JPS62147521A - Coordinates input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the titled device that can secure easily the reliability for a long period of time with simple construction, by providing a panel supported elastically by at least three points, and a detecting means which detects the tilt of the panel to calculate the input coordinate from the tilt of the panel. CONSTITUTION:Four elastic supporters 2 are set on a substrate 3 and a panel 1 is put on those supporters 2 so that both supporters 2 and the panel 1 can move up and down in response to each other. A tilt detector 4 detects the tilt of the panel 1 against the substrate 3 by means of a movable element 40 and a fixed element 41. Then the coordinate value at a point on the panel 1 which is pushed by a finger or a pen, etc. is calculated by a coordinate calculating circuit 5 with the signal of the detector 4 in the form of an output signal 6.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to a coordinate input device that detects the position coordinates on a panel board that is pressed with a finger or a pen, and inputs the detected position coordinates to a total of 71 machines, etc. .

[Conventional technology]

2. Description of the Related Art Traditionally, input devices for computers, information terminals, and the like have often used keyboards or digitizers that are separate from a display device. However, in these input devices, the display section and the operation input section are separated,
In addition, it has disadvantages such as complicated usage, poor operability, and high cost.

On the other hand, a so-called touch input device, which is a device with an integrated input/output device that processes input by pointing a finger or a pen on the display surface, has a configuration that combines a display and an input device in an integrated manner. Due to its superiority, it is increasing in number. Typical methods for this input device include a method that uses a transparent conductive film to configure a switch matrix, a method that uses a transparent resistive sheet to detect coordinates based on voltage/current division characteristics, and a method that detects coordinates by blocking a scanning light beam. A light blocking method that detects

There are methods that detect the propagation time of surface waves, etc., and mechanical detection methods that use component force or displacement of the support when a transparent panel plate is pressed (for example, Nikkei Electronics,
+984.7.2, see P2+3).

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

However, with the exception of mechanical detection methods, the device configuration is generally complex and expensive, and when used by an unspecified number of people on the street, it requires harsh input. There were drawbacks such as difficulty in ensuring reliability in operation, etc.

On the other hand, mechanical detection methods are superior in terms of simple structure, ease of selecting elastic springs for support, and ease of ensuring operational reliability when used by an unspecified number of people. There is. In the mechanical detection method, there is a component force detection method in which coordinates are obtained by detecting the component force of the support part with a strain gauge attached to the support body, and a component force detection method in which the displacement of the support part is detected from a one-dimensional image sensor or strain gauge output. A displacement detection method that calculates coordinate values by converting and detecting is generally used.

For this reason, it is difficult to hold the strain gauge in a constant state for a long period of time to ensure stable detection with a strain gauge attached to it, and with an image sensor, it is necessary to have as many image sensors as there are supports. However, it has disadvantages such as being expensive.

This invention was made in order to solve the above problems, and is a coordinate input system that has a simple configuration and can easily ensure long-term reliability even when used by unspecified people on the street. The purpose is to provide equipment.

[Means for solving problems]

The coordinate input device according to the present invention includes a panel plate elastically supported at at least three points, and an inclination detecting means for detecting the inclination of the panel plate.

A coordinate calculation circuit is provided for calculating input coordinates from the tilt of the panel board that detects the coordinates of the pressed position on the panel board.

[Effect]

In this invention, when one point on the panel board is pressed,
The panel board is tilted. The inclinations at the three elastically supported points are detected by the inclination detecting means, and the coordinates of these positions are determined.

[Actual An] Figure 1 shows a schematic composition of an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a panel board, 2 is an elastic support, 3 is a substrate, and 4 is an i provided on the panel board 1. ■Dynamic element 40 and substrate 31C
A tilt detector consisting of a fixed element 41 is provided, and 5 is a coordinate calculation circuit. In this embodiment, four elastic supports 2 are installed on a substrate 3, and a panel board 1 is placed on the elastic supports 2 so that the elastic supports 2 and the panel board 1 can move in the vertical direction in conjunction with each other. This is the configuration mounted on the Then, when one point on the panel board 1 is pressed down with a finger or a pen, etc., a tilt detector detects the coordinate value of the pressed point and the inclination of the panel board 1 with respect to the substrate 3 using a movable element 40 and a fixed element 41. 4
0 signal, the coordinate calculation circuit 5 calculates and outputs the signal 6.
This is what you get as follows. In the above embodiment, the number of elastic supports 2 is four, but it is clear that the number of elastic supports 2 may be at least three.

First, the coordinate detection principle of this invention will be explained.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining the detection principle, and the same reference numerals as in FIG. 1 represent the same functional parts. Also, in Figure 2,
The dimensions of the panel board 10 are 2aX2b, the coordinate axes X-Y on the panel board 1 are set so that the center of the panel board 1 is the origin 0, and the support points are A (-a, b), B (al b), C. (
-al -bL D(a, -b) as 4 points. Further, the state of the panel board 1 when the point P (X, Y) on the panel board 1 is pressed down with the hand F is represented by a broken line r.

Now, by pressing point P (X, Y), support point A is set.

B, C, and D are displaced by Δa, Δb, and ΔC9Δd, respectively (downward is positive), and panel board 1 is on the X axis, Y2O
Suppose that the angle θ and θa are tilted with respect to 2 and θa (the angle θ and θa are positive when counterclockwise with respect to the origin). In this case, the panel board 1 is considered a rigid body.

Component force fa + fb l applied at support points A, B, C, and DK
Regarding fc+fd (downward is positive), the following equation holds true.

F = fa + fb + fc + fd1st (1)
From the formula, the coordinates of the pressed point P (X, Y) can be obtained from the following formula □.

In other words, it is pressed down by the component forces of support points A, B, C, and D.

This is the principle formula for calculating the coordinates of P, and is 4 1 component force'
It is necessary to detect an fb+ f6+ fd Next, assuming that support points A, B, C, and D of the elastic support body 2 all have the same elastic modulus k, the displacement of each support a, B, C, and D is can be expressed by the following formula.

Substituting equation (3) into equation (2) yields the following equation.

Note that Equation (4) is based on the conventional mechanical displacement detection method, that is, from the displacement of the support points A, B, C, J), the pressing point 'c-p
This is the principle formula for calculating the coordinates of the four displacements Δa, Δb
, ΔC5Δd must be detected. Furthermore, displacements Δa and Δb at each support point A, B, C, and D, assuming that the displacement caused by pressing the coordinate center (0, 0) is ho.

When ΔC1Δd is expressed by the slope θ1.07, the following equation is obtained.
Substituting the equation (5) into the second equation (4) yields a linear equation.

By the way X=-tanθX　I...o""......(7) h.

This equation (7) is the principle equation of the present invention, and the displacement h0 and the inclination θ8. It is sufficient to detect θa. In addition, No. (
7) In the equation, ho is the displacement of the center part of the panel board 1, but h
o can be easily converted from the displacement of any point on the panel board 1. For example, when detecting the displacement of the panel board at 10 points (a, 0) with the tilt detector 4, hO" h@-a
It can be converted using tanθ8.

As described above, in this invention, the coordinates of the pressed point P of the panel board 1 are expressed as Equation (7) 5, and the inclination θ (θ8, θ7) of the panel board 1 at the time of pressing and the displacement of an arbitrary point (for example, h6 ＋h
@, etc.) and K. Below, a specific example of the configuration of each functional part will be explained.

The panel plate 1 may be any flat plate whose grains have a small deflection when pressed, and can be made of a wide variety of materials such as polymer materials and metal materials depending on the purpose and use. Acrylic board when used as a transparent touch panel.

A glass plate or the like is suitable.

The elastic support 2 is fixed to the substrate 3KL, and is required to be displaced in a direction perpendicular to the substrate 3 in conjunction with the panel plate 1. FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) show specific structural examples of the elastic support 2. FIG.

First, in the example shown in FIG. 3(a), 20 is a support piece having a ball on the top, 21 is a spring fixedly connected to the upper end of the support piece 20, and 22 is a cylindrical guide. Board 3
A spring 21 and a supporting piece 20 are provided inside the guide 22 so as to be slidably movable on the inner wall of the guide 22. Further, the spherical portion at the top of the support piece 20 is rotatably connected by a spherical seat 11 provided on the panel plate 1. Furthermore, a protrusion 23 is provided on the inner upper part of the guide 22 to lock the support piece 2a and prevent it from popping out.

In the example of FIG. 3(a), when the panel board 1 is pressed down, the support piece 20 is moved by the spring 21 according to the component force of the support point [moves in the vertical direction while being guided by the inner wall of the guide 22]. . At this time, if the amount of downward movement becomes excessive, the panel plate 1 will hit the upper surface of the guide 22, while if the amount of upward movement becomes too much, the support piece 20 will hit the protrusion 23, causing damage to the spring 21, etc. Overload can be prevented. In addition, since the connection between the panel board 1 and the elastic support body 2 is made rotatable using the spherical seat 11, the inclination of the panel board 1 is not restricted, and moreover,
The elastic support 2 and the panel board 1 can be moved in the vertical direction in conjunction with each other.

Next, FIG. 3(b) shows another example of the structure of the elastic support 2, in which two linear or thin plate-like parallel springs 24 and 24' with both ends bent into a U-shape are used. This is a configuration in which the base portions 251C are attached so as to intersect.

In this example, the parallel springs 24, 24' are connected to the panel plate 1 by means of a supporting piece 26 fixed at their intersection, so that the influence of the inclination of the panel plate 1 is removed by the action of the parallel springs 24, 24'. This enables stable vertical movement.

Additionally, as the elastic support 2, a conventionally known spiral spring, a cantilever spring, a pantograph spring alone, or a combination of these can be used. Further, in the case of supporting at three points, the panel board 1 may simply be placed on the elastic support body 2.

An example of the configuration of the tilt detector 4 is shown in FIG. In the figure, 42 is a spot light source that becomes a movable element 40 attached to the panel board 1, and 43 is a spot light source 2 that becomes a fixed element 41 that is attached to the substrate 3 opposite to the spot light source 42. It is a dimensional semiconductor device detection element. The spot light source 42 is an LED,
A semiconductor laser or the like can be used, and the spot light source 42 may be attached directly to the panel board 1 as in the example shown in FIG. 4, or a reflecting mirror may be provided on the panel board 1 to reflect light from a separate light source. It may also be used. The two-dimensional semiconductor device detection element (hereinafter referred to as "PSD") 43 is a high-resistance semiconductor Si
has a cross-sectional structure with a uniform resistance layer on one or both sides, and two pairs of electrodes 45+ for signal extraction are provided at both ends of the resistance layer.
45', 4L 46' are provided. This P
When the light beam enters the detection surface 441/C of the SD 43, a photocurrent proportional to the incident energy is generated from the light incident position due to the photoelectric effect.

This photocurrent is inversely proportional to the resistance value to each electrode (in other words, the distance between the light incident position and the electrode).
Since the light is divided into two and taken out from each electrode, the two-dimensional coordinates of the light incident position can be determined from the current value from each pair of electrodes [for example, Sensor Technology, Vol. 5. No. 6
(1985) 140 and 142].

There are two types of PSDs with two pairs of electrodes attached depending on their structure: a surface-split PSD with two pairs of electrodes attached perpendicular to the same resistance layer, and a split-surface PSD with two pairs of electrodes attached perpendicular to the resistance layers on the front and back sides. A PSD in which one pair of electrodes is attached to each side of the PSD is called a double-sided split type PSD.

Next, the principle of operation of the tilt detector 4 shown in FIG. 4 will be explained. The distance between the spot light source 42 and the PSD 43 is L, and the PSD 4
Suppose that the light spot from the spot light source 42 on the detection surface 44 of No. 3 moves from the coordinates (0, 0) to the coordinates (x, y) by pressing the panel board 1.
Inclination θ

θT can be determined using the following formula.

Therefore, if a change in the coordinate value X is detected by the electrodes 45-45' and a change in the coordinate value y is detected by the electrodes 46-46', the inclination of the panel board 1 can be detected from K.

In addition, the displacement amount of the panel board 1 (for example, the above-mentioned ha) is
The total sum of detected current values output to a pair of electrodes by the optical spot Bc of the PSD 43 can be detected using the characteristic that it changes in proportion to the intensity of the optical spot.

That is, 1. As the distance between the spot light source 42 and the PSD 43 changes as the panel board 1 is displaced by pressing down,
By monitoring the intensity change of the light spot on the detection surface 44 due to this, the displacement of the panel board 1 can be detected from K. In this case, the electrodes 45-45' or 46 of the PSD 43
The amount of displacement of the panel board 1 is calculated based on the amount of change in the total output current from -46'. Note that the change in distance due to the inclination can also be determined and corrected from the inclination θ(08, θ,)lC.

Here, in order to detect the amount of change in the panel board 1, a conventionally known displacement detector such as a trough type, a differential transformer type, an eddy current type, etc. is installed separately at an arbitrary position on the panel board 1. K to do
It's okay to lean on it.

Examples of the configuration of the coordinate calculation circuit 5 are shown in FIGS. 5 and 6.

It is shown in FIG.

The example in Figure 5 is a surface-divided type PSD 43 as a PSD.
', two pairs of 1145-45', 46-46'
is provided in the P layer of the PSD.

In FIG. 6, a double-split type PSD 43' is used as the PSD, with electrodes 45-45' being the P layer and electrodes 46-46' being the N layer.
This is an example in which the PSD is provided in a layer, and differs from that in FIG. 5 in how the bias potential is applied to the PSD.

Furthermore, FIG. 7 shows an example in which a displacement meter 7 for measuring the displacement of the panel board 1 is separately provided in the surface-divided type PSD 43' of FIG.

In these figures, 50 is a DC amplifier, 51 is a multiplexer, 52 is an A/D converter, 53 is a CPU, 5
4 is memory, 55.55', 55' is engineering 10 boats, 5
6 is a common bus. Electrodes 45-45' of PSD43,
46-46' and the displacement meter 7 are each connected to a multiplexer 51 via a DC amplifier 50, and the output of the multiplexer 51 is connected to r1 via an A/D converter 52.
0 port 55'. Also, the memory 54. I10 port for output 55. The multiplexer 51 and the I10 port 55' and I10 port 55' for A/D converter control are connected to the CPU 53 by a common bus 56.

It is a controlled structure.

8 and 9 are examples of flow charts of the operation of the coordinate calculation circuit 5. FIG. 8 is for the coordinate calculation circuit 5 of FIGS. 5 and 6, and FIG. 9 is for the coordinate calculation circuit 5 of FIGS. This is for the mts calculation circuit 5 in which the displacement meter 7 shown in the figure is provided separately.

First, FIG. 5 of this invention by FIG.

The operation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 6 will be explained. In addition, (1) to a3
shows each step. First, after initial settings (1)
, when one point P (X, Y) on the panel board 1 is pressed down with a finger or a pen, the panel board 1 is displaced and tilted in accordance with the component force applied to the elastic support 2. At this time, the optical axis of the spot light source 42 provided on the panel board 1 is also tilted, and the light spot on the detection surface 44 of the PSD 43 moves along the surface. Letting the position of this moved light spot be x, y,
A signal X1+X1 corresponding to the coordinate value X is applied to the electrodes 45-45'.
However, the electrode 4B-46' has a signal Y corresponding to the coordinate value y.
Since t+y2 is outputted, it is amplified by the DC amplifier 50, and then sequentially stored in the memory 54 as a digital signal by the multiplexer 51 and A/D converter 52 according to instructions from the CPU 53 ((2) to (
7)).

Next, using the data in the memory 54, the angle θ and θ1 are calculated by equation (8) and stored in the memory 54 (
8). Here, to calculate the coordinates (x, y) necessary for angle calculation, the total incident light energy x1 + x2 (or Y1
+3' and the output signal x1 or xz (or yI
or Yt).

Next, the displacement h1 of the panel board 1 is calculated and stored in the memory 54 (9). Here, as described above, the displacement amount can be calculated from the displacement amount of the total incident light energy X, +X2 (or Yt+)'t).

Furthermore, the angle θ8. θa.

Y value according to equation (7) using the data of displacement iha.

Calculate and store the Y value, Ql, αυ, and input it to a computer etc. as an output signal 6 from the I10 port 55 as necessary (α
a, Q3).

In this way, by periodically repeating the operation flow shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to process a press input to the panel board 1 at an arbitrary time.

Regarding the operation diagram o- of FIG. 9, which is necessary to explain the operation of the embodiment of FIG. The signal from displacement meter 1 is added as an input signal from (2), and the calculation of the displacement amount of panel board 1 is directly performed from this signal. The operation is the same as in FIG.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, the present invention elastically supports the panel board and uses the inclination of the panel board to calculate input coordinates, which has the advantage of simplifying the device configuration and coordinate ratio calculation. In addition, since the device can be configured by a combination of mechanical elements and a two-dimensional semiconductor device detection element, there is an advantage that high reliability can be maintained for a long period of time even when used by an unspecified number of people on the street.

In addition to being used as a digitizer and a tablet, the present invention is also suitable as a transparent touch panel in which the panel board is made transparent and combined with a display device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating the operating principle of the invention, and Figs. FIG. 4 is a perspective view, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a configuration example of a tilt detector and its detection principle. FIGS. 5, 6, and 7 are block diagrams showing a configuration example of a coordinate calculation circuit. ), Figure 9 shows operation 7g-
FIG. In the figure, 1 is a panel board, 2 is an elastic support, 3 is a substrate, 4 is a tilt detector, 5 is a coordinate calculation circuit, 6 is an output signal, 1 is a displacement meter, 42 is a spot light source, and 43 is a two-dimensional It is a semiconductor device detection element. Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 432-dimensional semiconductor vertical position detection Figure 8 Figure 9

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) It has a panel plate elastically supported at at least three points and an inclination detection means for detecting the inclination of the panel plate, and furthermore, when a force is applied to one point of the panel plate, the force is A coordinate input device comprising: a coordinate calculation circuit that calculates the position coordinates of the added point based on the output of the inclination detection means. (2) The tilt detection means consists of a spot light source provided on the panel board, and a photoelectric position detection element that is placed facing the light source at a certain distance and receives the incident light from the light source. Characteristic Claim No. 1
Coordinate input device described in ).