JPH10320102A - Optical handwritten character figure input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To eliminate the need to be provided a detecting mechanism on a plasma display surface, to enable such a use that a position can be detected while an input pen is floated over an input surface, and to obtain excellent operability by diverging directional light linearly in the vertical direction and making it beltlike through a rotary scan. SOLUTION: The light from a light source 1b is diverged linearly in the vertical direction by a piano-convex cylindrical lens 1d provided in front of a rotary mechanism 1a. Further, a reflector surface on the flank of the rotary mechanism 1a installed at a predetermined position is irradiated to make a rotary scan in a beltlike shape vertically so that an input surface 4 is entirely covered. At this time, a beltlike light beam is inputted to a photodetecting element for reference position setting and converted into an electric signal, which is inputted to a CPU. Further, the light which is rotated and scanned is converted by the input pen 3 into the electric signal, which is inputted to a control board. Therefore, the position of the input pen 3 when the light is photodetected and its input value reaches a certain level can be calculated from the angle of the rotary mechanism la and the elapsed time from the reference position.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for inputting two-dimensional position coordinate values to an information processing apparatus such as a computer, and to input the input position coordinates of handwritten characters or figures input on an input surface using light. The present invention relates to an optical handwritten character graphic input device for detection.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a handwritten character / graphics input device of a system for detecting position coordinates for inputting two-dimensional coordinates on an input surface by handwriting on an input surface, various digitizers,
There are things called tablets and touch sensor panels. These have been put to practical use as computer input devices, handwritten character / graphic terminal devices, and design drawing making machines. The input position coordinate detection method of this handwritten character graphic input device includes an electromagnetic coupling method, a resistance method, an electrostatic coupling method, a pressure-sensitive method, an ultrasonic method, an optical method, a mechanical method, and the like. Specific examples include a touch panel system in which resistance sheets and conductive sheets are stacked at a fixed interval, and a system in which a light pen is applied to a CRT display.

[0003]

When the handwritten character / graphics input device according to the prior art is placed on the front of a display panel such as a CRT or a liquid crystal, the device cannot cope with the shape or structure of the display panel or has a functional problem. There is a problem that there are restrictions and the structure is complicated, and it is particularly difficult to increase the size. Also, in the optical method, in the method of receiving a scanning light converging finely with a pen, the pen tip is always in vertical contact with the input surface, and the position of the light receiving portion is at a certain height with the input surface. However, there is a problem in that operability is not good because it cannot be used to detect the approximate position by slightly tilting the pen tip or by floating the pen tip without touching the input surface.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has an input pen having a light receiving function at the time of inputting a character or a figure, and an input surface for inputting the input pen. Directional light for rotating and scanning a parallel plane with a reflecting mirror attached to the rotating mechanism, a rotating mechanism having a rotation angle detecting unit for the directional light, and a reference position of the rotating mechanism are detected. A position of light received by the pen, that is, X, X of the input pen on the input surface.
In the optical handwritten character graphic input device that calculates the Y coordinate based on the angle of the rotation mechanism and the elapsed time from the light detection unit, the directional light spreads linearly in the vertical direction, and The present invention proposes an optical handwritten character / graphics input device which is band-shaped by rotational scanning.

[0005]

According to the present invention, there is provided an input pen for receiving light spread linearly in the vertical direction, a rotating mechanism for rotating and scanning light in a plane parallel to the input surface with a reflecting mirror attached to the rotating mechanism, and And a device for detecting a reference position of the rotation mechanism. The position of the pen when light is received and the input value reaches a certain level (threshold) is determined by the angle of the rotation mechanism and the reference position. The X and Y coordinates of the input pen are calculated based on the scan angle calculated based on the elapsed time from the start.

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The device according to the present invention is a plano-convex cylindrical lens (so-called camo-boko type) for dispersing light linearly in the vertical direction, in which directional light is installed in front of the light source.
And an input pen for receiving light, a rotating mechanism for rotating and scanning the light in a band shape with respect to the input surface with a reflecting mirror attached to the rotating mechanism, and a device for detecting a reference position. The X and Y coordinates of the input pen are detected based on the position of the pen when the input value reaches a certain level, based on the angle of the rotation mechanism and the elapsed time from the reference position. There is no need to install a detection mechanism.Even if it is placed on the front of the display panel, it can easily respond to the shape and structure of the display, and even if it is functional, input the input pen without touching the input pen and the input surface It can be used to detect the approximate position by floating from the surface, and the operability is good.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The details of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. Reference numerals 1 and 2 are optical system units for controlling light, and rotating mirrors 1a and 2a for rotating and scanning light,
Light sources 1b and 2b with a collimator lens for light convergence, light receiving elements for detecting a signal at a reference position for measurement or light receiving elements 1c and 2c for setting a time reference, and a plano-convex for widening light linearly in the vertical direction. It is composed of cylindrical lenses 1d and 2d, and is arranged outside the effective input surface indicated by the dotted line. The side surfaces of the rotating mechanisms 1a and 2a are formed of polyhedral reflecting mirrors, and the rotation is driven by a motor that rotates at a constant speed. The number of faces of the polyhedron can be determined by the required number of scans per unit time and the scan angle. The greater the number of faces, the faster the scanning speed and the smaller the scan angle. In the case of a hexahedron, the angle is 120 degrees.

The light sources 1b and 2b have good directivity and have a light receiving element 7 built in the pen and a light receiving element 1 for setting a time reference.
A peak close to the peak of the spectral sensitivity of c and 2c is used. Usually, a small-sized semiconductor laser whose output can be controlled by current is used. The light from the semiconductor laser is converged by a converging collimator lens and is projected on plano-convex cylindrical lenses 1d and 2d which are installed horizontally in front of the reflecting surface. This plano-convex cylindrical lens can change only the magnification in one direction of the image, that is, can convert a point image into a line image.
Irradiated on the surface of the reflecting mirror of a. The irradiated light is rotationally scanned by the rotating mirror 1a, and is irradiated on the input surface 4 in the form of a band (A) (see FIG. 2). The rotation mechanisms 1a and 1b are fixed at a predetermined interval X (see FIG. 3).

The input pen 3 is made of glass or acrylic for guiding light to a light receiving section 6 for receiving scanning light reflected from the reflecting mirrors of the rotating mechanisms 1a and 2a and a light receiving element 7 in the input pen 3. It is composed of a transparent columnar optical component 8 such as a resin. The light detected by the light receiving element 7 is converted into an electric signal, and is connected to the amplifier 11 in the control board 10.

Next, the operation will be described step by step with reference to FIG. Since the optical units 1 and 2 have the same operation in FIG. 4, only the optical unit 1 will be described. Light from the light source 1b is linearly spread in the vertical direction by a plano-convex cylindrical lens 1d provided on the front surface of the rotating mechanism 1a. Further, the light is radiated to the surface of the reflecting mirror on the side surface of the rotating mechanism 1 a installed at a predetermined position, and is rotationally scanned in a vertical band so as to cover the entire input surface 4. At this time, the band light is input to the light receiving element 1c for setting the reference position, converted into an electric signal, and input to the CPU 11. Further, after the rotationally scanned light is converted into an electric signal by the input pen 3, the light is
And is input to the control board 10.

The electric signal is calculated from the time detected by the light receiving elements 1c and 2c for setting the reference position as shown in FIG.
The elapsed times t1 and t2 until the input pen 3 detects the input are detected. The CPU 11 calculates the angle from the reference position based on the elapsed times t1 and t2 until the input pen 3 receives light at the position P. Although a light receiving element for setting a reference position is used here, a motor having a rotation angle detection unit built in a rotation mechanism may be used. Angle is the CPU in the control board 10
The data is stored as a data table in a memory 11 or the like, and is converted into an angle based on the elapsed time until the input pen 3 receives light.

The coordinates (X, Y) of the input surface 4 of the input pen 3
Is easily calculated based on the principle of ordinary triangulation. If the angles with respect to the Y axis when the input pen 3 is at the coordinates (Xa, Ya) are θ1 and θ2 respectively,

Xa = ｛tan θ1 / (tan θ1 + ta
nθ2)｝ · X

Ya = {1 / (tan θ1 + tan θ2) × X

Since X is known, the input coordinate position P of the input pen 3 can be calculated by arithmetic processing by the CPU 11 in the control board 10.

[0116]

According to the present invention, there is provided a plano-convex cylindrical lens for placing directional light on its front surface to make it linear in the vertical direction, an input pen for receiving the light, and a reflection device attached to a rotating mechanism. A rotation mechanism for rotating and scanning light in a belt shape with respect to the input surface with a mirror, and a device for detecting a reference position, the position of the pen when light is received and the input value reaches a certain level, That is, the X and Y coordinates of the input pen on the input surface are
It is calculated from the angle of the rotating mechanism and the elapsed time from the reference position.There is no need to install a detection mechanism directly on the display panel surface, and the shape and structure of the display even if it is placed on the front of the display panel With less restrictions. In addition, even if the pen for detecting the position is slightly displaced in the vertical direction in terms of function, the scanning light is band-shaped, so that it is not affected if the pen is within the band width. It can be used to detect the approximate position by ascending, improving operability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a main part configuration of an optical handwritten character input device.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a widened light beam

FIG. 3 shows the position of the pen on the input surface.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a scanning light path and an input pen.

FIG. 5 is a timing chart of a light receiving element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 optical unit 2 optical unit 1a rotating mirror 2a rotating mirror 1b light source with converging collimator lens 2b light source with converging collimator lens 1c light receiving element 2c light receiving element 1d plano-convex cylindrical lens 2d plano-convex cylindrical lens 3 input pen 4 input surface 5a rotation Light being scanned 5b Light being rotated and scanned 6 Input unit 7 Light receiving element 8 Optical component 9 Signal cable 10 Control board 11 CPU 12 Amplifier A Strip light P Input position

Claims (1)

[Claims] An input pen having a light receiving function at the time of inputting a character or a figure, and a directivity for rotating and scanning a plane parallel to an input surface for input of the input pen by a reflecting mirror attached to a rotating mechanism. Light, a rotation mechanism having a rotation angle detection unit for the directional light, and a device for detecting a reference position of the rotation mechanism, the position of the light received by the pen, ie, in the input surface In an optical handwritten character / graphics input device that calculates the X and Y coordinates of an input pen based on the angle of a rotation mechanism and the elapsed time from a light detection unit, the directional light spreads linearly in the vertical direction. An optical handwritten character / graphics input device, characterized in that the input device has a band shape by rotational scanning.