JPH0230055B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an X-Y direction input device, and relates to an X-Y direction input device suitable for, for example, a figure input device for a graphic display device.

A graphic display device basically consists of a display screen, a display controller, a data channel, and various input devices. One of these devices detects the direction and angle of inclination when the operator tilts a lever supported by a gimbal mechanism in any direction, and generates voltage or digital signals for each component in the X- and Y-axis directions. "Joystick" that generates
(registered trademark). However, this input device
In addition to limiting the rotation range of the lever, there are also problems with the stability of the input signal.

In order to overcome this drawback, an input device called a "mouse" has been developed in recent years. This input device includes a rotated sphere (hereinafter abbreviated as sphere) made of a rotatably arranged steel ball, for example, and a first driven roller that is in contact with the sphere and rotates by the rotational force of the sphere. , a second driven roller that is in contact with the sphere and rotates by the rotational force of the sphere and whose axial direction is substantially perpendicular to the axial direction of the first driven roller; and the amount of rotation of the first and second driven rollers. first and second rotation amount detection means each individually detecting a variable resistor, an encoder, etc., and these spheres, first and second driven rollers, first and second rotation amount detection means, etc. It basically consists of a casing for housing.

An opening is provided in the lower surface of the casing, and a part of the sphere protrudes downward through the opening, and by holding the casing and rolling the sphere in any direction on a predetermined base, the first and second spheres can be moved. The two driven rollers each rotate in a predetermined direction. The rotation direction and rotation amount of these driven rollers are
The second rotation amount detection means extracts each component in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction as a voltage or digital signal, and these signals are input to a display device.

The present invention is directed to this type of input device.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an overall perspective view of a graphic display device including an X-Y direction input device according to an embodiment.

On the table 1 are a display device 2 having a screen, a controller, a data channel, etc., an input device 3 having function keys, and an input device 4 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
is placed. Note that the input device 4 is operated on a dedicated sheet 5 placed on the table 1,
By this operation, for example, the cursor 7 displayed on the screen 6 of the display device 2 can be moved to an arbitrary position.

Next, the structure and operating principle of this input device 4 will be explained. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the input device 4;
3 is a front view of the input device 4, FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the input device 4, and FIG. 5 is a side view of the input device 4.

The casing 8 consists of a lower case 9 and an upper case 10 molded from, for example, ABS resin, and the casing 8
In order to prevent dust, water, etc. from entering the inside, the lower case 9 and the upper case 10 are engaged with each other at the entire circumference of the joint.

The upper case 10 is designed to have a size that allows the operator to hold and operate it with one hand, and a fitting hole 12 is provided at a predetermined position in the upper wall portion 11 along the longitudinal direction of the upper case 10.
is formed. An operating end 14 of a rectangular switch lever 13 is inserted into the insertion hole 12 from inside the upper case 10 and protrudes slightly from the upper wall portion 11.

As will be described later, a push switch is arranged below the switch lever 13, and in addition to switching the input device 4 itself, these push switches are used to switch the display pattern immediately above or below the cursor 7 on the display device 2, for example. Delete some parts or move them to other display positions,
Used for various other signal processing such as switching and control. The display device 2 and the input device 4 are connected by a cord 15 and a plug 16.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the lower case 9. On the outer periphery of the bottom wall 17 of the lower case 9, there are a front wall 18, a rear wall 19, a right wall 20, and a left wall 2.
1 are installed consecutively. In the bottom wall 17, there are holes near the corner between the front wall 18 and the right side wall 20, near the corner between the front wall 18 and the left side wall 21, and near the center of the rear wall 19. Holes 22a, 22b, and 22c are formed therethrough, respectively. The positions of the small holes 22a to 22c are determined so that an isosceles triangle is formed by connecting the center points of the three small holes 22a to 22c.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view taken along line A-A in FIG. 6.
An annular tapered surface 23 whose diameter gradually increases upward is formed above the small hole 22, and an annular flat portion 24 is left on the outer periphery of the upper opening edge of the tapered surface 23, and a cylindrical portion is formed. 25 are integrally formed. Slightly behind the small holes 22a, 22b, three pillars 26 are erected in a row from the bottom wall 17 at predetermined intervals, and these pillars 26 are useful for supporting and attaching a printed circuit board, which will be described later.

Immediately in front of the small hole 22c, a substantially circular opening 27 for entering and exiting a sphere is formed, the diameter being larger than that of the sphere described later. 8 is a sectional view taken along the line B--B in FIG. 6, and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line C--C in FIG. 6. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 9, an upward step portion 28 of a predetermined width having an upward planar locking portion is provided at one location on the peripheral edge of the opening portion 27;
A downward step portion 29 having a downward planar locking portion is provided at the peripheral end of the opening portion 27 except for this. At a position opposite to the upward step 28, a recess 43 extending radially outward is connected to the downward step 29,
A hexagonal hole 31 into which a small nut is inserted through the screw insertion hole 30 is formed above the recess 43. The peripheral edge of the opening 27, the upward step 28 and the hexagonal hole 3
A continuous peripheral wall 32 is provided to protrude so as to surround the outer periphery of 1.

On the side facing the front wall 18 of the peripheral wall 32, there are arcuate protrusions 34a, 3 having an arcuate receiving surface 33 on the upper surface.
4b are formed integrally with the peripheral wall 32 at predetermined intervals. FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line E-E in FIG.
Reinforcing ribs 35 are integrally provided at the base portions of 34b so as to be perpendicular thereto. In addition,
The curvature of the receiving surface 33 on the arcuate projection 34a is designed to be slightly smaller than that on the arcuate projection 34b. As shown in FIG. 6, arcuate protrusions 36a, 3 are located on the front and rear sides of the upward step 28.
6b are formed integrally with the peripheral wall 32 at predetermined intervals. These arcuate protrusions 36a, 36b also have an arcuate receiving surface 37 on the upper surface like the arcuate protrusions 34a, 34b, and a reinforcing rib 38 is integrally formed at the base. The curvature of the arcuate projection 36b is designed to be slightly smaller than that of the receiving surface 37.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view taken along the line F-F in FIG. 6, and as shown in the same figure and FIG. Linear protrusions 39, 39 extend in parallel at predetermined intervals, and their tips are integrated with the peripheral wall 32. Two screw insertion holes 40, 40 formed near the front wall 18 and one screw insertion hole 40 formed near the rear wall 19 allow the lower case 9 and the upper case 10 to be screwed together. This is a hole for connection. Two screw holes 41 shown in FIG. 6 are for attaching a later-described annular holder to the upper surface of the lower case 9.

13 to 16 are views of the ring-shaped lid 42 attached to the lower surface of the lower case 9. FIG. The outer diameter of the ring-shaped lid 42 is designed to be approximately the same as the inner diameter of the downward step 29 in the lower case 9, and a tongue piece 44 that is placed on the upward step 28 is protruded from one place on the outer periphery. There is. Further, a mounting portion 45 that fits into the recess 43 is provided on the opposite side of the tongue portion 44, and
A screw insertion hole 46 is formed therein. A circular opening 47 having a diameter considerably smaller than the diameter of the sphere is bored in the center of the ring-shaped lid 42, and an annular tapered surface 48 whose diameter gradually increases upward is formed at the top of the opening 47. has been done.

When attaching this ring-shaped lid 42 to the lower case 9, first attach the tongue piece 44 from the bottom side of the lower case 9.
is inserted into the opening 27 first, and the tongue portion 44 is placed on the upward step portion 28. and a ring-shaped lid 42
Fit the whole thing into the downward step 29, insert the small nut 49 (see Fig. 17) into the hexagonal hole 31 of the lower case 9, and screw in the screw 50 (see Fig. 4) from the ring-shaped lid 42. . By doing so, the ring-shaped lid 42 is fixed to the lower case 9 by both the engagement between the upward step portion 28 and the tongue portion 44 and the screw fastening with the screw 50, and
is covered with a ring-shaped lid 42. This state is the 17th
As shown in the figure.

FIG. 18 and FIG. 19 are main part sectional views showing the arrangement of the support ball 50 and the support base 51.
8 shows the structure when the support ball 50 and the support leg 51 are arranged over the small holes 22a, 22b of the lower case 9, and FIG. 19 shows the structure of the support ball 50 and the support leg 5.
1 is placed over the small hole 22c of the lower case 9.

First, FIG. 18 will be explained. Lower case 9
A steel support ball 50 having a larger diameter than the small hole 22a (22b) is placed on the tapered surface 23, and a portion of the support ball 50 protrudes downward from the small hole 22a (22b). A support leg 51 made of polyacetal resin is erected above the support ball 50. A bowl-shaped portion 52 that rotatably accommodates the support ball 50 is provided at the lower part of the support leg 51, and the outer diameter of the bowl-shaped portion 52 is equal to or slightly larger than the inner diameter of the cylindrical portion 25 protruding from the lower case 9. Largely designed.
A pillar part 53 is connected to the upper part of the bowl-shaped part 52, and a small diameter part 54 is provided at the upper end of the pillar part 53, so that the small diameter part 5
A step-shaped locking portion 55 is formed at the root portion of 4. The small diameter portion 54 is inserted into a locking hole drilled in a printed circuit board 56, and the printed circuit board 56 is attached to this support leg 5.
1, and the support legs 51 are prevented from falling down after assembly by engaging with the printed circuit board 56.

When assembling, place the support ball 5 on the lower case 9.
0, the support legs 51, and the printed circuit board 56 are arranged in this order, but if each of them falls down when the support legs 51 are erected, it will interfere with the placement of the printed circuit board 56. For this purpose, the small hole 22 of the lower case 9
A cylindrical portion 25 is erected near the support leg 51.
The support leg body 51 comes into contact with the bowl-shaped portion 52 of the support leg body 51 and serves to prevent the support leg body 51 from falling during assembly. As shown in the figure, a support ball 50 is rotatably arranged on the inner surface of the bowl-shaped portion 52. Further, upward movement of the support ball 50 is restricted by the support legs 51 (bowl-shaped portions 52), so that a portion of the support ball 50 always protrudes from the lower surface of the lower case 9 by a predetermined amount. ing.

In the case of FIG. 19, the support structure of the support legs 51 is different from the case described above. That is, the support leg 5 is inserted into the vertical through hole 58 formed in the annular holder 57.
The support leg 51 is held down by the annular holder 57. The shapes of the support ball 50 and the support legs 51 are the same as those described above, so their description will be omitted.

20 is a plan view of the annular holder 57, FIG. 21 is a bottom view of the annular holder 57, and FIG. 22 is a front view of the annular holder 57. The annular holder 57 is made of, for example, polybutylene terephthalate, and has a penetrating portion 60 in the center that is larger than the diameter of the sphere 59. As shown in FIGS. 20 and 21, the annular holder 57 includes a first driven roller holding section 6 that holds and positions one of the driven rollers, which will be described later.
1, a second driven roller holding section 62 that holds and positions the other driven roller, and an applying roller holding section 63 that holds and positions the friction force applying roller. First driven roller holding section 61
The first driven roller holding part 61 and the second driven roller holding part 62 are arranged so that the longitudinal direction of the first driven roller holding part 61 and the second driven roller holding part 62 are orthogonal to each other. A holding portion 63 is provided. The first driven roller holding section 61, the second driven roller holding section 62, and the applying roller holding section 6
3 and are integrally molded into an annular shape via a connecting portion 64.

Before explaining the shapes of the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62, the structure of the driven roller encoder block 65 that is fitted and held therein will be described. Second
6 to 29 are diagrams showing the driven roller encoder block 65, and FIG. 26 is a plan view, and FIG.
7 is a front view, FIG. 28 is a right side view, and FIG. 29 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part.

The driven roller encoder block 65 is composed of a driven roller 66 and an encoder 67, which are integrally connected and handled as one block when assembled into the annular holder 57.

The driven roller 66 includes a rotating shaft portion 68, a roller portion 69 formed integrally with the rotating shaft portion 68 at a substantially central position, and bearings 70a and 70b disposed on both sides of the rotating shaft portion 68, respectively. It is already configured.

The encoder 67 includes an encoder case 71 and a slider receiver 72 that is connected to one end of the rotating shaft portion 68 of the driven roller 66 and rotates integrally with the driven roller 66.
and a slider 73 attached to the slider receiver 72
and a pattern board 74 positioned by the encoder case 71 and facing the slider 73.
and the pattern board 74 is attached to the encoder case 7.
It consists of a mounting plate 75 that is firmly fixed to 1.

30 to 32 are views showing the encoder case 71, with FIG. 30 being a front view, FIG. 31 being a left side view, and FIG. 32 being a right side view. As shown in FIG. 32, the encoder case 71 is composed of a front wall 76, a back wall 77, a top wall 78, a bottom wall 79, and a left wall 80, with the right side being almost the entire surface. It is open to the public.

On the front wall portion 76 and the rear wall portion 77, a bent piece portion 81 (the 27th
Two locking grooves 82 into which the locking grooves (see figure) are inserted are formed horizontally. Note that this locking groove 82 partially extends to the left side wall portion 80, as shown in FIG. A locking pawl 83 extending toward the right side is provided between the upper and lower locking grooves 82, and the locking pawl 83 on the front wall 76 and the locking pawl 83 on the back wall 77 are provided. are in opposing states.

A cylindrical portion 84 extending toward the driven roller 66 is integrally formed in the center of the left side wall portion 80, and a direction regulating protrusion 85 extending horizontally is provided near the open end of the cylindrical portion 84. It is set in. As shown in FIG. 32, the front wall 76 and the rear wall 7
7. A non-circular annular stepped portion 86 having the same outer shape as the pattern substrate 74 is formed at the right end portions of the upper wall portion 78 and the lower wall portion 79. Further, a housing recess 107 is provided at a step further from the annular stepped portion 86 .

As shown in FIG. 29, a small diameter portion 87 is provided at one end of the rotating shaft portion 68, thereby forming a stepped locking portion 88 at the base of the small diameter portion 87. The small diameter portion 87 passes through the inner ring 89 of the bearing 70b made of a ball bearing, and is attached to the slider receiver 72.
The outer ring 91 of the bearing 70b, which is tightly fitted into the central hole 90 of the encoder case 71, is tightly fitted into the cylindrical portion 84 of the encoder case 71 and is in a fixed state. When the small diameter portion 87 of the rotating shaft portion 68 is firmly fitted into the center hole 90 of the slider receiver 72 and the stepped locking portion 88 comes into contact with the end surface of the inner ring 89, the inner ring 89 will eventually slide. The bearing 70b (inner ring 89) is held between the child receiver 72 and the stepped locking portion 89, and the encoder case 71 prevents the bearing 70b from moving in the axial direction. No axial deviation.

FIG. 33 is an exploded perspective view of the slider receiver 72 and slider 73, and FIG. 34 is a right side view of the slider receiver-slider assembly. The slider receiver 72 is made of polybutylene terephthalate or the like, and has a central hole 90 formed therein. A mounting base portion 92 is provided on the right side surface, and two positioning pins 93 are protruded from the mounting base portion 92 at a predetermined interval. A C-shaped protrusion 95 having a notch 94 in a portion is formed near the right opening end of the central hole 90 . Mounting base part 9 on the right side
The portions other than 2 are stepped down to form approximately fan-shaped recesses 96.
is formed.

A substantially annular portion 97 is provided at the center of the slider 73 and fits onto the C-shaped protrusion 95 of the slider receiver 72.
A first contact end 98 is cut and raised toward the center thereof. Attachment holes 99 are formed at positions facing the positioning pins 93 of the slider receiver 72, and an arm portion 100 is integrally formed at a position facing the recess 96 of the slider receiver 72. An inner second contact end 101 and an outer second contact end 102 are attached to the distal end portion thereof so as to bulge in parallel.

Slide the positioning pin 93 of the slider receiver 72 onto the slider 7.
Insert the C-shaped protrusion 95 into the mounting hole 99 of 3 in the substantially annular portion 9.
7, the slider receiver 7
The slider 73 is positioned with respect to 2. Further, by thermally melting the head of the positioning pin 93, the slider 73 is firmly fixed to the slider receiver 72 without wobbling. Due to this fixation, the vicinity of the free end of the first contact end 98 of the slider 73 has a notch 9
4 and the central hole 90, while the arm portion 100, the inner second contact end 101 and the outer second
Contact end 102 faces recess 96 . Therefore, the first
Contact end 98, arm portion 100, inner second contact end 1
01 and the outer second contact end 102 are elastically deformed without any problem.

FIG. 35 is a plan view of the patterned substrate 74. This pattern substrate 74 has a central pattern section 103, and an inner peripheral pattern section 104 and an outer peripheral pattern section 105 that are formed concentrically with the central pattern section 103. Each pattern portion 103, 104, 105 corresponds to each terminal portion 1.
Connected to 06.

Slider receiver 72 with slider 73 attached to one side
is inserted into the accommodation recess 107 of the encoder case 71, and on the other hand, the bearing 70b is fitted in the small diameter part 87 of the rotating shaft part 68 in advance, and the small diameter part 87 and the bearing 7
0b from the cylindrical portion 84 of the encoder case 71. By firmly fitting the tip of the small diameter portion 87 into the central hole 90 of the slider receiver 72 and the bearing 70b into the cylindrical portion 84, the driven roller 66 is prevented from coming off in the axial direction, and The slider receiver 72 (slider 73) is rotatably held in the accommodation recess 107 of the encoder case 71, and can rotate integrally with the driven roller 66.

Next, each pattern portion 1 of the pattern substrate 74 is
03, 104, and 105 are fitted into the annular stepped portion 86 of the encoder case 71 so as to face the slider 73. As described above, since the annular stepped portion 86 has the same non-circular shape as the outer shape of the pattern board 74, the pattern board 74 can be positioned with respect to the encoder case 71. The insertion dimension of the pattern board 74, in other words, the amount of pushing of the pattern board 74 into the slider 73 is regulated by the height of the annular step 86. When inserting the pattern board 74 into the encoder case 71, the two locking claws 83 protruding from the encoder case 71 are pushed apart slightly. Temporarily fixed. In this way, attach the pattern board 74 to the encoder case 7.
1, the pattern board 74 will not be displaced or fall off during the next mounting operation of the mounting plate 75, and the mounting operation will be simple.

After temporarily fixing the pattern board 74 to the encoder case 71, the mounting plate 7, which has a U-shaped planar shape, is attached.
5 is abutted along the outer surface of the patterned substrate 74,
Four bent pieces 81 provided on the mounting plate 75
are the locking grooves 8 of the front wall portion 76 and the rear wall portion 77.
2 respectively. And each bent piece part 81
The pattern board 74 is finally firmly fixed to the encoder case 71 by bending the tip toward the locking groove 82 provided in the left side wall 80 of the encoder case 71 shown in FIG. 31 and fitting it. .

By fixing the pattern board 74 to the encoder case 71, the first contact end 98 of the slider 73
is in elastic contact with the central pattern portion 103 of the pattern substrate 74, the inner second contact end 101 is in elastic contact with the inner peripheral pattern portion 104, and the outer second contact end 102 is in resilient contact with the outer peripheral pattern portion 105, respectively. Connect the pattern board 74 to the encoder case 7
1, the contact end 98, 1
01 and 102 are each slightly pressed and deformed and fall down, but in the end, when the assembly is completed, the 29th
As shown in the figure, the dimensions of each component are designed so that the contact point of the first contact end 98 with the central pattern section 103 and the center point of the central pattern section 103 are arranged on the rotation axis of the driven roller 66. ing.

The driven roller encoder block 65 having such a structure is inserted into the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62 shown in FIGS. 20 to 22, respectively. Next, the shapes of the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62 will be explained.

A bearing fitting groove 108 (FIG. 21,
(see FIG. 23) is formed. At a predetermined interval from this bearing fitting groove 108, a projection fitting groove 109 into which the direction regulating projections 85, 85 provided on the encoder case 71 are fitted, and a cylindrical part fitting groove 110 into which the cylindrical part 84 is fitted are connected. It is set up. The rotating shaft portion 68 and the roller portion 69 are inserted into the intermediate portion between the bearing fitting groove 108 and the protrusion fitting groove 109, and these are connected to the driven roller holding portion 61,
A concave cutout 111 for escape so as not to come into contact with 62,
112 and 113 are formed. The roller part 69 is inserted and arranged in the intermediate recessed part 112,
Two drop-off prevention claws 114, 114 are attached to the peripheral wall portion 11 with an interval slightly wider than the width of the roller portion 69.
It protrudes inward from 5. (See Figure 24).

The bearing fitting groove 108, the protrusion fitting groove 109, the cylindrical part fitting groove 110, and the recessed parts 111, 113,
As shown in FIG. 21, it opens toward the bottom surface.

Bearing 7 of driven roller encoder block 65
0a is in the bearing fitting groove 108 of the driven roller holding parts 61, 62, the rotating shaft part 68 and the roller part 69 are in the recessed parts 111, 112, 113, and the direction regulating protrusion 8
The two driven roller encoder blocks 65 are inserted into the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62 so that the cylindrical part 84 is fitted into the protrusion fitting groove 109 and the cylindrical part 84 is fitted into the cylindrical part fitting groove 110, respectively.

At the time of this insertion, the rotating shaft portion 68 is attached to the fall prevention claw 114.
When inserted into the predetermined position, the tip of the falling-off prevention claw 114 faces the rotating shaft portion 68 with a slight distance from it, so as not to interfere with the rotation of the driven roller 66. I have to. By providing the falling-off prevention claws 114 on the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62 in this manner, the driven roller encoder block 65 will not fall off unexpectedly from the driven roller holding parts 61 and 62 during subsequent handling, making handling easier. Become.

As shown in FIGS. 20, 22, and 24, a lead wire hanging portion 116 for hanging a lead wire from the encoder 67 is provided at the upper part of the peripheral wall portion 115.

Next, the application roller holding section 63 will be explained using mainly FIG. 21 and FIG. 25. In addition, the second
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B--B in FIG. 21.

The application roller holding section 63 has a case shape that opens downward, and has a housing space 11 inside thereof in which a roller support member, which will be described later, is slidably accommodated.
7 is formed. As shown in FIG. 21, stopper walls 118 are vertically provided on both sides of the accommodation space 117 on the side facing the penetration part 60, and a roller protruding opening 119 is provided between both stopper walls 118.
is formed.

As shown in FIG. 25, the applying roller holding section 63
Top wall 120 (lower side in the figure)
has two fall prevention claws 12 at a predetermined interval.
1 are vertically arranged facing each other.

Next, a third
6 to 39 will be explained. FIG. 36 is an exploded perspective view of the rolling contact roller 122, the support shaft 123, the roller support member 124, and the spring member 125.
37, 38 and 39 are a plan view, a side view and a rear view of the roller support member.

The rolling contact roller 122 is molded from polyacetal resin mixed with polytetrafluoroethylene resin and has an extremely low coefficient of friction.
A support shaft through hole 126 having a diameter slightly larger than that of the support shaft through hole 126 is formed. Therefore, the rolling contact roller 122 can freely rotate on the support shaft 123.

The roller support member 124 is molded from polyamide resin, and semicircular bearing portions 127 that support both ends of the support shaft 123 are formed at both ends of the front surface so as to open toward the front. . A roller accommodating recessed part 128 (see FIG. 38) extending rearward is formed between the bearing parts 127, and a partition wall 129 is provided at the rear thereof.
A circular spring receiving recess 130 that opens rearward is formed behind the partition wall 129.

As shown in FIG. 39, the roller support member 124
Relief recesses 131 are provided almost entirely on the upper surface, lower surface, and left and right side surfaces except for the four corners.
2 is formed.

The spring member 125 is made of a coil spring, one end of which is inserted into the spring receiving recess 130 of the roller support member 24, and the other end of which is inserted into the spring receiving recess 130 of the roller support member 24.
The rear wall portion 133 (see FIGS. 21 and 40) is in contact with the rear wall portion 133 (see FIGS. 21 and 40).

The roller support member 124 holding the rolling contact roller 122, the support shaft 123, and the spring member 125 is pushed into the accommodation space 117 of the application roller holding section 63. Then, the protrusions 132 of the roller support member 124 push the heads of the two drop-off prevention claws 121 protrudingly provided on the applying roller holding part 63 slightly outward and climb over them, as shown in FIG. The protrusion 132 engages with the falling-off prevention claw 121. With this engagement, the rolling contact roller 122 and the support shaft 12
3. The roller support member 124 is attached to the applying roller holding section 6
3 is temporarily fixed, then the annular holder 57
When attaching to the lower case 9, the above-mentioned parts do not fall off, and work efficiency can be improved.

Note that the falling-off prevention claw 121 and the protrusion 132 that engages with it are fixed to the roller support member 12 after engagement.
4 can slide within the accommodation space 117. The spring member 125 is located in the accommodation space 117
When inserted into the roller support member 124, the spring receiving recess 130 of the roller support member 124 is held in a compressed state between the rear wall portion 133 of the applying roller holding portion 63, and its elasticity causes rolling contact via the roller support member 124. roller 12
2 and the support shaft 123 are located at the roller protrusion opening 119.
Forced toward the side. Due to this bias, a part of the outer circumference of the rolling contact roller 122 is pushed into the roller protrusion opening 11.
9 and protrudes inward from the support shaft 12.
Both ends of 3 abut against the inner surface of the stopper wall 118. With this contact, the rolling contact roller 122 and the support shaft 1
23 is prevented from coming off. Note that when the sphere 59 is inserted as shown in FIG.
22 moves back slightly against the elasticity of the spring member 125, so that the support shaft 123 is pushed back against the stopper wall 118.
The elastic force of the spring member 125 acts on the sphere 59 via the roller support member 124, the support shaft 123, and the rolling contact roller 122.

As described above, in the first driven roller holding portion 61 of one driven roller encoder block 65,
Another driven roller encoder block 65
is inserted into the second driven roller holding part 62, and the rolling contact roller 122, the support shaft 123, the roller supporting member 124, and the spring member 125 are inserted and temporarily fixed into the applying roller holding part 63, respectively.
Lower case 9 with the insertion opening side of each part facing down.
is installed on top of.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 19, a support ball 50 and a support leg 51 are previously arranged above the small hole 22 of the lower case 9, and a through hole 58 formed in the annular holder 57 (see FIG. , see Figure 21)
is inserted into the support leg 51, and the annular holder 57
Two screw insertion holes 134 (20th
21) is the screw hole 4 of the lower case 9.
1 (see FIG. 6), an annular holding body 57 is arranged on the lower case 9 so as to face the fourth
It is screwed as shown in Figure 5.

By attaching the annular holder 57 to the lower case 9 in this way, the arcuate protrusion 34 protruding from the lower case 9 as shown in FIGS.
b, 36b and the bearing fitting groove 108.
a is pinched. Further, as shown in FIGS. 43 and 44, an arcuate projection 3 protruding from the lower case
The other bearing 70b is held between 4a, 36a and the cylindrical part fitting groove 110 via the cylindrical part 84 of the encoder case 71. As described above, the bearing fitting groove 108 and the cylindrical part fitting groove 110 are integrally formed in the driven roller holding parts 61, 62, and the arcuate projections 34a, 36a, the arcuate projections 34b,
36b is integrally formed with the lower case 9, so the direction in which the two driven rollers 66 are arranged is correctly regulated.

Although not shown, the annular holder 57 is attached to the lower case 9.
By attaching it to the encoder case 71
The lower wall portion 79 abuts against the bottom wall portion 17 of the lower case 9 to prevent the encoder case 71 from rotating. In this way, the annular holder 57 is attached to the lower case 9.
Figure 45 shows the state in which it is attached.

FIG. 47 is a plan view of the printed circuit board 56 to which the push switch 135 is attached. A push switch 135 is located at a predetermined position on the printed circuit board 56.
A conductive pattern 137 is formed to connect the cord 15 to a plurality of lead wires 136 connected to each encoder 67 via the push switch 135. The switch lever 13 disposed above the push switch 135 is shown in FIGS. 48 and 49.

The switch lever 13 has a rectangular operating end 14
a plurality of elastic pieces 138 protruding near one end of the lower surface of the operating end 14 and elastically fitted onto the head of the push switch 135; and a plurality of elastic pieces 138 protruding near the other end of the lower surface of the operating end 14. The support leg 139 is provided. As shown in FIG. 50, when the switch lever 13 is fitted to the head of the push switch 135, the lower end of the support leg 139 is connected to the printed circuit board 50.
However, as shown in FIG.
The conductive pattern 137 is not formed thereon.

As previously explained, the operating end 14 of the switch lever 13 is exposed through the insertion hole 12 of the upper case 10, and when this operating end 14 is pushed down, the support leg 139 of the switch lever 13 is printed as shown in FIG. The switch lever 13 is in contact with the base plate 56 and the push switch 13 is moved with the support leg 139 as a fulcrum.
The switch operation is performed by rotating the switch to the 5 side.

As shown in FIG. 47, the printed circuit board 56 includes
Two locking holes 141 into which the small-diameter portions 54 of the support legs 51 are fitted, and the pillars 26 erected from the lower case 9.
Two locking holes 142 into which the heads of the two locking holes 142 are fitted are respectively bored at predetermined positions.

As described above, the annular holder 57 is attached to the lower case 9.
After that, the support balls 50 and the support legs 51 are placed above the small holes 22a and 22b on the front side of the lower case 9, respectively. As shown in FIG. 18, even if the supporting legs 51 are erected on the lower case 9,
5 allows the support leg 51 to stand vertically without falling down. Therefore, the small diameter portion 5 of the support leg 51
4 into the locking holes 141 of the printed circuit board 56, and at the same time the columns 26 on both sides
(See FIG. 6) is inserted into the locking hole 142 of the printed circuit board 56, and then the printed circuit board 56 is screwed to the support column 26 as shown in FIG.

When the printed circuit board 56 is fixed in this way, the switch lever 1 is placed on the push switch 135.
3, then cover the upper case 10 and lower case 9.
The casing 8 is constructed by screwing the casing 8 to the casing 8.

Since the sphere 59 is not yet installed in the casing 8 in this state, the sphere 59 is inserted into the casing 8 through the sphere entrance/exit opening 27 formed in the lower case 9. Since the two driven rollers 66 arranged in the orthogonal directions (X-Y directions) are supported by the roller holding parts 61 and 62, respectively, the rolling contact roller 1 can be moved by inserting the sphere 59.
22 retreats against the elasticity of the spring member 125. When the insertion is completed, the spring member 1
The sphere 59 is held between the two driven rollers 66 and the rolling contact roller 122 using the elasticity of the roller 25 .

When the insertion of the sphere 59 is completed, the sphere entrance/exit opening 27 of the lower case 9 is covered with the ring-shaped lid 42 and screwed (FIG. 4), thereby completing the assembly of the input device.

In the embodiment described above, an encoder is used as a means for detecting the amount of rotation of the driven roller, but the present invention is not limited to this. FIG. 52 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another example of the rotation amount detection means. In this case, a rotating disk 143 is attached concentrically to one end of the rotating shaft portion 68 of the driven roller 66, and a large number of reflecting portions 144 are provided at equal intervals along the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of the rotating disk 143. It is being A light emitting element 14 is located at a position facing this reflecting section 144.
5 and a light receiving element 146 are installed as a pair, and the light from the light emitting element 145 is reflected by the reflecting part 144,
The amount of rotation of the driven roller 66 is detected by receiving and counting the reflected light by the light receiving element 146.

This example describes the case of a reflective type, but a large number of slit-shaped transparent parts are formed along the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of a rotating disk, and a light emitting element and a light receiving element are connected with the rotating disk in between. They can also be provided facing each other.

FIG. 53 shows a sphere 59 and two driven rollers 66.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the arrangement of the rolling contact roller 122 and the rolling contact roller 122. FIG. Since the two driven rollers 66 are held and positioned by the first driven roller holding section 61 and the second driven roller holding section 62, the axial directions of the two driven rollers 66 are perpendicular to each other as shown in the figure. It is arranged so that

On the other hand, the rolling contact roller 122 contacts the sphere 59,
It is disposed at a position facing two driven rollers 66 via it. This rolling contact roller 122 is
These rollers 122 are provided to ensure power transmission between the sphere 59 and the respective driven rollers 66, and the rolling rollers 122 are freely rotated by the rotational force of the sphere 59, and also rotate the spheres 59 respectively. The driven roller 66 side is elastically biased.

The sphere 59 and the rolling contact roller 122 are arranged so that the contact pressure between the sphere 59 and one driven roller 66 is equal to the contact pressure between the sphere 59 and the other driven roller 66.
The straight line Q connecting the contact point P with the sphere 59 and the center of rotation O of the sphere 59 is rotated so that it interlinks with the axial direction of each driven roller 66 at an angle of about 45 degrees (θ ₁ , θ ₂ ). A contact roller 122 is arranged. Therefore, the interlinkage angles θ ₁ and θ ₂ in the figure are designed to be equal.

The two driven rollers 66 are individually rotated by the rotational force of the sphere 59, and the rotation direction and rotation amount of the driven rollers 66 are detected by rotation amount detection means such as encoders 67 attached to each of the driven rollers 66. In the end, the rotation state of the sphere 59 is detected separately into each component in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction.

The input device 4 is placed on a predetermined base 147 in the state shown in FIGS. 3 to 5. As shown in these figures, the three support balls 50 partially protrude downward from the small holes 22a, 22b, and 22c, and these support balls 50 are connected to the casing 8 and the print via the support legs 51. It supports the weight of the substrate 56, the annular holder 57, the two driven roller encoder blocks 65, the rolling contact roller 122, etc. Further, a part of the sphere 59 is connected to the opening 47 of the ring-shaped lid 42.
It protrudes downward through the base 147, and is pressed against the base 147 mainly by its own weight.

If water, ink, oil, dust, etc. are present on the base 147, they will adhere to the surface of the sphere 59 while the input device 4 is being used on the base 147. As a result, a slip occurs between the sphere 59 and the driven roller 66, preventing proper power transmission and reducing the reliability of the input device. Therefore, in the present invention, the ring lid 42 is removable from the lower case 9, and the sphere 59 is periodically or appropriately removed.
can be taken out from the casing 8 and cleaned.

Further, as shown in FIG. 46, the printed circuit board 56 to which the push switch 135 is attached
Since the input device 4 is not disposed directly above the input device 9 but is disposed at a position slightly shifted from the input device 9, the total height of the input device 4 is reduced, and it is possible to make the input device 4 smaller and thinner.

FIGS. 54 to 58 are diagrams for explaining other embodiments of the movement restricting member 148 that restricts upward movement of the support ball 50. FIG. A bowl-shaped portion 149 that rotatably accommodates the support ball 50 is provided at the lower part of the movement regulating member 148. Three contact ribs 150 are erected on the outer periphery of the bowl-shaped portion 149 at predetermined intervals, and as shown in FIG. The end face is vertical so that it touches the.

An insertion end 151 is provided at the upper part of the bowl-shaped part 149, and this is inserted, for example, into an insertion hole or a recess formed at a suitable position in the annular holder 57.
The movement regulating member 148 is prevented from floating up.

An arm portion 152 extends horizontally outward from a portion of the outer periphery of the bowl-shaped portion 149 where the contact rib 150 is not provided, and an annular portion 153 is integrally formed at the distal end of the arm portion 152 .

57 and 58 are diagrams showing the arrangement of the movement regulating member 148 on the lower case 9. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 58, a steel support ball 50 is placed above the small hole 22 of the lower case 9, and a movement regulating member 148 is placed above it. A stepped support pin 15 is installed near the small hole 22 from the lower case 9 side.
4 is erected, and its head is inserted into the hole of the annular portion 153. This annular portion 153 and the support pin 1
54 and the cylindrical portion 2 of the abutment rib 150
5, the movement regulating member 148 is positioned and prevented from falling.

As described above, the present invention includes a rotatably arranged sphere, a first driven roller that is rotated by the rotational force of the rotated sphere that is in contact with the rotated sphere, and a first driven roller that is in contact with the rotated sphere. a second driven roller that is rotated by the rotational force of the rotated sphere and whose axial direction is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the first driven roller; and a first driven roller that detects the amount of rotation of the first driven roller. a rotation amount detection means, a second rotation amount detection means for detecting the rotation amount of the second driven roller, these rotated spheres, the first and second driven rollers, and the first and second rotation amount detection means; a casing consisting of a lower case and an upper case for accommodating means, an opening is formed in the lower part of the casing, a part of the rotated sphere projects downward from the opening, and the rotated sphere rolls on the base. Force X-Y
In the direction input device, a sphere insertion opening larger than the rotated sphere is formed at a predetermined position of the lower case, the driven roller and rotation amount detection means are installed in the lower case, and the upper case is attached to the lower case. After that, the sphere to be rotated is inserted into the casing through the sphere insertion opening of the lower case, and then the lower case is closed using a ring-shaped lid having an opening having a diameter smaller than that of the sphere to be rotated and through which a part of the sphere to be rotated protrudes. It is characterized by covering the sphere insertion opening.

If scratches or irregularities occur on the surface of the rotated sphere,
This results in inaccurate power transmission to the driven roller, leading to reliability problems. By the way, in the present invention, as described above, since the rotated sphere is inserted at the final stage of the assembly process, there is less risk of damage to the rotated sphere due to rattling during the assembly process. Furthermore, if the input device is transported with the rotated sphere inserted, the rotated sphere may collide with other members such as the casing due to vibrations during transportation and be damaged. For example, the rotated sphere can be specially packed and transported separately from the casing equipped with the driven roller, rotation amount detection means, etc., and then incorporated into the casing after transport.
The conveyance work becomes simple and there is no damage to the rotated sphere.

For this reason, it is possible to provide an XY direction input device with stable quality and high reliability.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

All the figures are for explaining the X-Y direction input device according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.
- a perspective view of a graphic display device including a Y-direction input device; FIG. 2 is a plan view of the input device;
Fig. 3 is a front view of the input device, Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the input device, Fig. 5 is a side view of the input device, Fig. 6 is a plan view of the lower case, and Fig. 7 is Fig. 6 A-A. A cross-sectional view along the line, FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view along the line B-B in FIG. 6, and FIG.
The figure is a sectional view taken along line C-C in Figure 6, and Figure 10 is a cross-sectional view along line C-C in Figure 6.
A cross-sectional view along the line D-D in Figure 11 is shown in Figure 6 E-E.
12 is a sectional view taken along the line F-F in FIG. 6, FIG. 13 is a plan view of the ring-shaped lid, FIG. 14 is a front view of the ring-shaped lid, and FIG. Bottom view, Figure 16 is a sectional view of the ring-shaped lid, Figure 17
The figure is a sectional view showing the mounting structure of the ring-shaped lid, No. 18.
19 and 19 are main part sectional views showing the arrangement of the support balls and support legs, FIG. 20 is a plan view of the annular holder, FIG. 21 is a bottom view of the annular holder, and FIG.
The figure is a front view of the annular holder, and Figure 23 is Figure 21A.
24 is a sectional view along line A-A in Figure 20, Figure 25 is a sectional view along line B-B in Figure 21, Figures 26, 27 and 28 are driven A plan view, a front view, and a right side view of the roller encoder block; FIG. 29 is an enlarged sectional view of the main part of the driven roller encoder block; FIGS. 30, 31, and 32 are a front view of the encoder case;
The left side view, the right side view, and Fig. 33 are exploded perspective views of the slider receiver and slider, Fig. 34 is a right side view of the slider receiver-slider assembly, and Fig. 35 is the patterned board. Fig. 36 is an exploded perspective view of the rolling contact roller, spindle, roller support member, and spring member;
38 and 39 are a plan view, a side view, and a rear view of the roller support member, and FIG. 40 is a main part showing the arrangement of the rolling contact roller, roller support member, and spring member in the application roller holding section. FIG. 41 is a cutaway side view, and FIG.
43 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the clamping structure of the bearing, FIG. 44 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the support structure of both bearings, and FIG. Figure 45 is a plan view with the annular holder attached to the lower case and the printed circuit board removed.
Figure 46 is a plan view showing the annular holder and printed circuit board attached to the lower case, Figure 47 is a plan view showing the switch attached to the printed circuit board and the switch lever removed, and Figure 48 is the switch lever. Fig. 49 is a bottom view of the switch lever, Fig. 50 is a side view of the main part showing the arrangement of the switch lever, and Fig. 51 is a side view of the main part with a part cut away to explain the switch operation. 52 is a schematic configuration diagram showing another example of the rotation amount detection means, FIG. 53 is an explanatory diagram showing the arrangement of the sphere, the driven roller, and the rolling contact roller, and FIGS. 54 and 55.
56 are a plan view, a cut side view, and a front view of the movement regulating member, FIG. 57 is a plan view showing the arrangement of the movement regulating member, and FIG. 58 is FIG. 57A-
It is a sectional view on the A line. 4... Input device, 8... Casing, 9... Lower case, 10... Upper case, 12... Fitting hole, 1
3...Switch lever, 14...Operation end, 22
a, 22b, 22c...Small hole, 25...Cylinder part, 2
7... Opening for entering and exiting the sphere, 28... Upward step,
29... Downward stepped portion, 33... Arc-shaped receiving surface, 34
a, 34b... arcuate projection, 36a, 36b... arcuate projection, 37... arcuate receiving surface, 42... ring-shaped lid, 44... tongue piece portion, 45... mounting portion, 47...
Opening, 50... Support ball, 51... Support leg body,
52... Bowl-shaped part, 54... Small diameter part, 55... Locking part, 56... Printed circuit board, 57... Annular holder, 58... Through hole, 59... Sphere, 60... Penetrating part , 61...first driven roller holding section, 62...
Second driven roller holding section, 63... Application roller holding section, 64... Connection section, 65... Driven roller encoder block, 66... Driven roller, 67...
Encoder, 68... Rotating shaft portion, 69... Roller portion, 70a, 70b... Shaft portion, 71... Encoder case, 72... Slider receiver, 73... Slider, 74... Pattern board, 75...Mounting plate, 8
4...Cylindrical part, 85...Direction regulating protrusion, 86...
Annular step part, 87...Small diameter part, 88...Stepped locking part, 89...Inner ring, 90...Central hole, 91...Outer ring, 98...First contact end, 101...Inner ring second contact End, 102... Outer second contact end, 103... Central pattern section, 104... Inner peripheral pattern section,
105...Outer peripheral pattern portion, 107...Accommodating recess, 108...Bearing fitting groove, 110...Cylindrical part fitting groove, 112...Concave notch, 114...Falling prevention claw, 117...Accommodating space, 118...Stopper wall, 119...Roller projection opening, 121...
Fall-off prevention claw, 122... Contact roller, 123...
Support shaft, 124...Roller support member, 125...Spring member, 127...Bearing portion, 128...Roller housing recess notch, 130...Spring receiving recess, 133...
... Rear wall part, 135 ... Push switch, 141
... Locking hole, 143 ... Rotating disk, 144 ... Reflection part, 145 ... Light emitting element, 146 ... Light receiving element, 147 ... Base, 148 ... Movement regulating member, 149 ... Bowl-shaped part, 150...Abutment rib, 1
52... Arm part, 153... Annular part, 154...
...Support pin, O...Rotation center of the rotated sphere, P...
...Contact point between the rotated sphere and the rolling contact roller, Q...Point O
A straight line connecting point P and

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A rotating sphere disposed rotatably, a first driven roller in contact with the rotating sphere and rotated by the rotational force of the rotating sphere, and a driven roller in contact with the rotating sphere. a second driven roller that is rotated by the rotational force of the rotating sphere and whose axial direction is substantially orthogonal to the axial direction of the first driven roller; and a first rotation that detects the amount of rotation of the first driven roller. second rotation amount detection means for detecting the rotation amount of the second driven roller; these rotated spheres, the first and second driven rollers, and the first and second rotation amount detection means; and a casing consisting of a lower case and an upper case that house the casing, an opening is formed in the lower part of the casing, a part of the rotated sphere projects downward from the opening, and the rotated sphere is caused to roll on the base. In the X-Y direction input device, a sphere insertion opening larger than the rotated sphere is formed at a predetermined position of the lower case, the driven roller and the rotation amount detection means are installed in the lower case, and the upper case is connected to the lower case. After the case is attached, the sphere to be rotated is inserted into the casing through the sphere insertion opening of the lower case, and then the ring-shaped lid is formed with an opening having a diameter smaller than that of the sphere to be rotated and from which a part of the sphere to be rotated protrudes. A method for assembling an X-Y direction input device, comprising covering the sphere insertion opening of the lower case.