JPH08328738A - Electronic pen - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a small-sized electronic pen for input capable of performing input even while moving. CONSTITUTION: In this electronic pen 10 having portability and inputting movement information as data, at least two sets of acceleration sensor sets 12 and 14 whose detection directions approximately orthogonally cross each other are provided as movement information detection means and planes including the approximately orthogonally crossing acceleration detection axes of the acceleration sensors of the respective sets are not present on the same plane in the respective sets. Also, one acceleration sensor set is arranged at the grasping part 10a of the electronic pen and the electric output of the acceleration sensors is differentially amplified and processed for the ones of the same detection direction each other. Further, in the electronic pen provided wth the acceleration sensor, a switch 26 for instructing that input is being performed is integrally provided and the switch 26 is arranged at the grasping part 10a of the electronic pen.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable electronic pen for detecting movement information of an arbitrary movement by an operator and inputting it as data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in personal computers, word processors, electronic notebooks, etc., in addition to a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball,
Touch panels and tablets have been used.

[0003]

The above-mentioned keyboard has a problem that there is a limit to miniaturization as an input device and that a graphic cannot be input. It is difficult for a mouse to input characters, and there is a problem that input is not possible unless there is an input surface for moving the mouse. On the other hand, a trackball does not require an input surface like a mouse, but there is a problem that it is difficult to input characters and fine input cannot be performed. Further, the touch panel and the tablet have to have a large input surface area, which makes it difficult to adopt as a small-sized, particularly portable input device.

By the way, as a small-sized input device, one using an acceleration sensor is known. JP-A-6-19
That is what is described in Japanese Patent No. 8075. The input device disclosed herein is provided in an operating unit of a game machine, and includes a set of acceleration sensors capable of detecting accelerations in two axial directions orthogonal to each other in the operating unit operated by a worker. By mounting and operating the operation unit, acceleration in the two axis directions is detected and a signal indicating the amount of movement is output.

However, in this described technique,
The operator who operates the operation unit must be stationary at a certain place during the operation (input). This is essential in order to detect only the acceleration due to the operation when the operation unit is operated. However, when this is used as a portable input device, it is rare that the worker is stationary at a certain place. For example, the user may try to use the device while walking, or may try to use the device while riding in a vehicle. If the above-mentioned input device is used at this time, an input signal based on an input operation by the operator (an input operation that gives an acceleration to the operation member) and an input signal due to the movement of the operator himself (an input signal based on the acceleration applied to the operator) There is a problem that and are detected at the same time, and accurate input work cannot be performed.
For example, when the vehicle on which the operator rides moves (curves) in the other direction when the operating member is operated in one direction, the input data is the acceleration of the operator in the operation direction and the vehicle moves. It is based on both the acceleration of time.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to provide a compact and portable electronic pen which enables accurate input even when a worker is moving. To do.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, an electronic pen of the present invention is provided with a housing to be gripped by an operator.
An electronic pen provided in the housing and provided with movement information detecting means for detecting movement by being grasped by a worker and arbitrarily moved, wherein the movement information detecting means are substantially orthogonal to each other. In addition to having two acceleration sensor groups that can detect acceleration in each direction,
The acceleration detection infinite plane defined by the two acceleration detection directions of the acceleration sensor set is set to be different for each acceleration sensor set.

The housing may have a gripping portion to be gripped by an operator, and one of the acceleration sensor sets may be arranged in the housing in the vicinity of the gripping portion.

The first and second acceleration detection directions of one of the two acceleration sensor sets and the third and fourth acceleration detection directions of the other set are set substantially parallel to each other. And further includes a differential amplifier circuit that differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the first and third acceleration detection directions and differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the second and fourth acceleration detection directions. May be.

Further, a specification switch for specifying whether or not the movement information detecting means is performing detection may be further provided.

Further, the instruction switch may be arranged in a grip portion of the housing which is gripped by an operator.

[0012]

In the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the movement information detecting means has two sets of acceleration sensors capable of detecting accelerations in directions substantially orthogonal to each other, and two acceleration detection directions of the acceleration sensor set. The acceleration detection infinite plane defined by is set to be different for each acceleration sensor group, and when an operator performs an input operation while holding the housing, the input operation is performed from the two acceleration sensor groups. An output is generated in which the acceleration due to and the acceleration of the operator himself overlap. One acceleration sensor set outputs two accelerations (accelerations in the first direction and accelerations in the second direction) along the directions substantially orthogonal to each other, and the other acceleration sensor sets are different from each other in the directions substantially orthogonal to each other. 2 accelerations (acceleration in the third direction and acceleration in the fourth direction) are output. Of the four output accelerations, two accelerations in substantially the same direction (for example, acceleration in the first direction and acceleration in the third direction) can be subtracted from each other to remove the acceleration component based on the movement of the worker himself / herself. You can do it. Therefore, only the acceleration due to the input operation by the operator can be accurately detected.

Further, the casing has a gripping portion to be gripped by an operator, and one of the acceleration sensor sets is arranged in the casing in the vicinity of the gripping portion, whereby the acceleration of the one acceleration The sensor set detects only the acceleration based on the movement of the worker, and the remaining acceleration sensor sets detect the acceleration due to the movement of the worker and the acceleration due to the input, and the input operation of the worker only by subtracting the two. Only the acceleration due to can be accurately detected.

The first and second acceleration detection directions of one of the two acceleration sensor sets and the third and fourth acceleration detection directions of the other set are set substantially parallel to each other. If a differential amplifier circuit that differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the first and third acceleration detection directions and differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the second and fourth acceleration detection directions is provided, , The output from the acceleration sensor set is used as it is as the acceleration in the first, second, third and fourth directions without correction, and this is differentially amplified so that accurate acceleration can be detected with an extremely simple circuit configuration. It will be possible.

Further, when the designated switch is provided, erroneous data can be prevented from being input when the data input is unnecessary.

Further, if the designated switch is arranged on the grip portion of the casing, the operability is improved.

[0017]

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

In this embodiment, the present invention is applied as a pen-shaped input device. In FIG. 1, an electronic pen 10 of the present invention has a housing (main body frame) composed of a cylindrical grip portion 10a and a conical tip portion 10b formed at one end of the grip portion 10a. A designation switch 26, which will be described later, is formed so as to project at a substantially middle portion of the peripheral surface of the grip portion 10a along the central axis P of the grip portion. The operator grips the vicinity of the designation switch 26.

As will be described later, a reference position measuring acceleration detection sensor set 12, an input acceleration detection sensor set 14, a control board 28, a battery 32, etc. are built in the housing.

The reference position measuring acceleration sensor set 12 is fixed near the designated switch 32, in other words, inside the housing portion (holding portion 10a) held by the operator. The sensor set 12 includes a first acceleration sensor 12a that detects an acceleration in the X direction within an infinite plane orthogonal to the central axis P of the grip portion 10a (housing) and generates an output voltage.
And a second acceleration sensor 12b that detects an acceleration in the Y direction orthogonal to the X direction in the same infinite plane and generates an output voltage. An acceleration detection direction of the first acceleration sensor 12a (X direction; referred to as a first acceleration detection direction) and an acceleration detection direction of the second acceleration sensor 12b (Y direction; referred to as a second acceleration detection direction). The plane defined by is called the acceleration detection infinite plane.

On the other hand, the grip portion 10a and the tip portion 10b of the housing
An input acceleration detection sensor group 14 is fixedly installed at a boundary portion between and. The sensor set 14 is provided in the grip portion 10a.
A third plane for generating an output voltage by detecting an acceleration in the x direction in an infinite plane orthogonal to the central axis P of the reference position and parallel to the acceleration detection infinite plane of the acceleration sensor set 12 for measuring the reference position. The acceleration sensor 14a includes a fourth acceleration sensor 14b that detects an acceleration in the y direction orthogonal to the x direction in the infinite plane and generates an output voltage. The acceleration detection direction of the third acceleration sensor 14a (x direction; referred to as the third acceleration detection direction) is
It is set parallel to the acceleration detection direction of the first acceleration sensor 12a. The acceleration detection direction of the fourth acceleration sensor 14b (y direction; referred to as the fourth acceleration detection direction) is set parallel to the acceleration detection direction of the second acceleration sensor 12b. Therefore, the acceleration detection infinite plane of the input acceleration detection sensor set 14 is parallel to the acceleration detection infinite plane of the reference position measurement acceleration sensor set 12 and does not form the same plane.

Next, the drive circuit of this embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG.

This drive circuit is built in the housing (frame) of the electronic pen 10 together with the battery 32. The first acceleration sensor 12a and the second acceleration sensor 12
b, the third acceleration sensor 14a, the fourth acceleration sensor 1
4b is composed of a piezoelectric element as an example. In this case,
A voltage corresponding to the applied acceleration is output. As the acceleration sensor, a method of detecting displacement due to expansion and contraction of a spring instead of the piezoelectric element can be used, and any method can be used as long as the output voltage changes in accordance with the acceleration. The voltage output corresponding to this acceleration is the control board 2
8 is processed.

The control board 28 is a differential amplifier 16 in the X direction,
Y direction differential amplifier 18, A / D converters 20, 22, C
It is composed of the PU 24. Of the four acceleration sensors, the respective voltage outputs of the first acceleration sensor 12a and the third acceleration sensor 14a whose detection directions are arranged in parallel (substantially parallel) to each other are input to the input terminal of the differential amplifier 16. The voltage output of the differential amplifier 16 is converted into a digital value by the AD converter 20, and then output to the CPU 24. On the other hand, the voltage output of each of the second acceleration sensor 12b and the fourth acceleration sensor 14b is input to the input terminal of the differential amplifier 18, and the voltage output thereof is converted into a digital value by the AD converter 22. After that, it is output to the CPU 24. As described above, the detection directions of the second acceleration sensor 12b and the fourth acceleration sensor 14b are set to be parallel (substantially parallel).

Further, the CPU 24 has the designated switch 2
6 is connected, and the CPU 24 operates only when the designation switch 24 is turned on by the operator. The data indicating the moving direction and the distance of the pen tip of the electronic pen 10 calculated by the CPU 24 is the light emitting element 30.
Wirelessly transmitted to an external device via. The light emitting element 30
Infrared LED can be used suitably for this.

The operation of the electronic pen 10 having the above structure will be described. The operator holds the grip 10a of the electronic pen 10 and moves the pen tip (conical tip 10b) in any direction. At this time, if the designated switch 26 is not pressed, the CPU
24 does not work. While pressing the designating switch 26, the electronic pen 10 is used to input data in the same manner as a normal pen.

At this time, a voltage output corresponding to the movement of the electronic pen 10 is obtained from the third acceleration sensor 14a and the fourth acceleration sensor 14b of the input acceleration detection sensor group 14 at the tip of the electronic pen 10. When the acceleration is large, the absolute value of the output voltage of the acceleration sensor is large, and the polarity of the output voltage is inverted depending on the moving direction.

When the operator is not in a vehicle or the like (when the vehicle is stopped), if the electronic pen is arbitrarily moved, the first acceleration sensor 12a and the second acceleration sensor 12a of the acceleration sensor group 12 for measuring the reference position are used. Since no acceleration is applied to the acceleration sensor 12b, the voltage output becomes zero as shown in FIGS. 3 (c) and 3 (d). On the other hand, a third acceleration sensor 14a and a fourth acceleration sensor 14a of the input acceleration detection sensor set 14 are provided.
Since acceleration corresponding to the movement of the pen tip is applied to the acceleration sensor 14b, a voltage output is generated as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), respectively. First acceleration sensor 12a
Of the voltage output of the third acceleration sensor and the voltage output of the third acceleration sensor (see FIG.
(Shown in (e)) is obtained by the differential amplifier 16.
Further, the difference between the voltage output of the second acceleration sensor 12b and the voltage output of the fourth acceleration sensor 14b (shown in FIG. 3 (f)).
Is obtained by the differential amplifier 18.

On the other hand, when the worker is on a vehicle or the like (while moving), if the electronic pen is arbitrarily moved, the reference position measuring acceleration sensor set 12 and the input acceleration detecting sensor set are set. Acceleration due to the movement of the worker is applied to both of them, and the acceleration due to the movement of the pen tip is added to the input acceleration detection sensor set 14.

FIG. 4A shows an input acceleration detection sensor set 1
4 shows the voltage output of the third acceleration sensor 14a of FIG.
(B) shows the voltage output of the fourth acceleration sensor 14 b of the input acceleration detection sensor set 14. Also, FIG.
4C shows the voltage output of the first acceleration sensor 12a of the reference position measurement acceleration sensor set 12, and FIG. 4D shows the second acceleration sensor 1 of the reference position measurement acceleration sensor set 12.
The voltage of 2b is shown. By the difference amplifier 16,
First acceleration sensor 12a and third acceleration sensor 14a
Of the voltage output of the second acceleration sensor 12b and the fourth acceleration sensor 14b of the second acceleration sensor 12b (shown in FIG. 4 (f)). Is required.

Therefore, the differential amplifiers 16 and 18 eliminate the influence of the acceleration due to the movement of the worker, and only the acceleration due to the movement of the pen tip is required. Therefore, whether the worker is moving or not, the acceleration can always be detected accurately.

The differential amplifier 1 thus obtained
The output voltages of 6 and 18 are respectively A / D converters 20 and 22.
The data is digitized by, and the data is fetched by the CPU 24 as an X-direction acceleration data value and a Y-direction acceleration data value and is processed. The X-direction acceleration data value and the Y-direction acceleration data value change with time.

The CPU 24 operates only while the designated switch 26 is turned on, samples the X-direction acceleration data value and the Y-direction acceleration data value for a predetermined time, stores a change curve of acceleration in the memory, and changes the curve. The operation of integrating the curve twice with respect to time to calculate the moving direction and the moving amount of the pen tip, and driving the infrared light emitting element 30 in each of the X direction and the Y direction to wirelessly transmit it to an external device is repeated. is there. For example, the predetermined time T
The X-direction acceleration data value and the Y-direction acceleration data value are stored in the memory at every minute time t over a period of time, and the change in acceleration when a predetermined time has elapsed is respectively the X-direction change curve in FIG. When the change curve in the Y direction of b) is obtained, this change curve is changed with respect to time after a predetermined time T has elapsed.
Displacement curve obtained by integrating twice (curve of the relationship between displacement and time)
Are shown in FIGS. 5 (a) and 5 (b), respectively. Here, the origins of the displacement axis and the time axis indicate the operation start point.

The moving direction and moving amount of the pen tip calculated in this manner are the infrared light emitting element 3 in the XY directions.
It is converted to 0 on / off data and transmitted to the external device. Based on these data, the external device can be used to input a coordinate using a cursor movement command, or can be used to input handwriting data for character recognition.

In order to specify the direction to the external device,
It is necessary to associate the XY directions of the electronic pen with the XY directions of the external device. This is because the orientation of the output data when the electronic pen is held causes the phenomenon in which the output data is switched between XY directions. Even if the user intends to move the pen in the X direction, if the acceleration sensor for detecting the Y direction of the electronic pen points in the X direction, data is output as the movement in the Y direction. In order to prevent this, the main body of the electronic pen 10 may be stamped or printed to indicate the XY directions, and the operator may hold the electronic pen along this direction. As for the direction,
For example, it is preferable to set the X direction to the right and the Y direction to the upper side or the lower side.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but various modifications can be made. For example, in the embodiment, the differential amplifier is built in the electronic pen, but may be provided in an external device. In this case, the electronic pen has only to send the voltage outputs from the four acceleration sensors to the external device as they are. In short, it is sufficient that at least two acceleration sensor groups are provided so that even if the acceleration caused by the movement of the worker is applied to the electronic pen, only the acceleration caused by the movement of the pen tip can be detected.

Further, in the present embodiment, the data transmission to the external device adopts the wireless transmission method using the infrared light emitting element, but instead of this, it is also possible to transmit the data to the external device by wire. It is possible.

Although the acceleration detection infinite planes of the reference position measurement acceleration sensor set 12 and the input acceleration detection sensor set 14 are set to be parallel to each other, they may be planes intersecting with each other. Further, the two acceleration detection directions in each acceleration detection infinite plane are set to have a relationship of being orthogonal to each other in the present embodiment, but it is possible to have a relationship of intersecting each other unless they are in the same direction. In this case, the voltage output from each acceleration detection sensor is corrected to the output in the case of being orthogonal based on the crossing angle of the detection directions. This can be easily performed by those skilled in the art by applying the well-known coordinate conversion technique using trigonometric functions.

In this embodiment, the acceleration data is CP
The differential amplifiers 16 and 18 are incorporated in U24.
By providing an integrator circuit between the A and D converters 20 and 22, the velocity or position information is replaced by CP instead of acceleration.
It is also possible to input to U24.

Further, the acceleration sensor is not limited to the type using the piezoelectric element of the embodiment, but may be any type as long as it can detect acceleration. .

[0041]

As described in detail above, the present invention has two sets of acceleration sensors capable of detecting accelerations in directions substantially orthogonal to each other, and two sets of the acceleration sensor sets.
Since the acceleration detection infinite plane defined by one acceleration detection direction is set to be different for each acceleration sensor set, when an operator grips the housing and performs an input operation,
An output in which the acceleration due to the input operation and the acceleration of the operator himself overlap is generated from the acceleration sensor set of the set. Since the acceleration of the worker himself / herself is similarly detected by all the acceleration sensor groups, only the acceleration due to the input operation can be easily detected. For this reason, it is possible to always perform accurate input regardless of whether the worker is moving or not, and it has a very practical effect that the operating environment is not selected as a portable small electronic pen.

By disposing one acceleration sensor set in the vicinity of the grip portion in the housing, the one acceleration sensor set detects only the acceleration based on the movement of the operator.
The remaining acceleration sensor group detects the acceleration due to the movement of the worker and the acceleration due to the input, and the acceleration due to the input operation by the worker can be accurately detected only by subtracting the two. This has the effect of requiring no calculation and improving the operation response.

The first and second acceleration detection directions of one of the two acceleration sensor sets and the third and fourth acceleration detection directions of the other set are set substantially parallel to each other. If a differential amplifier circuit that differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the first and third acceleration detection directions and differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the second and fourth acceleration detection directions is provided, , The output from the acceleration sensor set is used as it is as the acceleration in the first, second, third and fourth directions without correction, and this is differentially amplified so that accurate acceleration can be detected with an extremely simple circuit configuration. This has the effect of enabling high reliability with a simple circuit system.

Further, when the designated switch is provided, it is possible to prevent erroneous data input when data input is unnecessary.

Further, if the designated switch is arranged in the grip portion of the casing, the operability is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an electronic pen of this embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit system.

FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a waveform of an example of a voltage output output from a third acceleration sensor 14a of an input acceleration sensor set by an input operation performed while a worker is stopped. (B) is a figure showing an example of a waveform of the voltage output outputted from the 4th acceleration sensor 14b of an input acceleration sensor group by an input operation while a worker is stopped. FIG. 3C is a diagram showing a waveform of a voltage output output from the first acceleration sensor 12a of the reference acceleration detection sensor set when the waveform of FIG. 3A is output. FIG. 3D is a diagram showing a waveform of a voltage output output from the second acceleration sensor 12b of the reference acceleration detection sensor set when the waveform of FIG. 3B is output. (E) is shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the output waveform of the difference amplifier 16 based on the voltage waveform of FIG.3 (c). 3F is a diagram showing an output waveform of the differential amplifier 18 based on the voltage waveforms of FIGS. 3B and 3D.

FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a waveform of an example of a voltage output output from a third acceleration sensor 14a of an input acceleration sensor set by an input operation performed while a worker is moving. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a waveform of a voltage output output from the fourth acceleration sensor 14b of the input acceleration sensor set by the input operation while the worker is moving. FIG. 4C is a diagram showing a waveform of a voltage output output from the first acceleration sensor 12a of the reference acceleration detection sensor set when the waveform of FIG. 4A is output. FIG. 4D is a diagram showing a waveform of a voltage output output from the second acceleration sensor 12b of the reference acceleration detection sensor set when the waveform of FIG. 4B is output. (E) is shown in FIG.
It is a figure which shows the output waveform of the difference amplifier 16 based on the voltage waveform of FIG.4 (c). 4F is a diagram showing an output waveform of the differential amplifier 18 based on the voltage waveforms of FIGS. 4B and 4D.

5A is a diagram showing an acceleration waveform (change curve) in the X direction input to the CPU 24. FIG. (B) is CPU2
4 is a diagram showing an acceleration waveform (change curve) in the Y direction input to No. 4; FIG. 5C is a diagram showing the relationship between the displacement in the X direction and the time, which is obtained by integrating the acceleration waveform in the X direction in FIG. 5A twice with respect to time. 5D is a diagram showing the relationship between the displacement in the X direction and the time, which is obtained by integrating the acceleration waveform in the Y direction in FIG. 5B twice with respect to time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Electronic Pen 10a Gripping Part 12 Reference Position Measurement Acceleration Sensor Set 12a First Acceleration Sensor 12b Second Acceleration Sensor 14 Input Acceleration Detection Sensor Set 14a Third Acceleration Sensor 14b Fourth Acceleration Sensor 16 Difference Amplifier 18 Difference Amplifier 24 CPU 26 Designated switch

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An electronic pen provided with a housing to be gripped by an operator, and a movement information detection means provided in the housing and for detecting the movement by being gripped by the operator and arbitrarily moved. The movement information detecting means has two sets of acceleration sensors capable of detecting accelerations in directions substantially orthogonal to each other, and an acceleration detection infinite plane defined by the two acceleration detection directions of the acceleration sensor set. However, the electronic pen is set so as to be different for each acceleration sensor group. 2. The housing has a gripping portion to be gripped by an operator, and one of the acceleration sensor sets is arranged in the housing in the vicinity of the gripping portion. Item 2. The electronic pen according to Item 1. 3. The first and second acceleration detection directions of one of the two acceleration sensor sets and the third and fourth acceleration detection directions of the other set are set substantially parallel to each other. And further includes a differential amplifier circuit that differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the first and third acceleration detection directions and differentially amplifies the acceleration outputs in the second and fourth acceleration detection directions. The electronic pen according to claim 1, wherein: 4. The electronic pen according to claim 1, further comprising a designation switch for designating whether or not the movement information detecting means is performing detection. 5. The electronic pen according to claim 4, wherein the instruction switch is arranged in a grip portion of the housing that is gripped by an operator.