Dial input device
First Claim
1. A dial input device, comprising:
- a support member;
a dial rotatably arranged on said support member and having a plurality of kinds of characters circumferentially allocated thereto;
n (n≧
1) first contact member(s) arranged in a manner concentric with said dial, each of which is circumferentially divided into s (s≧
2) divisional parts and formed by electrically conductive portions and electrically non-conductive portions arranged in a mixed manner;
a second contact member arranged in a manner concentric with said dial and circumferentially divided into m (m≧
2) divisional parts each of which is formed by an electrically conductive portion alone;
n×
s first brushes arranged on said dial in a manner circumferentially corresponding to said s divisional parts of each of said n first contact member(s); and
a second brush arranged on said dial in a manner corresponding to said second contact member,wherein said characters are expressed by k (k≦
2.sup.(n×
s) ×
m) identifying patterns out of 2.sup.(n×
s) ×
m identifying patterns formed by a combination of bit patterns of n×
s bits generated by contact between said electrically conductive portions and said electrically non-conductive portions of each of said divisional parts of said first contact member and said n×
s first brushes and m grouping patterns generated by contact between said m parts of said second contact member and said second brush.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A dial input device is provided. A dial is rotatably arranged on a support member and has a plurality of kinds of characters circumferentially allocated thereto. n (n≧1) first contact member(s) arranged in a manner concentric with the dial is/are circumferentially divided into s (s≧2) divisional parts and formed by electrically conductive portions and electrically non-conductive portions arranged in a mixed manner. A second contact member is arranged in a manner concentric with the dial and circumferentially divided into m (m≧2) parts each of which is formed by an electrically conductive portion alone. n×s first brushes are arranged on the dial in a manner circumferentially corresponding to the s divisional parts of each of the n first contact member(s). A second brush is arranged on the dial in a manner corresponding to the second contact member. The characters are expressed by k (k≦2.sup.(n×s) ×m) identifying patterns out of 2.sup.(n×s) ×m identifying patterns formed by a combination of bit patterns of n×s bits generated by contact between the electrically conductive portions and the electrically non-conductive portions of each of the divisional parts of the first contact member and the n×s first brushes, and m grouping patterns generated by contact between the m parts of the second contact member and the second brush.
13 Citations
7 Claims
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1. A dial input device, comprising:
-
a support member; a dial rotatably arranged on said support member and having a plurality of kinds of characters circumferentially allocated thereto; n (n≧
1) first contact member(s) arranged in a manner concentric with said dial, each of which is circumferentially divided into s (s≧
2) divisional parts and formed by electrically conductive portions and electrically non-conductive portions arranged in a mixed manner;a second contact member arranged in a manner concentric with said dial and circumferentially divided into m (m≧
2) divisional parts each of which is formed by an electrically conductive portion alone;n×
s first brushes arranged on said dial in a manner circumferentially corresponding to said s divisional parts of each of said n first contact member(s); anda second brush arranged on said dial in a manner corresponding to said second contact member, wherein said characters are expressed by k (k≦
2.sup.(n×
s) ×
m) identifying patterns out of 2.sup.(n×
s) ×
m identifying patterns formed by a combination of bit patterns of n×
s bits generated by contact between said electrically conductive portions and said electrically non-conductive portions of each of said divisional parts of said first contact member and said n×
s first brushes and m grouping patterns generated by contact between said m parts of said second contact member and said second brush. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. A dial input device comprising:
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a substrate having first contacts provided along a peripheral direction thereof and second contacts arranged in a manner concentric with the first contacts; a plurality of first brushes being in sliding contact with at least one of the first contacts to define a plurality of first bit patterns, each of the first bit patterns consisting of a plurality of bits; a second brush being in contact with one of the second contacts to define a plurality of second bit patterns, each of the second bit patterns consisting of a plurality of bits; and a rotary dial, having a plurality of characters arranged in a predetermined order along a peripheral direction thereof, that changes contact positions of the first brushes and the second brush with the first contacts and the second contacts, respectively, to define one of the first bit patterns and one of the second bit patterns, respectively, that together define an identifying code representing one of the plurality of characters, wherein rotation of the rotary dial by one character in the predetermined order among the plurality of characters allocated on the rotary dial changes the identifying code by one bit. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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Specification