Coordinate input device

• US 8,125,447 B2
• Filed: 12/18/2008
• Issued: 02/28/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/25/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: ALPS Electric Company Limited (Alps Alpine Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: Ohshita, Kazuhito, Hatano, Naoyuki
• Primary Examiner(s): Tzeng, Fred
• Application Number:
  US12/337,825
• Publication Number:
  US 20090160766A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,167 Days
• Field of Search: 345/157, 345/145, 345/159, 345/160, 345/165, 345/161, 345/163, 345/167
• US Class Current: 345/157
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 2009/04762 Force transducer, e.g. strain gauge
• CPC Class Codes: G05G 9/047 the controlling member being movable by hand about orthogonal axes, e.g. joysticks for switches H01H25/04

Abstract

A coordinate input device includes an operation unit that is provided so as to be operated, strain sensors that output data corresponding to an operation amount of the operation unit, and a control unit. The control unit performs the count corresponding to the increase or decrease of speed data that is obtained by converting data sequentially output from the strain sensors, and generates counted count values or coordinate data calculated from the count values. The control unit calculates a moving average value from the count values that are sequentially output every predetermined time. When the moving average value satisfies predetermined conditions, the control unit regards that the operation of the operation unit is cancelled, and stops the output of the coordinate data or outputs 0 as the count value.

Claims

1. A coordinate input device comprising:

an operation unit that is provided so as to be operated;

strain sensors that output data corresponding to an operation amount of the operation unit; and

a control unit that performs the count corresponding to the increase or decrease of speed data, which is obtained by converting data sequentially output from the strain sensors, and generates counted count values or coordinate data calculated from the count values,

wherein the control unit calculates a moving average value from the count values that are sequentially output every predetermined time,

when the moving average value satisfies predetermined conditions, the control unit regards that the operation of the operation unit is cancelled, and stops the output of the coordinate data or outputs 0 as the count value, and

wherein the control unit includes a data conversion detecting part that converts load data supplied from the strain sensors to speed data and detects a changing state thereof, a speed data counting part that generates count values corresponding to the increase or decrease of the speed data every predetermined sampling time, a moving average calculating part that calculates a moving average every sampling time of the count values, and a noise removing part that performs a predetermined noise removal process on the count values supplied from the moving average calculating part.

2. The coordinate input device according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined conditions are as follows:

(1) a current count value output from the speed data counting part is larger than a first reference count value corresponding to a predetermined minimum speed; and

(2) difference between the count value output from the moving average calculating part and the current count value output from the speed data counting part exceed a predetermined second reference count value.