JPH11161411A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a pointing input means which prevents a device main body from increasing in size by installing an operation sensing means in a key of a key input means. SOLUTION: This processor is equipped with a keyboard 1 as the key input means having keys for inputting the indicating of a character and a symbol or a control processing function, etc., and the pointing input means incorporated in a pointing key 10a of the keyboard 1. The pointing key 10a enables both key input and pointing input. The pointing key 10a is covered with a key cap 11 in its outward appearance state as well as other keys, but in order to constitute the pointing input means a sensing pad 6 as the operation sensing means is installed on the top of the key cap 11 that a finger touches. When this sensing pad 6 is rubbed with finger, a pointing input signal is generated in response to the movement of a depression point and transferred to a processing means 9 through a harness 16 to perform pointing input.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer or an information terminal provided with key input means and pointing input means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As an input method in an information processing apparatus, there are roughly the following two methods.

One of the methods is an input method used mainly for inputting characters and symbols, and is a key input for inputting by operating keys assigned to each character or symbol. As such input means, a keyboard 1 as shown in FIG. 8 is generally used.

[0004] The other is an input method mainly used for editing a figure or designating an arbitrary position on a display screen. A pointing marker is displayed on the display screen, and a direction in which the marker is to be moved is determined. This is a pointing input for moving the marker to a target position by performing an input operation of a displacement amount. Such pointing input means include a type using a pen 2 and a tablet sheet 3 as shown in FIG. 8 and a mouse 4 as shown in FIG. In a type that is integral with the apparatus main body but is separate from the keyboard, there are a trackball 5 as shown in FIG. 8, a pad 6 as shown in FIG. 9, a stick 7 as shown in FIG. 10, and the like.

[0005]

In recent years, information processing apparatuses have been increasingly used not only in offices but also outside of offices, and it is important to reduce the size of the apparatuses in order to improve portability. .

However, the conventional pointing input means, such as a mouse and a pen, use separate components from the apparatus main body, and require a storage space, which is inconvenient to carry. In addition, it is necessary to provide an installation place for the trackball or pad other than the keyboard, which not only increases the size of the device body but also moves the finger greatly when shifting from key input operation to pointing input operation. There is a property that must be. In addition, the stick has a problem that the operability is poor because the stick, which is a separate component, is interrupted on the keyboard, so that the size and operating range of the stick cannot be widened.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the related art, and a first object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized information processing apparatus having pointing input means. Another object of the present invention is to provide a small-sized information processing apparatus provided with a pointing input unit that facilitates an input operation.

[0008]

The pointing input means of the present invention realizes a pointing input means which prevents an increase in the size of the apparatus main body by installing an operation responsive means on a key of the key input means. By providing the operation responsive means at the key located at the home position, the pointing input operation is facilitated.

Specifically, the first means includes a display means for displaying information, a processing means for processing input information,
An information processing apparatus comprising: key input means for inputting key operations for inputting and editing information; and pointing input means for designating an arbitrary position on a screen as auxiliary means for input and editing. Is characterized in that an operation responsive means is installed on a key of the key input means.

The second means is characterized in that, in the first means, a pressure-sensitive pad is provided in the operation responsive means, and the pressure-sensitive pad is arranged on a top surface of a key which comes into contact with a finger at the time of key input. .

A third means is that, in the first means, an electrostatic sensing pad is provided in the operation responsive means, and the electrostatic sensing pad is arranged on a top surface of a key which comes into contact with a finger at the time of key input. It is characterized by.

A fourth means is that, in the first to third means, the operation responsive means is installed on any of a plurality of keys of the key input means, and one operation is performed by a set of the plurality of operation responsive means. It is characterized by functioning as a responsive means.

A fifth means is the first means, wherein the operation responsive means is provided with a tilt amount sensing member, and the tilt amount sensing member is responsive to a horizontal force acting on a keycap of the key. It is characterized by being installed.

The sixth means comprises a first, a second, a third and a fifth
Means, the operation responsive means is installed on at least one of the home position keys on the key input means.

The seventh means comprises a first, a second, a third and a fifth
Means, the operation responsive means is installed at an arbitrary key of the key input means.

[0016]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of an information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied. The information processing apparatus includes a display unit 8 for displaying information, a processing unit 9 for processing input information, and a key input unit having keys for inputting instructions such as characters, symbols, and control processing functions. A certain keyboard 1
And pointing input means incorporated in the pointing key 10a of the keyboard 1.

The pointing key 10a enables both key input and pointing input. In this embodiment, the pointing key 10a
Is one of the keys 10a and 10b arranged at the home position of the keyboard 1 as shown in FIG. 3, and is a key corresponding to the right hand home position key. The home position is a place where the index finger is always placed when performing touch typing.

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of the pointing key 10a. This pointing key 10a is
Although the external shape is covered with the key cap 11 like other keys on the keyboard 1, a sensitive pad, which is an operation sensitive means, is provided on the top surface of the key cap 11 with which a finger contacts to form a pointing input means. 6 are installed.
The sensitive pad 6 in this embodiment is a pressure-sensitive pad that responds to a change in pressure at a point touched by a finger, and responds to a moving direction and a moving amount of the pressure point. When the sensitive pad 6 is stroked with a finger, a pointing input signal is generated in response to the movement of the pressure point (the point where the finger is in contact), and the pointing input signal is transferred to the processing means 9 via the harness 16. Pointing input.

The pointing key 10a has a mandrel 12 and a rubber spring 13 therein, and when the key cap 11 is hit by touch typing, the mandrel 12 is
Is lowered to contact the contact 15 on the membrane sheet 14 to operate the contact 15 to generate a key input signal, and the key input signal is transferred to the processing means 9 via the membrane sheet 14 so that the key You can input.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of an information processing apparatus provided with such key input means and pointing input means. Reference numeral 41 designates a key input signal by operating a key of the keyboard 1 to operate the contact 15. Key input means 42 for generating the
a by operating the pointing key 10
a pointing input means configured to generate a pointing input signal by operating the sensitive pad 6 incorporated in a.
3 is a pointing input mode setting means. The pointing input mode setting means 43 is configured by assigning one of the keys provided on the keyboard 1, or is configured to automatically operate in an editing function state requiring pointing input. In addition, 8 is the display means, and 9 is the processing means.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the input processing executed by the processing means 9. The processing means 9 generates a key input signal from the key input means 41 by operating the contact 15 when the operator operates the keyboard 1. Then (step 51), the pointing setting mode is set (ON) by the pointing input mode setting means 43.
It is confirmed whether or not the key input signal has been set (step 52). If the key input signal has not been set, the process of step 53 incorporating this key input signal is executed. However, if the pointing input mode is set, this key input signal is ignored.

When the operator operates the keyboard 1 to cause the sensitive pad 6 to react and generate a pointing input signal from the pointing input means 42 (step 54), the pointing setting mode is set by the pointing input mode setting means 43 (step 54). ON)
It is checked whether or not it has been performed (step 55). If it has been set, the processing of step 53 for taking the pointing input signal and moving the pointing marker is executed. However, if the pointing input mode is not set, this pointing input signal is ignored.

In the information processing apparatus configured as described above, it is only necessary to hit a key by touch typing in the same manner as a normal key operation at the time of key input, and to press the key cap 1 of the pointing key 10 at the time of pointing input.
What is necessary is just to touch the top surface of No. 1 with a finger and move the finger on the top surface.
Therefore, it is not necessary to remove the finger from the home position when shifting from the key input to the pointing input, so that the operation can be performed smoothly. Further, since there is no need to provide a planar dedicated space for disposing the pointing input means on the apparatus main body separately from the key input means, the entire apparatus can be made compact.

In the above embodiment, the pointing key 10
a was placed at the home position on the keyboard 1,
You may arrange in another place. For example, in the case of an ultra-small keyboard or the like in which touch typing is difficult, a finger is not always placed at the home position and input is not performed.

In the above-described embodiment, the sensitive pad 6 is a pressure-sensitive pad. However, the sensitive pad 6 is sensitive to a change in the voltage of static electricity charged on the finger. An electrostatic sensitive sensing pad that responsively generates a pointing input signal may be used. In this embodiment, since the sensing is performed even when the finger does not touch the sensing pad 6, it is possible to prevent a key input signal from being generated during the pointing input operation.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an embodiment in which a plurality of adjacent keys are assigned as pointing keys, and a sensitive key of an electrostatic sensing type is provided on the top surface of each key cap to form a pointing key 10c. In this embodiment, since a plurality of sensitive pads on the top surface of a key group, which is a group of a plurality of keys in a range indicated by oblique lines, function as an operation surface of one pointing input unit, it is necessary to increase a range in which a finger can be moved. And delicate input operations become easier.

Although an embodiment using a sensitive pad of a movement amount sensitive method on a plane has been exemplified as a pointing input method, a tilt amount sensitive method may be used. This tilt amount sensitive method can use an operation sensitive means often used for a stick type pointing input means.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view of the tilt amount-sensitive pointing key 10d. This pointing key 1
The external appearance of 0d is covered with a key cap 11 like other keys on the keyboard 1, but in order to constitute a pointing input means, a stick 7 on which a strain sensitive element 18 is stuck, and a stick 7 of this stick 7 Vertex contact 15
, A guide 17 on the back side of the key cap 11, and a rubber spring 13.

In this embodiment, the pointing key 1
When the 0d keycap 11 is hit, the guide 17 descends and contacts the contact 15 to generate a key input signal. This key input signal is transferred to the processing means 9 via the membrane sheet 14 and key input is realized. I do. If the pointing key 10d is pressed in any lateral direction while the key cap 11 is pushed in and the guide 17 is engaged with the upper end of the stick 7, the stick 7 is tilted and a distortion corresponding to the direction and amount of the tilt is generated. The pointing input can be performed by the sensing element 18 generating the pointing input signal.

[0031]

As described above, according to the present invention, the pointing input means is incorporated in a part of the keys of the keyboard, so that the pointing input means can be easily operated without increasing the size of the apparatus. Can be.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical side view of a pointing key in an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external perspective view of the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a key layout diagram for explaining a home position.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an input processing flowchart executed by a processing unit of the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an information processing apparatus according to the present invention in which a pointing key is configured using a plurality of keys.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional side view showing another embodiment of the pointing key in the information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a conventional information processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing another example of a conventional information processing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing still another example of the conventional information processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Keyboard 6 Sensitive pad 7 Stick 8 Display means 9 Processing means 10 Pointing key 11 Keycap 12 Mandrel 13 Rubber spring 14 Membrane sheet 15 Contact 16 Harness 17 Guide 18 Strain sensitive element

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A display means for displaying information, a processing means for processing input information, a key input means for inputting a key operation for inputting and editing information, and a screen as an auxiliary means for inputting and editing. An information processing apparatus comprising a pointing input unit for designating an arbitrary position above, wherein the pointing input unit is provided with an operation responsive unit at a key of the key input unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation responsive means includes a pressure-sensitive pad, and the pressure-sensitive pad is arranged on a top surface of a key that comes into contact with a finger at the time of key input. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation responsive means includes an electrostatic sensing pad, and the electrostatic sensing pad is arranged on a top surface of a key which comes into contact with a finger at the time of key input. Information processing device. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation responsive means is installed on a plurality of arbitrary keys of the key input means, and functions as one operation responsive means by a set of operation responsive means of the plurality of keys. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein 5. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation sensing means includes a tilt amount sensing member, and the tilt amount sensing member is installed so as to be sensitive to a horizontal force acting on a keycap of the key. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 6. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said operation responsive means is provided on at least one of home position keys on said key input means. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the operation responsive means is provided on an arbitrary key of the key input means. .