TWI448929B - Pointing device - Google Patents

Description

Pointing device

The present invention relates to a pointing device, and more particularly to a pointing device having a dimensional sensing dimension.

Pointing devices are commonly used in computing devices for selecting and controlling the position of a cursor on a computer display as a interface between the user and the operating system of the computer.

In the case of a desktop computer, the mouse is a currently preferred pointing device, which is a hand-held object, and is moved by a flat surface near the keyboard to determine the cursor in the direction and distance of the mouse movement. The direction and distance of movement on the display, to achieve the effect of controlling the upstream movement of the computer display.

One or more buttons on top of the mouse allow the user to make various selections. When the workspace is not large enough to provide a path over which the mouse can move and adjust the cursor's ideal movement on the display, the user can pick up the mouse and return the mouse to the center of the workspace. However, when the work area is not large enough to provide a path for the mouse to move over and accommodate a desired cursor movement on the display, the user must pick up the mouse and return it to the center of the workspace. Can continue the above actions.

In the case of a notebook computer, in addition to using a touch pad as a pointing device, it is also possible to control the movement of the cursor by using a tracing button placed at the center of the keyboard (for example, IBM TrackPoint TM). Simply put, it applies a lateral force to the top of the button by a finger so that the button can be moved in a manner similar to a "joystick" to achieve the pointing effect. However, this button can only be moved a small amount, so the displacement of the button cannot be directly mapped to a displacement in the upstream position of the display. Moreover, the displacement of the button controls the direction and speed of movement of the cursor, that is, using such speed control, the accuracy of the user's ability to position the cursor is significantly less than the accuracy achieved with a conventional mouse. In other words, the user must increase his or her sensitivity to control the muscles of the hand to accurately control the movement of the cursor. This situation often creates significant limitations in tasks that require small, precise movements, such as drawing in a computer graphics program.

The present invention provides a pointing device that has better handling.

An embodiment of the invention provides a pointing device that includes a substrate, a flexible carrier, and a plurality of sensors. The substrate has a reference plane. The flexible carrier is erected on the substrate and has a three-dimensional shape with respect to a reference plane. The flexible carrier has a force applying portion and a plurality of bearing portions that are interlocked with each other. The force applying portion is above the substrate, and the bearing portion is between the substrate and the force applying portion.

An embodiment of the invention provides a pointing device that includes a substrate, a flexible carrier, and a plurality of sensors. The flexible carrier is erected on the substrate. The flexible carrier has at least three pins that connect the substrates, and a force applying portion and at least three carrier portions that are interlocked with each other. The sum of the distances of the urging portions with respect to the joints of the respective pins and the substrate is greater than the sum of the orthographic projections of the urging portions on the substrate with respect to the distance between the respective pins and the substrate.

In an embodiment of the invention, the flexible carrier has at least three pins erected on the substrate. Each pin has a load-bearing portion, and the force-applying portion is at the intersection of the pins.

In an embodiment of the invention, the orthographic projections of any two of the above-mentioned pins on the reference plane are not collinear with each other.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the load bearing locations is at a bend of the pin.

In an embodiment of the invention, the flexible carrier is a dome or ellipse dome structure that is erected on a substrate.

In one embodiment of the invention, the flexible carrier described above has four pins that are crossed.

In an embodiment of the invention, the sensor is a carbon nano-tube (CNT) film or a carbon nano-fiber (CNF) film.

In an embodiment of the invention, a control unit is further included, and the sensor is electrically connected. When an external force is applied to the urging portion, the control unit receives the piezoresistive signal of the sensor and calculates a biasing force of the external force with respect to the urging portion.

In an embodiment of the invention, each of the pins has an arcuate profile with respect to the substrate. Each bearing location is at the greatest curvature of the curved profile.

Based on the above, in the above-described embodiment of the present invention, the flexible carrier provided on the substrate and having a three-dimensional shape, and the sensor disposed on the flexible carrier are used to allow the user to apply flexibility. When the urging portion of the carrier is applied, the sensor can sense the deformation of the flexible carrier to generate a piezoresistive signal and calculate the relative position of the urging portion and its moving tendency, so the flexible carrier and the same The upper sensor can be used as a stereoscopic pointing device.

The above described features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description.

1 is a schematic diagram of the operation of a pointing device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged view of the pointing device of Fig. 1. 3 is a block diagram showing electrical connections of the pointing device of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 3 simultaneously, in the present embodiment, the pointing device 100 includes a substrate 110, a flexible carrier 120, a plurality of sensors 130, and a control unit 140. The substrate 110 can be a rigid member having a reference plane P1. The flexible carrier 120 is erected on the substrate 110 and has a three-dimensional shape with respect to the reference plane P1, and the flexible carrier 120 has a force applying portion 122 and four pins 124, wherein the pins 124 are respectively connected to the reference plane P1.

In this embodiment, the flexible carrier 120 may be made of a high molecular polymer, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)... Or, a flexible sheet made of a metal material, and the pins 124 are fixed to the substrate 110, and the force applying portion 122 is kept at a distance from the reference plane P1 of the substrate 110, and then formed with respect to the reference plane P1. Three-dimensional structure. Here, the user applies force to the pointing device 100 on the biasing portion 122 of the flexible carrier 120 to control the direction and speed of movement of the cursor C1 on the display 200 in the computer system 10.

In the flexible carrier 120 of the present embodiment, the sum of the distances of the urging portions 122 relative to the junctions of the pins 124 and the substrate 110 is greater than the orthographic projection of the urging portion 122 on the substrate 110 relative to each The sum of the distances at which the pins 124 are connected to the substrate 110. In other words, after the flexible carrier 120 is mounted on the substrate 110, it will substantially have the ability to deform in any direction in the space above the reference plane P1, that is, from the structure, The interlocking relationship between the different positions on the pins 124 of the flexible carrier 120 is maintained.

In the present embodiment, the flexible carrier 120 further has a plurality of bearing portions 126 corresponding to the pins 124. In the embodiment, the four pins 124 are respectively disposed corresponding to the four pins 124. And the bearing portion 126 is located at the bend of the pin 124. Furthermore, the sensor 130 is, for example, a carbon nano-tube (CNT) film or a carbon nano-fiber (CNF) film, which can be disposed on the carrier of each pin 124 in a coating manner. On section 126. The control unit 140 is electrically connected to the sensor 124.

Accordingly, when an external force is applied to the urging portion 122, each of the pins 124 is deformed, and the interlocking relationship between the bearing portion 126 and the urging portion 122 allows the respective sensors 130 to sense the pins. A piezoresistive signal is generated by the amount of deformation of 124. When these piezoresistive signals are transmitted to the control unit 140 and subjected to logic analysis and calculation, the tendency of the force applied by the force applying portion 122 (ie, the magnitude and direction of the external force is analyzed) can be obtained, thereby achieving the pointing effect. Here, the piezoresistive signal refers to an electronic signal generated when the resistance of the sensor 124 is changed due to a change in its resistance value.

In the present embodiment, the flexible carrier 120 has four pins 124 that intersect in a cross, and the pins 124 have a dome or ellipse dome profile with respect to the reference plane P1. The force applying portion 122 is located at the intersection of the pins 124 so that the external force can deform the four pins 124 at the same time. Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the pointing device of Figure 2 taken along plane P2. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 4 at the same time, further, if the pin 124 is cut by an orthogonal plane P2 of the reference plane P1, the cross-sectional profile of the pin 124 on the orthogonal plane P2 is arc-shaped. (arch), and the bearing portion 126 is located at the maximum curvature of each of the curved legs 124, so that the sensor 130 disposed on the carrying portion 126 can more sensitively sense the deformation amount of the bearing portion 126, thereby generating The piezoresistive signal is transmitted to the control unit 140 that is electrically connected to the sensor 130.

However, this embodiment does not limit the length, number, and position of the pins 124 on the substrate. In another embodiment of the present invention, the flexible carrier may include three pins, and the orthographic projection on the substrate is equiangularly distributed (ie, the orthographic projection of any two pins on the substrate) The angle between the two is 120 degrees). Moreover, in another embodiment of the present invention, the lengths of the pins are not the same, and the flexible carrier is on an inclined plane. In addition, in another embodiment of the present invention, the urging portion is not seated at the intersection of the pins, and conversely, the connecting portions are connected by a connecting member to generate the urging portion. It can interact with the bearing part. Accordingly, under the premise that the flexible carrier can be subjected to three-dimensional deformation on each of the pins due to the force, the designer can appropriately change the correlation of the flexible carrier according to the use requirements of the pointing device. Setting method.

The pressure mode of the pointing device 100 will be described below by way of an embodiment. Figure 5 is a plan view of the pointing device of Figure 2; 6A and FIG. 6B are respectively schematic diagrams showing changes in resistance when the pointing device of FIG. 5 is subjected to a biasing force. In the present embodiment, only the change in resistance of the sensors 130A, 130B at the two pins 124A, 124B is taken as an illustration. When the urging portion 122 receives the external force F1, the resistance change amount generated by the sensors 130A and 130B is as shown in FIG. 6A, and when the urging portion 122 receives the external force F2, the resistance change amount generated by the sensors 130A and 130B is generated. As shown in Figure 6B. In FIG. 6A, it represents the amount of deformation of the flexible carrier 120 at the pin 124A by the external force F1, which is greater than the amount of deformation at the pin 124B, and in FIG. 6B, the external force F2 is applied to the flexible carrier 120 at the pin 124B. The amount of deformation at the location is greater than the amount of deformation at the pin 124A. It can be inferred that no matter where the force is directed, it can deform the pin 124, and the sensor 130 on the pin 124 senses a different amount of resistance change. Therefore, by analyzing the deformation amount of the flexible carrier 120 under various pressure mode conditions, the force application direction of the force applying portion 122 can be obtained to achieve the pointing effect.

In general, the measurable range of the existing strain gauge is between 10 ^-6 and 10 ^-3 (here, the numerical value is expressed by the strain defined by the amount of deformation/original length of the sensing object). In contrast, the measurement range of the carbon nanotubes can be more than 10 ^-2 or more. Therefore, the energy measured by the sensor 130 of the present embodiment ranges from 10 ^-2 to 10 ^-3 . In other words, the pointing device 100 of the present embodiment can be applied by the material characteristics of the sensor 130, that is, it can withstand a large amount of deformation.

In addition, since the flexible carrier 120 is a three-dimensional structure with respect to the reference plane P1, in addition to the above-described pointing effect in the two-dimensional space (ie, the plane P1 of FIG. 2), the sensor 130 can be made The shape change of the pin 124 in the height direction (i.e., the direction of the vertical plane P1 in Fig. 2) was measured. Here, the external force F1 of Fig. 5 is taken as an example, and Fig. 7 is a side view of the pointing device of Fig. 5. Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the strain of the pointing device of Fig. 7 when subjected to a force. It can be seen from FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 that the component force F _{Z of the} external force F1 in the Z-axis direction causes deformation of the pin 124 along the Z-axis (as shown by the dotted line in FIG. 7 ), so that it can be flexibly The magnitude of the strain generated by the carrier 120 in the Z-axis is converted to the speed at which the display 200 is marked to move upstream, that is, when the user increases the force F _Z along the Z-axis when applying the external force F1, the cursor can be made C1 accelerates in the direction of the external force F1. Accordingly, it is more convenient for the user to control the movement of the cursor C1 by the pointing device 100.

In summary, in the above embodiment of the present invention, a flexible carrier that is erected on the substrate and has a three-dimensional shape, and a sensor disposed on the flexible carrier are used to allow the user to apply force. When the urging portion of the flexible carrier is applied, the sensor can sense the three-dimensional deformation of the flexible carrier to generate a piezoresistive signal and calculate the relative position of the urging portion and its moving tendency. This eliminates the need for additional rigid bodies as the medium for manipulating the strain gauges, allowing the flexible carrier and the sensor thereon to act as a stereoscopic pointing device.

Furthermore, the pointing device of the present invention can be deformed in a three-dimensional space by a flexible carrier as compared with a conventional pointing device made by a planar strain sensing method, and the sensor has a wide range of sensors. The sensing range allows the user to control the movement state of the cursor without having to intentionally adjust the magnitude and direction of the force applied to the pointing device, that is, the user can more conveniently operate the pointing device of the present invention.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

10. . . computer system

100. . . Pointing device

110. . . Substrate

120. . . Flexible carrier

122. . . Force department

124, 124A, 124B. . . Pin

126. . . Carrying part

130, 130A, 130B. . . Sensor

140. . . control unit

200. . . monitor

C1. . . cursor

F1, F2. . . external force

P1. . . Datum plane

P2. . . Orthogonal plane

1 is a schematic diagram of the operation of a pointing device in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial enlarged view of the pointing device of Fig. 1.

3 is a block diagram showing electrical connections of the pointing device of FIG. 1.

Figure 4 is a partial cross-sectional view of the pointing device of Figure 2 taken along plane P2.

Figure 5 is a plan view of the pointing device of Figure 2;

6A and FIG. 6B are respectively schematic diagrams showing changes in resistance when the pointing device of FIG. 5 is subjected to a biasing force.

Figure 7 is a side elevational view of the pointing device of Figure 5.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view showing the strain of the pointing device of Fig. 7 when subjected to a force.

110. . . Substrate

120. . . Flexible carrier

122. . . Force department

124. . . Pin

126. . . Carrying part

130. . . Sensor

P1. . . Datum plane

P2. . . Orthogonal plane

Claims (16)

A pointing device comprising: a substrate having a reference plane; a flexible carrier erected on the substrate and having a three-dimensional shape relative to the reference plane, the flexible carrier having a force applying portion in conjunction with each other And a plurality of bearing portions, the force applying portion is above the substrate, the bearing portions are between the substrate and the urging portion; and a plurality of sensors are respectively disposed on the corresponding bearing portions, and an external force is suitable The urging portion is applied to change the three-dimensional shape of the flexible carrier, and the sensors sense the shape change of the bearing portions in a three-dimensional space. The pointing device of claim 1, wherein the flexible carrier has at least three pins erected on the substrate, each of the pins having a carrying portion, and the applying portion is at the pins The meeting place. The pointing device of claim 2, wherein the orthographic projections of any two of the pins on the reference plane are not collinear with each other. The pointing device of claim 2, wherein each of the bearing portions is at a bend of the pin. The pointing device of claim 4, wherein the flexible carrier is a dome-shaped structure that is erected on the substrate. The pointing device of claim 2, wherein the flexible carrier has four pins that are crossed. The pointing device of claim 1, wherein the sensor is a carbon nano-tube (CNT) film or a carbon nano-fiber (CNF) film. The pointing device of claim 7, further comprising: a control unit electrically connected to the sensors, the control unit accepting the sensors when the external force is applied to the force applying portion The piezoresistive signal is calculated and the biasing force of the external force with respect to the urging portion is calculated. A pointing device comprising: a substrate; a flexible carrier erected on the substrate, the flexible carrier having at least three pins connected to the substrate, and a force applying portion and at least three interlocking with each other a bearing portion, wherein a sum of a distance of the urging portion relative to a junction of each of the pins and the substrate is greater than a distance between an orthographic projection of the urging portion on the substrate relative to a junction of each of the pins and the substrate And at least three sensors are respectively disposed on the corresponding carriers. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein each of the bearing portions is between the force applying portion and the corresponding pin. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein the force applying portion is at the intersection of the pins. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein the orthographic projections of any two of the pins on the substrate are not collinear with each other. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein each of the pins has an arcuate profile with respect to the substrate, each of the bearing portions having a maximum curvature of the arcuate profile. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein the flexible carrier has four pins that are crossed. The pointing device of claim 9, wherein the sensor is a carbon nanotube film or a nano carbon film. The pointing device of claim 15, further comprising: a control unit electrically connected to the sensors, the control unit receiving the piezoresistive signals of the sensors and calculating the external force relative to the application Force exertion trend.