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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention generally relates to apparatus for detecting X and Y
coordinates of input points, and more particularly to apparatus for
detecting X and Y coordinates of input points of handwritten characters
and figures.
In the prior art, the input apparatus for handwritten characters and
figures called tablets or digitizers are known. Such an apparatus includes
a plurality of electrodes parallel to X and Y axes and these X and Y
electrodes are coupled capacitively, magnetically or physically at an
input point designated by an electric pen or a stylus, thereby the input
point being detected electrically or magnetically.
In an apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,907,824 to Robert Lee Peek,
Jr. entitled "Electrographic Transmitter", electrically conductive wires,
intersecting each other at right angles, are supported under tension, the
lower wires being of a magnetic material and the upper wires of a
non-magnetic material. When figures are drawn with a stylus provided with
a permanent magnet, the lower magnetic wire is brought into contact with
the upper wire corresponding to the locus of the stylus by the magnetic
attraction, thereby generating a voltage proportional to the position of
the stylus or the input point. By detecting the voltage, one learns the
position of the input point. However, the prior art apparatus was
seriously defective in that the stylus had to be provided with a permanent
magnet at its end and an ordinary writing tool could not be used. Further,
since the lower wire had to be of a magnetic material, ordinary lead wire
could not be used, and the material and tension thereof needed to be
selective quite severely in order to respond to the attraction of the
stylus magnet. Thus, the structure became quite complex and the fine
adjustment had to be made, making the whole apparatus impractical.
Of the other examples of the conventional type apparatus, one disclosed in
U.S. Pat. No. 3,304,612 to Ronald R. Proctro et al has upper and lower
groups of input electrodes whereby the upper group includes conductors
which extend within a plurality of grooves formed in a flexible,
resilient, non-conductive member and a flexible conductive sheet
therebeneath mates with the non-conductive member. The lower group is of a
similar structure, and the two groups of electrodes are laminated in such
a way that respective conductors in the grooves of the upper electrode
group intersect the respective conductors in the grooves of the lower
electrode group. There are resistors connected between adjacent conductors
to divide the voltage of the power source. The X and Y coordinates of a
point at which the conductor and the conductive sheet in the upper and
lower electrode groups are brought into contact with each other under the
application of pressure can be determined by measuring the divided
voltage.
In the latter conventional apparatus, it is possible to use ordinary
writing tools for inputting data. However, the input surface responds to
any kind of pressures other than that by the tools, for instance, the
pressure of the operator's hand caused as he accidentally leans on the
surface. Thus it is seriously defective in that the apparatus cannot be
used with the input surface positioned horizontally. Moreover, since the
conductors are applied in the grooves of a flexible insulator and the fine
pitches between the grooves are difficult to determine, it is extremely
difficult to achieve a high resolution. As it is extremely difficult to
form such grooves with a constant pitch and over a long distance, it is
practically difficult to manufacture apparatus having a large area for the
input surface. In addition, the fact that both the upper and lower groups
of electrodes require conductive sheets in addition to the conductors
complicates the structure of the apparatus.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention contemplates to remove the defects as mentioned above
of the prior art apparatus and it has for its object to provide an
apparatus for detecting X and Y coordinates of the input points which can
facilitate hand-writing of characters and figures with ordinary writing
tools and which can be used in a horizontal position.
To attain the above object, according to the invention, in an apparatus for
detecting X and Y coordinates of input points comprising an input surface
including a first parallel electrode group and a second, flexible parallel
electrode group opposing and intersecting the first parallel electrode
group, a first resistor being in electrical contact with electrode
conductors of the first parallel electrode group at one end thereof, a
second resistor being in electrical contact with electrode conductors of
the second parallel electrode group at one end thereof, and electrical
detection means for detecting the input position on the input surface by
using electrical signals generated from the first and second resistors,
the improvement which comprises a pressure conductive rubber sheet
interposed between the first and second parallel electrode groups, the
sheet being rendered conductive upon application of pressure to the input
surface, and means provided in the electrical detection means, for
detecting currents flowing through the first and second resistors.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the apparatus for
detecting X and Y coordinates of input points in accordance with the
present invention;
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view taken along line II--II of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relation between resistance and pressure in a
pressure conductive rubber sheet;
FIG. 4A is a connection diagram showing one embodiment of a circuit
construction for a point detection circuit of the present invention;
FIG. 4B is a diagram showing one example of a current detection circuit of
FIG. 4A;
FIG. 5 is an eqivalent circuit of the point detection circuit;
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the relation between force applied area for the
pressure conductive rubber sheet having the pressure dependency property
and pressure required to make the same conductive;
FIG. 7 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the detection circuit
for X and Y coordinates of input points in accordance with the present
invention; and
FIG. 8 is a connection diagram showing a modified point detection circuit.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with
reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, in which reference number 1 denotes a rigid
base sheet, 2 a first group of parallel electrodes comprising a plurality
of conductors Y.sub.0, Y.sub.1 . . . , Y.sub.n provided in parallel on the
surface of a non-flexible insulating substrate 11, 3 a second group of
parallel electrodes comprising a plurality of conductors X.sub.0, X.sub.1
. . . , X.sub.n provided in parallel on the back of a flexible insulating
substrate 10, the groups of parallel electrodes 2 and 3 being opposedly
positioned in such a way that their conductors intersect (at right angles
in an example shown) with each other in the area of the input surface W of
the insulating substrate 10 and sandwich a pressure conductive rubber
sheet 12. Reference number 4 denotes a first resistor in the form of a
sheet which is in contact with one end of the parallel electrode group 2,
5 a second resistor also in the form of a sheet which is in contact with
one end of the parallel electrode group 3, 6 and 7 terminals provided at
the opposite end surfaces of the resistor 4 in its longitudinal direction,
8 and 9 terminal electrodes provided at the opposite end surfaces of the
resistor 5 in its longitudinal direction, and a, b, c and d lead terminals
connected respectively to the terminals 6, 7, 8 and 9.
These resistors 4 and 5 are made of resistive sheet or metal film resistors
formed on a substrate such as a glass. Reference number 13 also denotes a
pressure conductive rubber sheet which is provided between the parallel
electrode group 2 and the resistor 4 for electrical connection
therebetween. Similarly, reference number 14 denotes a pressure conductive
rubber sheet provided between the parallel electrode group 3 and the
resistor 5 for electrical connection therebetween. The pressure conductive
rubber sheet described herein is available from CHOMERICS, Inc., USA,
Japan Synthetic Rubber Co., Ltd., etc. and is normally considered as an
insulating material, but when pressure is applied, it becomes conductive
because the resistance at the force applied portion becomes greatly
lowered. Accordingly, the pressure conductive rubber sheets 13 and 14 are
sandwiched by the electrode group 2 and the resistor 4 and by the
electrode group 3 and the resistor 5, respectively, at a constant and
predetermined pressure, thereby securing the electrical connection
therebetween. Obviously, such a preload is by no means applied on the
pressure conductive rubber sheet 12.
FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relation between pressure per unit area (1
mm.sup.2) in the pressure conductive rubber sheet and resistance per unit
area. Curves (A), (B) and (C) correspond to characteristics of pressure
conductive rubber sheets of different specifications.
Accordingly, when characters and figures are drawn on the input surface W
using a writing tool, a pressure is applied to the pressure conductive
sheet 12 via the flexible insulating substrate 10 and the parallel
electrode group 3, and the force applied points become conductive and the
respective conductors of the parallel electrode groups 2 and 3 at these
points become electrically contacted. In this embodiment, it was confirmed
that the resistance between the parallel electrode groups 2 and 3 are
lowered from 100 K ohms to several ohms when a pressure of about 70
g/mm.sup.2 is applied.
Although not shown in the drawings, the resistor 4 and the insulating
substrate 11, and the resistor 5 and the insulating substrate 10 are
pressed together by a clamper at a predetermined pressure. Thus, as
mentioned above, the resistance of the pressure conductive rubber sheets
13 and 14 becomes sufficiently lowered and they become conductive and come
in intimate contact, by the elasticity of rubber, with the resistor and
the electrode conductor so that the electrical connection between the
parallel electrode group 2 and the resistor 4 and that between the
parallel electrode group 3 and the resistor 5 can be excellently and
stably ensured.
One example of structural dimensions for the electrode group is shown
below. The pitch between electrode conductors is sufficiently small and a
high resolution is obtainable. The electrode conductor is also
sufficiently long for the fabrication of the input surface of a large
area.
In an example of high resolution input apparatus, copper foil electrode
conductors plated with gold and having 0.175 mm width, 5-3.5 .mu.m
thickness and 20 cm length are arranged at a pitch of 0.25 mm and a
polyimide substrate is used. In another example, copper foil electrode
conductors plated with gold and having 0.7 mm width, 5-3.5 .mu.m thickness
and 1.5 m length are arranged at a pitch of 1 mm and a polyimide substrate
is used. These electrode groups have the identical material and structure
to that of the conventional flat cable. When the conductors are arranged
at P mm pitch, the resolution of the input apparatus can be 1/P
(number/mm).
The circuit operation to detect the coordinates at contact point P when the
pressure is applied upon the input surface W will now be explained.
FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a point detection and FIG. 5 an equivalent
circuit of the detection circuit. In the figures, the identical parts to
those in FIG. 1 are designated by the identical reference numbers. In FIG.
4A, reference number 15 denotes a source of constant-current regulated
power, 16 and 17 operational amplifiers, 18 and 19 resistors having
sufficiently small resistance as compared to the input impedance of the
operational amplifiers 16 and 17, 20 an X output terminal, 21 a Y output
terminal, 22 a current detection circuit comprising an operational
amplifier, etc. and 23 a touch output terminal from which a signal
responsive to contact of the writing tool with the input surface is
delivered.
In operation, conductors of the parallel electrode groups 2 and 3 are
contacted electrically at the input point P by applying the pressure on
the input surface W shown in FIG. 1 and the resistors 4 and 5 are coupled
at the corresponding point. In other words, the pressure conductive rubber
sheet 12 becomes conductive at the point P by the force applied, and
electrode conductors of the parallel electrode groups 2 and 3 intersecting
perpendicularly at this point are electrically contacted to form an
equivalent circuit as shown in FIG. 5. In FIG. 5, r.sub.i (i=1, 2, . . .
n) is a resistance of the resistor 4 located between electrode conductor
y.sub.i corresponding to the contact point P and adjacent electrode
conductor Y.sub.i+1 of the parallel electrode group 2, and r'.sub.j (j=1,
2, . . . n) is a resistance of the resistor 5 located between electrode
conductor X.sub.j corresponding to the contact point P and adjacent
electrode conductor X.sub.j+1 of the parallel electrode group 3, Ra is a
resistance of the resistor 4 between the terminal electrode 6 and the
electrode conductor Y.sub.i passing through the contact point P, R.sub.b
is a resistance of the resistor 4 between the terminal electrode 7 and the
electrode conductor Y.sub.i, R.sub.c is a resistance of the resistor 5
between the terminal electrode 8 and the electrode conductor X.sub.j
passing through the contact point P, R.sub.d is a resistance of the
resistor 5 between the terminal electrode 9 and the electrode conductor
X.sub.j, and R.sub.g is a resistance of the pressure conductive rubber
sheet 12 having a small resistance value at the contact point P which is
regarded as negligible in the following calculations. Symbol I denotes a
current flowing from the constant-current regulated power 12, I.sub.a,
I.sub.b are currents respectively flowing into terminals a, b, and I.sub.c
and I.sub.d currents respectively flowing out from the terminals c, d.
When the electrode conductor Y.sub.i of the parallel electrode group 2 and
the electrode conductor X.sub.j of the parallel electrode group 3 come in
electrical contact with each other at the contact point P, the following
equations hold.
R.sub.a =r.sub.i +r.sub.2 + . . . +r.sub.i (1)
R.sub.b =r.sub.i+1 +r.sub.i+2 + . . . +r.sub.n (2)
R.sub.c =r'.sub.1 +r'.sub.2 + . . . +r'.sub.j (3)
R.sub.d =r'.sub.j+1 +r'.sub.j+2 + . . . +r'.sub.n (4)
If the resistance between the terminal electrodes 6 and 7 of the resistor 4
and that between the terminal electrodes 8 and 9 of the resistor 5 are
equal and uniform and electrode conductors of the parallel electrode
groups 2 and 3 are equally spaced, then the following equation holds;
r.sub.0 =r.sub.i =r'.sub.j
and equations (1) to (4) respectively reduce to,
R.sub.a =i.times.r.sub.0 (5)
R.sub.b =(n-i).times.r.sub.0 (6)
R.sub.c =j.times.r.sub.0 (7)
R.sub.d =(n-j).times.r.sub.0 (8)
On the other hand, the current is expressed by,
I=I.sub.a +I.sub.b =I.sub.c +I.sub.d (9)
The relation among R.sub.a and R.sub.b and I.sub.a and I.sub.b is expressed
by,
I.sub.a R.sub.a =I.sub.b R.sub.b (10)
When equations (5) and (6) are substituted into equation (10), then
I.sub.a ir.sub.0 =I.sub.b (n-i)r.sub.0 (11)
i=n/I I.sub.b (12)
stand.
In equation (12), I and n are constant and therefore i can be determined by
measuring I.sub.b and the electrode conductor Y.sub.i can be detected.
Similarly, the following equation represents the relation among R.sub.c,
R.sub.d, I.sub.c and I.sub.d.
I.sub.c R.sub.c =I.sub.d R.sub.d (13)
When equations (7) and (8) are substituted into equation (13), the
following equations hold.
I.sub.c jr.sub.0 =I.sub.d (n-j)r.sub.0 (14)
j=n/I I.sub.d (15)
In equation (15), I and n are constant and therefore j can be determined by
measuring I.sub.d and the electrode conductor X.sub.j can be detected.
Thus, the coordinates of the input contact point P uon which the pressure
is being applied can be detected.
In FIG. 4A, voltage drops caused by the currents I.sub.b, I.sub.d flowing
respectively through the resistors 18 and 19 are amplified by the
operational amplifiers 16 and 17 to obtain output voltages at the X output
terminal 20 and Y output terminal 21 corresponding to X and Y coordinates
of the input contact point P.
On the other hand, with no pressure applied, the resistance R.sub.g between
the electrode conductors Y.sub.i and X.sub.j becomes sufficiently large to
disconnect these conductors, thereby preventing the current I from
flowing. Accordingly, when as shown in FIG. 4A, the current I is detected
by the current detection circuit 22 connected in series with the
constant-current regulated power 15, the touch of the writing tool can be
detected by an output from the touch output terminal 23. The current
detection circuit 22 is, for example, comprised of a resistor 24 and a
comparator 25 as shown in FIG. 4B.
According to the input position detection apparatus as described above,
since there is no need to apply tension to the second parallel electrode
group because of the pressure conductive rubber sheet interposed between
the parallel electrode groups, the structure is simplified and the cost is
decreased. This also eliminates the problem of accidental mutual contact
of the electrode conductors even when the electrode groups are
incorporated in an apparatus of a relatively large input surface and are
used in horizontal position. The larger area does not necessarily increase
cost, and it becomes extremely easy to increase the size of the apparatus.
When the pressure conductive rubber sheet is used which has such a property
as the pressure required to make the sheet conductive increases as the
area upon which the force is applied increases, i.e, the property of
pressure dependency, the pressure conductive rubber sheet will not become
conductive even if the input surface is pressed accidentally with fingers
and/or hand of the operator so that erroneous detection can be eliminated.
FIG. 6 shows a graph showing the relation between pressure applied area in
the pressure conductive rubber sheet having the pressure dependency and
pressure required to make the same conductive. What is meant herein by
"becoming conductive" means that the resistance of the pressure conductive
rubber sheet becomes several ohms and the pressure is the force applied
per unit area. In the figure, the dotted line represents a characteristic
of a conventional pressure conductive sheet which exhibits negative
pressure dependency.
As will be seen from FIG. 6, the conventional pressure conductive sheet
shows a trend wherein the force required for making the sheet conductive
decreases as the area to which the force is applied increases, whereas in
the pressure conductive rubber sheet of this invention having the pressure
dependency, the necessary force increases as the area to which the force
is applied increases. Accordingly, even in the event that a portion of the
input surface is pressed by fingers and/or hand exceeding the contact area
of the writing tool, the pressure conductive rubber sheet is inhibited
from becoming conductive. As a result, the input effected only by the
pressure of the writing tool having a sharp point can advantageously be
detected. Thus, even if the operator uses the writing tool by manipulating
it on the input surface which is positioned horizontally with his hand
and/or fingers placed upon the same surface, the input by the pressure of
the writing tool alone will be detected. The contact area of the hand and
the fingers in the ordinary circumstances is about 1800 mm.sup.2 and the
contact pressure thereof is about 1260 g. Accordingly, the force applied
per unit area is about 0.7 g/mm.sup.2 which is far smaller than the
pressure required to make the same area conductive.
In the foregoing embodiment, the parallel electrode groups are in contact
with the whole length of the first and second resistors, but they may
partly be in contact with the resistors. The resistor and the electrode
conductor may be soldered together without resort to the electrical
connection by the pressure conductive rubber sheet. Different resistances
per unit length of the first and second resistors may achieve the same
results as is clear from the equivalent circuit.
It is not always necessary that the first and second parallel electrode
groups mutually intersect at right angles, but they may be in an inclined
position. Although the insulating substrate having flexibility is used as
an input surface, it is possible to place a flexible protective film on
the input surface as the need arises.
Referring to FIG. 7, there is shown another embodiment of the present
invention. In the foregoing embodiment, the pressure conductive rubber
sheet 12 for the input surface is separated from the pressure conductive
rubber sheets 13 and 14 which are adapted to ensure electrical connection
between the electrode conductor and the resistor region. However, when
spacings l.sub.1 and l.sub.2 between the input surface region and the
resistor region are not so large as to cause the sheet deformation at the
resistor region, which is due to the compressive force applied to clamp
the insulating substrate and resistor, to affect the sheet at the input
surface region, an integral pressure conductive rubber sheet 12a can be
used for the input surface and the resistors. Obviously, if only one of
the spacings is sufficiently large, the integration may be effected
accordingly.
In the position detection circuit of FIG. 4A, the constant-current
regulated power is used, but a voltage source may be used for driving as
shown in FIG. 8. In this case, an adder circuit for computing (I.sub.a
+I.sub.b) or (I.sub.c +I.sub.d) of FIG. 5 and a divider circuit for
computing I.sub.b /(I.sub.a +I.sub.b) and I.sub.d /(I.sub.c +I.sub.d) may
be used to obtain the same result. More particularly, a voltage source 22
of voltage E is used in FIG. 8 instead of the constant-current regulated
power 15 shown in FIG. 4, and a fixed resistor 25, an amplifier 24 of high
input impedance, and a divider 26 to compute I.sub.b /I, and a divider 27
to compute I.sub.d /I are added with the remaining portions being the same
as those in FIG. 4. In FIG. 8, voltage proportional to current I.sub.b is
obtained at a terminal e, voltage proportional to current I.sub.d at a
terminal f, and voltage proportional to current I (=I.sub.a +I.sub.b
=I.sub.c +I.sub.d) at a terminal g.
In FIG. 8, an equivalent circuit when receiving the input is obtained by
replacing the constant-current regulated power 12 of FIG. 5 with the
voltage source generating voltage E.
In this case, equations (1) to (12) hold as in the case when the
constant-current regulated power is used. Therefore, i which represents
the electrode conductor X.sub.i corresponding to the input point is
expressed by the following equation,
##EQU1##
where current I is,
##EQU2##
As is clear from equation (17), the current I varies with change in
R.sub.a, R.sub.b, R.sub.c, R.sub.d and R.sub.g values, and also with
change in the voltage E. Accordingly, it is necessary to calculate I.sub.b
/I in order to determine i. Similarly, j representing the electrode
conductor Y.sub.j corresponding to the input point may be determined by
calculating I.sub.d /I in equation (15).
According to the apparatus for detecting X and Y coordinates of input
points of the present invention, the structure of the input surface can
extremely be simplified, thereby decreasing the costs, and erroneous
detection due to hand and/or finger pressure can be eliminated. The stable
input operation becomes feasible even if the input surface is positioned
horizontally and the input area can be enlarged quite easily without
raising the cost. The easy input operation is possible with an ordinary
writing tool. The pressure conductive rubber sheet is not sensitive to the
force applied upon a relatively large area such as by fingers and/or hand,
and it can detect only the force applied upon small area alone such as by
the writing tool. It becomes thus possible to operate the apparatus by
holding the input surface with fingers and/or hands. The present
invention, therefore, is advantageous in many points.
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