JPH0335688B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a positional information input device that is effective for inputting handwritten figures drawn two-dimensionally on an operation surface into a computer online. be.

Conventional configuration and its problems Conventionally, the movement of a sphere attached to an object that moves on the operation surface during manual operation is converted into a signal to obtain the position information of the object, and the position information is coded. The devices illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 are considered as devices for inputting information to a computer or the like through a computer or the like. To explain this, FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway vertical sectional view of a conventional position information input device, and FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof. In those drawings, reference numeral 1 denotes a grippable housing, in which a sphere 2 is rotatably housed, and the lower part of the sphere 2 is opened through an opening 3 provided at the bottom of the housing 1. It protrudes downward and comes into contact with the mounting plane 4.

Further, the housing 1 is movably supported on the mounting plane 4 by the spherical body 2 and a plurality of balls 5 which are rotatably provided on the bottom surface of the housing 1. The sphere 2 has four angles 6a, 6b, 6c, 6 arranged near its periphery.
rollers 7a, each rotatably provided at d;
7b, 7c, and 7d, the horizontal position is regulated, and the upper surface is regulated by the center part of the top surface contacting the ball 8, which is rotatably disposed on the inner center top surface of the housing 1. has been done. 9
a and 9b are potentiometers respectively connected to the rotating shafts 10a and 10b of a pair of rollers 7b and 7c whose extension lines are perpendicular to each other among the rollers 7a to 7d;
It is configured to obtain an electrical signal according to the amount of rotation of the motor, and is connected to the input section of the computer through a cord (not shown).

Next, the operation of this conventional example will be explained.

First, when the input operator grasps the housing 1 with his hand and moves it on the mounting plane 4, the housing 1
As the sphere 2 moves, the sphere 2 also rolls on the mounting plane 4. Then, the rollers 7a to 7d that are in contact with the outer periphery of the sphere 2 from all sides also rotate, and
The rotating shafts 10a and 10b also rotate. In this case, the sphere 2 rolls in the same direction as the moving direction of the housing 1, and rotates by an amount corresponding to the moving amount of the housing 1. Therefore, by detecting the rotation angles of the rollers 7b, 7c using the potentiometers 9a, 9b, positional information corresponding to the moving direction and amount of movement of the housing 1 can be detected.

However, the conventional position information input device described above has the following problems. In other words, in the case of the above device, the rotation of the sphere 2 is read by the rotation of the roller that is in contact with the sphere 2, so unless the roller is always connected to the sphere, the rotation of the sphere will not be transmitted, and the rotation of the sphere will not be transmitted. cannot read the rotation. Therefore, it was necessary to prevent a gap from forming between the roller and the sphere.
Also, four rollers 7a support the sphere.
~7d, but if these rollers are brought into strong contact with the sphere, they will act as a load when the sphere rotates, and will impede its rotation. Therefore,
The mounting position and accuracy of the rollers are very important, and delicate adjustments to the mounting position are required during assembly. For these reasons, the conventional position information input device has a complicated structure and is extremely difficult to assemble and adjust. In addition, when the mounting plane 4 is uneven, the sphere 2 moves relatively in the vertical direction within the housing 1, but at this time, since the support body is composed of rollers, the housing of the sphere 2
As the sphere 2 moves vertically within the housing 1, play occurs between the sphere 2 and the roller 7, and the sphere 2 also moves horizontally within the housing 1. Therefore, depending on the direction of movement of the sphere, the sphere 2 and the roller 7 may not come into contact with each other, making it impossible to detect positional information.
Furthermore, even if the sphere 2 and the roller 7 come into contact, the roller 7 and the sphere 2 will move due to the movement of the sphere 2 within the housing 1.
The distance of the object changes, and the detected moving distance has an error. Further, this error also varies depending on the moving direction of the sphere 2. As described above, in conventional position information input devices, if the operation surface has irregularities, the reliability of operation deteriorates.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves such conventional problems, and has a simple configuration, easy assembly and adjustment, high operational reliability even when the operating surface is uneven, and improved reading accuracy. The present invention aims to provide a highly sophisticated location information input device.

Structure of the Invention The positional information input device of the present invention has a sphere that rolls on a flat surface to read the movement of the positional information input device, and restrains movement in the horizontal direction within a housing and allows movement in the vertical direction. The sphere is supported by a cylindrical support, and the roller that comes into contact with the sphere to detect position information is made of an elastic material.This simplifies the support structure for the sphere.
Assemblability is improved, and adjustment of the roller support portion is not required, making it possible to support the sphere with high precision. In addition, since the sphere is supported so that it can only move vertically within the housing, even if the operating surface is uneven and the sphere moves vertically within the housing, there is a gap between the sphere and the detection roller. Changes in distance can be kept small, and the amount of change in distance does not vary depending on the direction of movement of the sphere. In addition, since the roller for detection is made of an elastic body, the roller can be brought into stable contact with the sphere even if the distance between the sphere and the roller changes slightly, which allows for stable detection operation. It is something that can be done. As described above, according to the configuration of the present invention, even if the operating surface has irregularities, it is possible to increase the reliability of operation and improve the reading accuracy.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. First, in FIGS. 3 to 5, a housing 11 that can be held by hand is composed of a base plate 12 and a case 13 coupled to the base plate 12. Four steel balls 14a, 14b, 14 arranged
It is movably supported on the operation surface 15 by the terminals c and 14d. Inside the housing 11 is a sphere 1.
6 is disposed, the lower part of which protrudes from the opening 17 of the substrate 12 and can come into contact with the flat surface 15. The diameter of this opening 17 is smaller than the diameter of the spherical body 16, and the housing 11
The sphere 16 is designed not to fall off when it is lifted. The sphere 16 is a cylindrical support 18
It is fitted inside and supported for rotation. The clearance between the sphere 16 and the inner surface of the support body 18 is minute. The support body 18 is fixed to the substrate 12, and the support body 18 also has a
Two openings 19a, 19b with an interval of 90 degrees
is provided. 20a, 20b are rollers, which respectively open the openings 19a, 1 of the support 18.
It is in contact with the sphere 16 through 9b. The rollers 20a and 20b have encoders 21a and 20b, respectively.
21b are attached to the rotation shafts 22a, 22b of the encoders 21a, 21b, respectively, and
The encoders 21a and 21b are attached to support plates 23a and 23b fixed to the substrate 12, respectively. The encoders 21a and 21b are for detecting the rotation angles of the rollers 20a and 20b, respectively, and obtain signals corresponding to the rotation angles of the rollers 20a and 20b. Note that this will be described later. At least the portions of the rollers 20a and 20b that contact the sphere 16 are made of an elastic material such as sponge or rubber, and are pressed against the sphere 16 in a slightly bent state. Therefore, the sphere 16 is
The rollers 20a, 20b can always maintain contact with the sphere 16 even if rattling occurs due to a minute clearance inside the sphere 16. Moreover, at this time, since the sphere 16 is supported by the support body 18,
The amount of deflection of the rollers 20a, 20b hardly changes, and the distance from the center of the rollers 20a, 20b to the point of contact with the sphere 16 hardly changes.
The amount of rotation of rollers 20a and 20b with respect to the amount of rotation of roller 6 is almost the same. Therefore, there is almost no change in the amount of reading due to differences in the operating direction.
Highly accurate reading can be performed. The encoders 21a and 21b have respective rotation shafts 22a.
and 22b so that the extension lines of their axes are perpendicular to each other.

With the above configuration, when the sphere 16 moves on the operation surface 15 while maintaining contact with the operation surface 15 due to its own weight, the sphere 16 moves into the support body 1 in the housing 11.
8 and rotates in the moving direction of the housing 11, and the rollers 20a and 20b in contact with the sphere 16 rotate in the direction and amount of rotation of the sphere 16, respectively. For this reason, the rotation shafts 22a, 22b of the encoders 21a, 21b connected to the rollers 20a, 20b also rotate, and the rotation amounts of the respective rollers 20a, 20b are detected by the encoders 21a, 21b.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the encoders 21a and 21b. In the figure, rotating shafts 22a and 2 to which the rollers 20a and 20b are attached are shown.
A disc-shaped light shielding plate 24 is attached to 2b so that it can rotate integrally.

The light shielding plate 24 is made of a material that does not transmit light, and has a large number of slits 25 arranged at equal intervals on the circumference. On the other hand, light-emitting diodes 26 are placed between the light-shielding plates 24 in correspondence with the slit positions of the light-shielding plates 24.
and a phototransistor 27 are provided. As shown in the circuit diagram of FIG. 7, the light emitting diode 26 is connected to a power source 28 so that it emits light with a constant amount of light at all times.
A constant voltage is applied from Further, the phototransistor 27 is connected to the terminal 2 depending on the amount of light received.
9, the output voltage obtained is changed. Therefore, when the position of the slit in the light-shielding plate 24 between the phototransistor 27 and the light-emitting diode 26 changes, the amount of light passing through it changes, and the output voltage of the phototransistor 27 also changes accordingly.

From the above, the light shielding plate 24 is connected to the rotating shaft 22a,
22b, the output voltage appearing at terminal 29 changes as shown in FIG. 8a. In addition, another set of light emitting diodes 30 is connected to the encoders 21a and 21b with a light shielding plate 24 in between.
and a phototransistor 31 are provided as shown in FIG. The arrangement positions of the light emitting diode 30 and the phototransistor 31 are such that the output voltage of the phototransistor 31 is
It is provided at a position where the phase differs from the output voltage of No. 7 by approximately 90 degrees. The circuit is similar to that described in FIG. Therefore, for example, when the light shielding plate 24 rotates in the direction of arrow A shown in FIG. 6, the output voltage of the phototransistor 27 becomes as shown in FIG. 8a, while the output voltage of the phototransistor 31 becomes , as shown in FIG. 8b, the phototransistor 2
The phase changes with a 90° delay with respect to the output voltage of 7. Conversely, when the light shielding plate 24 rotates in the direction of arrow B shown in FIG. 6, the output voltage of the phototransistor 31 changes in phase with the output voltage of the phototransistor 27 by 90 degrees.

The output voltage of the phototransistors 27 and 31 is
As shown in FIG. 9, after being amplified by amplifiers 32 and 33, the waves are shaped into rectangular waves by waveform shapers 34 and 35, respectively. Thereafter, the phase comparator 36 compares the phases of the two signals to detect the rotation direction of the light shielding plate 24, and calculates the number of waves of either signal by the calculator 36.
The rotation angle of the light-shielding plate 24 can be detected by adding the sum. Note that the signal detected by the arithmetic unit 37 is supplied to the computer main body and processed.

With the above configuration, the rotation direction and rotation angle of the rollers 20a, 20b can be detected.

Next, the operation and operation of this embodiment will be explained. First, when the device is operated on the operating surface 15, the sphere 16 is moved to the support 18 within the housing 11.
It is supported by and moves with the device. At this time, the sphere 16 comes into contact with the operation surface 15 due to its own weight, and is given a rotational force by the frictional force between the sphere 16 and the operation surface 15 and moves while rolling. Moreover, the direction of rotation of the sphere 16 at this time is
This coincides with the direction of movement of the device, that is, the direction of movement of the device. When the sphere 16 rotates, the rollers 20a and 20b that are in contact with the sphere 16 also rotate, but at this time, the rollers 20a and 20b rotate by an amount corresponding to the direction of movement of the sphere 16 and the angle formed by each roller. . That is, if the distance traveled by the sphere 16 on the operation surface 15 is L, and the angle between the traveling direction of the sphere 16 and the roller 20a is θ, then the roller 2
The rolling distance that Oa has moved on the circumference is Lcosθ, and the rolling distance that roller 20b has moved on the circumference is Lsinθ. At this time, the rollers 20a,
The rotation angle of 20b has a value corresponding to the rolling distance traveled by those rollers on the circumference. Here, the straight line connecting the center of the sphere 16 and the center of the roller 20a is x
If the straight line connecting the center of the sphere 16 and the center of the roller 20b is the y-axis, then the value of the moving distance on the circumference of the roller described above is just as the sphere 16 moves in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction. Each is equal to the distance traveled. Therefore, by detecting the rotation angles of the rollers 20a, 20b using the encoders 21a, 21b, the direction and amount of movement of the sphere 16 can be measured separately in the x-axis direction and the y-axis direction.

Then, by processing the signals detected by the encoders 21a and 21b through the circuit shown in FIG. 9 described above, signals corresponding to the respective rotation angles are generated. By inputting this signal to a device such as a computer, position information can be provided.

Effects of the Invention As described above, in the present invention, the sphere for detecting the amount of movement is supported by a cylindrical support, and therefore, the support is easy to process and the structure is simple. During assembly, the sphere may be inserted from above the support. Further, the positional relationship between the sphere and the support body does not need to be adjusted because a constant positional relationship is maintained simply by placing the sphere inside the support body. In addition, even if there is some play between the sphere and the support, the ball is supported from the entire circumference by the cylindrical inner surface of the support, so the play is equal in all directions and there is no play. can be kept small. Furthermore, when this device is operated on an uneven surface, the sphere moves due to its own weight while always being in contact with the operation surface, and at this time, the sphere moves vertically within the device, but the sphere is not supported by a cylindrical support. Since the sphere is supported by the body, even if the sphere moves in the vertical direction, the play in the circumferential direction between the sphere and the support does not change. Therefore, even if the sphere moves within the housing, the change in the distance between the sphere and the detection roller can be kept small, and the distance between the sphere and the detection roller can be adjusted in the direction of movement of the sphere. You can make it almost the same regardless. Furthermore, it is possible to reduce detection errors with respect to actual movement, and to perform highly accurate detection. In addition, since the rollers for detection are made of elastic material, the rollers can be kept in stable contact with the sphere even if the distance between the sphere and the rollers changes slightly, which makes the detection operation stable. It is something that can be done by doing so.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to realize a position information input device with a simple configuration, easy assembly and adjustment, high operation reliability, and high reading accuracy, and its effects are very large. be.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway side view of a conventional position information input device, FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway plan view thereof, FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway side view of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is the same. A partially cutaway plan view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway perspective view of the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view of essential parts showing an example of the configuration of an encoder in the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a circuit configuration diagram thereof, FIGS. 8a and 8b are output waveform diagrams of the encoder, and FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example of a signal processing circuit that can be used in the present invention. 11... Housing, 12... Board, 13...
Case, 14a-14d...Steel ball, 1
6... Sphere, 18... Support, 19a, 19b...
...Opening, 20a, 20b...Roller, 21a,
21b... Encoder, 22a, 22b... Rotating shaft.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A housing that can be moved on an operating surface by manual operation; a sphere that is provided within the housing, contacts the operating surface due to its own weight, and is able to roll on the operating surface as the housing moves; A cylindrical support body that supports the sphere so as to restrict horizontal movement of the sphere within the housing while allowing vertical movement; The positional information detecting means detects positional information indicating the amount and generates a signal according to the detected value, and the positional information detecting means is configured to detect the spherical body through an opening formed in the cylindrical support. It is characterized by being configured to include first and second rollers that are in contact with each other and are made of an elastic body, and first and second encoders that convert the rotation of the first and second rollers into electrical signals. location information input device.