JPH0445060Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] This invention relates to an improvement of an information input device equipped with a pointing device such as a mouse or a trackball.

[Summary of the invention] In this invention, the pointing device is provided with, for example, a braking mechanism, and when the cursor passes through a specific area on the display surface, the braking mechanism is activated to apply braking to the pointing device. It is something. According to this invention, the operation of selecting a menu or the like on the display screen becomes easy.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, it has been known to use a mouse as a pointing device in personal computers and the like. For example, when selecting a menu, several menus are displayed on the display screen, and the user operates the mouse to move the cursor to the desired menu and perform the selection operation.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] According to the above-described conventional technology, the ease of mouse movement remains constant no matter where the cursor is moved on the display surface. Therefore, special care must be taken when operating the mouse so that the cursor does not pass past the desired menu, making menu selection etc. difficult.

[Means for Solving the Problems] The purpose of this invention is to facilitate operations such as menu selection.

The information input device according to this invention includes (a) an operable pointing device, and (b) a reaction (e.g., braking force, vibration, shock, etc.) that generates a reaction that changes the operational feeling as the pointing device is operated. (c) display means having a display surface; (d) cursor control for controlling movement of a cursor on the display surface based on operation of the pointing device; (e) Setting means for setting an arbitrary reaction amount for each of the plurality of regions displayed on the display surface; (f) Setting means for setting an arbitrary reaction amount for each region of the plurality of regions; (g) determining means for determining whether the plurality of regions are in a predetermined positional relationship (for example, in or near the region); and control means for controlling reaction generation by the reaction generation means according to the amount of reaction.

[Operation] According to the configuration of this invention, a desired amount of reaction such as braking force can be applied to the pointing device when the cursor passes through each of the plurality of regions displayed on the display surface. For this reason, the operator of the pointing device can receive a feeling as if he were touching a real object (having a shape and weight) with an appropriate intensity for each area, and the Area discrimination is possible.

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an information input device according to an embodiment of this invention, and this device is equipped with a keyboard and a mechanical mouse as input means.

Overall configuration (Figure 1) Bus 10 includes cursor interface 1.
2, a mouse interface 14, a display interface 16, a central processing unit (CPU) 18, a program memory 20, and a working memory 22 are connected, and the interfaces 12, 14, and 16 are connected to a keyboard 24, a mouse 26, and
A CRT (cathode ray tube) display device 28 is connected to each.

The CPU 18 performs area setting, brake setting,
It executes various processes such as moving the mouse, and these processes will be described later with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.

The working memory 22 is RAM (random
access memory) and consists of COU18
It includes storage areas that are used as registers and the like during various processes. Registers related to the implementation of this invention will be described later.

Keyboard 24 is similar to that used in ordinary personal computers.

The mouse 26 is, for example, a mechanical type, and is provided with a braking mechanism as will be described later with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

The CRT display device 28 is as shown in FIG.
Various images can be displayed on the CRT display surface 28A, and the displayed cursor CS can be moved arbitrarily by a two-dimensional movement operation of the mouse 26.

Structure of Mouse (FIGS. 2 and 3) FIGS. 2 and 3 schematically show the structure of the mouse 26, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of FIG. FIG.

The bottom surface of the mouse body 30 is provided with protrusions 30A to 30C that come into contact with a flat surface such as a desk top. In addition, a rotatable ball 3 is provided inside the mouse body 30.
A part of the ball 32 protrudes from the bottom surface of the main body 30 so that it can come into contact with a flat surface such as a desk top. That is, when the mouse body 30 is moved on a flat surface, the ball 32 rotates due to frictional engagement with the flat surface.

Inside the mouse body 30, the X-direction movement detection section _34X is for detecting the movement of the body 30 in the left-right direction. It includes a rotary encoder EC _x , etc., which generates corresponding movement amount data in the X direction. Further, the Y-direction movement detection section _34Y is for detecting the movement of the main body 30 in the front-back direction. It includes a rotary encoder EC _Y that generates movement amount data.

The brake band 36 is provided so as to surround the ball 32 at a slight distance therefrom. A spring 38 is inserted between both ends of the brake band 36, and the movable element 40A of the solenoid 40 is provided so as to be able to press both ends in the direction in which the spring 38 contracts. That is, when the coil of the solenoid 40 is energized, the movable element 40A tightens both ends of the brake band 36, thereby applying braking force to the ball 32. The strength of the braking force at this time is solenoid 40
It can be arbitrarily controlled by adjusting the amount of current supplied to the coil of the solenoid 40 or by switching the tap of the coil of the solenoid 40.

For example, two push buttons 42A and 42B (not shown) are arranged in parallel on the upper surface of the mouse body 30, and two push buttons 42A and 42B (not shown) are provided in the mouse body 30 on a substrate 44.
Switches 46A and 46B are provided, with pushbuttons 42A and 42B actuating switches 46A and 46B, respectively.

Connecting lines _for encoders _EC

By grasping the mouse body 30 with your hand and moving it back and forth and left and right on a plane, you can move the cursor CS on the display surface 28A in FIG. 4 according to the movement of the mouse body 30, and the cursor CS will be at the desired position. By pressing the pushbutton 42A or 42B when the screen is displayed, menu selection or the like can be performed.

Registers of Working Memory Among the registers of the working memory 22, those related to the implementation of this invention are listed below.

(1) General-purpose register n This is a register used for counting during various processes and temporarily storing input values.

(2) X coordinate registers for point A AX ₁ , AX ₂ ... These registers set the X coordinate of point A at the upper left corner for each area S set on the display surface 28A as shown in FIG. It is for the purpose of

(3) Y coordinate registers for point A AY ₁ , AY ₂ ... These registers are used for each area S as described above.
This is to set the Y coordinate of point A at each time.

(4) X coordinate registers for point B BX ₁ , BX ₂ ... These registers are used for each area S as described above.
This is to set the X coordinate of point B at the lower right corner.

(5) Y coordinate registers for point B BY ₁ , BY ₂ ... These registers are used for each area S as described above.
This is to set the Y coordinate of point B at each time.

(6) Area number register N This register stores the number of areas set as shown in FIG.

(7) Brake amount registers BM ₁ , BM ₂ ... These registers are for setting the brake amount for each region S.

(8) Brake control register BR Brake control data is stored in this register. When data indicating a set brake amount is stored as brake control data, the brake is set to produce a braking force according to the set brake amount. When control is performed and data indicating 0 is stored, brake control is performed to turn off the braking force (brake off).

(9) Cursor registers CX, XY These registers CX and CY are
The X and Y coordinates of the cursor CS at A are respectively set.

(10) Mouse registers MX and MY These registers MX and MY are mouse registers MX and MY.
6 relative position data in the X direction and Y direction are stored respectively.

(11) Encoder registers EX and EY These registers EX and EY are encoder registers EX and EY.
X direction movement amount data and encoder from EC _X
The Y-direction movement amount data from EC _Y is stored.

Main Routine (FIG. 5) FIG. 5 shows the processing flow of the main routine.

First, in step 50, initial set processing is performed in response to power-on, and various registers and the like are initialized. For example, clear the registers mentioned above.

Next, in step 52, it is determined whether there is an area set request from the keyboard 24. If the result of this determination is affirmative (Y), the process moves to step 54, and a region setting subroutine as described later with reference to FIG. 6 is executed. Then, proceed to step 56. Also,
If the determination result in step 52 is negative (N), the process advances to step 56 without passing through step 54.

In step 56, it is determined whether there is a brake set request from the keyboard 24. If the result of this determination is affirmative (Y), the program moves to step 58 and executes a brake setting subroutine as described below with reference to FIG. Then move on to step 60. Further, if the determination result in step 56 is negative (N), the process proceeds to step 60 without passing through step 58.

In step 60, it is determined whether the switch (SW) 46A or 46B of the mouse 26 is on. If this judgment result is positive (Y), step 62
, and performs mouse switch processing according to the switch that has been turned on. Then, the process moves to step 64.
If the determination result at step 60 is negative (N), the process proceeds to step 64 without passing through step 62.

In step 64, it is determined whether the mouse 26 is being moved, and if not (N), the process returns to step 52. Also, if it is moving (Y), the step
66, a mouse movement subroutine as described below with respect to FIG. 8 is executed. Then, proceed to step 68.

In step 68, it is determined whether the mouse 26 has stopped. If the result of this determination is negative (N), it means that the mouse is being moved, and the process returns to step 66. Also, the judgment result in step 68 is positive (Y).
If it is, move to step 70.

At step 70, registers EX and EY are each set to 0. After this, the process returns to step 52 and the above process is repeated.

Area setting subroutine (Fig. 6) In Fig. 6, in step 80, register n
Increase the value by 1. For example, if the value of register n was set to 0 by the initial set, then n
The value of is 1.

Next, in step 82, the X and Y coordinates of point A in the nth area S _o are stored in corresponding registers.
Set to AX _o and AY _o . And the steps
Move to 84.

In step 84, the X coordinate and Y coordinate of point B in area S _o are determined.
Set the coordinates in the corresponding registers BX _o and BY _o , respectively. Then, proceed to step 86.

In step 86, the area S _o is displayed on the display surface 28A based on the coordinate data of the registers AX _o , AY _o , BX _o and BY _o . Then, proceed to step 88.

At step 88, the value n is set in register N as area number data. After this, the process returns to the routine shown in FIG.

The process shown in FIG. 6 is performed every time there is a region set request, so if the region set operation is performed, for example, 5 times, the value of n changes to 1, 2...5, and N
The value of is 5.

Brake Setting Subroutine (FIG. 7) In FIG. 7, at step 90, the number of the designated area (for example, 2) is set in register n.

Next, in step 92, it is determined whether the value of n is less than or equal to the value of register N (the number of set areas), and if the result of this determination is negative (N), the process returns to the routine of FIG.

When the determination result in step 92 is affirmative (Y), the process moves to step 94, and the brake amount related to the setting is set in the register _BMO corresponding to the nth area _S0 . After this, the process returns to the routine shown in FIG.

Mouse movement subroutine (FIG. 8) In FIG. 8, at step 100, the outputs of encoders EC _X and EC _Y (movement data in the X direction and Y direction) are loaded into registers EX and EY, respectively.

Next, in step 102, a new MX is created by adding the data in register MX and the data in EX.
In addition to storing the data in register MY,
Add the EY data and store the new data in MY. Then, the process moves to step 104.

In step 104, the data in register CX and MX
The result obtained by adding the data of register CY and the data of MY is newly stored in CX, and the result obtained by adding the data of register CY and the data of MY is newly stored in CY.
Then, the process moves to step 106.

In step 106, the position of the cursor CS on the display surface 28A is controlled according to the CX and CY data. As a result, the cursor CS moves in accordance with the movement of the mouse 26. After this, step
Move to 108.

At step 108, register n is set to 1. Then, the process moves to step 110, and it is determined whether the X coordinate of the cursor CS is within the range of the X coordinate of the _point A and the X coordinate of the point B in the area So (AX _o ≦CX ≦ BX _o ). If this judgment result is positive (Y), the step
Move to 112.

In step 112, the Y coordinate of the cursor CS is the area
It is determined whether the Y coordinate of point A and the Y coordinate of point B of S _o are within the range (AY _o ≦CY≦BY _o ). If the result of this determination is affirmative (Y), it means that the cursor CS is within the area _So , and the process moves to step 116.

In step 116, the register corresponding to area S _{o is}
Put the data of BM _o into register BR. and,
Proceeding to step 118, brake control is performed according to the BR data. That is, if the value of BR is 0, no current is supplied to the solenoid 40 that produces a braking force, and if the value of BR corresponds to a predetermined amount of braking, the solenoid 40 is supplied with the amount of braking. Supplies a current equivalent to .

For example, if the desired brake amount for area S ₁ is set to BM ₁ in the process shown in FIG. 7, when the cursor CS enters area S ₁ , step 118
As a result of this process, a braking force corresponding to the braking amount of BM ₁ is applied to the mouse 26.

By the way, if the judgment result at step 110 or 112 is negative (N), the process moves to step 120.
It is determined whether the value of n is equal to the value of N (matches the number of set areas). For example, if the value of N is 5, immediately after n is set to 1 in step 108, the determination result in step 120 is negative (N).
Then, the process moves to step 122.

In step 122, the value of n is increased by 1. Then, the process returns to step 110 and the above-described process is repeated for area _S2 . After this, the steps
As long as the determination result in step 110 or 112 is negative (N), the process continues in step 122 until n=N in step 120.
Repeat the process.

If it is determined in step 120 that n=N (Y), it means that the cursor CS is outside the area for all the set areas.
Proceed to step 124.

In step 124, BR is set to 0. Then, the process moves to step 118, and the brake control as described above is performed.

For example, as in the example above, place the cursor CS in area S ₁ .
If a braking force is applied to the mouse 26 when the cursor CS enters the area, if the mouse 26 is moved so that the cursor CS exits the area _S1 , the step will be stopped if the cursor CS exits the area _S1 and does not enter any of the setting areas. 124
The brake of the mouse 26 is released by the processing of 118 and 118.

After step 118, the process returns to the routine of FIG.

In the above embodiment, the area setting and brake setting are performed based on keyboard operations, but this may be performed automatically by initial setting or the like.

This invention is applicable not only to the mechanical mouse described above but also to pointing devices such as optical mice and trackballs. Further, the reaction is not limited to braking force, but it is also possible to apply vibrations, shocks, etc.

[Effects of the invention] As described above, according to this invention, a desired amount of reaction is given to the pointing device when the cursor passes through each area of a plurality of areas displayed on the display surface. A feeling of appropriate strength can be obtained for each area, and the monotonous feeling of operation is eliminated, and the operability of menu selection etc. is significantly improved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information input device according to an embodiment of the invention, FIGS. 2 and 3 are side and bottom views showing the internal configuration of a mouse, and FIG. 4 is a CRT. A front view of the display device, FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the main routine,
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a region setting subroutine, FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a brake setting subroutine, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a mouse movement subroutine. 10...Bus, 18...Central processing unit, 20...
...Program memory, 22...Working memory, 24...Keyboard, 26...Mouse, 28
...CRT display device, 32...Ball, 34X...
...X direction movement detection section, 34Y...Y direction movement detection section, 36...Brake band, 40...Solenoid.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] (a) An operable pointing device; (b) A pointing device provided in the pointing device to generate a reaction that changes the feeling of operation as the pointing device is operated. reaction generating means; (c) display means having a display surface; (d) cursor control means for controlling movement of a cursor on the display surface based on operation of the pointing device; a setting means for setting an arbitrary reaction amount for each of the plurality of regions to be displayed; (f) a determination for determining whether the cursor is in a predetermined positional relationship with each of the plurality of regions for each region; (g) control means for controlling the reaction generation by the reaction generation means based on the determination result of the determination means for each of the plurality of regions and according to the reaction amount set by the setting means; Equipped with an information input device.