JPH11259235A - Coordinate inputting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately recognize a position pointed by a user. SOLUTION: A coordinate indicating tool 2 is constituted of a pointer 5 provided at the top end and a grasping part 6. The pointer 5 is made transparent and flexible, and constituted of members for absorbing ultrasonic waves like a finger-point. When plotting by bringing the coordinate indicating tool 2 into contact with the touch panel 4, the plotting position can be transmitted and accurately recognized when the pointer 5 is formed of transparent materials. Also, the point position can be further clearly recognized by providing marking 9 at the center of gravity position of a contact face brought into the touch panel 4 at the top end of the pointer 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coordinate input device having a touch panel for inputting coordinates designated by a coordinate indicator such as a finger or a writing instrument, and more particularly to facilitating confirmation of coordinate input.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When drawing a locus such as an image with a coordinate input device having a touch panel, there are a finger input method and a pen input method. Among them, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
As shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 239322, for example, for a finger input, particularly, an ultrasonic touch panel 4, as shown in FIG. 5, the CPU 51 electrically generates a burst wave through the transmission unit 52. The electric vibration is generated at a certain frequency. This electric vibration is converted into mechanical vibration by the transducer 53 on the touch panel 4, and a surface acoustic wave is transmitted onto the touch panel 4. The transmitted surface acoustic wave has a straight traveling property and travels almost straight. The surface acoustic wave traveling straight ahead is partially reflected by the first reflection element 54 on the touch panel 4 at 90 degrees and partially transmitted. The transmitted surface acoustic wave is subjected to a similar operation by the next first reflection element 54. The surface acoustic waves subjected to the reflection action in this way travel with a certain time difference parallel to the vertical axis of the touch panel 4. The surface acoustic waves having a certain time difference are reflected again by 90 degrees by the second reflection element 54. The surface acoustic waves that have been reflected again pass through one path, and the transducers 5 are disposed symmetrically with respect to the center of the touch panel 4.
3 is received. The mechanical vibration is converted into electric vibration again by the receiving transducer 53 and sent to the receiving unit 55.
Since the converted electric vibration is very small, it is converted to a large amplitude by the amplifier 56, and the signal is rectified by the detector 57. In this way, the electric vibration is converted into a waveform as shown in FIG. The waveform is digitized by the A / D converter 6 and stored in the RAM 9. FIG. 6 shows a reception waveform when a fingertip or the like does not touch the touch panel 4. The reception waveform shown with respect to the time axis corresponds to a position along the reflection element 54 from a transmission / reception portion on the panel. Next, a received waveform when a fingertip or the like contacts the touch panel 4 is shown in FIG.
Since the surface acoustic wave passing on the touch panel 4 is attenuated by the contact of the fingertip or the like, the received signal level corresponding to the position is reduced. The contact position can be determined by comparing this signal with the reception waveform at the time of non-contact. That is, the contact position is a portion where the signal attenuation is maximized, and the position is observed finely, or the position where the received waveform is differentiated and zero-crossed is set as the contact position. By detecting this in the X direction and the Y direction, the contact position on the touch panel 4 can be detected. Further, depending on the type of the touch panel, the position in the Z direction can be detected as height detection. In this case, the attenuation amount of the surface acoustic wave corresponding to the detection position in the X and Y directions is set as the detection position in the Z direction.

Further, a touch panel of a pen input method of a capacitance type or an electromagnetic induction type uses a dedicated pen, receives a high frequency output from the pen by a receiving element on the touch panel, and uses the receiving intensity of the high frequency to transmit the pen based on the received intensity. Has been detected. Specify the position with the pen, place a switch on the pen tip or its cylindrical part to confirm and cancel the specified position or specify and release the operation mode of the device,
This is done by turning on the switch. That is, when the switch is turned on, the frequency output from the pen changes. By detecting this frequency change on the touch panel, it is determined that the switch has been turned on.

[0004]

As described above, in the touch panel, the coordinate pointing device is made of a material capable of absorbing a surface acoustic wave or the like, that is, a soft and elastic force, and the contact area is increased by the contact pressure on the drawing surface. I use the equipment which was done. For example, a finger or a pen-shaped device made of the above-mentioned material is used. However, a finger or a pen made of the above-mentioned materials has a contact area with a drawing surface which is widened by a contact pressure. It was difficult to perform drawing.

[0005] It is an object of the present invention to improve such disadvantages and to obtain a coordinate input device capable of accurately recognizing a position where a user is pointing.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A coordinate input device according to the present invention detects that a coordinate pointing device has contacted image display means, and inputs the width and coordinates of the contact of the coordinate pointing device. , The tip of the coordinate pointing device is formed of a transparent and flexible member.

[0007] An index serving as a position target of the contact surface may be stamped at a position corresponding to the center of gravity of the contact surface in contact with the image display means at the tip of the coordinate pointing device. Further, the coordinate pointing tool may be constituted by a pen shaft having a sharpness of about a pen, and a transparent pointing head having a fixed size attached to the tip of the pen shaft. Further, the contact portion at the distal end of the coordinate pointing device and the grip portion gripped by the user may be connected by a movable joining means.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A coordinate input device according to the present invention has image display means and a coordinate pointing device. The image display means has a display surface constituted by a liquid crystal display or the like and a touch panel using ultrasonic surface acoustic waves. The coordinate pointing device has a pointer and a grip provided at the tip. The pointer is transparent and flexible, and has a fingertip shape made of a member that absorbs ultrasonic waves. When drawing with the coordinate pointing tool in contact with the touch panel, the tip of the flexible pointer is deformed by the contact pressure of the coordinate pointing tool and contacts the touch panel with a certain area. At this time, when the contact area of the pointer is larger than the line to be drawn on the display surface of the image display means, it becomes difficult for the user to recognize the coordinates of the point pointed by the coordinate pointing device. On the other hand, since the pointer is formed of a transparent material, the drawing position can be transmitted and recognized accurately. If a mark is provided at the center of gravity of the contact surface that contacts the touch panel at the tip of this pointer,
The user can more clearly recognize the point position.

[0009]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the coordinate input device has an image display means 1 and a coordinate indicator 2. The image display means 1 has a display surface 3 constituted by, for example, a CRT display, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display and the like, and a touch panel 4 using ultrasonic surface acoustic waves. The coordinate pointing tool 2 has a pointer 5 and a grip 6 provided at the tip. The pointer 5 is transparent and flexible, and is formed in a fingertip shape by a member that absorbs ultrasonic waves. The coordinates of the point position 7 can be detected by gripping the grip 6 of the coordinate pointing tool 2 and touching the tip of the pointer 5 with the touch panel 4.

When the coordinate pointer 2 is touching the touch panel 4 for drawing, the tip of the flexible pointer 5 is deformed due to the contact pressure of the coordinate pointer 2 and has an area S.
To touch the touch panel 4. At this time, the image display means 1
When the area S is larger than the line 8 to be drawn on the display surface 3, it is difficult for the user to recognize the coordinates of the point pointed by the coordinate pointing device 2. On the other hand, by forming the pointer 5 with a transparent material, the shielded point position 7
And a drawing position 8 to be drawn at a position corresponding to this. In this case, if the index 9 is provided at the position of the center of gravity of the contact surface that contacts the touch panel 4 at the tip of the transparent member of the pointer 5, the user can more clearly recognize the point position 8.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the entire pointer 5 formed in the shape of a fingertip at the tip of the coordinate pointing tool 2 is formed of a transparent material, but as shown in FIG. A coordinate pointing tool 2a equipped with a relatively thick pointing head 11 made of a material that is transparent, has flexibility of the order of a finger, and absorbs ultrasonic waves may be used at the tip of the pen shaft 10. In this case, since the pointing head 11 is made of a flexible material such as a finger,
When touching the touch panel 4, the touch panel 4 comes in contact with a certain contact area. Therefore, the surface acoustic wave is absorbed, and the point position 7 can be detected at the tip of the pen shaft 10. Further, since the pointing head 10 is transparent, the user can directly see the position of the tip of the pen shaft 10, and the user reliably recognizes the point position 7 without being hidden by the pointing head 10 having a width. be able to.

In each of the embodiments described above, the coordinate pointing device 2 having the pointer 5 fixed to the gripper 6 and the coordinate pointing device 2a having the pointing head 11 fixed to the tip of the pen shaft 10 are used. Gripper 6
It may be mounted so that it can rotate with respect to. FIG. 3 shows the configuration of the embodiment in this case. As shown in FIG. 3, the coordinate pointing device 2b of the coordinate input device is
And the joining means 22 and the gripper 6. The pointing head 21 is formed of a transparent material having absorptivity to ultrasonic waves in a flat plate shape, and an index 9 corresponding to the point coordinates is imprinted on an appropriate position. The joining means 22 has a ball joint 23 and rotatably connects the pointing head 21 to the grip 6.

When the coordinate pointing tool 2b constructed as described above is drawn by touching the touch panel 4 of the image display means 1, the pointing head 21 is formed in a flat plate shape, so that the touch panel 4 has a fixed area S. Can contact. Further, the pointing head 21 and the gripper 6
Are connected by the joining means 22 having the ball joint 23, the user grips the gripper 6, and from what angle the pointing head 21 is moved to the touch panel 4.
, The pointing head 21 can be brought into close contact with the touch panel 4. Therefore, even if the angle between the grip part 6 and the touch panel 4 changes due to the instruction operation of the user, the contact area S is always constant, the center of gravity of the contact surface can be kept constant, and a stable point operation is performed. be able to. Since the index 9 corresponding to the point coordinates is engraved at an appropriate position on the transparent pointing head 10, the user can see through the pointing head 10 and display on the touch panel 4 without being hidden by the axis of the grip 6. By moving the index 9 to a desired point position while watching the displayed display position, it is possible to point to a fine position.

In the above embodiment, the case where the pointing head 21 is rotatably connected to the holding portion 6 by the joining means 22 having the ball joint 23 has been described.
As shown in FIG. 4, the joining means 22 may be constituted by a member 24 having flexibility and elasticity.

[0015]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the distal end of the coordinate pointing device is formed of a transparent and flexible member, the drawing position can be recognized through the drawing position and the drawing operation can be performed accurately. Can be. In addition, by providing a mark at the position of the center of gravity of the contact surface of the tip end portion of the coordinate indicator that contacts the image display means, the user can more clearly recognize the point position.

Further, the coordinate pointing device is constituted by a pen shaft having the sharpness of a pen and a transparent pointing head having a fixed size attached to the tip of the pen shaft, so that a point at the tip of the pen shaft can be obtained. The position can be detected and the point position can be reliably recognized via the transparent pointing head. In addition, by movably connecting the contact portion at the tip of the coordinate pointing device and the grip portion gripped by the user, even if the angle between the grip portion and the image display device changes, the contact with the image display device is prevented. Since the change in area can be completely suppressed, accurate pointing can be performed, and detailed drawing can be easily performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing a configuration of a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing a configuration of a third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view showing a configuration of a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an ultrasonic touch panel.

FIG. 6 is a waveform diagram showing an output waveform when a touch panel is not touched.

FIG. 7 is a waveform diagram showing an output waveform at the time of touching the touch panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Image display means 2 Coordinate pointing tool 3 Display surface 4 Touch panel 5 Pointer 6 Grasping part 9 Index

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Tomohiko Beppu 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takao Inoue 1-3-6 Nakamagome, Ota-ku, Tokyo Ricoh Co., Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A coordinate input device for detecting the contact of a coordinate indicator with an image display means and inputting the width and coordinates of the contact with the coordinate indicator, wherein the tip of the coordinate indicator is transparent and flexible. A coordinate input device formed of a member. 2. The coordinate input device according to claim 1, wherein an index serving as a position target of the contact surface is engraved at a position corresponding to the center of gravity of the contact surface at the tip of the coordinate pointing device which contacts the image display means. 3. The coordinate input device according to claim 1, wherein said coordinate pointing device is constituted by a pen shaft having a sharpness of a pen level, and a transparent and fixed-size pointing head attached to a tip portion of the pen shaft. . 4. The coordinate input device according to claim 1, wherein a contact portion at a tip end of said coordinate pointing device and a grip portion gripped by a user are connected by a movable joining means.