JPS6145256B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a pen-touch type input device, and more particularly to a pen-touch type input device in which a plurality of probes can be used for one tablet.

Various types of tablets have been put into practical use as pen-touch input devices, such as photoelectric coupling, electromagnetic coupling, and capacitive coupling.

However, since the conventional keyboard type input device operates the keyboard with both hands, there is an intuitive concept that the input speed is faster than that of the conventional pen-touch type input device in which the probe is held and operated with one hand. However, in reality, even with conventional pen-touch type input devices, the input speed is 60 to 70 characters/minute or more, which is comparable to keyboard type input devices.

Therefore, it has been proposed to increase the input speed of the pen-touch type input device compared to the conventional pen-touch type input device by allowing the user to carry out input operations by holding a probe in each hand.

The present invention proposes a device for a tablet using a plurality of probes, which outputs a coordinate code on the tablet that a specific probe is in contact with when the plurality of probes are in contact with the tablet at substantially the same time.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the entire pen-touch type input device using a capacitively coupled tablet as an embodiment. This configuration and operation will be schematically explained below. Inside the tablet 1, a plurality of conductors 2 arranged in the X-axis direction and a plurality of conductors 3 arranged in the Y-axis direction are arranged with a dielectric material 4 in between. Furthermore, on the top of Tablet 1, there are letters, symbols,
A character sheet 5 on which numbers and the like are displayed on key segments is placed. A plurality of conductors 2 and 3 built into the tablet 1 are sequentially supplied with scanning pulses by a control circuit 7. The probe 8 or 9 that is in contact with the tablet 1 is capacitively coupled with the conductor to which the scanning pulse is supplied, and supplies the scanning pulse to the selection circuit 6 as a detection signal.
This selection circuit 6 supplies the detected signal to a control circuit 7, and this control circuit 7 selects the position of the tablet in contact with the probe that detected the signal, or the characters, symbols, etc. displayed on the character sheet 5 on the tablet 1. Outputs the code corresponding to numbers etc. to the outside.

Next, the present invention will be specifically explained using the embodiment shown in FIG. A clock pulse generator 10 constantly supplies a clock pulse, for example a 1 MHz clock pulse, to a frequency divider 11. Frequency divider 11 divides the frequency of the clock pulse from pulse generator 10 and supplies the divided pulses to counter 12 and control circuit 24. Counter 12 is connected to one input terminal of switching circuit 13. The other input terminal of this switching circuit 13 is connected to the output terminal of the OR gate 20. An output terminal of the switching circuit 13 is connected to an X-axis decoder 14 and a Y-axis decoder 15. The X-axis decoder 14 detects each conductor 2 in the X-axis direction.
The Y-axis decoder 15 is connected to each conductor 3 in the Y-axis direction. probe 8,9
The signal detection lines 8b and 9b are connected to one input terminal of each AND gate 21 and 22, respectively. Switches 8a and 9a provided on probes 8 and 9, respectively, are connected to input terminals of monostable multivibrators (hereinafter simply referred to as M.M.) 16 and 17 of selection circuit 35, respectively.
The selection circuit 35 selects which signal from the two probes 8 and 9 is to be output.
6, 17, D flip-flop (hereinafter simply F・F)
That's what it means. ) 18, 19 and an or gate 20. The output terminals of M/M 16, 17 are connected to the clock input terminals of F/F 18, 19, respectively, and the Q output terminals of F/F 18, 19 are connected to the other input of each of AND gates 21, 22 of selection circuit 36. terminal and the input terminal of the OR gate 20. The selection circuit 36 is for supplying one signal of the two probes 8 and 9 to the control circuit 24, and has AND gates 21 and 22 and an OR gate 23.
The output terminals 1 and 22 are connected to an input terminal of an OR gate 23, and are connected to an output terminal control circuit 24 of this OR gate 23. Furthermore, F・F18,
Each of the 19 output terminals is connected to the D of the other F.
Connected to input terminal D. The output terminal of the OR gate 20 is connected to the switching circuit 13 and the control circuit 24. The control circuit 24 is connected to supply the detection signal to one input terminal of the gate circuit 25 and the reset signal to the reset terminals R of the F/Fs 18 and 19. The other input terminal of gate circuit 25 is connected to the output terminal of counter 12. The output terminal of the gate circuit 25 is the register 26
It is connected to the.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained. Pulses obtained by dividing the clock pulse of the clock pulse generator 10 from the frequency divider 11 are always supplied to the AND gate 25 and each reset terminal R of F/F 18 and 19 of the signal selection circuit 35 via the control circuit 24.
Both F/Fs 18 and 19 output an output, and this output is supplied to the D input terminal D of the other F/F.
Now, when the probe 8 is brought into contact with an arbitrary position of the tablet 1, for example, the position Xi or Yj, the switch 8a provided on the probe 8 is energized and turned on, and the switch 8a is turned on from an appropriate power source (not shown). A signal is supplied to M.M16 via
operates and its output signal is supplied to the clock terminal of F.F18. At this time, since both F/F18 and F19 are supplying output, these F/F1
8 and 19 are ready for operation. The F/F 18 to which the signal is supplied to the clock input terminal C is inverted and the Q output is sent to the OR gate 20 and the selection circuit 3.
A signal is supplied to the AND gate 21 of No. 6. The switching circuit 13 connects the signal from the OR gate 20 and the counter 1.
2, the X-axis decoder 14 and the Y-axis decoder 15 are individually sequentially scanned, and the output pulses from the counter 12 are sequentially supplied to the conductors 2 and 3 in the X- and Y-axis directions. here,
When a scanning pulse is supplied to the i-th conductor of the conductor 2 in the X-axis direction, the probe 8 and the i-th conductor of the conductor 2 in the X-axis direction are capacitively coupled, and the scanning pulse is transmitted from the probe 8 to the input of the AND gate 21. Supplied to the terminal. The other input terminals of the AND gate 21 are F and F which are inverted by turning on the switch 8a of the probe 8.
18 Q outputs are supplied, and the output signal of AND gate 21 is supplied to OR gate 23. When the output signal of the AND gate 21 is supplied to the control circuit 24 via the OR gate 23, the control circuit 24 supplies the signal from the OR gate 23 to the gate circuit 25 using the synchronization pulse from the frequency divider 11. Since the gate circuit 25 is always supplied with the count state of the counter 12 (representing i in this case) to the other input terminal, the count contents of the counter 12 are transferred to the register 26 in synchronization with the pulses from the control circuit 24. supply to. This register 26 latches the supplied count contents of the counter 12 until an output command signal is supplied from an appropriate external device (not shown). When the count state of the counter 12 corresponding to the position (Xi) of the probe 8 in the X-axis direction is latched in the register 26, the output pulses of the switching circuit 13 are sequentially supplied to the conductor 3 in the Y-axis direction via the Y-decoder 15. Ru. Thereafter, the operation is performed in the same way in the Y-axis direction as in the X-axis direction, and the count contents of the counter 12 corresponding to the position (Yj) in the Y-axis direction of the tablet 1 in contact with the probe 8 are latched in the register 26. be done. Here, the position of the probe 8 in contact with the tablet 1 (Xi, Yj)
The signal corresponding to the signal latched in the register 26 is outputted to the outside in response to the aforementioned output command signal. In order to improve the detection accuracy of the detected position, it is also possible to perform detection multiple times in each direction and output when the respective signals match. Furthermore, the signal supplied to the control circuit 24 among the outputs of the OR gate 20 operates as an initial reset of the control circuit 24. Place probe 9 on tablet 1
By contacting the switch 9 of the probe 9
The operation of turning on a and outputting a signal indicating the position of the tablet 1 in contact with the probe 9 is the same as when the probe 8 is used.

Here, if both probes 8 and 9 were brought into contact at the same time (actually, this is almost impossible considering the frequency of the clock pulse used in this device).
In this case, one of the F/Fs 18 and 19 of the selection circuit 35 operates first to disable the other, so that only the signal from one probe is necessarily detected. In addition, if one probe is contacted while a signal is being detected and the other probe is contacted, the outputs of the F/Fs 18 and 19 will be mutually connected to the set of the other F/Fs 18 and 19. Since it is configured to be applied to the input terminal, the switch signal of the probe that comes into contact later does not invert F/F, so the signal of the probe that was detecting the signal first will continue to be detected. Therefore, it will not output a wrong signal.

FIG. 3 shows another embodiment of the signal selection circuit that supplies a reset signal to the F/Fs 18 and 19 after a predetermined time has elapsed since the probes 8 and 9 come into contact with each other to promptly perform redetection. There is. This signal selection circuit 37 has a delay circuit 27 which inputs the output of the OR gate 20, and this delay circuit 27 outputs a signal after a set time and supplies the signal to the reset terminal R of the F/Fs 18 and 19. . Therefore, even if one of the probes is in contact, the switch signal of the probe is temporarily interrupted by F.F.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the output signal A of the OR gate 20 and the output signal B of the delay circuit 27 in this embodiment.

Note that the delay circuit 27 is not necessary if the register 26 is configured to output a signal transmission completion signal after transmitting the signal to the outside.

As another embodiment, FIG. 5 shows an example of a selection circuit when three probes are used. M・M32
is provided corresponding to the switch of the added probe, and F.F28 is also added for the third probe. The output terminals of OR gates 29, 30, and 31 are 3 F/F1
It is connected to the D input terminals D of 8, 19, and 28.

The outputs of F·Fs 18, 19, and 28 are respectively connected to the input terminals of OR gates connected to the D input terminals D of the remaining two F·Fs. F.F.
Q output terminals 18, 19, and 28 are each connected to an input terminal of an OR gate 20. With this circuit configuration, probe switch 8
This happens when any one of a, 9a, and Xa turns on.
The F/F corresponding to the switch turned ON is reversed and other F/F are prohibited from reversing.

In this embodiment, the flip-flop is constructed of a D flip-flop, but other types of flip-flops may be used by changing the circuit.

As described above, in the present invention, even when multiple probes come into contact with one tablet, only the signal of one probe is detected, so multiple probes can be used simultaneously and erroneous signals can be detected. It is possible to detect the probe signals accurately and sequentially.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an entire embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram explaining the circuit, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the selection circuit, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the selection circuit. 3 is a waveform diagram for explaining FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the selection circuit. 1... Tablet; 2, 3... Conductor; 6... Selection means; 8, 9... Probe; 8a, 9a, Xa
...Switch; 21, 22...And Gate; 1
6, 17, 32...monostable multivibrator;
18, 19, 28...flip flop; 20,
23, 29, 30, 31... or gate; 27...
...Delay circuit; 35, 37, 38...Selection circuit; 3
6...Selection circuit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A tablet having a plurality of key segments on its surface, a plurality of probes that detect signals by pointing to arbitrary key segments on the tablet, and a switch provided on each of the plurality of probes. and,
a selection circuit that selects the output signal of the switch; a selection circuit that outputs only the detection signal of the probe corresponding to the switch selected by the selection circuit; and a selection circuit that outputs only the detection signal of the probe corresponding to the switch selected by the selection circuit; the selection circuit has an input section connected to the plurality of switches, and a plurality of flip-flops respectively connected to the plurality of switches to output the output signals of the plurality of switches. A pen-touch type input device comprising means for outputting a selection signal corresponding to any one of the selection signals. 2. A pen-touch type input device according to claim 1, wherein each flip-flop of said selection circuit is constituted by a D flip-flop, and the output thereof is connected to a D terminal of another flip-flop. 3. The pen-touch type input according to claim 1, wherein each flip-flop of the selection circuit is reset by a data transmission end signal of means for outputting a code signal representing a key segment indicated by the probe. Device. 4. The pen-touch type input device according to claim 1, wherein each flip-flop of the selection circuit is reset by the output of a delay circuit that delays the output of the selection circuit for a predetermined period of time.