JPS61825A - character input device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a character input device for inputting documents, such as a Japanese word processor or an English word processor.

2. Description of the Prior Art Structure and Problems In recent years, character input devices are being used in Japanese word processors, English word processors, etc., and are rapidly becoming popular. A conventional character input device will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an overview of a conventional character input device.

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a display section composed of a CRT or the like. 12 is a keyboard section for inputting characters and the like. Conventionally, as shown in the figure, the display section 11 and the keyboard section 12 have been separated, and an operator who is not skilled at manually pressing the keys from the keyboard section 12 can use the keyboard section 12 when manually pressing the keys.
There was a problem in that the user had to look at the screen and the display section 11 alternately, which resulted in severe fatigue.

Furthermore, depending on the keyboard unit 12 used, there may be problems such as the operator not being able to confirm whether or not a key has been pressed manually, and the operator making a small confirmation sound every time a key is pressed, which increases fatigue and spreads noise to the surrounding area. There was also a problem.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by providing a keyboard section and a display section on the same plane, so that even an operator who is not accustomed to key force can check the key force without feeling inconvenienced.
The object of the present invention is to provide a character input device that causes less fatigue.

Structure of the Invention In order to achieve this object, a character input device according to the present invention comprises a flat display, a transparent switch matrix in which transparent piezoelectric elements are arranged between electrodes superimposed on the screen of the flat display, and a transparent switch matrix of the transparent switch matrix. and an address determination unit that generates coordinate position information of each section,
Means is provided for vibrating the transparent piezoelectric element when the electrodes of the transparent switch matrix are closed.

With this configuration, the operator can operate the transparent switch matrix on the same plane as the flat display screen without having to move his/her line of sight significantly as in the conventional case, and the fatigue caused by manual keystrokes is reduced. 'Furthermore, when a section of the transparent switch matrix is pressed, the transparent piezoelectric element in the corresponding section vibrates, allowing the operator to confirm the key force without making any noise.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 shows the configuration of a character input device in an embodiment of the present invention. In Fig. 2, 21 is a central processing unit (hereinafter abbreviated as CPU), 22 is a main memory that stores programs and various data, and 23 is a character generator that generates character patterns such as alphanumeric characters, katakana, and kanji. do.

24 and 26 are transparent electrode films divided into a plurality of sections, and a transparent piezoelectric element 25 is sandwiched between the electrodes. 26 is a transparent piezoelectric element PLZT, which is a transparent electrode film 24. 26 (7) is divided into one-to-one correspondence with each section, and a resistor is placed on each side so that an appropriate voltage is applied to the PLZT 25. is applied. Reference numeral 27 denotes an address determination unit that generates coordinate position data corresponding to the section designated by the transparent electrode films 24 and 26. 28 is a flat display such as a liquid crystal or a flat CRT, which displays characters 2, figures, character keys, and the like. 30 is a display control unit that displays screen data stored in a video memory (hereinafter referred to as VRAM) 29 on the flat display 28. 2oO is a transparent switch matrix consisting of transparent electrode films 24 and 26 with PLZT 26 arranged between the electrodes.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the transparent switch matrix and address determining section. In FIG. 3, 24 and 26 are transparent electrode films, and a plurality of strip-shaped electrodes 24 and 26 are orthogonal to each other to form a switch matrix. 26 is a transparent piezoelectric element PLZT, which is arranged between the transparent electrode films 24 and 26 so that each small piece corresponds to one section of the transparent switch matrix, so that when a voltage is applied, an appropriate voltage is applied to the PLZT small piece. A resistor 36 is coated on the side surface. 28 is a flat display. 31 is a resistor whose resistance value is much smaller than the resistance value of the resistor 36 coated on the PLZT 25, and is driven by the microcomputer 33 and is connected to the modulating section 35. Transparent electrode film 24. Resistor 36. The current that has passed through the transparent electrode film 26 is passed to ground. 32 is a comparator,
The reference voltage value V RE F 37 is compared with the voltage value applied to the resistor 31 to inform the microcomputer 33 whether a certain electrode of the transparent electrode film 24, 26 is closed. 33 is a microcomputer that sequentially drives each strip electrode of the transparent polarizing film 24 one by one, detects whether the circuit with any electrode of the other transparent electrode film 26 is closed, and closes the circuit. Outputs the coordinate position data of the electrode. 34 is an AC power source 35 that supplies voltage to the modulation unit 35 at a frequency of about 10-odd Hz that is easily felt by humans;
microcomputer 33 due to voltage fluctuations in the frequency of
is a modulation unit that modulates the voltage that drives each electrode of the transparent electrode film 24, 36 is a resistor coated on the side surface of the PLZT 25, 37 is a terminal to which the reference voltage value vREF to be supplied to the comparator 32 is applied, and is a constant voltage power supply. Powered by. 38 is a transparent electrode film 2 only when pressed
The spacer is sandwiched between the transparent electrode film 24 and the PLZT 25 by a spacer made of a thin transparent insulating film with a window corresponding to the PLZT 25 in one-to-one correspondence so that the resistor 36 applied to the PLZT 25 comes into contact with the resistor 36 coated on the PLZT 25.

The operation of this embodiment configured as described above will be described below.

In FIG. 2, a character pattern is generated in a character generation section 23 based on display data created by a program and data in a CPU 21 and a main storage device 22, and the character pattern is transferred to a VRAM 29.
send to The VRAM 29 corresponds to the screen of the flat display 28, and when the contents of the VRAM 29 are changed, the displayed contents also change.

While viewing the content displayed on the flat display 28 in FIG. 3, the operator presses the transparent switch matrix 200 on the screen of the flat display 28.

In the transparent switch matrix 200, the electrode of the transparent electrode film 24 in the pressed section contacts the P L Z T 25, and is connected to the electrode of the other transparent electrode film 26 via the resistor 36 applied to the side surface thereof. close the circuit. The pressed electrode of the transparent electrode film 24 is the modulation part 33
P between the closed electrodes when driven with a voltage modulated by
Voltage is applied to L and ZT25, causing distortion, and P
A current flows through the resistor 3e applied to the side surface of the LZT 25. Current flows from the other electrode of the transparent electrode film 26 to the ground through the resistor 31 that connects each electrode to the ground. The voltage value across the resistor 31 is compared with a reference voltage value V RE p 37 by a comparator 32, and if it is greater than the reference voltage value V HE F 37, it informs the microcomputer 33 that the electrodes of the transparent switch matrix are closed. The microcomputer 33 determines which part of the transparent switch matrix is pressed based on the driven electrode and the detected electrode, and outputs coordinate position data.

Next, the microcomputer 33 controls the transparent electrode film 2
Drive 4 different electrodes. Therefore, the voltage applied to the PLZT 26 between the pressed electrodes becomes O, and the distortion increases.The microcomputer 33 drives all the electrodes of the transparent electrode film 24 one by one in this way, and drives the other one transparently.

The voltage that drives each electrode of the transparent electrode film 24 is modulated by the modulator 35, and
Each time the electrode of the transparent electrode film 24 that is pressed is driven, the voltage applied to the PLZT 25 between the electrodes changes.
The distortion occurring in PLZT25 also changes. When this distortion change is periodically performed about ten times per second, the operator can feel it as a vibration and can confirm the human force applied to the key.

FIG. 4 shows the relationship between the voltage output from the modulation section and driving the transparent electrode film and time. In FIG. 4, the vertical axis is the voltage value, and the horizontal axis is time, where the period of voltage change is 66 msec, the maximum value of the modulation voltage is 5 sq., and the minimum value is 1.6 sq. In this example, the voltage fluctuation occurs approximately 16 times per second, and the strain produced on the PLZT at the position of the pressed transparent electrode film also fluctuates, and this instantaneous fluctuation in strain is recognized by the operator as vibration. be done.

As described above, this embodiment includes a flat display and a transparent switch matrix in which a transparent piezoelectric element PLZT is sandwiched between electrodes, and by vibrating the PLZT at the position of the pressed transparent switch matrix,
Changes in the line of sight when the key is manually pressed are almost eliminated, and the operator can confirm the key's manual force through vibration, making it possible to eliminate noise and reduce operational fatigue.

Effects of the Invention As is clear from the above description, the character input device according to the present invention includes a flat display, a transparent switch matrix in which transparent piezoelectric elements are arranged between electrodes, and coordinate position data for each section of the transparent switch matrix. By providing a means for vibrating the transparent piezoelectric element located at the position of a certain electrode of the transparent switch matrix when the electrode of the transparent switch matrix is closed, fatigue of the operator when manually pressing the key is reduced. It can significantly reduce anxiety, and its effects are great.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional character input device, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a character input device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 3 shows the configuration of a transparent Suinoch matrix and an address determining section of the same device. 4 are waveform diagrams showing the relationship between the voltage output from the modulation section and time. 28...Flat display, 24.26...Transparent electrode film, 25...Transparent piezoelectric element PLZT, 3
1...Resistor, 32...Comparator, 33-...
-Microcomputer, 34 ・AC voltage source, 36・
...Modulation section, 2o○--Transparent switch matrix.

Claims (1)

[Claims] a flat display, a transparent switch matrix in which a transparent piezoelectric element is arranged between electrodes superimposed on a screen of the flat display, an address determination unit that generates coordinate position information of each section of the transparent switch matrix, and the transparent switch matrix. A character input device comprising means for vibrating the transparent piezoelectric element when the electrode is closed.