Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US6760006?ie=ISO-8859-1&dq=5920316
Timestamp: 2015-04-28 01:01:12
Document Index: 702948237

Matched Legal Cases: ['art. 4', 'art. 8', 'art 15', 'art 16', 'art 15', 'art 15', 'art 15', 'art 123', 'art 124', 'art 123', 'art 123', 'art 123', 'art 123', 'art 126', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'art 8', 'arts 8', 'art 123']

Patent US6760006 - Input device for use in a computer system - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsAn input device for inputting information corresponding to a direction of inclination and an angle of inclination of a movable part into devices such as a computer. The input device includes a substantially spherical part provided at a lower end of said movable part; bearing means which rotatably supports...http://www.google.com/patents/US6760006?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US6760006 - Input device for use in a computer systemAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS6760006 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/293,339Publication dateJul 6, 2004Filing dateNov 14, 2002Priority dateApr 10, 1998Fee statusPaidAlso published asDE69939138D1, EP0949555A2, EP0949555A3, EP0949555B1, US6515650, US20020190945, US20030071785Publication number10293339, 293339, US 6760006 B2, US 6760006B2, US-B2-6760006, US6760006 B2, US6760006B2InventorsTakashi Arita, Katsuya FunakoshiOriginal AssigneeFujitsu Takamisawa Component LimitedExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (14), Referenced by (11), Classifications (14), Legal Events (5) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetInput device for use in a computer system
US 6760006 B2Abstract
What is claimed is: 1. An acceleration measuring apparatus, comprising:
a movable part provided with a substantially spherical part at a lower end thereof and further provided with a weight, so that when an acceleration is experienced, said movable part is inclined under an effect of a force exerted at said weight; bearing means in contact with and rotatably supporting said substantially spherical part of said movable part; recovery means which rotates said substantially spherical part within said bearing means so as to recover an upright position of the movable part; and inclination detecting means which detects a direction of inclination and an angle of inclination of said movable part, wherein the acceleration is measured based on the direction of inclination and the angle of inclination of said movable part, and wherein said recovery means comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said slider is pushed up by said flange and said spring is elastically deformed, and when said movable part is released, said slider is pushed down by an elastic force of said spring and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof. 2. The acceleration measuring apparatus as claimed in claim 1, further comprising;
an attachment member to secure said acceleration measuring apparatus on a part of a human body. 3. The acceleration measuring apparatus as claimed in claim 1,
wherein said slider is provided with a plurality of ribs, said ribs being in line contact with an inner surface of said cylindrical part. 4. An input device main body to be mounted on a substrate equipped with a sensor, said main body, comprising:
a movable part having a substantially spherical part provided at a lower end thereof; bearing means in contact with and rotatably supporting said substantially spherical part of said movable part; a recovery means which rotates said substantially spherical part within said bearing means so as to recover an upright position of the movable part; and an object to be detected which is provided on said movable part, wherein said input device main body is mounted on said substrate so as to detect a direction of inclination and an angle of inclination of said object to be detected by means of said sensor, and wherein said recovery means comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said slider is pushed up by said flange and said spring is elastically deformed, and when said movable part is released, said slider is pushed down by an elastic force of said spring and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof. 5. An acceleration measuring apparatus, comprising:
a movable part provided with a substantially spherical part at a lower end thereof and further provided with a weight, so that when an acceleration is experienced, said movable part inclines under an effect of a force exerted at said weight; a bearing unit in contact with and rotatably supporting said substantially spherical part of said movable part; a recovery unit rotating said substantially spherical part within said bearing unit so as to recover an upright position of the movable part; and inclination detecting unit measuring the acceleration experienced by detecting a direction of inclination and an angle of inclination of said movable part, and wherein said recovery unit comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said flange pushes up said slider and said spring elastically deforms, and when said movable part is released, said spring pushes down said slider by an elastic force thereof and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof. 6. The acceleration measuring apparatus as claimed in claim 5, further comprising;
an attachment member securing said acceleration measuring apparatus on a part of a human body. 7. The acceleration measuring apparatus as claimed in claim 5,
wherein said slider is provided with a plurality of ribs, said ribs being in line contact with an inner surface of said cylindrical part. 8. An input device main body to be mounted on a substrate equipped with a sensor, said main body, comprising:
a movable part having a substantially spherical part provided at a lower end thereof; a bearing unit in contact with and rotatably supporting said substantially spherical part of said movable part; a recovery unit rotating said substantially spherical part within said bearing unit so as to recover an upright position of the movable part; and an object to be detected is provided on said movable part, wherein said input device main body is mounted on said substrate to detect a direction of inclination and an angle of inclination of said object by said sensor, and wherein said recovery unit comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said flange pushes up said slider and said spring elastically deforms, and when said movable part is released, said spring pushes down said slider by an elastic force thereof and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof. 9. An acceleration measuring apparatus, comprising:
a movable part with a substantially spherical part at a lower end thereof and a weight such that the movable part inclines when subject to an acceleration; a bearing unit in contact with and rotatably supporting the substantially spherical part of the movable part; inclination detecting unit detecting the acceleration according to a direction and an angle of inclination of the movable and a recovery unit comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said flange pushes up said slider and said spring elastically deforms, and when said movable part is released, said spring pushes down said slider by an elastic force thereof and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof. 10. An input device main body mountable with a sensor, said input device main body, comprising:
a movable part with a substantially spherical part at a lower end thereof; a bearing unit in contact with and rotatably supporting the substantially spherical part of the movable part; an object to be detected by the sensor is provided on said movable part, wherein a direction and an angle of inclination of said object is detect by said sensor and corresponds to an acceleration of the movable and a recovery unit comprises a cover having a cylindrical part, a flange protruding outward from said substantially spherical part, a slider slidably provided in said cylindrical part of said cover, a lower end of said slider being supported by said flange, and a spring which downwardly spring-biasing said slider, wherein, when said movable part is inclined, said flange pushes up said slider and said spring elastically deforms, and when said movable part is released, said spring pushes down said slider by an elastic force thereof and said slider pushes said flange, so that said movable part recovers to an original position thereof.
This application is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 09/285,884, filed Apr. 7, 1999, now allowed.
The pointing device 20A is provided with the disk-type key top 1 a (see FIG. 9A). However, the shape of the key top is not limited to the disk type, but can be a key top of any type, such as a dome-type key top 1 b (see FIG. 9B) and a stick-type key top 1 c (see FIG. 9C).
Also, a tension coil spring 3 b shown in FIG. 6A can be used in the pointing device of the present invention. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing a pointing device 20B using the tension coil springs 3 b. As has been described with the compression coil spring 3 a, when the key top 1 a and the stick 5, serving as a shaft, are tilted, the holder 7 slides on the recess of the housing 8 with the center of the hemispherical contact surface as a fulcrum (center of inclination). In this inclined state, the slider 4 is pushed up by at least one of the protrusions 12 and pulls one of the tension coil springs 3 b. As shown in FIG. 6C, an angle of inclination of the operating part 15 is proportional to a force of the spring (operating force). Therefore, the operating force increases as the angle of inclination increases.
As has been described with the compression coil spring 3 a, when the key top 1 a and the stick 5, serving as a shaft, are tilted, the holder 7 slides on the recess of the housing 8 with the center of the hemispherical contact surface as a fulcrum (center of inclination). In this inclined state, the slider 4 is pushed up by at least one of the protrusions 12 and compresses the unevenly pitched coil spring 3 c. In this case, as indicated in the graph shown in FIG. 7B, a fine operation (fine adjustment) and a coarse operation (coarse adjustment) are possible because of the difference in the strength of force exerted by the unevenly pitched coil spring 3 c. The pointing device 20A of the present invention includes the pressurizing part 16 which exerts a recovery force for the operating part 15 to return to an upright position. Therefore, when the operating part 15 is released, it will automatically return to the initial upright position as shown in FIG. 3. A single unevenly pitched coil spring 3 c is sufficient to bring the operating part 15 back into its upright position.
As shown in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the holder 7A is fixed at the lower end of the stick 124A, so that a spherical part 123Aa is provided which is formed by the holder 7A and the hemispherical part 124Ab. The center of the spherical part 123Aa is indicated by a reference OA1. In other words, the spherical part 123Aa is provided at the lower end of the stick assembly 123A. The protrusions 12A are positioned in a plane lying through the center OA1 in a direction perpendicular to the Z-axis. Also, the holder 7A may take a form of a polyhedron which has a substantially hemispherical shape. Similarly, the spherical part 123Aa may take a form of a polyhedron which has a substantially hemispherical shape.
The above-described pointing device main-body assembly 121A is assembled independently of the printed-circuit board 10A. The pointing device 120A is completed by mounting the pointing device main-body assembly 121A onto the printed-circuit board 10A. Thus, the pointing device 120A is manufactured with an improved efficiency compared to a method of manufacturing a pointing device in which components such as the stick assembly 123A and sliders 4A are assembled onto the printed-circuit board 10A.
As shown in FIG. 12B, the stick assembly 123A can be inclined so that the slider 4A is upwardly displaced while compressing the compressing coil spring 3Aa. The direction of inclination can be any direction in the X-Y plane. The stick assembly 123A is tilted so as to pivot about the point OA1 (OA2), so that the spherical part 123Aa is pivoted about the point OA1 (OA2) in the bearing part 126A and the hemispherical holder 7A slides in the receiving seat 8Aa. The stick assembly 123A may be tilted until the protrusions 12A come in contact with the rim 2Ac of the cover 2A.
Therefore, even if the user attempts to rotate the key top 1A about the Z-axis, the protrusions 12A will abut the bosses 11A, so that the key top 1A is prevented from being rotated. This structure is particularly useful when the key top 1A has a given orientation, which may be indicated by indications provided on an upper surface of the key-top main body 1Aa.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a graph of an output voltage (V) differentially amplified at the amplifier 130 against an angle of inclination of the key-top main body 1Aa, when the key-top main body 1Aa is inclined in the X-Z plane. As can be seen from the graph, when the angle of inclination is zero, the voltage is b (V). As indicated by a line 1, the voltage varies linearly with the angle of inclination. In the given example, the voltage a (V) is output when the angle of inclination is −30 degrees and the voltage c (V) is output when the angle of inclination is +30 degrees.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a graph of a velocity of a cursor on the display screen against an output value of the CPU 133. As can be seen from line 11, the cursor moves with a velocity A when the output value is 1 count and the cursor does not move when the output value is 128 counts. When the output count is 256 counts, the cursor moves in a velocity having the same magnitude but an opposite direction to that in the case of an output value of 1 count.
FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a pointing device 120B of a first variant of the second embodiment of the present invention. A key top 1B has a hemispherical dome part 1Bb provided with grooves 1Bb1 on its inner surface. A cover 2B is provided with longitudinal ribs 2Ba1 on a peripheral surface of a cylindrical part 2Ba. The grooves 1Bb1 and the ribs 2Ba1 are provided at 90 degree intervals in a peripheral direction. The key top 1B is attached to the cover 2B with the grooves 1Bb1 being fitted to the corresponding ones of the ribs 2Ba1. Thus, the key top 1B is prevented from being rotated with respect to the cover 2B at four locations corresponding to the grooves 1Bb1.
FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a holder and a housing of a pointing device of a fourth variant of the second embodiment of the present invention. A housing 8E has a receiving seat 8Ea provided with a cross-shaped raised part 8Ea1 on its concave surface instead of the annular raised part 8Da1 shown in FIG. 21. The raised part 8Ea1 has a semicircular cross-section.
A stick assembly 123E is inclined in such a manner that a holder 7E slides on the cross-shaped raised part 8Ea1. The holder 7D and the receiving seat 8Da are in line contact which each other. Thus, less operational force is required for tilting the key-top main body and the pointing device has an improved operability.
A stick assembly 123F is inclined in such a manner that a holder 7F slides on the protruded parts 8Fa1. The holder 7F and the receiving seat 8Fa are in point contact which each other. Thus, less operational force is required for tilting the key-top main body and the pointing device has an improved operability.
FIG. 26A is a diagram showing a pointing device of an eighth variant of the second embodiment of the present invention and FIG. 26B is a rubber spring used in the pointing device shown in FIG. 26A. The pointing device 120I is provided with dome-shaped rubber springs 31 between a slider 41 and a flange 21 b of a cover 21 instead of the compression coil spring 3Aa. The slider 41 is biased in a downward direction with a spring force of the rubber spring 31. When the key top 11 is operated, the dome-shaped rubber spring 31 is elastically deformed as shown in FIG. 26B, and thus the slider 41 is biased in a downward direction.
FIG. 29 shows the acceleration-measuring apparatus 160 having a printed-circuit board 10M provided with the acceleration-detecting device 161, the CPU 133, LEDs 162-1 to 162-3, an infrared communication unit 163, an acceleration measuring start switch 164 and a measurement data transfer start switch 165. Further, key-tops 166 and 167 are mounted on the switches 164 and 165, respectively, and are accommodated within a lower cover 168 and an upper cover 169. The lower and upper covers 168 and 169 are fastened by means of screws. A button-type battery 170 is accommodated at the backside of the printed-circuit board 10M and is covered by a lid 171.
The acceleration-detecting device 161 differs from the pointing-device main-body assembly 121A of FIG. 11 in that, instead of the key-top 1A, a disk-shaped weight 173 is provided inside a cup-shaped part 123 Mb at the top end of a stick assembly 123M. Further, a dome-shaped cover 174 is provided so as to cover the weight 173. The dome-shaped cover 174 opposes a dome-shaped transparent window 169 a of the upper cover 169.
The stick assembly 123M is provided with an annular flange 12M instead of the protrusions 12A in FIG. 11. The upper surface of the annular flange 12M receives an annular flange 4Mb of the slider 4M. When the stick assembly 123M is tilted, the annular flange 12M pushes up the annular flange 4Mb of the slider 4M. Therefore, the resistive force exerted on the stick assembly 123M is equal in all direction. In other word, the acceleration-detecting device 161 does not have a particular orientation. Thus, the acceleration-detecting device 161 is capable of accurately measuring accelerations in any direction in the X-Y plane.
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