located therebetween. Therefore, when a force equal to or more than the frictional force between the pin 131 of the connecting shaft member 130 and the null portion 143 of the grip 140 is applied to the grip 140 vertically, the grip 140 moves up and down, and the pressing protrusion 161 The second switch 162
May be in contact with any one of the following. With such a configuration, the three-dimensional object can move up and down along the Y axis.

Referring to FIG. 8, the third means extends inward from the inner surface of the lower hollow portion 142 of the grip 140 and is separated from the pressurizing projection 161 of the second means by a predetermined distance. Pressing protrusion 171, approximately 180 from pressing protrusion 171
There is a pair of third switches 173 selectively contacting the pressure piece and the pressure protrusion 171 that are separated by a distance. The pressure piece 172 extends inward from the inner surface of the lower hollow portion 142 of the grip 140 so that the outer circumference of the connecting shaft member 130 can be pressed when the grip 140 is pushed forward. The third switch 173 is provided on the outer periphery of the connecting shaft member 130 such that the pressing protrusion 171 is located therebetween. Therefore, when a force equal to or more than the frictional force between the pin 131 of the connecting shaft member 130 and the null portion 143 of the grip 140 is applied to the grip 140 in the yaw direction, the grip 140 moves and the pressing protrusion 171 is moved to the third position. Contact with any one of the switches 173. With such a configuration, the three-dimensional object can move in the yaw direction.

Returning to FIG. 7, the fourth means is that the grip 14
0 track ball 18 provided in the upper hollow portion 141
1 and a pair of detection units 182 for detecting rotation of the trackball 181. Trackball 1
81 is partially exposed from the top surface of grip 140 so that it can be manually rotated. Rotation detection unit 18
2 is a roller 183 that contacts the trackball 181 so that it can rotate with the trackball 181.
And a sensor 184 for detecting the rotation of the roller 183. The sensor 184 includes a light emitting unit 185, a light receiving unit 186,
And a reflector 187. The reflector 187 has an even number of pieces of the same size, and one half of the pieces is a portion (not shown) for transmitting light, and the other half is a light reflecting portion (not shown). Form. Further, the reflector 187 is integrally connected to the roller 183 and is located between the light emitting unit 185 and the light receiving unit 186 so as to selectively transmit the light beam from the light emitting unit 185 to the light receiving unit 186. Thus, when the user rotates the trackball 181 in the pitch or roll direction, one of the rollers 183 rotates in the pitch or roll direction to rotate the reflector 187. As a result, the rotation detection unit 182
81 can be detected. With such a configuration, the pitch rotation and the roll rotation of the three-dimensional object are enabled.

[0013]

According to the above configuration, a three-dimensional object can be given six degrees of freedom.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a drawing showing six degrees of freedom in which a three-dimensional object can move.

FIG. 2 is a view for explaining a conventional hand controller.

FIG. 3 is a drawing schematically showing an extension shaft member, a second support base, and a bearing required to supply a three-axis controller.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a three-dimensional input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a housing member according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a first means for providing a three-dimensional object with a front-back translation motion and a left-right translation motion.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line AA of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 three-dimensional input device 110 housing member 111 cross-shaped slot 120 central shaft member 121 spherical portion 130 connecting shaft member 132 spring 131 pin 140 grip 141 upper hollow portion 142 lower hollow portion 143 null portion 151 pressure plate 152 first switch 161 Pressing protrusion 162 Second switch 171 Pressing protrusion 172 Pressing piece 173 Third switch 181 Trackball 182 Rotation detecting unit 183 Roller 184 Sensor 185 Light emitting unit 186 Light receiving unit 187 Reflector

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A three-dimensional input device for providing a three-dimensional object with six degrees of freedom, comprising: a housing member; a center shaft member movably connected to the housing member; A connecting shaft member press-fitted into the upper end of the center shaft member, and having an upper hollow portion and a lower hollow portion, the inner shaft of the lower hollow portion being connected to the connecting shaft member. A grip provided with a null portion that comes into contact with a pin of the connecting shaft member to apply a force; first means for applying vertical and horizontal translational movement to a three-dimensional object; and second means for applying vertical translational movement to a three-dimensional object. A three-dimensional input device comprising: a third means for giving yaw rotation to a three-dimensional object; and a fourth means for giving pitch and roll rotation to the three-dimensional object. 2. The three-dimensional input device according to claim 1, wherein the housing member has a cross-shaped slot for restricting the movement of the central shaft member. 3. The first means comprises a pressure plate and a pressure plate.
A pair of first switches, wherein the pressure plate is attached to a lower end of the central shaft member, and the two pairs of first switches are connected to each other when the grip is tilted in the front-rear direction and the left-right direction. Any one of the first switches of the pair
The three-dimensional input device according to claim 1, wherein one of the three-dimensional input devices is positioned on the housing such that one of the two contacts selectively contacts the pressure plate. 4. The three-dimensional input device according to claim 3, wherein the pressure plate has a concave shape. 5. A pressure projection extending inward from an inner surface of the lower hollow portion of the grip, and a pair of second switches selectively contacting the pressure projection. The three-dimensional input device according to claim 1, comprising: 6. The switch according to claim 5, wherein the pair of second switches are mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft member such that the pressurizing protrusion is located therebetween.
3. The three-dimensional input device according to 1. 7. The pressing means includes: a pressing protrusion extending inward from an inner surface of the lower hollow portion of the grip; a pressing piece separated from the pressing protrusion; A pair of third switches selectively contacting the protrusions, wherein the pressing piece presses the outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft member when the grip is pushed forward, The three-dimensional input device according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional input device extends inward from an inner surface of the lower hollow portion. 8. The three-dimensional switch according to claim 7, wherein the third switch is mounted on an outer peripheral surface of the connecting shaft member such that the pressing protrusion is located therebetween. Input device. 9. The fourth means has a track ball attached to the upper hollow portion of the grip, and a pair of detection units for detecting rotation of the track ball, wherein the track ball is manually operated. The three-dimensional input device according to claim 1, wherein the three-dimensional input device is partially exposed from an upper surface of the grip so that the grip can be operated. 10. Each of the rotation detection units includes a roller that comes into contact with the trackball so that the rotation detection unit can rotate with the trackball, and a sensor that detects rotation of the roller. A light emitting unit, a light receiving unit, and a reflector positioned between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit so as to selectively transmit light from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit. The three-dimensional input device according to claim 9, wherein: