JPH096523A - Optical input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an optical input device capable of moving a marker on the whole display screen and easily setting up a stop position only by the single operation of an optical mouse on a mouse pad. CONSTITUTION: A mouse 20 is provided with a photodetecting sensor 24 capable of identifying each of plural colors, a mouse pad 10 is provided with plural grating patterns consisting of vertical and horizontal grating lines 11, 12 having mutually different colors and the intervals of respective grating lines 11, 12 are made different in each color. The mouse 20 is provided with plural kinds of color filters 23, one of the color filters 23 is arranged on a window of the moving position reading photodetecting sensor 24 so as to be switched by a filter changing switch 22, either one of grating lines 11, 12 of a required color is selected. On the other hand, a grating pattern in each different color is formed over the whole surface of the mouse pad 10 so as to be superposed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical input device used in a computer, and more particularly to a user-friendly optical input device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 2, an optical input device of this type is composed of an optical mouse 34 and a mouse pad 35, and a computer system 3 is provided.
It is additionally used for ease of use with respect to the arithmetic processing unit 31, which mainly comprises 0, the display unit 32 of the output device, and the keyboard 33 of the input device.

Lattice-shaped straight lines are printed on the mouse pad 35 in the vertical and horizontal directions. When the optical mouse 34 moves on the mouse pad 35, the arithmetic processing unit 31 calculates the information passed through the straight line on the mouse pad 35. Then, in the arithmetic processing unit 31, the display unit 3 according to the number of straight lines that the optical mouse 34 has passed through.
2 Move the marker displayed above.

In recent years, such an optical input device pad has become an indispensable input device along with a keyboard as a computer system.

Conventionally, in this type of optical input device pad, as shown in FIG. 3, the mouse pad 40 gradually changes the line spacing of the vertical grid lines 41 and the horizontal grid lines 42 depending on the vertical and horizontal positions. Since the moving speed of the marker on the screen changes even if the optical mouse has the same moving speed, the moving speed of the marker on the screen changes, so that it is easy to use when moving quickly or slowly.

A technique for this mouse pad is described in, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 5-83836. This mouse pad will be described with reference to FIG. 3. In the mouse pad 40 described in this publication, the vertical grid lines 4 are
Straight lines are printed at unequal intervals that gradually shift from a wide interval to a narrow interval as the interval of 1 goes from left to right and as the interval of the lateral grid lines 42 goes from bottom to top. Has been done.

Further, in another modification described in this publication,
The entire mouse pad is divided into multiple sections, and each section is printed with grid lines that have different equal intervals.
The same effect as above is obtained.

[0008]

Among the optical mouse and mouse pad of the above-mentioned conventional optical input device, in the embodiment disclosed in the publication, the optical mouse on the mouse pad has a different line spacing. If you need skill in positioning when moving the mouse, and you want to move the optical mouse from one end to the other quickly on the display screen by moving the optical mouse, the optical mouse is almost There is a problem in that it is necessary to repeatedly move a portion having a line interval of 3 or less and having a narrow line interval two to three times, which is troublesome.

Further, in the modified example described in the above-mentioned publication, the entire mouse pad is divided into a plurality of sections, so that the optical mouse requires a plurality of reciprocating operations within a narrow range, as described above. There is a problem in practical use.

An object of the present invention is to easily position a stop on a mouse pad and move a marker on a display screen to the full screen by a single operation of an optical mouse on the mouse pad. It is to provide an optical input device that can perform.

[0011]

In an optical input device used in a computer according to the present invention, an optical mouse has a light receiving sensor for identifying each of a plurality of colors, while mouse pads are different from each other. A plurality of grid patterns are formed by the vertical and horizontal grid lines of the color, and the grid line intervals are different for each color.

Further, the optical mouse has a plurality of types of color filters, and one of the color filters is switchably arranged in the light receiving sensor window for reading the moving position, and the mouse pad is different. The grid pattern for each color is formed over the entire surface and is superimposed on each other.

[0013]

Next, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing an embodiment of the mouse pad 10 of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a plan perspective view showing an embodiment of the optical mouse 20 of the present invention. is there. In the optical mouse pad 10 and the mouse 20 shown in FIG. 1, narrow pattern grid lines 11 with narrow equal intervals and wide pattern grid lines 12 with wide equal intervals are different on the entire surface of the mouse pad 10. The mouse 20 has a filter changeover switch 22 and a color filter 23.

The mouse pad 10 is in the form of a thin plate, and is provided with narrow pattern grid lines 11 and wide pattern grid lines 12 both vertically and horizontally on the entire surface. The narrow pattern grid lines 11 are blue and are narrow and equally spaced grid lines,
On the other hand, the wide pattern grid lines 12 are assumed to be red and have wider and equally spaced grid lines.

Since the respective patterns are arranged at equal intervals, the operability that the mouse movement operation and the movement state of the marker on the display screen coincide with each other is maintained.

In the narrow pattern grid lines 11 and the wide pattern grid lines 12 of FIG. 1A, the thickness of the grid lines is shown differently, but the difference in color (color) is due to the difference in line thickness. And the actual grid line thickness is the same for all colors.

Further, the optical mouse 20 is provided with a button switch 21, a filter changeover switch 22, a color filter 23, a light receiving sensor 24, and a light emitter 25. The filter changeover switch 22 and the color filter 23 are the same as those of the conventional one. Additional equipment is added to the configuration.

The button switch 21 notifies the arithmetic processing unit of information that has passed through the grid lines 11 and 12 while being moved by being pressed. The filter changeover switch 22 operates so as to position one of the two blue and red color filters 23 in the window portion of the light receiving sensor 24.
The color filter 23 is a light-transmissive film or plate with two filters, colored red on the one hand and blue on the other. The light receiving sensor 24 is provided with two lines for vertical lines and horizontal lines, and the light emitting body 25 is also provided with two lines for vertical lines and horizontal lines.
It has one.

Next, the case where the blue color filter 23 is selected with the mouse 20 will be described. When the mouse 20 is placed on the mouse pad 10, the blue narrow pattern grid line 11 on the mouse pad 10 is changed to the blue color filter 23.
Erased by. As a result, the red wide pattern grid line 1
2 is reacted by the light receiving sensor 24 as a shadow, and the mouse 2
From 0, the arithmetic processing unit is notified that the grid line has passed. The arithmetic processing unit obtains the numerical value of the grid line that has passed by the notification of the grid line passage, and moves the display mark on the display unit screen according to this numerical value.

On the other hand, when the color filter 23 is switched to red by the filter changeover switch 22 with the mouse 20,
Since the blue narrow pattern grid line 11 on the mouse pad 10 is detected by the mouse 20 in the same manner as described above, as compared with the case where the blue color filter 23 is selected,
When the mouse 20 moves in the same area on the mouse pad 10 at the same speed, the marker on the display screen can move in a wider area faster.

In the above description, blue, red and two colors are taken up, but other colors or three or more colors may be used. Furthermore,
Although the operability is facilitated because the grid lines for each color are evenly spaced, the grid lines may be unequally spaced as disclosed in the official gazette. In this case, some colors may have a partially overlapping interval, or some may have a large difference in interval.

In the above description, the method of erasing one of the colors of the grid line by using the two color filters is used. However, the color may be selected by another means or method, for example, by using a color sensor, Further, as the means and method for switching the color filter, for example, a push button switch which is easy to use can be applied. Thus, the above description is not meant to limit the invention.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the optical mouse has a light receiving sensor for identifying each of a plurality of colors, while the mouse pad has a plurality of vertical and horizontal grid lines of mutually different colors. The grid pattern is provided, and the grid line spacing is different for each color. With this configuration, by selecting a color with the mouse, it is possible to easily change the moving width and speed of the marker on the display screen with respect to the same moving width of the mouse.

When the mouse pad is formed by forming lattice patterns of different colors over the entire surface and overlapping them, a color lattice pattern having lattice lines with narrow intervals is realized on the entire mouse pad. Therefore, the marker on the display screen can be moved from one end to the other end with a single operation of the mouse.

That is, the lattice pattern on the mouse pad is 1
By selecting one color, you can select a grid pattern with a wide grid line spacing for easy marker positioning, while selecting a grid pattern with a narrow grid line spacing so that the markers on the display screen move from one end to the other. The effect of being able to move quickly to the edge of is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view and a plan perspective view illustrating an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration perspective view showing an example of a general computer system.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing an example of a conventional mouse pad.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Mouse Pad 11 Narrow Pattern Lattice Line 12 Wide Pattern Lattice Line 20 Mouse 21 Button Switch 22 Filter Change Switch 23 Color Filter 24 Light-Reception Sensor 25 Light-Emitting Body

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An optical input device used in a computer, comprising: a light receiving sensor for identifying each of a plurality of colors; and a plurality of grid patterns of vertical and horizontal grid lines of mutually different colors. An optical input device comprising: a plane having a different grid line spacing for each. 2. The light-receiving sensor according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of types of color filters are provided, and one of the color filters is switchably provided in a window for reading a moving position. Optical input device. 3. The optical input device according to claim 1, wherein the plane is formed by forming lattice patterns of different colors over the entire surface and superimposing them. 4. The optical input device according to claim 1, wherein the light receiving sensor is provided in an optical mouse. 5. The optical input device according to claim 1, wherein the plane is provided on a mouse pad.