JPS61283921A - Keyboard for information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To attain the quick control of a cursor without releasing the fingers from a keyboard by providing plural belt-shaped areas to shift them while holding them and then producing the pulse signals for shift of the cursor. CONSTITUTION:The belt-shaped areas 1a-1d are provided and a part of each area is pressed with a finger and shifted forward or backward in the lengthwise direction. Thus the corresponding pulse signal generators 2a-2d produce the pulse signals in response to the direction and amount of said shift of the areas 1a-1d. An encoder 21 in a keyboard fetches not only the state of a key group 11 but the outputs 24a-24d of the generators 2a-2d. If a pulse is produced at one of output lines of generators 2a-2d, the information exchanging code decided from the type of the relevant signal line and the key pushed at that time point is delivered through an output line for information exchanging code. The four areas 1a-1d can be used horizontally and vertically by two pieces respectively. Furthermore one of two pieces of areas is used for coarse adjustment with the other used for fine adjustment respectively.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a keyboard used to input commands and data to a CPU in an information processing device such as a computer or a word processor, that is, an information processing keyboard. .

(Prior art and its problems) When using a terminal equipped with a CRT display, the ease of cursor movement greatly affects the usability.

Conventionally, when moving the force displayed on a CRT display, the following various methods have been used.

(i) A method in which a key on an information processing keyboard (hereinafter simply referred to as the keyboard) is pressed down an appropriate number of times or for an appropriate time, and the code string generated thereby is interpreted as a cursor movement command.

(j) Prepare a keyboard equipped with a dial 33 for moving the cursor, as shown in a plan view in FIG. 3(a) and in a partially enlarged perspective view in FIG. A method of moving the cursor to a position according to the rotation angle of the dial 33.

(i) An instruction device called a joystick (Figure 4)
By preparing a stick 41 and tilting the stick 41 at an appropriate angle for an appropriate time, the cursor is moved in a direction corresponding to the angle and by an amount corresponding to the time.

(iv) A method in which a pointing device called a mouse (Fig. 5) is prepared, and by grasping it and moving it on a plane, the cursor is moved according to the direction and distance of movement.

(v) A method in which a pointing device called a trackball (Fig. 6) is prepared and the ball 61 is rotated with the palm of the hand, thereby moving the cursor according to the direction and amount of rotation of the ball 61.

(vi) A method in which a pointing device called a light pen (Fig. 7) is prepared, and by pointing it at a point on a CRT display, the cursor is moved to that location.

(vi) A method in which a pointing device called a touch panel is attached to the surface of a CRT display, and by pressing a point with a finger, the cursor can be moved to that location.

(VI) A graphic input device called a digitizer (Fig. 8) is prepared, and the indicating device 81 is connected to the digitizer board 82.
A method that moves the cursor according to the direction and distance of movement by moving it above.

(Toy) Prepare a keyboard equipped with a touch pad 91 to the right of the group of keys as shown in Figure 9, hold the touch pad with a special pen or finger, and trace the traced direction and distance. A method that moves the cursor S' accordingly.

Each of these methods has problems as described below.

The (+) key manual method requires pressing the key a number of times depending on the amount of movement, which is inefficient. Some keyboards have a mechanism that repeatedly sends out the corresponding code as long as the key is pressed, but even in that case, you have to wait until the code is sent out the required number of times, and you cannot control the speed of the repeating. It cannot be changed.

(i) In the method using a dial, the amount of cursor movement that can be made with one operation of the dial is limited, and repeated operations are often required.

(i) In the method using a joystick, the amount of movement of the cursor corresponds to the amount of joystick operation, that is, the time integral of the tilt angle. When integration is involved in this way, the operation becomes more difficult and inefficient than the direct mounting method in which the amount of movement is proportional to the amount of operation.

(~) With the mouse method, when you interrupt the input work from the keyboard and move the cursor using the mouse, it takes time to move your hand from the keyboard to the mouse, return it from the mouse to the keyboard, and keep the sheep in its fixed position. It takes time to confirm.

(v) In the method using a trackball, rotation of the trackball is a repetitive task in many cases, and the moment of inertia of the trackball is not small, making it difficult to operate easily.

(vi) In the light pen method, if you want to interrupt keyboard input and move the cursor, grip the light pen and
You have to give instructions on the screen, put the light pen in place, and then put your hand back on the keyboard. The amount of movement of the hand at this time is quite large, causing wasted time and fatigue.

(vi) The touch panel method requires less hand movement than the light pen method, but the problem is that you have to take your hand off the keyboard and that it is difficult to give high-precision instructions when using your finger. It is.

(1) The digitizer method has the same problems as the mouse method.

(ix) Similar to the mouse, the touch pad method also has the problem of requiring all fingers to be removed from the keys on the keyboard.

(Object of the Invention) It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing keyboard that eliminates the above-mentioned conventional drawbacks and allows quick cursor control without taking your fingers off the keyboard. More generally, it is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing keyboard that can repeatedly output pulse signals or information exchange codes at high speed without removing the fingers from the keyboard.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides means that includes an encoder that converts a plurality of keys and the states of those keys into information exchange codes and outputs them. An information processing keyboard, comprising four belt-shaped areas arranged within the reach of any other finger when at least one number finger of both hands is touching the key at the home position; By pressing a part of the band-shaped area with a finger and moving that part along the longitudinal direction of the band-shaped area, a pulse signal is generated or pressed according to the direction and amount of movement of the finger that pressed the band-shaped area. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for generating information exchange codes determined by the moving direction of the key being lowered and the finger pressing the key, in a number corresponding to the amount of movement of the finger.

It has a band-like area of (action). FIG. 10 is a plan view of the drawing board showing the desired range of the band-like area. It is desirable to provide a band-like region in the range indicated by the reference numeral 102 in the figure. If it is within this range 102, the band-shaped area can be easily touched with at least one of the fingers of both hands on the home position key 101 with one of the other fingers. Range 102 is the most desirable area when considering ease of operation. However, the band-shaped region may be provided outside the range 102, for example, on the front side surface connected to the range 102.

It is advantageous for each band-shaped area to be as long as possible, as this allows for a larger amount of movement in one operation and widens the range of selection of the operation starting point. From this point of view, it is best to arrange the four strip regions adjacent to each other.

Additionally, arranging all the strip areas in parallel has the added advantage that multiple areas can be manipulated alternately or all at the same time with one finger. For moving the cursor in the vertical direction, one strip area per time.
If you decide to use the other strip area to move the cursor in the horizontal direction, if they are placed parallel and adjacent to each other, you can operate them simultaneously with one finger.
Cursor movement in a diagonal direction is also realized. The reason why four strip areas are prepared is that if you want to specify the cursor position on the display with high precision and speed, it is highly desirable to prepare a strip area for coarse movement and fine movement in each direction. be.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic appearance of an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of this embodiment. The part surrounded by a broken line 22 in FIG.
and pulse signal generators 2a to 2d. This embodiment generates pulse signals 24a to 24d or an information exchange code 25 according to the movement direction and the movement amount by pressing a part of the band-shaped areas 1a to 1d with a finger and moving the pressed part in the longitudinal direction. Occur. First, I will discuss the occurrence of the Harusumi. Since the pulses 1f24b to 24d are generated in the same manner as the pulse signal 24a, the generation of the pulse signal 24a will be described below.

Each strip area has a forward direction and a reverse direction. This determination is arbitrary. The format of the pulse signal 24a is not limited as long as the direction and amount of movement of the pressed finger can be identified, but here, the pulse signal 24a has two signal lines, one for the forward direction and one for the reverse direction. shall be;
It is assumed that when the pressed finger moves a certain distance in the forward direction, one pulse is output to the forward direction signal line, and when it moves a certain distance in the reverse direction, one pulse is output to the reverse direction signal line.

The following can be considered as specific examples of the band-shaped regions 1a to 1d.

The first specific example uses an annular belt 111, a wheel 112, and a rotary encoder 113, as shown in FIG. A portion 114 of the belt 111 is used as a strip area.

By placing a finger on the belt 111 and moving the finger, signals 115 and 116 are output from the rotary encoder 113.
is obtained. Output signal 1 of rotary encoder 113
If the signals 15 and 116 are as shown in FIGS. 12(1) and 12(b), the pulse signal generator can be activated by guiding the signal 115 through the forward output line of the band-shaped area 1a and the signal 116 through the backward output line. There is no need to do anything, and those two signals 11
5.116 can be treated as it is as the pulse signal 24a, however, in general, a rotary that outputs two signals with waveforms shown by symbols A and B in FIG. 13 as signals corresponding to the signals 115 and 116 in FIG. 12, respectively. Encoders are becoming popular.

In this way, when using a rotary encoder that outputs signals A and B shown in Fig. 13, these signals are arranged in the following order: - rising of signal A - rising of signal B - falling of signal A - falling of signal B. When the change occurs, one pulse is output to the forward direction signal line, and when the change occurs in the following order: ■ Rising of signal B ■ Rising of signal A ■ Falling of signal B ■ Falling of signal A The pulse signal generator 2a, which outputs one pulse every time, may be constructed from a sequential circuit or a microcomputer.

A second specific example of the band-shaped area is a method in which a large number of switches Sl + 52 +...S are arranged in a band-shaped area, as shown in FIG. These switches S, ~S, are
It may be mechanical, optical, electrical, or a combination thereof as long as it distinguishes between what is pressed by the finger and what is not pressed. Reference numeral 117 indicates a ground potential. In this case, the pulse signal generator 2a is the switch 51 + St +
The state 142 of .

■When any switch is pressed, let S be the switch with the highest number g (g = 1.2, old, n-1), and switch S is pressed. When the switch S, + is pressed again, one pulse is output to the forward direction signal line.

(2) When any switch is pressed, the switch with the smallest number fi (j! -2, 3, . . . n) is set as SI1. When the switch 8 is newly pressed while the switch St remains pressed, 1' pulses are output to the reverse direction signal line.

In addition, in this method, the distance between the individual switches must be narrow enough to allow one finger to press two or more switches at the same time.' □In the case of this switch method, each switch is exposed in the strip area There's no need to be. For example, as shown in FIG. 15, a structure may be adopted in which the entire band-shaped area is covered with a soft cover 151 and the switch is operated from above. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 16, the switch may be placed in a freely rotatable annular belt 111, and the switch may be operated by holding the upper surface of the belt.

A third specific example of the layered region is a method using a resistor and a conductor. A resistor 171 and a conductor 172 are arranged as shown in FIG. 17, and supported by a support 173 so that when one point on the conductor 172 is pressed, only that point comes into contact with the resistor 171. If the potential difference 174 is fully applied to both ends of the resistor 171, a potential corresponding to the contact position can be obtained from the conductor 172. In this case, the pulse signal generator 2a
The following may be performed by inputting the potential signal 175 of .

■When the potential increases by a certain amount, one forward signal line ratio pulse is output.

■When the potential decreases by the amount □, output one pulse to the reverse direction signal line.

In this case, the pulse must be output only when the resistor 171 and the conductor 172 continue to be in contact with each other.

The generated pulse signal 24a can be interpreted as a cursor movement command or the like on the display terminal side, but the details of its usage are a problem on the display terminal side and will not be discussed here.

Although the generation of the pulse signal 24a has been described in detail above, the pulse signals 24b to Z4d can also be generated in the same manner.

Next, the generation of the information exchange code 25 in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 will be described. The information exchange code 25 can be output from the same output line as the code generated by key operation. Which code can be output is determined by three factors: the band-shaped area pressed by the finger, the direction of movement of the finger, and the key on the keyboard that was pressed while the band-shaped area was held by the finger. The specific method of determining this is a matter of designing the scale, so it will not be discussed here. Furthermore, how many times the code is output can be determined depending on the amount of movement of the finger.

In this embodiment, the encoder 21 being visited receives not only the state of the key group 11 but also the outputs 24a-24d of the pulse signal generators 2a-2d. and,
When a pulse is generated in one of the output lines of the pulse signal generators 2a to 2d, an information exchange code determined from the type of the signal line and the key being pressed when the pulse is generated is used for information exchange. The function of a normal encoder may be expanded to output from the code output line. This extension is extremely easy.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention, a pulse signal for moving a cursor displayed on a CRT display can be generated by a simple operation using one finger. Further, the cursor movement command can also be output in the form of an information exchange code instead of in the form of a pulse signal. Depending on the design of the encoder, it is also possible to output a code specified by a key many times by operating a band-shaped area while pressing a key on the keyboard.

This band-shaped area can be operated without removing the finger from the keyboard, which is extremely convenient when it is desired to alternately operate the keys manually and operate the band-shaped area. Furthermore, since it can be completely incorporated into a keyboard, unlike the case of a mouse, there is no need to secure a special space other than a place for the keyboard, and it is also convenient for use in portable computers.

Furthermore, with the keyboard of the present invention, rather than using a mouse,
It is easy to move the cursor completely vertically or horizontally. In addition, whereas a mouse must be operated by moving the arm, with this device the purpose can be achieved only by moving the fingers, making it possible to specify higher precision with fewer movements. Further, according to the keyboard of the present invention, the upper limit of the amount of operation at one time can be set larger than when using a dial. Compared to a touchpad, in addition to being able to easily change the keys at the home position without completely removing your finger, it is also possible to give a larger upper limit to the amount of operation in a smaller area, allowing the keyboard to be made more compact. It's advantageous.

Since the strip area is divided into four lines, the vertical direction of the cursor,
Two areas each can be used for left and right movement. If one of the two trees is used for coarse movement and the other tree is used for fine movement, it is possible to handle both high-speed cursor movement and configuration position specification. By arranging two band-shaped regions for coarse movement adjacent to each other, it becomes possible to operate both regions at once with one finger, and the cursor movement in diagonal directions becomes faster.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing keyboard that allows quick cursor control without removing fingers from the keys. Furthermore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing keyboard that can repeatedly output pulse signals or information exchange codes at high speed without removing fingers from the keys.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the general appearance of an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the embodiment shown in FIG.
Fig. 3(a) is a plan view of a conventional information processing system keyboard equipped with a dial, Fig. 3(b) is a partially enlarged perspective view of Fig. 3(a), Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a joystick, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a mouse, FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a trackball, FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a light pen, and FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a digitizer.
FIG. 9 is a plan view of a conventional information processing system keyboard equipped with a touch pad, FIG. 10 is a plan view of an information processing system system diagram showing the optimal position of the strip area in the present invention, and FIG. 11 is an embodiment of the system shown in FIG. A perspective view showing a first specific example of a band-shaped region in
Figure 12(a). (b) is a waveform diagram of the output signal of the rotary encoder in the specific example of FIG. 11, FIG. 13 is a waveform diagram of the output signal of the normal 60-tally encoder, and □FIG. A perspective view showing a specific example of No. 2, No. 15
The figure is a perspective view showing a modification of the second specific example of the band-shaped region,
FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing another modification of the second specific example of the band-like region, and □ FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a third specific example of the band-like region in the embodiment of FIG. In the figure, 11L to 1d are band-shaped areas, za to 2d are pulse generators, 11 is a group of keys of an information processing system keyboard, 21 is an encoder, 22 is a function of a conventional conventional information processing system keyboard, and 24a to 24d are pulse generators. A signal, 25 is a code for information exchange, 31 is an enlarged perspective view 32, 32 is an enlarged perspective view of the area 31, 33 is a dial, 41 is a joystick stick, 61 is a trackball ball, 8
1 is a digitizer indicating device, 82 is a digitizer board surface, 91 is a touch pad, 10 is a home position key, 102 is an optimal position of a strip area, 111 is a circular belt,
112 is a vehicle for applying a belt; 113 is a rotary encoder; 114 is a range used as a strip area; 115;
116 is the output signal of the rotary encoder 113; 11
7 is the ground potential, 142 is the output signal from the switch, 15
1 is a soft cover placed over the switch, 171 is a resistor, 172 is a conductor, 173 is a support for the conductor 172, 174
175 represents a potential difference that can be applied to the resistor 171, and 175 represents a potential signal. Representative Patent Attorney Shinsuke Honjo-'gu÷ 2 and 2' (◇ 2' (total intimidation and indulgence type = 139-

Claims (1)

[Claims] In an information processing keyboard equipped with a plurality of keys and an encoder that converts the states of those keys into information exchange codes and outputs them, at least one finger of each hand touches the key at the home position. The four band-shaped areas placed within the reach of one of the other fingers in a state of generate a pulse signal corresponding to the direction and amount of movement of the finger, or generate information exchange codes determined by the key being pressed and the direction of movement of the finger pressed, in a number corresponding to the amount of movement of the finger; 1. An information processing system comprising: means for generating information.