TWI872944B - Roller input device - Google Patents

Abstract

A roller input device includes a base, a roller module, a second magnetic element, and a movable element. The roller module is disposed on the base and includes a roller and a plurality of first magnetic elements. The first magnetic elements are located on one side of the roller and are arranged in a ring. The second magnetic element is fixed on the base and corresponds to one of the first magnetic elements. There is a space and a magnetic attraction force between the second magnetic element and the corresponding first magnetic element. The movable element is disposed on the base and can move between a first position and a second position, the movable element has a third magnetic element. Wherein, when the movable element is in the first position, the third magnetic element does not correspond to the second magnetic element. When the movable element is in the second position, the third magnetic element and the second magnetic element attract or repel each other to reduce the the magnetic attraction force.

Description

Scroll wheel input device

The present invention relates to an input device, and more particularly to a roller input device.

Generally, a computer is often equipped with a scroll wheel input device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, so that actions such as dragging, scrolling up and down pages, or switching menus can be performed through the scroll wheel input device.

The common scroll input device generally has a scroll wheel and an elastic member, wherein the scroll wheel body is provided with a tooth surface, and the elastic member abuts against the tooth surface on the scroll wheel body, so that the scroll wheel generates a segmented tactile sensation when it is operated to rotate, for example, the operator will feel a pause tactile sensation when the scroll wheel rotates one scale, and the screen page is scrolled a predetermined distance. However, this type of mechanical scroll input device still cannot meet certain usage situations, such as the need to scroll the scroll wheel for a long time or a long distance, or the need for a more delicate scrolling operation.

In view of the above, in one embodiment, a roller input device is provided, including a base, a roller module, a second magnetic member, and a movable member. The roller module is rotatably disposed on the base, and the roller module includes a roller and a plurality of first magnetic members, and the first magnetic members are located on one side of the roller and are arranged in a ring shape. The second magnetic member is fixed on the base and adjacent to the roller, and the second magnetic member corresponds to one of the first magnetic members, and a spacing space is maintained between the second magnetic member and the corresponding first magnetic member and has a magnetic attraction. The movable member is disposed on the base and can move between a first position and a second position relative to the base, and the movable member has a third magnetic member. When the movable part is at the first position, the third magnetic part does not correspond to the second magnetic part. When the movable part is at the second position, the third magnetic part and the second magnetic part attract or repel each other to reduce the magnetic attraction.

In summary, according to the roller input device of the embodiment of the present invention, the user can control the movable member to move to the first position or the second position to switch different operation modes. When the movable member is in the first position, the third magnetic member does not correspond to the second magnetic member, and does not affect the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member and the first magnetic member, so that when the roller rotates, the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member and the plurality of first magnetic members can change to generate a segmented touch, thereby achieving the advantages of avoiding mechanical errors, reducing operating noise, and reducing friction loss. When the movable member is in the second position, the third magnetic member and the second magnetic member attract or repel each other, so as to significantly reduce the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member and the first magnetic member, so that the scroll wheel does not generate resistance when rotating and can rotate quickly or perform more delicate operations, which is suitable for certain usage scenarios (for example, the scroll wheel needs to be rotated for a long time or a long distance, or a more delicate scrolling operation is required).

Various embodiments are presented below for detailed description. However, the embodiments are only used as examples and do not limit the scope of the invention. In addition, some elements are omitted in the drawings in the embodiments to clearly show the technical features of the invention. The same reference numerals will be used to represent the same or similar elements in all drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an application of an embodiment of the scroll wheel input device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an application of another embodiment of the scroll wheel input device of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the scroll wheel input device 1 can be an input device of a computer, used to control the computer page to perform actions (such as dragging, scrolling up and down pages, or switching menus). For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the scroll wheel input device 1 can be a mouse, or, as shown in FIG. 2, the scroll wheel input device 2 can also be a keyboard, which is not limited.

FIG3 is a perspective view of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention, FIG4 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention, FIG5 is a cross-sectional view of the movable member of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in a first position, and FIG6 is a cross-sectional view of the movable member of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in a second position. As shown in FIG1, FIG3 to FIG6, the roller input device 1 includes a base 10, a roller module 20, a second magnetic member 30, a movable member 40 and a housing 50, wherein the base 10, the roller module 20, the second magnetic member 30 and the movable member 40 can be disposed inside the housing 50 (as shown in FIG1).

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the roller module 20 is rotatably disposed on the base 10, that is, the roller module 20 can rotate relative to the base 10 when controlled by the user. For example, in this embodiment, the roller module 20 includes a roller 21 and a plurality of first magnetic members 25, and the base 10 has a roller seat 16, which is a hollow shell and has a groove 162, and a partial area (here, the lower half area) of the roller 21 is located in the groove 162, and the axis of the roller 21 is pivoted on the roller seat 16, so that the roller 21 can rotate relative to the base 10 and the roller seat 16 when controlled. In addition, referring to FIG. 1 , a partial area (the upper half area in this case) of the roller 21 of the roller module 20 can be exposed from the housing 50 of the roller input device 1 for user control.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , in this embodiment, the roller seat 16 has at least one bearing 161 (here, two bearings 161, but this is not limited), and the two bearings 161 are respectively disposed on opposite sides of the roller seat 16. The axis of the roller 21 has a shaft 212, and the two ends of the shaft 212 are respectively pivoted on the two bearings 161, so as to greatly reduce the friction generated by the roller 21 when rotating. In some embodiments, the bearing 161 can be a ball bearing, a needle bearing, or a roller bearing, but this is not limited.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , a plurality of first magnetic members 25 are located on one side of the roller 21 and are arranged in a ring shape, wherein the plurality of first magnetic members 25 can be directly arranged on the surface of the roller 21 or on other components connected to the roller 21. For example, in the present embodiment, the roller 21 has a side surface 211, and the plurality of first magnetic members 25 are arranged in a ring shape around the side surface 211, and the plurality of first magnetic members 25 are arranged at intervals from each other and do not contact each other. In addition, a local area of each first magnetic member 25 can be embedded into the interior of the roller 21 from the side surface 211 to reduce the overall thickness of the roller module 20, wherein the material of the side surface 211 of the roller 21 can be plastic or other non-magnetic materials.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the second magnetic member 30 is fixed on the base 10 and disposed adjacent to one side of the plurality of first magnetic members 25 disposed on the roller 21, and the second magnetic member 30 corresponds to one of the plurality of first magnetic members 25. For example, in the present embodiment, the base 10 has a carrier 17, the carrier 17 is located on the base 10, and the second magnetic member 30 is fixed on the carrier 17, but this is not limited, and the second magnetic member 30 can also be fixed on the base 10 by other means, for example, the second magnetic member 30 can be directly fixed to the roller seat 16 without the need to separately provide the carrier 17.

As shown in Figures 3 to 6, a spacing space S is maintained between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25, that is, the position of the second magnetic member 30 corresponds to the position of one of the first magnetic members 25, and there is a distance D between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25 (as shown in Figure 5, for example, the distance D can be 3mm, 5mm or 7mm, etc.), so that a spacing space S is formed between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25. In addition, the above-mentioned distance D can still have a magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25. For example, one of each first magnetic member 25 and the second magnetic member 30 can be a permanent magnet (such as a neodymium iron boron magnet or an aluminum nickel cobalt magnet), and the other can be a block made of a magnetically conductive material or a composite material such as iron, cobalt, nickel or silicon steel, so that there can be a magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25. Alternatively, both the first magnetic member 25 and the second magnetic member 30 can be permanent magnets and can also have the above-mentioned magnetic attraction.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 (FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line 5-5 of FIG. 3), during the rotation of the roller 21 relative to the base 10 and the roller seat 16, when the position of the second magnetic member 30 corresponds to the position of each first magnetic member 25, there is magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25, and the user can feel the touch of a pause. When the position of the second magnetic member 30 and the position of each first magnetic member 25 are misaligned, there is no magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and each first magnetic member 25. Therefore, during the rotation of the roller 21, the user can feel the segmented touch through the change of the magnetic attraction between the multiple first magnetic parts 25 and the second magnetic parts 30. Compared with the previous method through the mechanism, the embodiment of the present invention can achieve the advantages of avoiding mechanical errors, reducing operating noise and reducing friction loss.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6 , the movable member 40 is disposed on the base 10 and can move between a first position (as shown in FIG. 5 ) and a second position (as shown in FIG. 6 ) relative to the base 10, and the movable member 40 has a third magnetic member 45. The movable member 40 can move linearly or rotationally. For example, in this embodiment, the base 10 has a guide member 12, the guide member 12 has at least one guide rail 121 (here, two guide rails 121 arranged in parallel), the movable member 40 has at least one slider 401 (here, two sliders 401 arranged in parallel), the movable member 40 is slidably assembled on the guide rail 121 of the guide member 12 via the slider 401, so that the movable member 40 can move linearly relative to the guide member 12 and the base 10.

As shown in FIG. 5 , when the movable member 40 moves to the first position, the third magnetic member 45 is away from the second magnetic member 30 and the first magnetic member 25 , so that the position of the third magnetic member 45 does not correspond to the position of the second magnetic member 30 , and thus the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 will not attract or repel each other. When the user operates the roller 21 to rotate, the user can feel the segment touch through the change of the magnetic attraction between the multiple first magnetic members 25 and the second magnetic members 30 .

As shown in FIG. 6 , when the movable member 40 moves from the first position (as shown in FIG. 5 ) to the second position, the position of the third magnetic member 45 corresponds to the position of the second magnetic member 30 and generates an attraction or repulsion. Thus, the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25 can be greatly reduced by the attraction or repulsion between the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30, for example, the magnetic attraction can be reduced to less than 10% of the original. Therefore, the user can feel no resistance when operating the roller 21 to rotate, and can perform fast rotation or more delicate operations, so as to be suitable for certain usage situations (for example, the roller 21 needs to be scrolled for a long time or a long distance, or a more delicate scrolling operation is required).

As shown in FIG. 6 , when the movable member 40 is in the second position, the third magnetic member 45 of the movable member 40 may be located in the spacing space S between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25, so that the third magnetic member 45 is blocked between the second magnetic member 30 and the first magnetic member 25. In addition, when the movable member 40 is in the second position, there may be a distance D1 between the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30, and there may be a distance D2 between the third magnetic member 45 and the first magnetic member 25, and the distance D1 is smaller than the distance D2, for example, the distance D1 may be 0.1 mm, 0.3 mm or 0.5 mm, etc., or the distance D1 may be 0 so that the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 are in contact with each other. Thus, through the above-mentioned spacing configuration, it can be further ensured that the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 produce an attraction or repulsion effect on each other, so as to reduce the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the first magnetic member 25. In other words, the magnetic attraction generated by the first magnetic member 25 and the second magnetic member 30 when the movable member 40 is in the second position (as shown in FIG. 6) will be much smaller than the magnetic attraction generated when the movable member 40 is in the first position (as shown in FIG. 5), so that the roller 21 can rotate quickly during operation. In addition, as shown in FIG. 5, when the movable member 40 moves from the second position (as shown in FIG. 6) to the first position, the third magnetic member 45 will be far away from the spacing space S, so that the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25 restore the original magnetic attraction, so the user can feel the segment touch when operating the roller 21 to rotate.

In some embodiments, when the movable member 40 is in the second position, the third magnetic member 45 may not be located in the spacing space S between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25. For example, the third magnetic member 45 may be located close to or in contact with the side of the second magnetic member 30 away from the first magnetic member 25, and the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 may also be able to attract or repel each other.

In some embodiments, one of the second magnetic member 30 and the third magnetic member 45 may be a permanent magnet (such as a neodymium iron boron magnet or an aluminum nickel cobalt magnet), and the other may be a block made of a magnetically conductive material or a composite material such as iron, cobalt, nickel or silicon steel, so that the second magnetic member 30 and the third magnetic member 45 can attract each other. Alternatively, both the second magnetic member 30 and the third magnetic member 45 may be permanent magnets.

Thus, when the scroll input device 1 is in use, the user can freely select the control feel of the scroll wheel 21 by controlling the movable member 40 to move to the first position or the second position. As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3 , in this embodiment, the housing 50 of the scroll input device 1 has a through hole 51, and the movable member 40 has a control portion 42, which can be movably disposed in the through hole 51, so that the user can control the movable member 40 to move through the control portion 42 to switch the operation feel of the scroll wheel 21.

In addition, the embodiment of the present invention switches the control feel of the roller 21 by the attraction or repulsion between the second magnetic member 30 and the third magnetic member 45, rather than the assembly and coordination between multiple mechanisms. Therefore, the roller input device 1 can allow a larger error during manufacturing or assembly, thereby improving the quality and yield of the roller input device 1.

As shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , in this embodiment, the movable member 40 has an extension plate 43, the extension plate 43 has a groove 431, the groove 431 has an opening 432, and when the movable member 40 is in the second position (as shown in FIG. 6 ), the extension plate 43 is located in the spacing space S between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25, and the opening 432 of the groove 431 faces the second magnetic member 30, and the third magnetic member 45 is disposed in the groove 431. Thus, when the movable member 40 is in the second position, the extension plate 43 of the movable member 40 can block between the third magnetic member 45 and the first magnetic member 25, and the second magnetic member 30 and the third magnetic member 45 will not be blocked and can more easily attract or repel each other.

In some embodiments, at least two of the sizes of the first magnetic members 25, the second magnetic members 30, and the third magnetic members 45 are different, so as to adjust the magnetic force of the first magnetic members 25, the second magnetic members 30, and the third magnetic members 45 by changing the sizes. For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 , the first magnetic member 25 has a first surface 251 facing the second magnetic member 30, the second magnetic member 30 has a second surface 301 facing the first surface 251, and the third magnetic member 45 has a third surface 451 facing the second magnetic member 30, wherein the area of the second surface 301 may be larger than the area of the first surface 251, and the area of the third surface 451 may be larger than the area of the second surface 301. Alternatively, in some embodiments, if the first surface 251, the second surface 301 and the third surface 451 are all circular, the diameter of the third surface 451 may be larger than the diameter of the second surface 301, and the diameter of the second surface 301 may be larger than the diameter of the first surface 251, so that the area of the second surface 301 is larger than the area of the first surface 251, and the area of the third surface 451 is larger than the area of the second surface 301.

Alternatively, at least two of the volumes of the first magnetic members 25, the second magnetic members 30, and the third magnetic members 45 may be different from each other, so that the magnetic forces of the first magnetic members 25, the second magnetic members 30, and the third magnetic members 45 are different. For example, in the present embodiment, the first magnetic members 25, the second magnetic members 30, and the third magnetic members 45 are all cubes, and the volume of the second magnetic member 30 is larger than the volume of the first magnetic member 25, so that the magnetic force of the second magnetic member 30 is larger than the magnetic force of the first magnetic member 25. The volume of the first magnetic member 25 is larger than the volume of the third magnetic member 45, so that the magnetic force of the first magnetic member 25 is larger than the magnetic force of the third magnetic member 45, but this is not limited.

Thus, the embodiment of the present invention can adjust the size of each first magnetic member 25, second magnetic member 30 and third magnetic member 45 according to actual use requirements (such as the required torque of the roller 21). For example, the size of the first magnetic member 25 can be larger than the size of the second magnetic member 30, and the size of the second magnetic member 30 can be larger than the size of the third magnetic member 45, so that the magnetic force of the first magnetic member 25 is greater than the magnetic force of the second magnetic member 30, and the magnetic force of the second magnetic member 30 is greater than the magnetic force of the third magnetic member 45. Thus, when the movable member 40 is located in the first position, different segment touches can be generated in the process of the user controlling the rotation of the roller 21.

FIG7 is a perspective view of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention, FIG8 is an exploded perspective view of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention, FIG9 is a side view of the movable part of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in a first position, FIG10 is a side view of the movable part of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in a second position, and FIG11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG10 along line segment 11-11.

As shown in Figures 7 to 10, the difference between this embodiment and the above-mentioned first embodiment is at least that the moving method of the movable member 40 is different and the setting positions of the multiple first magnetic members 25 are different. The base 10 of this embodiment has a pivot 15, and the pivot 15 has a pivot 151. The movable member 40A has a pivot portion 41, and the pivot portion 41 is pivoted on the pivot 151 of the pivot 15, so that the movable member 40A can be swung to a first position (as shown in Figure 9) or a second position (as shown in Figure 10) relative to the pivot 15 and the base 10. In addition, in the present embodiment, the roller module 20 further has an extension piece 22, in which the extension piece 22 is a circular plate, and the size of the extension piece 22 is smaller than the size of the roller 21, the extension piece 22 is connected to the side surface 211 of the roller 21 and the extension piece 22 and the roller 21 are coaxially arranged, and a plurality of first magnetic pieces 25 are arranged in a ring shape around the extension piece 22 instead of being directly arranged on the roller 21, so that when the user controls the roller 21 to rotate, the extension piece 22 can be driven to rotate synchronously.

9 , when the movable member 40A is swung to the first position, the third magnetic member 45 can also be away from the second magnetic member 30 and the first magnetic member 25, so that the position of the third magnetic member 45 does not correspond to the position of the second magnetic member 30, so the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 will not produce an attraction or repulsion effect. When the user operates the roller 21 to rotate, the user can feel the segment touch through the change of the magnetic attraction force between the multiple first magnetic members 25 and the second magnetic members 30. As shown in Figures 10 and 11, when the movable member 40A is swung from the first position to the second position, the third magnetic member 45 of the movable member 40A can also correspond to the position of the second magnetic member 30 to produce attraction or repulsion. For example, the third magnetic member 45 and the second magnetic member 30 can contact each other or maintain the aforementioned distance D1 (such as 0.1mm, 0.3mm or 0.5mm, etc.), thereby greatly reducing the magnetic attraction between the second magnetic member 30 and the corresponding first magnetic member 25, so that the user can feel no resistance when operating the roller 21 to rotate.

Although the technical content of the present invention has been disclosed as above with the preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any slight changes and modifications made by anyone skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the present invention should be included in the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention shall be subject to the scope defined by the attached patent application.

1,2: roller input device 10: base 12: guide member 121: guide rail 15: pivot member 151: pivot shaft 16: roller seat 161: bearing 162: groove 17: carrier 20: roller module 21: roller 211: side surface 212: shaft 22: extension member 25: first magnetic member 251: first surface 30: second magnetic member 301: second surface 40,40A: movable member 401: slider 41: pivot part 42: control part 43: extension plate 431: groove 432: opening 45: third magnetic member 451: Third surface 50: Housing 51: Through hole S: Spacing space D, D1, D2: Spacing

FIG. 1 is an application schematic diagram of an embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an application schematic diagram of another embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a three-dimensional diagram of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a disassembled three-dimensional diagram of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the movable part of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in the first position. FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the movable part of the first embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in the second position. FIG. 7 is a three-dimensional diagram of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a disassembled three-dimensional diagram of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention. FIG. 9 is a side view of the movable member of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in the first position. FIG. 10 is a side view of the movable member of the second embodiment of the roller input device of the present invention in the second position. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 10 along line segment 11-11.

1: Scroll wheel input device

10: Base

12: Guide piece

121:Guide rails

16: Roller seat

161: Bearings

162: Groove

17: Carrier

20: Roller module

21: Scroll wheel

211: Side

212: Shaft

25: First magnetic part

30: Second magnetic part

301: Second surface

40:Active parts

401: Slider

42: Control Department

43: Extension plate

431: Groove

432: Open mouth

45: The third magnetic part

451: Third surface

Claims (11)

A roller input device includes: a base; a roller module rotatably disposed on the base, the roller module including a roller and a plurality of first magnetic members, the first magnetic members are located on one side of the roller and are arranged in a ring shape; a second magnetic member is fixed on the base and adjacent to the roller, and the second magnetic member corresponds to one of the first magnetic members, and a space is maintained between the second magnetic member and the corresponding first magnetic member and has a magnetic attraction; and a movable member, which is disposed on the base and can selectively move between a first position and a second position relative to the base, and the movable member has a third magnetic member; wherein, when the movable member is in the first position, the third magnetic member does not correspond to the second magnetic member; when the movable member is in the second position, the third magnetic member and the second magnetic member attract or repel each other to reduce the magnetic attraction, and when the movable member is in the second position, the third magnetic member is located in the space. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein when the movable member is in the second position, the distance between the third magnetic member and the second magnetic member is smaller than the distance between the second magnetic member and the corresponding first magnetic member. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the base has a guide member, and the movable member can be slidably disposed on the guide member. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the base has a pivoting member, the movable member has a pivoting portion, and the pivoting portion is pivotally mounted on the pivoting member. The roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the movable member has an extension plate, the extension plate has a groove, the groove has an opening, when the movable member is in the second position, the opening of the groove faces the second magnetic member, and the third magnetic member is disposed in the groove. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein at least two of the sizes of the first magnetic member, the second magnetic member, and the third magnetic member are different. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein at least two of the magnetic forces of the first magnetic member, the second magnetic member, and the third magnetic member are different. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the roller has a side surface, and the first magnetic members are arranged in a ring shape on the side surface. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the roller module has an extension member, the extension member is located on one side of the roller and is coaxially arranged with the roller, and the first magnetic members are arranged on the extension member. The roller input device as described in claim 1 further includes an outer shell, the base, the roller module, the second magnetic member and the movable member are arranged inside the outer shell, the outer shell has a through hole, and the movable member has a control part, and the control part can be movably disposed in the through hole. A roller input device as described in claim 1, wherein the base has a roller seat, the roller seat has a bearing, the roller has a shaft, and the shaft is pivoted on the bearing.

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