JP2003202957A - Coordinate detecting method, program by its method and storage medium with its program stored therein - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coordinate detecting method for detecting coordinates by detecting shading directions where emitted lights are shaded, capable of simultaneously touching a plurality of points belonging to different areas, and operating processing corresponding to each touch in parallel. <P>SOLUTION: In this coordinate detecting method for detecting coordinates by detecting shading directions where lights emitted from a plurality of light sources are shaded is constituted so that, when it is recognized that detected coordinates (A) and (B) are present in different areas divided by a preset borderline (X) from the shading width at the positions of the detected coordinates where the lights emitted from the light sources at the left upper corner and the right upper corner are shaded, those simultaneously instructed coordinates are calculated from a plurality of detected shading directions (θL1, θL2, θR1, θR2). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coordinate detecting method used in an electronic blackboard system, a personal computer or the like to detect coordinates by detecting a light blocking direction, and more particularly to detecting a plurality of coordinates at the same time. The present invention relates to a coordinate detection method that can perform.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an electronic blackboard system and some personal computers, a display device with a coordinate input function, which will be described later, has been used as a dual-purpose device which is a display device and a coordinate input device. In a system using such a display device with a coordinate input function, a desired position on the screen is touched with a fingertip or the like to indicate the position. Alternatively, a line is drawn by moving while touching a fingertip or the like, or a displayed target image or the like is moved (drag). The coordinate detecting method according to the present invention is the coordinate detecting method used in the coordinate input device as described above to detect the coordinate by detecting the light blocking direction. In addition, a touch operation on a display device with a coordinate input function generally emulates a “left button” operation on a mouse. This is Windows (registered trademark), MAC,
General-purpose OS (operating system) such as Linux
This is because the APL (application) that operates under (1) displays the menu when the left button is turned on and executes the function. In this respect, the present invention uses a similar method. Further, in the conventional touch panel, when two points are touched at the same time, generally, a process such as a malfunction or ignoring the touched later is performed. Divide one screen into multiple areas, touch multiple points that belong to different areas at the same time,
It does not perform processing corresponding to each touch in parallel, nor does it specify touch coordinates by dividing into a plurality of regions. The following are known as the coordinate input / detection device of the display device with the coordinate input function described above. In one example, a light beam is emitted from two light emitting portions via a rotary polygon mirror to scan a coordinate input surface, and reflected light from a reflecting member provided at the tip of the pen is reflected by two light receiving portions. Then, the insertion position of the pen is detected.
-21637). The light is received by the two light receiving units, and the coordinates of the designated position are calculated using the principle of triangulation. The coordinate input surface in this coordinate input / detection device is not a physical surface like the coordinate input surface in the coordinate input / detection devices of the first and second examples,
It is a surface formed by the light beam emitted from the light emitting portion.

Further, in the optical coordinate input / detection device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-91094, light emitting / receiving units are provided in, for example, the lower left and right corners of the coordinate input surface, and the respective light emitting / receiving units are provided. The light beam is emitted while changing the emission direction (emission angle) from the section, scans the coordinate input surface, and the light beam is folded back by the corner cube array (light retroreflecting means) provided on the upper side and left and right sides of the panel. (Reflect in the returning direction), and the light beams returned by the respective light emitting / receiving units are detected. This makes it possible to detect the scanning angles of the left and right light emitting / receiving portions where the light beam is blocked by a finger or the like, and the coordinates of the designated position can be calculated using the principle of triangulation. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-11
In the optical coordinate input / detection device disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 0116, light emitting / receiving units are provided in, for example, upper and left corners of the coordinate input surface, and the emitting directions (emission angles) are set from the respective light emitting / receiving units. The light beam is emitted while changing it, and the coordinate input surface is scanned, and the light beam is reflected by the light retroreflecting means provided on the bottom side and the left and right sides of the panel (reflected in the returning direction) to emit and receive each light. The light beam returned by the unit is detected. As a result, the coordinates of the instructed position are calculated by detecting the light blocking range of the scanning angles of the left and right light emitting / receiving parts where the light beam is blocked by the finger or the like. In addition, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
In the optical coordinate input / detection device disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 000-284895, when the coordinates of the position similarly designated by the infrared beam is detected, there is distortion of the display plate or inclination of the coordinate input pen. Is also capable of stable position detection.

[0004]

As described above, in the prior art, one screen is divided into a plurality of areas, and a plurality of points belonging to different areas are simultaneously touched,
It does not perform processing corresponding to each touch in parallel, nor does it specify touch coordinates by dividing into a plurality of regions. An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem of the conventional art. Specifically, it has a reflecting means for reflecting the light emitted from the light source, and detects the light blocking direction for blocking the emitted light. In the coordinate detection method for detecting coordinates by doing so, it is possible to simultaneously touch a plurality of points belonging to different areas, thereby specifying touch coordinates, and performing processing corresponding to each touch in parallel. And when using it as an electronic blackboard,
It is to provide a coordinate detection method that can be used by two or more people at the same time.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the invention described in claim 1, the light-shielding direction for interrupting the emitted light is detected for the light emitted from a plurality of light sources and reflected. In the coordinate detection method of detecting the coordinates by, from the light-shielding width of the detection coordinates, when it can be considered that the plurality of detection coordinates are in different regions separated by the boundary line provided in advance, respectively, the plurality of coordinates designated at the same time, The present invention is characterized in that the calculation is performed from the detected light shielding direction of a plurality of coordinates and the result of the light shielding width comparison. According to the invention of claim 2, in the invention of claim 1, when the coordinate pointed at the same time is two points, the boundary line is one boundary line in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or 3 In the case of a point, the boundary line has two boundary lines in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or in the case of four points, one boundary line in the vertical direction and one in the horizontal direction form two boundary lines. It is characterized by having done. Further, in the invention according to claim 3, in the invention according to claim 1 or claim 2, a plurality of coordinates are simultaneously indicated by touching an arbitrary point on the boundary line in advance and detecting the light shielding width at that time. It is characterized in that the shielding width on the boundary line at that time is calculated, and the shielding width is compared using the shielding width. Further, in the invention of claim 4, in the invention of claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, a display for instructing processing contents in the area corresponding to each coordinate by the number of detected coordinates. The feature is that the child is displayed. The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 4, different operations are performed by using different displayed indicators. Further, the invention according to claim 6 is characterized in that the program operating on the information processing device is programmed according to the coordinate detecting method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Further, the invention according to claim 7 is characterized in that the program according to claim 6 is stored in a storage medium storing the program.

[0006]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of, for example, an electronic blackboard system in which the present invention is implemented. As shown in the figure, the electronic blackboard system of this embodiment comprises a display device with coordinate input function 1 and a control device 2 realized by, for example, a personal computer. Further, the display device with coordinate input function 1 detects a position on the screen touched by a finger or the like optically by detecting a light-shielding direction blocked by the finger or the like, and sends it to the control device 2. A display unit that displays the image data sent from the control device 2 is provided. The coordinate detection unit has a display screen resolution (for example, the number of dots in the X-axis direction: 1024, the number of dots in the Y-axis direction: 768).
The X and Y coordinates on the display screen corresponding to are detected and the coordinate data is sent to the control device 2.

Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 2, the coordinate detecting section of the display device 1 with the coordinate input function will be described. In FIG. 2, the coordinate input area 3 is a quadrangular shape, for example, a display surface for electronically displaying an image, or a whiteboard for writing with a pen or the like. When touching the coordinate input area 3 with the optically opaque user's finger, pen, support rod, or the like, the coordinate detecting unit of the display device with coordinate input function 1 detects the touched position. The coordinates are detected. As shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting / receiving sections 5 are mounted on both upper ends of the coordinate input area 3, and light is emitted from the light emitting / receiving section 5 in all directions of the coordinate input area 3 without any gap. ing. In FIG. 2, such irradiation light is shown as a bundle of light beams L1, L2, L3, ... Lm (probe light), but in reality, the irradiation light spreads from the point light source 81 It is a fan-shaped plate-like light wave that travels along a plane parallel to the input surface. Further, a retroreflective member 4 is attached to the peripheral portion of the coordinate input area 3 with its retroreflective surface facing the center of the coordinate input area 3. The retroreflective member 4 is a member having a characteristic of reflecting incident light in the same direction regardless of the incident angle. For example, paying attention to one beam 12 of the fan-shaped plate-shaped light waves emitted from the light emitting / receiving unit 5, the beam 12 is reflected by the retroreflective member 4, and the same optical path is again reflected to the light receiving / emitting unit 5 as the retroreflected light 11. Proceed to return. Since the light receiving and emitting section 5 is provided with a light receiving means described later, the probe light L
For each of 1 to Lm, the recursive light is received and emitted by the light receiving and emitting unit
You can determine whether or not you have recurred to.

Now, consider a case where the pointing means 6 (for example, the user's hand) touches the position shown in the figure. At this time, the probe light 10 is blocked by the indicating means 6 and is reflected by the retroreflective member 4.
Does not reach. Therefore, the retroreflected light of the probe light 10 does not reach the light emitting / receiving unit 5, and by detecting that the retroreflected light corresponding to the probe light 10 is not received, it is supported on the extension line (straight line L) of the probe light 10. It can be detected that an object has been inserted. Similarly, by irradiating the probe light from the light emitting / receiving unit 5 installed on the upper right side of FIG. 2 and detecting that the recursive light corresponding to the probe light 13 is not received, the extension line (straight line) of the probe light 13 is detected. R)
It can be detected that a support object has been inserted above. If the straight line L and the straight line R can be obtained in this way, the coordinates in which the indicating means 6 is inserted can be obtained by calculating the coordinates of this intersection.
FIG. 3 schematically shows the internal structure of the light emitting / receiving unit 5. Hereinafter, referring to FIG. 3, the configuration of the light emitting / receiving unit 5 and the probe lights L1 to L
A mechanism for detecting which probe light of m is blocked will be described. 3 is a view of the light emitting / receiving unit 5 shown in FIG. 2 viewed from a direction perpendicular to the coordinate input area 3. Here, for simplification, description will be made on a two-dimensional plane parallel to the coordinate input area 3. As shown in the figure,
Is a point light source 81, a condenser lens 51, and a light receiving element 50.
And so on. The point light source 81 emits light in a fan shape in a direction opposite to the light receiving element 50 when viewed from the light source.
The fan-shaped light emitted from the point light source 81 has arrows 53, 5
8, and a set of beams traveling in other directions. Of these, the beam traveling in the direction of arrow 53 is reflected by the retroreflective member 4, passes through the condenser lens 51, and reaches the position 57 on the light receiving element 50. The beam traveling along the arrow 58 is reflected by the retroreflective member 4 and reaches the position 56 on the light receiving element 50. In this way, the light emitted from the point light source 81, reflected by the retroreflective member 4 and returning along the same path reaches different positions on the light receiving element 50 by the action of the condenser lens 51. . Therefore, when the pointing means 6 is inserted at a certain position and a certain beam is blocked, the light does not reach the point on the light receiving element 50 corresponding to that beam. Therefore, by examining the distribution of the light intensity on the light receiving element 50, it is possible to know which beam is blocked.

The above operation will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. In FIG. 4, the light receiving element 50 is assumed to be installed on the focal plane of the condenser lens 51. With such a configuration, the light emitted from the point light source 81 toward the right side in FIG. 4 is reflected by the retroreflective member 4, returns along the same path, and is condensed again at the position of the point light source 81. Condenser lens 51
Set the center of the so that it coincides with the position of the point light source. Since the retroreflected light returning from the retroreflective member 4 passes through the center of the condenser lens 51, the retroreflected light travels in a symmetrical path behind the lens (on the light receiving element side). In FIG. 4, the light intensity distribution is shown in association with the position on the light receiving element 50, but as shown in the figure, the light intensity distribution on the light receiving element 50 at the position where the light is not blocked by the indicating means 6. Is almost constant. On the other hand, the position Dn on the light receiving element 50 where the light is blocked by the indicating means 6
Indicates a region where the light intensity is weak (dark spot). This position Dn corresponds to the outgoing / incident angle θn of the blocked beam, and Dn
Θn can be known by detecting. That is, θn can be expressed as θn = arctan (Dn / f) (Equation 1) as a function of Dn. Here, in particular, θn and Dn in the light emitting / receiving unit 1 at the upper left of FIG. 2 are replaced with θnL and DnL, respectively.

Further, in FIG. 5, the conversion means g of the geometrical relative positional relationship between the light emitting / receiving section 1 and the coordinate input area 3 causes the pointing means 6 to strike in the direction viewed from the upper left light receiving / emitting section 1. The angle θL can be expressed as θL = g (θnL) where θnL = arctan (DnL / f) (Equation 2) as a function of DnL obtained by (Equation 1). Similarly, the light emitting / receiving unit 1 at the upper right of FIG.
In the case of (Equation 2), the L symbol is replaced with the R symbol, and θR = h (θnR) where θnR = by the conversion h of the geometrical relative positional relationship between the light receiving / emitting unit 1 and the coordinate input region 3 on the right side. arctan (DnR / f) (Equation 3) Here, the mounting interval of the light emitting / receiving unit 1 on the coordinate input area 3 is w shown in FIG. 5, the origin is the upper left corner, the right direction from the origin is the X axis positive direction, and the downward direction is the Y axis positive direction. In terms of directions, the coordinates (x, y) of the point designated by the pointing means 6 on the coordinate input area 3 are as follows. x = wtan θR / (tan θL + tan θR) (Equation 4) y = wtan θL · tan θR / (tan θL + tan θR) (Equation 5) Thus, x and y can be expressed as a function of DnL and DnR. In other words, by detecting the positions DnL and DnR of the dark spots on the light receiving elements 50 in the left and right light receiving and emitting units 1 and considering the geometrical arrangement of the light receiving and emitting units 1, the instruction means 6 is provided.
The coordinates of the point designated by can be detected.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which one of the left and right light emitting / receiving sections 1 is installed on the display surface as an example of installing the above-mentioned optical system in the coordinate input area 3. In FIG. 6, the coordinate input area 3 shows a cross section of the display surface, and is viewed in the positive direction of the y-axis. Further, in the figure, A and B are displayed with different viewpoints for the sake of explanation. First, the light emitting means of the light emitting / receiving unit 1 will be described. In this embodiment, a light source such as a laser diode or a pinpoint LED capable of narrowing the spot to some extent is used as the light source 83. Such a light source 83
Light emitted perpendicularly to the display surface (coordinate input area 3) from the lens is converted into parallel rays only in the x direction by the cylindrical lens 84, and after exiting the cylindrical lens 84, the curvature distribution is orthogonal to that of the cylindrical lens 84. The light is focused by the cylindrical lenses 85 and 86 in the y direction in FIG. In order to explain this situation, part A in the figure shows the arrangement and condensing state of the cylindrical lens group as viewed from the x direction by rotating the viewpoint about the z axis. Due to the action of this cylindrical lens group, a linearly condensed region is formed behind the cylindrical lens 86.
Here, a slit 82 narrow in the y direction and elongated in the x direction is inserted. That is, the linear secondary light source 8 is located at this slit position.
1 is formed. Then, the light emitted from the secondary light source 81 is reflected by the half mirror 87, does not spread in the direction perpendicular to the display surface, and spreads in a fan shape around the secondary light source 81 in the direction parallel to the display surface while spreading on the display surface. Proceed along. Further, the light is reflected by the retroreflective member 4 installed at the peripheral edge of the display, and returns to the half mirror 87 direction (arrow C) along the same path. Then, the light transmitted through the half mirror 87 travels in parallel to the display surface, passes through the cylindrical lens 51, and enters the light receiving element 50. At this time, the secondary light source 81 and the cylindrical lens 51 have a conjugate positional relationship with the half mirror 87. Therefore, the secondary light source 81 is the light source 8 shown in FIG.
1 and the cylindrical lens 51 corresponds to the lens 51 shown in FIG. 6B is a view of the light-receiving side cylindrical lens 51 and the light-receiving element 50 seen from the z-axis direction with the viewpoint changed, and similarly corresponds to the lens 51 and the light-receiving element 50 shown in FIG. .

Next, with respect to the coordinate detecting section as described above, an embodiment of two-point detection will be described as a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, L1 and L2 are two points to be detected. Dip width (light-shielding width) of L1 and L2
Regarding WL1 and WL2, since the distance from the light source (upper left) at L1 is smaller than L2, WL1> WL2. The same holds true from the right light source. In this embodiment, such a relationship is used. First, on the display surface, in the illustrated example, calibration is performed to derive the relationship between tan θ and the dip width of two points on a linear boundary line set at a desired X coordinate position parallel to the Y axis. In FIG. 8, by touching two points on the boundary line X, XA and XB, a dip width WXA in XA, a dip width WXB in XB, and tan θLXA, tan θ.
LXB, tan θ RXA, tan θ RXB are detected,
By calculating the relationship between tan θ on the boundary line and the dip width, the dip width on the boundary line when a plurality of coordinates are designated at the same time is calculated, and the dip width and the light shielding at each of the plurality of touch points are calculated. The widths are compared as will be described later to calculate the plurality of coordinates.

Next, a point A (X1, on the left side of the boundary line X is
Simultaneous detection of Y1) and point B (X2, Y2) on the right side is performed.
The simultaneous detection will be described below with reference to FIG.
First, regarding each of the above points, the angle of point A detected by the left light source is θL1, the dip width is WAL, the angle of point B detected by the left light source is θL2, and the dip width is WBL of the point A detected by the right light source. The angle is θR1, the dip width is WAR, the angle of the point B detected by the light source on the right side is θR2, and the dip width is WBR. Further, from the relationship between tan θ and the dip width on the boundary line already calculated as described above, the angle θ
The dip width WxθL1 at the intersection of the probe light L1 and the boundary line X The dip width WxθL2 at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θL2 and the boundary line X The dip width WxθR1 angle θR2 of the intersection of the probe light of the angle θR1 and the boundary X The dip width WxθR2 at the intersection of the probe light and the boundary line X is calculated. Next, WAL and WxθL
Compare 1 At that time, when WAL> WxθL1, point A is on the left side of boundary line X (1) When WAL <WxθL1, point A is on the right side of boundary line X (2). Similarly, WBL and WxθL2 are compared. At that time, when WBL> WxθL2, the point B is on the left side of the boundary line X (3). When WBL <WxθL2, the point B is on the right side of the boundary line X (4). Subsequently, WAR and WxθR1 are compared. When WAR> WxθR1, point A is on the right side of the boundary line (5). When WAR <WxθR1, point A is on the left side of the boundary line (6). Further, by comparing WBR and WxθR2, it is determined that the point B is located on the right side of the boundary line when WBR> WxθR2 (7) and the point B is located on the left side (8) of the boundary line when WBR <WxθR2.

When the points A and B are located on the left and right sides of the boundary line X, the conditions (1) and (4) are satisfied at the same time for the detection by the light source on the left side. The condition (2) and the condition (3) are satisfied at the same time. Regarding the detection by the light source on the right side, the condition (5) and the condition (8) are satisfied at the same time, and the condition (6) and the condition (7) are satisfied.
The conditions of are satisfied at the same time. When such conditions are not satisfied at the same time, it is considered that points A and B are detected on one side of the boundary line X at the same time, or two points are not touched at the same time. There are two light-shielding directions on the left and right, and there are four intersections as is clear from FIG. 9. However, when the above conditions are satisfied for point A (X1, Y1) and point B (X2, Y2), the coordinates are X1 at point A = Wtan θR1 / (tan θL1 + tan
θR1) Y1 = Wtan θL1 tan θR1 / (tan θL1 +
tan θR1) X2 at point B = Wtan θR2 / (tan θL2 + tan
θR2) Y2 = Wtan θL2 tan θR2 / (tan θL2 +
tan θR2).

Next, in the same way as the two-point detection described above, 3
An example of detecting points will be described. In case of 3-point detection, L in FIG.
1, L2, L3 dip width WL1, WL2, WL3
Since the distance from the light source is L1 <L2 <L3, W
L1 <WL2 <WL3. The same holds true from the right light source. In this embodiment, such a relationship is used. In the case of three-point detection, calibration is performed similarly to the two-point detection, and first, X1, on the two boundary lines
The relationship between the dip width of X2 and tan θ is obtained. Figure 11
, Two points XA1, XB1, X on the boundary line X1
By touching two points XA2 and XB2 on 2, the angle and the dip width at each of the four points are detected, and the relationship between tan θ and the dip width on the boundary line is calculated.

Next, according to FIG. 12, a point A (X1, Y1) on the left side of the boundary line X1, a point B (X2, Y2) between the boundary lines X1 and X2, and a point C (X3) on the right side of the boundary line X2. , Y
A case where the simultaneous detection of 3) is performed will be described. First, regarding such points, the angle of point A detected by the left light source is θL1, the dip width is WAL, the angle of point B detected by the left light source is θL2, and the dip width is WBL the point C detected by the left light source. Is θL3, the dip width is WCL, the angle of the A point detected by the right light source is θR1, the dip width is WAR, the angle of the B point detected by the right light source is θR2, and the dip width is WBR the C detected by the right light source C Let θR3 be the angle of the point and WCR be the dip width. Further, from the relationship between tan θ and the dip width on the boundary line already calculated as described above, the dip width at the intersection of the probe light with the angle θL1 and the boundary line X1 is WX1θL1 with the probe light with the angle θL1 The dip width at the intersection with the line X2 is WX2θL1 The dip width at the intersection between the probe light having the angle θL2 and the boundary line X1 is WX1θL2 The dip width at the intersection with the probe light having the angle θL2 is WX2θL2 The angle θL3 The dip width at the intersection of the probe light and the boundary line X1 is WX1θL3 The dip width at the intersection of the probe light at the angle θL3 and the boundary line X2 is the dip width at the intersection of the probe light at the WX2θL3 angle θR1 and the boundary line X1. WX1θR1 The dip width at the intersection of the probe light with the angle θR1 and the boundary line X2 is defined as the boundary with the probe light with the WX2θR1 angle θR2. The dip width at the intersection with the line X1 is WX1θR2. The dip width at the intersection between the probe light with the angle θR2 and the boundary line X2 is WX2θR2 The dip width at the intersection with the boundary line X1 is WX1θR3 With the angle θR3 WX2θR3 is calculated as the dip width at the intersection of the probe light and the boundary line X2.

At this time, the respective dip widths are: WAL, WX1θL1 <WAL WAR, WX2θR1> WAR WBL, WX1θL2>WBL> WX2θL2 WBR, WX1θR2 <WBL <WX2θR2 WCL, WX2θR3> WX2WR3, WCL2WR3, WX2WR3, <WCR is established. That is, since the touch range is restricted with respect to the boundary lines X1 and X2 at all of the points A, B, and C, simultaneous detection of three points is possible. The coordinates of points A, B, and C obtained by this method are as follows. X coordinate of point A: X1 = Wtan θR1 / (tan θL1
+ Tan θR1) Y coordinate: Y1 = Wtan θL1 · tan θR1 / (ta
nθL1 + tanθR1) X coordinate of point B: X2 = WtanθR2 / (tanθL2
+ Tan θR2) Y coordinate: Y2 = Wtan θL2 · tan θR2 / (ta
nθL2 + tanθR2) X coordinate of point C: X3 = WtanθR3 / (tanθL3
+ Tan θR3) Y coordinate: Y3 = Wtan θL3 · tan θR3 / (ta
n [theta] L3 + tan [theta] R3) When detecting N points at the same time, it is possible to provide N-1 desired boundary lines in the same manner and detect each one point in each area delimited by the boundary lines. In the two-point detection and the three-point detection described above, the boundary line is parallel to the Y axis (longitudinal direction), but when two light sources are arranged in the longitudinal direction (arranged at the left end or the right end), The boundary line is parallel to the X axis (horizontal direction).

Next, an example in which four points are detected by the same method as the above-described two-point detection will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 13, the four points are based on a linear boundary line X set at a desired X coordinate position parallel to the Y axis and a linear boundary line Y set at a desired Y coordinate position parallel to the X axis. , The lower left side point A (X1, Y1), the lower right side point B (X2, Y2), the upper left side point C (X3, Y3), and the upper right side point D (X4, Y1).
4). In the case of four-point detection, the calibration is first performed as in the two-point detection. Also,
Regarding the four points, the angle of point A detected by the left light source is θL1, the dip width is WAL, the angle of point B detected by the left light source is θL2, and the dip width is WBL the angle of point C detected by the left light source. θL3, dip width WCL The angle of point D detected by the left light source is θL4, dip width is WDL the angle of point A detected by the right light source is θR1, and dip width is the angle of point B detected by the right light source. Is θR2, the dip width is θR3, the angle of the point C detected by the WBR right light source, the dip width is WCR, the angle of the D point detected by the right light source is θR4, and the dip width is WDR. Further, the dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θL1 and the boundary line X is WxθL1 is the dip width at the intersection of the boundary light X of the probe light of the angle θL2 and the dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θL3 and the boundary line X. The width of the probe beam with the width WxθL3 angle θL4 and the boundary line X is the dip width of the probe beam with the width WxθL4 angle θR1 and the boundary line X. The dip width is the intersection of the probe light with the width WxθR1 angle θR2 and the boundary line X. The dip width is WxθR2 and the dip width at the intersection of the probe line of the angle θR3 and the boundary line X is WxθR3. The dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θR4 and the boundary line X is WxθR4.

Next, WAL and WxθL1 are compared. When WAL> WxθL1, point A is on the left side of boundary line X (11) When WAL <WxθL1, point A is on the right side of boundary line X (12) Then determine. By comparing WBL and WxθL2, it is determined that the point B is on the left side of the boundary line X when WBL> WxθL2 (13) and the point B is on the right side (14) of the boundary line X when WBL <WxθL2. By comparing WCL and WxθL3, it is determined that the point C is on the left side of the boundary line X when WCL> WxθL3 (15) and the point C is on the right side (16) of the boundary line X when WCL <WxθL3. By comparing WBL and WxθL4, it is determined that the point D is on the left side of the boundary line X when WDL> WxθL4 (17) and the point D is on the right side (18) of the boundary line X when WDL <WxθL4. By comparing WAR and WxθR1, it is determined that the point A is on the right side of the boundary line X (19) when WAR> WxθR1 and the point A is on the left side (20) of the boundary line X when WAR <WxθR1. By comparing WBR and WxθR2, it is determined that the point B is on the right side of the boundary line X when WBR> WxθR2 (21) and the point B is on the left side (22) of the boundary line X when WBR <WxθR2. By comparing WCR and WxθR3, it is determined that the point C is located on the right side of the boundary line X when WCR> WxθR3 (23) and the point C is located on the left side (24) of the boundary line X when WCR <WxθR3. By comparing WDR and WxθR4, it is determined that the point D is on the right side of the boundary line X when WDR> WxθR4 (25) and the point D is on the left side (26) of the boundary line X when WDR <WxθR4. Further, the dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θL1 and the boundary line Y is WYθL1 and the dip width at the intersection of the boundary line Y of the probe light of WYθL2 is the dip at the intersection of the probe light of WYθL2 angle θL3. WYθL3 is the dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θL4 and the boundary line Y, and WYθL4 is the dip width at the intersection of the probe light of the angle θR1 and the boundary line Y at the intersection of the probe light of the WYθR1 angle θR2 and the boundary line Y. The dip width is WYθR2 and the dip width at the intersection of the probe line with the angle θR3 and the boundary line Y is WYθR3. The dip width at the intersection of the probe light with the angle θR4 and the boundary line Y is WYθR4.

Then, WAL and WYθL1 are compared. Since the light source is on the lower side as shown in FIG. 13, point A is on the lower side of the boundary line Y when WAL> WYθL1 (27) WAL <WYθL1 Then, it is determined that the point A is located above the boundary line Y (28). By comparing WBL and WYθL2, it is determined that the point B is below the boundary line Y (29) when WBL> WYθL2 and the point B is above the boundary line Y (30) when WBL <WYθL2. By comparing WCL and WYθL3, it is determined that the point C is located below the boundary line Y when WCL> WYθL3 (31), and the point C is located above the boundary line Y (32) when WCL <WYθL3. By comparing WDL and WYθL4, it is determined that the point D is below the boundary line Y when WDL> WYθL4 (33) and the point D is above the boundary line Y (34) when WDL <WYθL4. By comparing WAR and WYθR1, it is determined that when WAR> WYθR1, point A is below the boundary line Y (35), and when WAR <WYθR1, point A is above the boundary line Y (36). By comparing WBR and WYθR2, it is determined that the point B is below the boundary line Y (37) when WBR> WYθR2, and the point B is above the boundary line Y (38) when WBR <WYθR2. By comparing WCR and WYθR3, it is determined that the point C is located below the boundary line Y when WCR> WYθR3 (39) and the point C is located above the boundary line Y (40) when WCR <WYθR3. By comparing WDR and WYθR4, it is determined that the point D is below the boundary line Y when WDR> WYθR4 (41) and the point D is above the boundary line Y (42) when WDR <WYθR4. As described above, point A (X1,
Y1) is the lower left area, point B (X2, Y2) is the lower right area, point C (X3, Y3) is the upper left area, and point D (X
4, Y4) is a point in the upper right area, and therefore the following conditions are satisfied at the same time. If the following conditions are not met,
It is considered that 4 points are not points in the area or that 4 points are not touched at the same time. At point A, (11), (20), (27) and (35) are simultaneously established. At point B, (14), (21), (29), and (37) are simultaneously established. At the point C, (15), (24), (32), and (40) are simultaneously established. At the point D, (18), (25), (34) and (42) are simultaneously established.

If the above conditions are satisfied, point A (X
1, Y1), B point (X2, Y2), C point (X3, Y
3), the coordinates of point D (X4, Y4) are: X1 of point A = Wtan θR1 / (tan θL1 + tan
θR1) Y1 = Wtan θL1 tan θR1 / (tan θL1 +
tan θR1) X2 at point B = Wtan θR2 / (tan θL2 + tan
θR2) Y2 = Wtan θL2 tan θR2 / (tan θL2 +
tan θR2) X3 at point C = Wtan θR3 / (tan θL3 + tan
θR3) Y3 = Wtan θL3 tan θR3 / (tan θL3 +
tan θR3) X4 at point D = Wtan θR4 / (tan θL4 + tan
θR4) Y4 = Wtan θL4 tan θR4 / (tan θL4 +
tan θR4).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this example, in each area delimited by the boundary line,
In order to perform different processings, as shown in FIG. 14, a toolbar, which is an indicator for instructing processing contents, is provided for each area. For example, it is assumed that the drawing mode is in the area A, the deletion mode is in the area B, and the pointing mode is in the area C. The operation in such a state will be described with reference to FIG. When the user clicks (touches) the "draw" icon in the toolbar of the area A in the above-described state, the control device 2 takes in this information and sets the area A to the drawing mode (S).
1). Then, processing and screen display related to the drawing mode are performed. After that, when it is detected that the screen is touched (S2), the control device 2 recognizes which area is touched (S3). Then, it is operated in a mode corresponding to the recognized area. That is, the control unit in the control device 3 changes the display of the toolbar of the detected area, accepts the input in the mode set in the area (S4), and displays the processing result on the screen, for example (S5). As described above, the case where there are two light sources has been described. However, by further increasing the number of light sources, for example, two touch points are arranged in a line when viewed from one light source, and the dip width of the rear touch point cannot be accurately detected. In that case, it is also possible to use another light source. Further, a program programmed according to the coordinate detecting method according to the present invention as described in each of the above-described embodiments is stored in, for example, a removable storage medium, and the storage medium has not been able to perform coordinate detection according to the present invention. By mounting it on a control device such as a personal computer, or
By transferring such a program to such a control device via a network, the coordinate detection according to the present invention can also be performed in the control device.

[0023]

As described above, according to the present invention,
According to the first aspect of the present invention, when the coordinates are detected by detecting the light-shielding direction that shields the emitted light, the plurality of detection coordinates are different from each other by the preliminarily provided boundary line from the light-shielding width of the detection coordinates. When it can be regarded as being in the area, a plurality of simultaneously designated coordinates are calculated from the comparison results of the light shielding direction and the light shielding width of the plurality of detected coordinates. Although points are detected, in the present invention, two true points can be easily specified. Therefore, a plurality of points belonging to different areas can be touched at the same time, and processing according to each touch can be performed. Can be operated in parallel.
Further, in the invention according to claim 2, in the invention according to claim 1, when the coordinate pointed at the same time is two points, the boundary line is one boundary line in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, and the boundary line is three points. In this case, the boundary line is defined as two boundary lines in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or in the case of four points, the boundary line is defined as two boundary lines, one in the vertical direction and one in the horizontal direction. It is possible to easily realize the separated 2 areas, 3 areas, or 4 areas, and it is possible to simultaneously touch a plurality of points belonging to these areas and to perform processing in parallel according to each touch. In the invention according to claim 3, in the invention according to claim 1 or 2, the position of the point on the boundary line and the dip are detected by previously touching an arbitrary point on the boundary line and detecting the light shielding width at that time. By determining the relationship with the width, the shielding width on the boundary line is calculated from the shielding direction of the touch point when a plurality of coordinates are simultaneously designated, and the shielding width is compared using the shielding width. The light-shielding width comparison described in 1 can be easily realized. In the invention according to claim 4, in the invention according to claim 1, claim 2, or claim 3, an indicator for instructing the processing content in the area corresponding to each coordinate by the number of detected coordinates. Is displayed, it is possible to operate the processes corresponding to each touch in parallel by touching the indicator. According to the invention of claim 5,
In the described invention, since different operations can be performed using the different displayed indicators, processing corresponding to each touch can be operated in parallel,
Therefore, for example, when used as an electronic blackboard, it can be used by two or more people at the same time. Also,
In the invention described in claim 6, since the program programmed according to the coordinate detection method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 can be run on the information processing device, the information processing device is controlled by the control device. The effect of the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5 can be obtained by using the above. In the invention according to claim 7,
Since the program programmed according to the coordinate detecting method according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is stored in, for example, a removable storage medium, the storage medium is any one of claims 1 to 5 so far. 6. The information processing apparatus is mounted on an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer that cannot detect coordinates according to the invention described in claim 1, and the information processing apparatus is used as a control apparatus.
It is possible to obtain the effect of the invention described in any one of 1.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an electronic blackboard system showing an example in which the present invention is implemented.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a coordinate detection method according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a coordinate detection method showing the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is another explanatory diagram of the coordinate detecting method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of a coordinate detection method showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an operation flowchart of the coordinate detecting method showing the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 display device with coordinate input function, 2 control device, 3 coordinate input area, 4 retroreflective member, 5 light emitting / receiving unit, 50
Light receiving element, 51 condenser lens, 81 point light source

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A coordinate detection method for detecting coordinates of light emitted from a plurality of light sources and reflected by detecting a light shielding direction for shielding the emitted light, wherein a plurality of detected coordinates are detected from a light shielding width of the detected coordinates. When it can be considered that each of them is in a different area delimited by a preliminarily provided boundary line, it is possible to calculate a plurality of simultaneously designated coordinates from the light-shielding direction of the detected plurality of coordinates and the result of the light-shielding width comparison. Characteristic coordinate detection method. 2. The coordinate detection method according to claim 1, wherein
When the coordinates designated at the same time are two points, the boundary line is one boundary line in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, and when there are three points, the boundary line is two boundary lines in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction. Or in the case of four points, one in the vertical direction and one in the horizontal direction are combined to form two boundary lines. 3. The invention according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an arbitrary point on the boundary line is touched in advance and the light-shielding width at that time is detected, so that the boundary when a plurality of coordinates are simultaneously indicated. A coordinate detection method characterized in that a shield width on a line is calculated and the shield width is compared using the shield width. 4. The coordinate detection method according to claim 1, 2, or 3, wherein an indicator for instructing processing contents is displayed in the area corresponding to each coordinate by the number of detected coordinates. A coordinate detection method characterized by: 5. The coordinate detection method according to claim 4,
A coordinate detection method characterized in that different operations are performed using different displayed indicators. 6. A program operating on an information processing device, which is programmed according to the coordinate detecting method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. 7. A storage medium storing a program, wherein the program according to claim 6 is stored.