TABLET TYPE COORDINATE INPUT APPARATUS USING ELASTIC WAVES

Abstract: A tablet type coordinate input apparatus comprises a flat medium (1) for propagating a longitudinal elastic wave, longitudinal elastic wave detecting elements (2a - 2d) disposed on part of the end-adjacent side surfaces or of the front surface of the flat medium, a longitudinal elastic wave input member (3) having an end portion (10) terminating in a sharp-pointed end (12) and brought into pressure engage­ ment at that end with any disired position on the surface of the flat medium to radiate the longitudinal elastic wave from that end, an amplifier circuit (5a) amplifying electrical signals indicative of the elastic wave detected by the detecting elements, a comparator circuit (5b) comparing the signals amplified by the amplifier circuit with a predetermined threshold voltage thereby generating delay pulse signals corresponding to the propagation times of the longitudinal elastic wave, a counter circuit (6) counting the lengths of time elapsed from the time of radiation of the longitudinal elastic wave toward the flat medium as a result of pressure engagement of the input member therewith to the time of generation of the delay pulse signals, and a computing circuit (7) computing the coordinates on the basis of the time signals applied from the counter circuit.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a tablet type coordinate input apparatus of the kind referred to in the preamble-portion of patent claim 1. Such an apparatus is known from EP-A-0 107 922. Various types of coordinate input apparatuses of this kind have been proposed hitherto and include (i) an aerial propagation type, (ii) a surface elastic wave type and (iii) a plate wave type. The apparatuses of these types are disclosed in IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTERS, Jun. 1970, pp. 546-548; IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRONIC COMPUTERS, Oct. 1964, pp. 609-611; and IEEE 1981 ULTRASONIC SYMPOSIUM, pp. 167-170, respectively. The apparatus of the type (i) is greatly affected by the environmental conditions including the temperature, and, therefore, correction of the adverse effect is required Also, due to the fact that the apparatus is directly affected by an obstruction such as the hand of the user, the apparatus cannot be used in a mode equivalent to the usual handwriting operation thereby giving a feeling of physical disorder to the user. In the case of the apparatus of the type (ii) too, the position of the input pen cannot be accurately identified when the user's hand touches the tablet, thereby giving also a feeling of physical disorder to the user. Although this type is suitable for application to a selective menu input apparatus applying an input by the finger touch, difficulty is encountered for its application to a tablet where a handwritten character or pattern is its input. The apparatus of the type (iii) is free from the defects of the two types (i) and (ii) described above, and the usual handwriting operation is possible. Transparent tablets utilizing this type and having a liquid crystal display unit and an EL display unit integrally combined therewith are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 56-101278 and 58-14247 respectively. However, in the case of this type, difficulty is encountered for attainig stable and effective signal transmission and reception. This is because a plate wave whose propagation velocity is slightly lower than that of a longtudinal elastic wave is inevitably affected by the longtudinal elastic wave propagating earlier than that, and its phase changes inevitably with the increase in the propagation distance. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 56-101278 discloses a tablet in the form of a plate of an acrylic resin. The acrylic resin is a material in which sound propagates at a low velocity, and the tablet of this material has the advantage of improving the resolution. On the other hand, however, the large attenuation constant results in a complicated method for accurately detecting the propagation time of the plate wave, and the size of the tablet itself is restricted correspondingly. EP-A-0 107 922 discloses a tablet type coordinate input apparatus using elastic waves, comprising flat-plate-shaped medium means for propagating elastic waves therethrough; elastic wave input means having a tip end which can be freely brought into pressure engagement with the surface of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) at any desired position thereon to radiate elastic waves from said tip end detecting means provided on side surfaces of ends or parts of a surface of said medium means for detecting a leading wave of longitudinal one of elastic waves; and means for receiving electrical signals indicative of the leading longitudinal elastic wave detected by said detecting means as a result of radiation of said elastic wave to provide information of the identified engaging position of said input means. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a tablet type coordinate input apparatus and a method in which the position of an input pen can be detected with high accuracy and high resolution at any position on an input medium, which permits the application of an input with usual handwriting operation without being adversely affected by the touch of the user's hand with the input medium and which can easily realize a display apparatus combined with an input apparatus in spite of a simple construction. These objects are achieved with the apparatus as claimed. Dependent claims are directed on features of preferred embodiments. The detecting means are preferrably disposed at the corners of the side surfaces of the flat medium means. The end portion of the elastic wave input means is made of a material having an acoustic impedance substantially equal to that of the material forming the flat medium means. The means for providing the information of the identified engaging position of the input means includes an amplifier circuit amplifying the electrical signals, a comparator circuit comparing the signals amplified by the amplifier circuit with a predetermined threshold voltage thereby generating delay pulse signal correspond to the propagation time of the longitudinal elastic wave, a counter circuit counting the length of time elapsed from the time of radiation of the longitudinal elastic wave to the time of generation of the delay pulse signals, and a computing circuit computing the coordinates on the basis of the time signals applied from the counter circuit. The elastic wave input means is in the form of a wave-guide rod of axial symmetry. One of the ends of the wave-guide rod is sharp-pointed and is freely brought into pressure engagement with any desired position on the surface of the flat medium means, while, the other end of the wave-guide rod has a planar shape perpendicular to the symmetrical axis of the wave-guide rod. According to the present invention which utilizes the longitudinal elastic wave propagating throught the input medium means, a touch on the input medium means by the hand of the user does not adversely affect the identification of the input position, and the input means can be actuated by the usual handwriting operation. Further, both the elastic wave incidence efficiency and the transmission-reception efficiency can be improved so that the longitudinal elastic wave can be detected with high accuracy. Further, since any specific region giving rise to generation of a mal-input is not present on the input medium means, the input position of the wave input means can be detected with high accuracy and high resolution at any position on the input medium means. Furthermore, the input medium means can be formed of a transparent material so that a display apparatus combined with an input apparatus can be easily provided. Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjuntion with the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the structure of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of part of Fig. 1. Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate the basic principle of propagation of an elastic wave. Figs. 5 and 6 illustrate the manner of detection of the elastic wave. Figs. 7A and 7B show one form of the manner of time counting according to the present invention. Fig. 8 illustrates how the coordinates of the display pen or input pen are computed. Fig. 9 illustrates the propagation delay time. Fig. 10 shows the structure of an embodiment of a composite writable apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 11 shows the results of simulation to illustrate the effect of the composite structure employed in Fig. 10. Fig. 12 shows the structure of another embodiment of the composite writable apparatus according to the present invention. Fig. 13 shows another embodiment of the present invention including an improved input pen. Fig. 14 is an enlarged view of part of the input pen shown in Fig. 13. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Fig. 1 shows the structure of an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. Referring to Fig. 1, input medium means 1 is in the form of a flat plate of a transparent material such as glass. A display unit 9 is disposed on the near surface of the input medium means 1. Input means 3 is in the form of, for example, an input pen or display pen having built-in means for generating a longitudinal elastic wave. One end of the display pen 3 is sharp-pointed, and a longitudinal elastic wave is radiated from this sharp-pointed end as described later. By the provision of the sharp-pointed end, the radiated elastic wave has a very large energy density which improves the efficiency of elastic wave radiation. Piezoelectric elements 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d acting as longitudinal wave detecting means are disposed at the marginal end portions of the transparent flat plate 1 repectively. These longitudinal wave detecting elements 2a to 2d detect the longitudinal elastic wave propagating through the transparent flat plate 1 and generate electrical signals. The display unit 9 is capable of displaying any patterns and characters and is, for example, a liquid crystal display. Under command of a display drive circuit 8, a pattern drawn by the display pen 3 on the transparent flat plate 1 is displayed on the display unit 9. Thus, a pattern being drawn by the display pen 3 is immediately displayed on the display unit 9. The length of time elapsed from the time of drawing to the time of display is very short so that the user can observe the pattern display while drawing the pattern by the display pen 3. Processing between the time of drawing and the time of display is executed by the combination of a pulser 4, a leading wave detection circuit 5, a time difference counter circuit 6, a coordinate computation circuit 7 and the display drive circuit 8 in a manner as described later. The pulser 4 generates pulses periodically. Such pulses are applied to the display pen 3 and time difference counter circuit 6. The pulse applied to the display pen 3 triggers the generator of the longitudinal elastic wave, and the display pen 3 radiates the longitudinal elastic wave each time it receives a pulse. The time difference counter circuit 6 counts the length of time elapsed until an electrical signal indicative of a reflected wave is applied from each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d after the display pen 3 receives a pulse from the pulser 4. The leading wave detection circuit 5 includes an amplifier circuit 5a and a wave shaping circuit 5b and detects the leading wave of the reflected wave, that is, the first wave of the longitudinal elastic wave, detected by each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d. The coordinate computation circuit 7 computes the position of the display pen 3 in response to the application of the time difference data from the time difference counter circuit 6. The display drive circuit 8 drives the display unit 9 for displaying the computed position. In operation, the pulser 4 applies its output pulses periodically to the display pen 3 and time difference counter circuit 6. The pulse applied to the display pen 3 has electrical power high enough for generation of the longitudinal elastic wave. The pulse applied to the time difference counter circuit 6 may have a very small amplitude since it is merely required to command the starting timing of counting the time difference from the time of generation of the longitudinal elastic wave. The display pen 3 generates the longitudinal elastic wave each time an exciting pulse from the pulser 4 is applied thereto. The longitudinal elastic wave is radiated from the sharp-pointed end of the display pen 3 toward the transparent flat plate 1 each time the display pen 3 receives the pulse in the course of drawing a pattern or a character by the user. The longitudinal elastic wave radiated from the sharp-pointed end of the display pen 3 propagates through the transparent flat plate 1 to reach the detecting elements 2a to 2d. The period of time from the time of application of the pulse from the pulser 4 to the time of radiation of the longitudinal elastic wave from the display pen 3 is very short or negligible. Therefore, the periods of time from the time of pulse application to the time of arrival of the longitudinal elastic wave at the detecting elements 2a to 2d are proportional to the distances between the display pen 3 and the individual wave detecting elements 2a to 2d respectively. The elastic wave generated in response to the application of one pulse and required to be detected by each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d is the leading wave, that is, the first wave of the longitudinal elastic wave, and the leading wave detection circuit 5 detects an elastical signal corresponding to the leading wave detected by each detecting element. The time difference counter circuit 6 counts the time difference between the time of pulse application and the time of leading wave detection for each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d. The coordinate computation circuit 7 computes the position of the display pen 3 at that time on the basis of the time differences counted for the individual detecting elements 2a to 2d. In order to display the computed position of the display pen 3 on the display unit 9, the display drive circuit 8 drives the display unit 9. Thus, the display unit 9 displays the position of the display pen 3 while tracing the movement of the display pen 3. Fig. 2 shows in detail the structure of one form of the display pen 3. Referring to Fig. 2, the display pen 3 includes a conical end portion 10 having a sharp-pointed end 12, an elastic wave generator 3b radiating a longitudinal elastic wave toward the conical end portion 10, and a hollow cylindrical outer casing 3c. The elastic wave generator 3b is bonded or otherwise fixed to a flat or planar portion 3d of the conical end portion 10. Leads 3a extending into the cylindrical casing 3c from the exterior are soldered to the elastic wave generator 3b, so that the pulse from the pulser 4 is applied to the elastic wave generator 3b through the leads 3a. The elastic wave generator 3b is, for example, a piezoelectric element. The elastic wave generator 3b radiates the elastic wave 11 toward the end portion 10 in response to the application of the pulse from the pulser 4. The elastic wave 11 propagates through the end portion 10 toward the sharp-pointed end 12 to be radiated toward the transparent flat plate 1 from the sharp-pointed end 12. In the transparent flat plate 1, the elastic wave propagates in radial directions 13 from the sharp-pointed end 12 which is the center of propagation. The propagating elastic wave is detected by the individual detecting elements 2a to 2d. The elastic wave propagating through the solid plate 1 includes various modes such as a logitudinal wave, a transverse wave and a surface wave. Among those waves, the logitudinal wave propages at a highest velocity, and the first wave of this longitudinal wave is detected as the leading wave. Fig. 3 shows in (A) the pulse applied from the pulser 4 to the elastic wave generator 3b through the leads 3a and in (B) the wave detected by each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d. It will be apparatent from Fig. 3 (B) that the longitudinal wave is the leading wave which is detected earlier than the transverse wave, and the succeeding transverse wave is excluded from the object of detection. Fig. 4 illustrates how the elastic wave radiated from the display pen 3 propagates through the transparent flat plate 1. (In Fig. 4, the display unit 9 is omitted for conveniences of illustration.) In response to the application of an exciting pulse by way of the leads 3a, the elastic wave generator 3b built in the display pen 3 radiates the elastic wave. This elastic wave has a thicknesswise oscillating component and a radial oscillating component, and these two wave components propagate through the conical end portion 10 of the display pen 3. The elastic wave enters the transparent flat plate 1 from the point of contact between the sharp-pointed end 12 of the display pen 3 and the plate 1. In the transparent flat plate 1, a mode conversion occurs to provide an elastic wave which is an intermixture of a longitudinal wave component and a transverse wave component as shown, and such an elastic wave propagates through the plate 1. The propagation velocity of the longitudinal wave component is about two times as high as that of the transverse wave component. Thus, the longitudinal wave component is detected by the detecting elements 2a to 2d earlier than the transverse wave component, to be utilized to detect the position of the display pen 3. The reason why the longitudinal elastic wave is utilized for the position detection will be described in detail presently. The inventors have discovered the fact that the frequency of the longitudinal wave component propagating through the transparent flat plate 1 is generally equal to the frequency of the radial oscillation component of the elastic wave radiated from the elastic wave generator 3b and propagating toward the end portion 10 of the display pen 3. The elastic wave propagating through the transparent flat plate 1 has a complex waveform which is an intermixture of a longitudinal wave component and a transverse wave component as described above. However, the elastic wave initially arriving at the detecting elements 2a to 2d does not include the transverse wave component. Therefore, the very simple longitudinal wave component only, as shown in Fig. 3, can be detected. When the distance between the display pen 3 and each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d is changed, the waveform, especially, the amplitude of the elastic wave having the transverse wave component therein changes complexly, resulting in difficulty of counting the propagation delay corresponding to each distance. In contrast, when the longitudinal wave component only is detected, its amplitude does not make a complex change except for the effect of attenuation, even when the distance between the display pen 3 and each of the detecting elements 2a to 2d is changed. Therefore, when this waveform is used for the purpose of detection, the propagation delay corresponding to the distance can be sufficiently counted. Further, since the longitudinal wave propagates through the interior of the transparent flat plate 1, a hand touch on the surface of the plate 1 would not advesely affect the result of detection. The amplitude of the longitudinal wave component is very small compared with that of the transverse wave component. It is therefore desirable that the efficiency of incidence of the elastic wave from the display pen 3 upon the transparent flat plate 1 is as high as possible for the purpose of detection with better accuracy. On the basis of such a finding, the detecting elements 2 and the elastic wave generator 3b are so constructed that the radial resonace frequency of the elastic wave generated from the elastic wave generator 3b of the display pen 3 is generally equal to the thicknesswise resonance frequency or the radial resonance frequency of the detecting elements 2 disposed on the side surfaces of the transparent flat plate 1. It is further desirable to take into consideration the impedance matching between the acoustic impedance of the end portion 10 of the display pen 3 and that of the transparent flat plate 1. Thus, a stable longitudinal waveform having an amplitude sufficiently permitting counting of the propagation delay can be obtained. The longitudinal wave which is sufficiently stable can be provided when the detecting elements 2 and the elastic wave generator 3b are formed of a piezoelectric ceramic material which is preferably lead titanate-zirconate. Further, when the material of the transparent flat plate 1 is soda lime glass, the material of the end portion 10 of the display pen 3 is preferably soda lime glass or aluminum. Figs. 5 and 6 show how to detect the period of time T elasped from the time of generation of a start pulse ST and a high voltage pulse from the pulser 4 to the time at which the longitudinal elastic wave propagating through the transparent flat plate 1 arrives initially at one of the detecting elements 2a to 2d. As shown in Fig. 5, after the analog output waveform v of the elastic wave arriving at one of the detecting elements is amplified by the amplifier circuit 5a of the leading wave detecting circuit 5, the analog output waveform v is converted into a digital output D in the wave shaping circuit 5b as a result of comparison with a predetermined threshold level, and, in the time difference counter circuit 6, the period of time T elapsed from the time of application of the start pulse ST to the time of appearance of the first pulse of the digital output D is detected. The analog output v of the elastic wave changes relative to the predetermined threshold level depending on, for example, the writing pressure imparted to the display pen 3, as shown in Fig. 6. The most extreme case of this change is an instantaneous up change (out of contact) or an instantaneous down change (abrupt contact) of the display pen 3 relative to the transparent flat plate 1. A waveform change as shown in Fig. 6 is desirably corrected in the circuits including the time difference counter circuit 6. In the embodiment of the present invention, the period of time elapsed until the time of attainment of the peak value of the waveform is based to correct the waveform change. That is, with the change of the analog waveform in the order of v", v and v' realtive to the predetermined threshold level, the period of time elapsed from the time of application of the start pulse ST to the time of appearance of the first pulse of the digital output D changes in the order of T", T and T' respectively. In each of the above cases, the period of time elapsed until the time attainment of the peak value of the analog waveform does not change and has a constant value of (T + α). Therefore, when the period of time T₁ elapsed until the rising waveform passes the threshold level and the period of time T₂ elapsed until the falling waveform passes the threshold level are counted, and the propagation time is defined as the (T₁ + T₂)/2, the period of time T can be detected with high accuracy without being adversely affected by the waveform change attributable to, for example, the writing pressure. In an embodiment of the present invention, the above manner of accurate detection of the propagation time is realized by an arrangement as shown in Figs. 7A and 7B. According to the illustrated arrangement, counting of T₁ and T₂ for determining the single propagation time is unnecessary. More precisely, as shown in Fig. 7A, the period of time T₁ is counted in a first counter 72 which counts the number of clock pulses applied from an oscillator 71, and the data is registered in a register 73. Counting of the period of time of from T₁ to T₂, includes dividing the frequency of the clock output of the oscillator 71 by the factor of 2 by a 1/2 frequency divider 74, counting the number of output pulses of the frequency divider 74 by a second counter 76 through a gate circuit 75, adding the count of the second counter 76 by an adder 77 to the data registered in the register 73, and applying the resultant data to a multiplexer 78. In the manner described above, the period of time elapsed from the time of application of the start pulse ST to the time corresponding to the center of the pulse width of the pulse of the digital output D, can be counted as shown in Fig. 7B. The length of time required for the computation of (x, y) coodinates is shortened in a manner as described now. In Fig. 8, the symbols S₁ to S₄ designate the positions of the detecting elements respectively, and the point P (x, y) designates the position of the display pen 3 to be detected. Suppose that and v p is the propagation velocity of the longitudinal elastic wave. Then, on the basis of the propagation delay times t₁ to t₄ shown in Fig. 9, the coodinated (x, y) of the point P can be computed from the following equations: According to the illustrated embodiment, six times of addition and subtraction, and four times of multiplication, that is, a total of 218 steps are merely required for the computation of the coordinates using the equations (2) and (3). Thus, the number of steps can be decreased to about 2/3 of the value heretofore required. It can be understood that the effect becomes more marked when the number of digits used for the computation is increased. When the propagation velocity of the longitudinal elastic wave is subject to a change due to, for example, the ambient temperature, an idle or dead time range in the process of computation can be utilized for the computation of a correction coefficient. In the case of the transparrent flat plate 1 of glass employed in the illustrated embodiment, the propagation velocity of the longitudinal elastic wave changes by about ±5% relative to a temperature change of 25°C ± 25°C. For example, when the initial setting is applied in spite of a velocity increase, the measured values of the distances become smaller resulting in a position identification error. A method for correcting the error includes, for example, monitoring the detection points S₁ and S₂, monitoring x₁₂ which is the value of x computed at the wave source P together with the detection points S₁ and S₃, and monitoring the difference |x₁₂ - x₁₃| between x₁₂ and x₁₃ computed at the wave source P. When a change in the propagation velocity is detected, and the value |x₁₂ - x₁₃| becomes smaller than an allowable limit, the value of the velocity at that time is stored to be used in later computation. The change in the propagation velocity is only about 0.2%/°C, and the temperature change rate is only about several minutes/°C at the most. Therefore, the corrective computation at a rate of once per several minutes suffices, and the identification of the coordinate position is not appreciably affected. While the above description has referred to the case of an orthogonal coordinate system by way of example, the present invention is also applicable to another coordinate system such as a polar coordinate system. It is apparent that the present invention is also applicable to an arrangement where the lines connecting the three detection points are not arthogonal to each other. In the embodiment of the present invention, a fourth detection point S₄ is additionally provided to enhance the detection accuracy of the tablet. Suppose, for example, that (x₁, y₁) represents the values of (x, y) computed according to the equations (1), (2) and (3), while, (x₂, y₂) represents the values of (x, y) computed according to the equations (1), (4) and (5). Then, when the difference between x₁ and x₂ and the difference between y₁ and y₂ are not less than an allowable value, such values of x and y are not adopted as coordinate values. Thus, in the event of occurrence of an error in the count of the propagation time, appearance of a coordinate error signal can be reliably prevented. An embodiment of the present invention is shown in Fig. 10. Referring to Fig. 10, the apparatus embodying the present invention comprises a writable plate 1 composed of at least two layers. More precisely, the writable plate 1 includes a laminar propagation medium 1a for propagating an ultrasonic wave and a laminar input medium 1b superposed on the medium 1a and formed of a material having a longitudinal wave propagation velocity lower than that of the medium 1a. Detecting elements 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d are mounted to the laminar propagation medium 1a. Fig. 11 shows the effect of the embodiment confirmed by simulation. Maerials used in the analysis are shown in Table 1. It will be seen in Fig. 11 that, when the two medium layers 1a and 1b are provided, there appears a region where the phase is symmetrical regardless of inclination of the input pen 3. According to a further detailed analysis, it has been found that the region of the same and symmetrical phase increases with the increase in the thickness of the input layer 1b where the velocity of sound is lower, provided that the inclination of the pen 3 is maintained constant, while, the region of the same phase increases with the decrease in the inclination of the pen 3, provided that the thickness of the input layer 1b is maintained constant. It has been also found that, when the thickness of the input layer 1b is about the half of the wavelength, the region of the same phase does not increase regardless of the increase in the thickness of the input layer 1b. Thus, it can be seen that the thickness of the input layer 1b need not be excessively increased. It can also be seen that, when the velocity of sound in the input layer 1b is slowed, the thickness of the layer exhibiting the same effect can be made smaller. From the aspect of practical use, it can be said that the required magnitude of the region of the same and symmetrical phase is about the half of the wavelength of the ultrasonic wave propagating the propagation layer 1a, at the practically maximum inclination of the pen 3. Thus, the thickness of the input layer 1b, where the velocity of sound is lower than that in the propagation layer 1a, is determined. More concretely, it has been found that, when the materials shown in Table 2 are used at the ultrasonic wave frequency of 400 kHz, the required thickness of the input layer 1b is 1.2 mm and 0.8 mm when the maximum inclination of the input pen 3 is 40° and 30°, respectively. By constructing the tablet in the manner described above, the waveform variation due to the inclination of the pen 3 can be minimized, and, especially, the inversion of the phase can be prevented, so that the tablet using the ultrasonic wave can identify the position of the pen 3 with high accuracy. The materials shown in Table 1 are transparent. Therefore, when the tablet formed of such transparent materials is laminated on the display screen of a liquid crystal display, a CRT display or the like, the tablet including the integrally combined input surface and display surface can be advantageously provided. There are various other materials which are transparent and have different propagation velocities of a longitudinal wave, and such materials can be combined as desired. The effect similar to that described above can also be attained even when two layers of the same material but having different acoustic properties are combined. While the above description has referred to the transparent writable plate, it is apparent that opaque materials may be used to attain the same effect. For example, the adverse effect due to inclination of the pen 3 can be obviated the aluminum (having a longitudinal wave propagation velocity of 6,260 m/sec) is used as the laminar propagation medium 1a, and bakelite (having a longitudinal wave propagation velocity of 2,590 m/sec) is used as the laminar input medium 1b. Fig. 12 shows another embodiment or a modification of the embodiment shown in Fig. 10. Referring to Fig. 12 which has a composite structure, a laminar intermediate medium 1c is interposed between the laminar propagation medium 1a and the laminar input medium 1b of the writable plate 1. This laminar intermediate medium 1c has a longitudinal wave propagation velocity intermediate between that of the laminar propagation medium 1a and that of the laminar input medium 1b. The effect of the embodiment shown in Fig. 12 is the same as that of the embodiment shown in Fig. 10. Another embodiment shown in Fig. 25 differs from the embodiments shown in Figs. 10 and 12 in that an improvement is made in the input pen 3. As shown in Fig. 14 which is an enlarged view, a contact-purpose small piece 12a is provided on the sharp-pointed end 12 of the input pen 3, and the material of this small piece 12a has a longitudinal wave propagation velocity lower than that of the writable plate 1. In this case, the material of the sharp-pointed end 12 of the pen 3 has preferably a longitudinal wave propagation velocity higher than that of the small piece 12a. The effect of the embodiment shown in Fig. 14 is also the same as that of the embodiment shown in Fig. 10 and the adverse effect due to inclination of the pen 3 can be obviated. The composite writable plate 1 is made by bonding together a plurality of sheets having different sound propagation velocities, for example, by bonding a sheet of a polycarbonate resin or a sheet of an acrylic resin to a sheet of glass as usually practiced in the production of plywood. As another method, the composite writable plate 1 is made by laminating two laminar media of the same material but having different acoustic properties. Such media may be rendered to have different physical properties, for example, different specific gravities in the course of production although they are formed of the same material.

Claims: A tablet type coordinate input apparatus using elastic waves, comprising flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) for propagating elastic waves therethrough; elastic wave input means (3) having a tip-end (12) which can be freely brought into pressure engagement with the surface of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) at any desired position thereon, to radiate elastic waves from said tip end (12); detecting means (2) provided on said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) for detecting a leading longitudinal elastic wave; determination means (5, 6) determining the pressure engagement position of said elastic wave input means (3) and indicating it by an electric signal corresponding to said leading longitudinal elastic wave detected by said detecting means (2), characterized in that said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) is composed of at least two layers (1a; 1b), i.e. an input medium layer (1b) for inputting said longitudinal elastic wave and a propagation layer (1a) consisting of a medium having a longitudinal elastic wave propagation velocity higher than that in said input medium layer, said propagation layer (1a) being located under said input medium layer (1b). A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said detecting means (2a-2d) are mounted at the side surfaces of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1). A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said detecting means (2a-2d) are mounted at the side surfaces of said propagation layer (1a) having a higher longitudinal elastic wave propagation velocity than said input medium layer (1b). A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to one of the preceeding claims, characterized in that said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) is composed of three mediums having different longitudinal elastic wave propagation velocities, said three mediums being said input layer medium (1b) for inputting elastic waves, said propagation layer (1a) located under said input layer (1b) for propagating said elastic wave, and an intermediate layer (1c) located between said input layer (1b) and said propagation layer (1a) and having an longitudinal elastic wave propagation velocity greater than that of said input layer (1b) but smaller than that of said propagation layer (1a). A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that said detecting means (2a-2d) are located at corners of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) and the main axis of directivity of said detecting means (2a-2d) is directed to the center of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1). A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1 or 4, characterized in that said elastic wave input means (3) has a wave-guide rod (3c) and a disk-like shaped elastic wave transmitting means (3b) mounted on the planar surface perpendicular to the axis of said wave-guide rod (3c), the radial-direction resonance frequency of said elastic wave transmitting means (3b) is substantially equal to the resonance frequency of said flat-plate-shaped medium means (1) in its plane and to that of said detecting means. A tablet type coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1 or 4 characterized in that said determining means (5, 6) for determining the pressure engagement position carries out the steps of: comparing the detection signal of said longitudinal elastic wave with a predetermined threshold value; computing a first time period elapsed until said detection signal exceeds said threshold value and a second time period elapsed after the detection signal exceeds the threshold value until the detection signal becomes smaller than the threshold value; computing an additive average time corresponding to half of a sum of said first and second time periods; and defining said propagation time as said average time.

Inventors: INOSE, SHIGERU, KAWAKAMI, KANJI, OKADA, HISAO, SASAKI, SOJI, SATO, ICHIYA, SUTO, MAREO, TANABE, MASANORI, UZUHASHI, HIDEO, YONEYAMA, TAKAO
Applicants: HITACHI, LTD.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: G06K11
IPC codes: G06F3