JP5204461B2 - INPUT / OUTPUT DEVICE, ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING THE SAME, AND CONTROL METHOD FOR INPUT / OUTPUT DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output device capable of improving sensory operability for a user.

  In recent years, applications installed on PCs (personal computers) and the like include software such as a media player having a function of generating moving images or sounds, as well as software having a function of document creation or numerical calculation. In addition, for example, a media player not only has a function of playing back video or audio, but also a playlist function, a skin function that can customize the appearance or operation of software, a recording function from a CD (compact disk), a copyright management function, It has various functions such as a function for displaying the lyrics of the song being played. Furthermore, many media players also have a function for easily receiving a net radio or the like, a function for distributing promotional audio / video on a startup screen, a function for using a video content distribution service, and the like.

  These media players having various functions are mounted not only on PCs but also in portable electronic devices as shown in FIG. 12, for example. For example, as an electronic device, an electronic device having a push cross key 101 shown in FIG. 12A, an electronic device having a rotation key 102 shown in FIG. 12B, and a touch panel 103 shown in FIG. The electronic device provided is mentioned. Each electronic device shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C includes a display.

  A push cross key 101, a rotation key 102, or a touch panel 103 of each electronic device shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C is a function key for operating an application installed in the electronic device. The user can select or determine desired information by operating these function keys. That is, these function keys function as an input device for performing input by a user for operating the application.

  In addition, the display of each electronic device displays various information of the application. That is, the display functions as an output device for allowing the user to visually recognize the operation state of the application.

  In each of the electronic devices described above, for example, when the user changes the operation state of the application, the user first confirms the operation state of the application displayed on the display by looking at the display. Thereafter, the user operates the function keys such as the push cross key 101 while looking at the display to change to a desired operation state.

  An input device for selecting or determining information displayed on the display while viewing the display functioning as an output device is, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2 in addition to the function keys provided in the electronic apparatus described above. Are listed. Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose an in-vehicle input device that improves the user's operational feeling.

  Patent Document 1 discloses an in-vehicle input device with excellent operability that can easily select a desired in-vehicle electric device and adjust its function using only a manual operation unit. Specifically, the input device includes a manual operation unit for performing function selection, temperature adjustment of an air conditioner, volume adjustment of a radio or television, an electric motor for regulating an operation direction or operation speed, an electric motor, And an encoder for detecting a rotation direction and a rotation amount of the main shaft of the motor.

  With this configuration, when the manual operation unit is operated, the motor output value of the electric motor is determined by rotating in proportion to the swing amount of the manual operation unit, and the electric motor is driven according to the motor output value. . As a result, the user can feel the resistance of the manual operation unit.

  Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an in-vehicle input device with excellent operability that can give an appropriate resistance according to the operation content to the manual operation unit. FIG. 13 is a side view of a mechanism unit including a manual operation unit provided in the input device shown in Patent Document 2.

  In the mechanism unit 110 of the input device, the actuator 113 is swingably attached to the frame 112, the swing direction and the swing amount of the actuator 113 are detected by the stick controller 114, and the rotation direction and rotation of the drive shaft of the actuator 113 are detected. The amount is detected by the encoder 115. Further, in the mechanism unit 110 of the input device, the manual operation unit 111 is attached to the drive shaft of the actuator 113, and an external force corresponding to the operation content is loaded on the manual operation unit 111.

With this configuration, it is possible to perform selection and function adjustment of a desired in-vehicle electric device with one manual operation unit 111. In addition, since the user can be notified of the operation content of the manual operation unit 111 by blind touch, and the operation of the manual operation unit 111 can be sensibly notified, malfunction of the manual operation unit 111 is prevented, The operability of the input device can be improved.
JP 2001-84875 A (published on March 30, 2001) JP 2002-149324 A (published May 24, 2002)

  However, in-vehicle input devices of Patent Documents 1 and 2 include a display (not shown) separately from each manual operation unit. This display displays the selected function, the operation state of the function, etc., and the user usually operates while looking at this display. That is, when the user operates the manual operation unit, it is necessary to visually recognize the display in order to surely understand what function the selected function is or what the operation state of the function is. is there.

  The same applies to the electronic devices shown in FIGS. 12A to 12C, for example, in which an application such as a media player is mounted. That is, these electronic devices are provided with a display for displaying various functions of the application. Then, for example, the user needs to visually recognize the display in order to know the operation state of the application and change the setting to a desired operation state.

  Therefore, when selecting, setting, or the like of the function of the in-vehicle electronic device or the application, the input device disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, or the push cross key 101, the rotation key 102, or the touch panel 103 of the electronic device, Used as an input device. When a user operates these input devices, if the user does not see a display (output device) provided separately from the input device, it cannot be confirmed whether the input device can be reliably operated. . For this reason, it is difficult for the above-described input device or electronic device to provide a more sensory operation to the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an input / output device capable of improving sensory operability for a user.

  In order to solve the above problems, an input / output device according to the present invention corresponds to an input / output unit that performs tactilely recognizable output and receives an input operation to a part where the output is performed, and an application state. The state control means for controlling the state of the input / output means, the state detection means for detecting the state of the input / output means changed by the input operation, and the input / output means to be controlled by the state control means. Input / output determination means for determining whether or not the target output state and the detection state detected by the state detection means are inconsistent; and the target output state and the detection state are inconsistent by the input / output determination means. Application control means for controlling the state of the application in response to the detection state detected by the state detection means. It is characterized in.

  Further, an input / output device control method according to the present invention is an input / output device control method including input / output means for accepting an input operation in order to solve the above-described problem, and performs an output recognizable tactilely. In addition, a state control step for controlling the state of the input / output unit that accepts an input operation to a part where output is performed according to the state of the application, and the state of the input / output unit changed by the input operation is detected. Input / output determination for determining whether or not the state detection step to be performed, the target output state of the input / output means that is the control target in the state control step, and the detection state detected in the state detection step are inconsistent Step and the input / output determination step, if it is determined that the target output state and the detection state do not match, the state detection step In response to Oite detected the detection state is characterized by including, an application control step for controlling the state of the application.

  According to the above configuration, when the input / output unit accepts an input operation by the user, the state of the input / output unit controlled by the state control unit (that is, the target output state) and the input operation detected by the state detection unit are changed. The state of the input / output means different from the state (that is, the detection state) is shown. At this time, the application control means controls the state of the application corresponding to the detection state detected by the state detection means. In other words, the input / output device operates the input / output unit in a target output state corresponding to the state of the application. On the other hand, when a user input operation is performed on the input / output unit, Control the state of the application.

  Thereby, the user can know the state of the application simply by touching the input / output means, and by directly performing an input operation on the input / output means, the user changes to the state of the application corresponding to the input operation. be able to. For this reason, the user can confirm and change the state of the application without visually recognizing the display of the display means provided in the electronic device, for example. That is, the input / output device can provide a sensory operation to the user.

  Furthermore, the input / output device according to the present invention includes a table in which the state of the application and the state of the input / output unit are associated in advance, and the state control unit acquires the state of the application and the table The input / output unit state corresponding to the acquired application state is determined as a control target, and the application control unit refers to the table to detect the state detected by the state detection unit. The application state information indicating the state of the corresponding application may be used to control the application state.

  According to the above configuration, the input / output device can accurately control the state of the input / output means in accordance with the state of the application, and can change the state of the application in accordance with the detection state detected by the state detection means. It can be controlled accurately. In the input / output device, the above control can be performed for each application by providing a table for each application.

  Furthermore, an electronic device according to the present invention is an electronic device including the input / output device described above, and detects an application execution unit that executes the application and a state of the application that is executed by the application execution unit. In addition, an application state detection unit that transmits to the state control unit, and an application execution control unit that controls the application execution unit using the application state information received from the application control unit may be provided.

  According to the above configuration, in the electronic apparatus provided with the input / output device, the application execution means for executing the application is controlled by the application execution control means, and the state of the application executed by the application execution means by the application state detection means is determined. It has been detected.

  Further, the application state detection means transmits the detected application state to the state control means of the input / output device as a detection result, and the state control means uses the application state information received from the application control means of the input / output device. To control the application execution means.

  As a result, the user can check and change the state of the application without visually recognizing the display on the display means provided in the electronic device, as in the case of the input / output device. It can be carried out.

  Furthermore, the electronic device according to the present invention may further include an activation unit that activates the input / output device by acquiring a user operation.

  According to the above configuration, when the activation unit acquires a user operation, the input / output device provided in the electronic device can be used. Here, if the input / output device is activated when the user is not touching the input / output means, the input / output device may malfunction. For example, when an electronic device is portable and carried in a relatively narrow area such as a user's clothes or a pocket of a bag, the input / output device touches the pocket, thereby controlling the application by the input / output device. May be done.

  Therefore, by providing the activation means in the electronic device, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the input / output device that is not intended by the user.

  As described above, the input / output device according to the present invention performs output that is tactilely recognizable, and that corresponds to input / output means that accepts an input operation to a portion where the output is performed, and the state of the application. State control means for controlling the state of the entry output means, state detection means for detecting the state of the input / output means changed by the input operation, and target output of the input / output means as the control target by the state control means An input / output determination unit that determines whether or not the state and the detection state detected by the state detection unit are mismatched; and the target output state and the detection state are mismatched by the input / output determination unit. And an application control unit that controls the state of the application in response to the detection state detected by the state detection unit.

  Further, the input / output device control method according to the present invention provides a tactilely recognizable output and the state of the input / output means that accepts an input operation to a part where the output is performed corresponds to the state of the application. A state control step for controlling the state, a state detection step for detecting the state of the input / output means changed by the input operation, a target output state of the input / output means to be a control target in the state control step, An input / output determination step for determining whether or not the detection state detected in the state detection step is inconsistent; and in the input / output determination step, the target output state and the detection state are determined to be inconsistent An application that controls the state of the application in response to the detection state detected in the state detection step. And your step, is configured to include a.

  Therefore, according to the configuration of the present invention, the user can know the state of the application simply by touching the input / output means, and can respond to the input operation by directly performing the input operation on the input / output means. Can be changed to the state of the application. For this reason, for example, the user can check and change the state of the application without visually recognizing the display of the display unit provided in the electronic device. That is, the input / output device has an effect that it can provide a sensory operation to the user.

[Outline of digital audio player]
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. First, the outline of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the digital audio player 1 of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the digital audio player (electronic device) 1 includes a jog dial (input / output unit) 21, an operation key (starting unit) 3, and a display 4. The jog dial 21 is provided in the input / output device 2 described later.

  The operation key 3 is provided at an arbitrary position on the surface of the digital audio player 1. For example, the digital audio player 1 shown in FIG. 2 is provided on the same surface as the surface on which the display 4 is provided. The device mounted as the operation key 3 varies depending on the function, shape, and the like of the digital audio player 1, and examples thereof include a slide key and a tact switch. Here, a tact switch is provided as the operation key 3.

  The operation key 3 controls activation of the input / output device 2 described later. Specifically, a press signal is transmitted to the input / output device 2 described later while the operation key 3 is continuously pressed by the user. When the control unit (not shown) of the input / output device 2 receives this press signal from the operation key 3, it activates each function of the input / output device 2. That is, while the user continues to press the operation key 3, the input / output device 2 controls the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 in association with the operation state of the application and the application in association with the user input operation to the jog dial 21. Change the operating state of.

  Here, when the digital audio player 1 is operating in a user's clothes or a pocket such as a bag, there is a possibility that the operation of the application is changed when the jog dial 21 touches the pocket. By providing the operation key 3 in the digital audio player 1, it is possible to prevent a malfunction of the jog dial 21 that is not intended by the user, for example, the jog dial 21 touches the pocket.

  The display 4 is provided on the surface of the digital audio player 1 at a position where the user can easily see, and is configured by a liquid crystal display, for example. The display 4 displays an operation state of the application, an operation instruction of a function key (not shown) provided in the digital audio player 1, and the like.

  The jog dial 21 is provided on the side surface of the surface of the digital audio player 1 provided with the display 4. This side surface is, for example, the surface on the thumb side when the user holds the digital audio player 1 with the right hand when viewing the display 4.

  The jog dial 21 is a circular substrate, and the center thereof is provided in the digital audio player 1. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the jog dial 21 is configured such that a part of its circumferential portion is exposed to the outside of the digital audio player 1 and the user can touch its side surface.

  With this configuration, the jog dial 21 rotates when an external force is applied by the user. Further, the jog dial 21 performs a rotation operation corresponding to the operation state of the application by the configuration of the input / output device 2 described later. The rotating operation of the jog dial 21 will be described in detail later.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the digital audio player 1 includes an operation key 3, a state detection unit (application state detection unit) 11, a state adjustment unit (application execution control unit) 12, and an application execution unit (application execution unit) 13. And an input / output device 2. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the digital audio player 1 and the input / output device 2 provided in the digital audio player 1. Since the operation key 3 is described above and the input / output device 2 is described in detail later, the description thereof is omitted here.

  The state detection unit 11 detects the operation state of the application being executed by the application execution unit 13 and transmits the detection result to the input / output device 2 described later. The state adjustment unit 12 is executed by the application execution unit 13 based on a user input from a function key (not shown) provided in the digital audio player 1 and a user input received from the input / output device 2 via the jog dial 21. Adjust the operating state of the running application. Then, the state adjustment unit 12 transmits the adjustment result to the application execution unit 13. The application execution unit 13 executes the application based on the adjustment result received from the state adjustment unit 12. Examples of applications executed by the application execution unit 13 include media players that distribute music and moving images.

[Configuration of I / O device]
Next, the appearance of the input / output device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the external appearance of the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2. FIG. 3 (a) is a top view showing the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2. FIG. 3 is a side view illustrating a schematic configuration of the device 2. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the input / output device 2 is provided in the digital audio player 1, and includes a jog dial 21, a motor 22, a gear 22 a, and an encoder (state detection means) 23. Since the jog dial 21 has been described above, the description thereof is omitted.

  The motor 22 drives the jog dial 21 to rotate or vibrate at a predetermined rotation direction and rotation speed according to the detection result transmitted from the state detection unit 11. Examples of the motor 22 include a commutator motor, an induction motor, and a synchronous motor. However, the motor 22 is not limited to this, and may have a function of rotating or vibrating the jog dial 21.

  The motor 22 is provided so that the rotation axis direction thereof is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the digital audio player 1 from which the jog dial 21 is exposed. Further, a gear 22 a is disposed at the shaft tip of the rotating shaft of the motor 22 so as to mesh with the rotating shaft of the jog dial 21 so that the jog dial 21 can rotate in conjunction with the driving of the motor 22. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, when the rotation shaft of the jog dial 21 and the gear 22a mesh with each other substantially vertically, the shaft tip of the rotation shaft of the jog dial 21 and the gear 22a have a “bevel gear” configuration. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the shape thereof can be changed as appropriate.

  Here, the gear 22a is provided so as to rotate the jog dial 21 in conjunction with the driving of the motor 22. However, when the user performs an input operation on the jog dial 21, the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 is performed. It is provided to work with. This is to prevent damage due to mechanical friction caused by the difference between the rotational operation of the motor 22 and the rotational operation of the jog dial 21 when an input operation is performed on the jog dial 21. Note that the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and it is only necessary to provide a mechanism that prevents breakage due to mechanical friction when the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 does not coincide with the rotation operation of the motor 22.

  In addition, when the jog dial 21 and the motor 22 are configured as a single member or the like, and the rotational operation of the jog dial 21 can be controlled only by the motor 22, the jog dial 21 and the motor 22 are directly connected. May be.

  The encoder 23 is disposed on the opposite side of the portion where the rotary shaft of the jog dial 21 is in contact with the gear 22a with respect to the circular substrate surface of the jog dial 21. The main shaft of the encoder 23 protrudes from the center of the main body of the encoder 23 and is hollow, and is inserted into and coupled to the rotating shaft of the jog dial 21. The main shaft of the encoder 23 may have a structure that is not hollow. In this case, the shaft end of the main shaft of the encoder 23 is coupled to the center of the jog dial 21.

  The encoder 23 measures the rotation angle of the main shaft of the encoder 23 and detects the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21 from the measured rotation angle. Then, the detected rotation direction and rotation speed are transmitted as encoder output values to an output value determination unit 25 described later.

  The encoder 23 is used together with a counter (not shown) to obtain angle data indicating the current position of the main shaft of the encoder 23, even if the encoder 23 is an incremental type that detects the rotation angle from the start point of the main shaft of the encoder 23. It may be an absolute type. The encoder 23 may be an optical encoder or a magnetic encoder.

  A more detailed configuration of the input / output device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As illustrated, the input / output device 2 includes a jog dial 21, a motor 22, an encoder 23, a motor control unit (state control unit) 24, an output value determination unit (input / output determination unit, application control unit) 25, and an input / operation table. A storage unit 26 is provided. Since the jog dial 21, the motor 22, and the encoder 23 have been described above, description thereof will be omitted.

  The motor control unit 24 controls driving of the motor 22 in accordance with the operation state of the application in the digital audio player 1. Specifically, when a control unit (not shown) of the input / output device 2 receives a press signal from the operation key 3, the motor control unit 24 uses the operation state of the application detected by the state detection unit 11 as an operation state signal. Receive. Upon receiving this operation state signal, the motor control unit 24 refers to an operation table T1 (described later) stored in the input / operation table storage unit 26 and corresponds to the operation state of the application indicated by this operation state signal. The rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21 are determined. The motor control unit 24 transmits the determination result to the motor 22 and the output value determination unit 25 as a motor output value.

  The output value determination unit 25 determines whether or not the motor output value transmitted from the motor control unit 24 matches the encoder output value transmitted from the encoder 23. When the output value determination unit 25 determines that the motor output value and the encoder output value do not match (that is, does not match), the input table T2 (described later) stored in the input / operation table storage unit 26. The application state information indicating the operation state of the application associated with the encoder output value is acquired. Then, the output value determination unit 25 transmits the acquired application state information to the state adjustment unit 12.

  The input / operation table storage unit 26 stores an operation table (table) T1 referred to by the motor control unit 24 and an input table (table) T2 referred to by the output value determination unit 25. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the operation table T1, and FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the input table T2.

  When the control unit of the input / output device 2 receives the press signal from the operation key 3 and receives the reception, the motor control unit 24 receives the operation state signal from the state detection unit 11. It is a table referred to by the unit 24. By this operation table T1, the motor control unit 24 controls the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 in association with the operation state of the application indicated by the operation state signal.

  The “application operation state” in the operation table T1 indicates the operation state of the application executed by the application execution unit 13 received by the motor control unit 24. As the operation state of the application, as shown in FIG. 4, for example, “play”, “fast forward”, “rewind”, “song forward”, “song back”, “pause”, and “stop” can be cited.

  In association with these states, the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21 are set. For example, when the operation state of the application is “playback”, the rotation direction is set to “right rotation (direction of arrow shown in FIG. 3A)”, the rotation speed is set to “low speed”, and the operation state is “ In the case of “fast forward”, the rotation direction is set to “right rotation” and the rotation speed is set to “high speed”. Further, when the operation state is “pause”, the jog dial 21 is set to vibrate or intermittently rotate.

  Further, the rotation speed of the motor 22 set in the operation table T1 has four stages of “stop”, “low speed”, “high speed”, and “ultra-high speed”. The four stages of rotation speeds can be arbitrarily set, but may be set so as to be recognized as different speeds by users touching the jog dial 21.

  On the other hand, the input table T2 determines that the output value determination unit 25 receives the encoder output value from the encoder 23, and the received encoder output value does not match the motor output value received from the motor control unit 24. The table is sometimes referred to by the output value determination unit 25. By this input table T2, the output value determination unit 25 associates with the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 when an external force is applied to the jog dial 21 by the user (that is, when the user inputs to the jog dial 21). To control the operating state of the application.

  “Rotation direction” and “rotation speed” of the input table T2 indicate the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21 indicated by the encoder output value. For example, the combination of the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 may be as shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, when the rotation direction of the jog dial 21 is “right rotation” and the rotation speed is “ultra-low speed”, the operation state of the application is set to “slow playback”, and the rotation direction is “right rotation”. "When the rotational speed is" high speed ", the operation state is set to" fast forward ". Further, when the rotation direction of the jog dial 21 is “right rotation (short time, that is, within a predetermined time)” and the rotation speed is “ultra-high speed”, the operation state of the application is set to “tune feed”.

  Here, the rotation speed of the input table T2 is set in five stages: “stop”, “super low speed”, “low speed”, “high speed”, and “super high speed”. The output value determination unit 25 determines whether the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 (that is, the rotation speed indicated by the encoder output value) is one of the above five stages as follows.

  In the output value determination unit 25, the rotation speed α [rpm] indicating “low speed” stored in the operation table T1 and indicating the “low speed” when the operation state of the application is reproduction, and the rotation speed of the encoder output value is “ultra high speed”. ”Is stored in advance as a reference rotational speed γ (> α) [rpm].

  Assuming that the rotation speed β [rpm] indicated by the encoder output value received by the output value determination unit 25, the output value determination unit 25 indicates that when 0 <β <α, the rotation speed β [rpm] is indicated in the input table T2. It is determined that it is “ultra-low speed”. Similarly, the output value determination unit 25 determines “high speed” when α <β <γ, and “ultra-high speed” when γ <β.

  If the output value determination unit 25 determines that the rotation speed β [rpm] indicated by the encoder output value is “ultra-high speed”, the output value determination unit 25 measures the rotation time of the jog dial 21 that rotates at this rotation speed. In this case, the output value determination unit 25 has a function of measuring the rotation time of the jog dial 21. When it is determined that the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 is changed by receiving the encoder output value, the rotation of the jog dial 21 is rotated. Start measuring time. And the output value determination part 25 measures the rotation time of the jog dial 21 until it determines with the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 having been changed again. That is, the output value determination unit 25 is configured to measure the rotation time while the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 is constant. Note that the rotation time of the jog dial 21 measured by the output value determination unit 25 is not limited to the above configuration, and is measured only when the rotation speed β [rpm] is determined to be “ultra-high speed” (that is, the rotation time) Only the rotation time when the speed is γ <β may be measured).

  That is, when the output value determination unit 25 determines that the rotation speed β [rpm] indicated by the encoder output value is “ultra-high speed”, the rotation time when the jog dial 21 is rotating at this “ultra-high speed” is calculated. measure. When the output value determination unit 25 determines that the measurement time is equal to or less than the pre-stored reference rotation time, the input value is referred to the input table T2, and the operation state of the application is “music feed” or “ Select “Back to Song”.

  As described above, the input / output device 2 causes the jog dial 21 to perform the rotation operation corresponding to the operation state of the application detected by the state detection unit 11. On the other hand, when there is an input by the user to the jog dial 21, the input / output device 2 transmits application state information associated with the user input to the state adjustment unit 12.

  As a result, the user can know the operating state of the application being executed by the application execution unit 13 simply by touching the jog dial 21. In addition, the user can change the operation state of the application corresponding to the input operation by directly performing an input operation on the output device called the jog dial 21. For this reason, the user can confirm and change the operation state of the application without visually recognizing the display on the display 4. That is, the input / output device 2 can provide a sensory operation to the user.

  The association between the operation state of the application and the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21 in the operation table T1 and the input table T2 can be arbitrarily set.

  For example, in the operation table T1, when the operation state of the application is “pause”, “vibration or intermittent rotation” is stored as the rotation operation of the corresponding jog dial 21, but “stop” is stored as the rotation operation. It may be stored. Further, in the input table T2, when the operation state of the application is “song advance” or “song return”, the rotation time of the corresponding jog dial 21 may not be stored.

[Process flow in input / output devices]
Next, the flow of processing in the input / output device 2 will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the input / output device 2.

  First, a control unit (not shown) of the input / output device 2 determines whether or not there is an input from the user to the operation key 3 (S1). Specifically, the control unit of the input / output device 2 performs the above determination based on whether or not a pressing signal indicating that the operation key 3 is pressed by the user is received from the operation key 3.

  When it is determined by the control unit of the input / output device 2 that there is an input to the operation key 3 (YES in S1), that is, when the control unit of the input / output device 2 receives a press signal from the operation key 3, the motor control unit 24 Acquires the operation state of the application from the state detection unit 11 as an operation state signal (S2). For example, when the operation state of the application is “reproduction”, the motor control unit 24 acquires an operation state signal indicating the “reproduction” state from the state detection unit 11.

  When the motor control unit 24 acquires the operation state signal indicating the operation state of the application, the motor control unit 24 refers to the operation table T1 stored in the input / operation table storage unit 26 and corresponds to the operation state of the application indicated by the operation state signal. Jog dial state information indicating the rotation direction and rotation speed of the attached jog dial 21 is acquired. For example, when the motor control unit 24 has acquired an operation state signal indicating the “reproduction” state, the motor control unit 24 refers to the operation table T1, thereby rotating the rotation direction “right rotation” and the rotation speed “low speed”. Are acquired as jog dial status information.

  The motor control unit 24 transmits the acquired jog dial state information to the motor 22 and the output value determination unit 25 as a motor output value. When the motor 22 receives the motor output value from the motor control unit 24, the motor 22 is driven so that the jog dial 21 performs the rotation operation with the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 indicated by the motor output value. In other words, the jog dial 21 rotates in accordance with the rotation direction and the rotation speed indicated by the motor output value in conjunction with the driving of the motor 22 (S3).

  As a result, the jog dial 21 operates in the rotation direction and rotation speed according to the operation state of the application, so that the user can know the operation state of the application being executed by the application execution unit 13 simply by touching the jog dial 21. it can. That is, the user can know the operating state of the application without visually recognizing the display content on the display 4.

  In S1, when it is determined by the control unit of the input / output device 2 that there is no input to the operation key 3 (that is, when the control unit of the input / output device 2 does not receive a press signal from the operation key 3). (NO in S1), the control unit of the input / output device 2 stops each function of the input / output device 2. That is, in this case, since the motor control unit 24 does not drive the motor 22, the rotation of the jog dial 21 is stopped (S4). After S4, the process returns to S1.

  Here, the rotary shaft of the encoder 23 is provided with a gear 22a, and the gear 22a and the rotary shaft of the jog dial 21 are engaged with each other. Therefore, the encoder 23 detects the rotation direction and the rotation speed of the jog dial 21 in conjunction with the rotation operation of the jog dial 21. However, when there is no input to the operation key 3, the encoder 23 is in a stopped state, so even if the user inputs to the jog dial 21, the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 is not detected.

  On the other hand, when the operation key 3 is input, the encoder 23 detects the rotational direction and rotational speed of the jog dial 21, and uses the detected rotational direction and rotational speed as an encoder output value as an output value determination unit. 25.

  The output value determination unit 25 determines whether or not the motor output value received from the motor control unit 24 matches the encoder output value received from the encoder 23 (S5). When the motor output value does not match the encoder output value by the output value determination unit 25 (YES in S5), it is determined that the user has input to the jog dial 21. That is, when the motor output value indicating the operation state of the application is different from the encoder output value indicating the operation state of the jog dial 21 (that is, when they do not match), the output value determination unit 25 applies to the jog dial 21. It is determined that there is an input by the user.

  At this time, when receiving the encoder output value, the output value determination unit 25 refers to the input table T2 stored in the input / operation table storage unit 26 to determine the operation state of the application associated with the encoder output value. Get the application status information shown. For example, when the rotation direction indicated by the acquired encoder output value is “right rotation” and the rotation speed is “ultra-low speed”, the output value determination unit 25 refers to the input table T2 as application state information. Get “slow playback”. Then, the output value determination unit 25 transmits the application state information as an operation state instruction signal to the state adjustment unit 12 of the digital audio player 1 (S6), and ends the processing in the input / output device 2.

  When the output value determination unit 25 matches the motor output value and the encoder output value (NO in S5), it is determined that there is no input by the user to the jog dial 21, and processing in the input / output device 2 is performed. Exit.

[Processing flow in digital audio player]
Next, the flow of processing in the digital audio player 1 will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the digital audio player 1. In this process, it is assumed that the operation key 3 is kept pressed.

  First, when the application execution unit 13 starts playing music or video, the state detection unit 11 detects the operation state of the application being executed by the application execution unit 13, that is, the operation state of the application indicating “playback”. To do. And the state detection part 11 transmits the operation state signal which shows "reproduction | regeneration" to the motor control part 24 from this detection result (S11). As a result, the motor control unit 24 of the input / output device 2 rotates the jog dial 21 at a rotation direction and a rotation speed corresponding to the operation state of the application. In this case, the motor control unit 24 refers to the operation table T1 and rotates the jog dial 21 via the motor 22 in the rotation direction “right rotation” and the rotation speed “low speed”.

  When the jog dial 21 rotates, the encoder 23 reads the encoder value (that is, the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21) (S12). The encoder value read by the encoder 23 is transmitted to the output value determination unit 25 as an encoder output value.

  The output value determination unit 25 determines whether the motor output value received from the motor control unit 24 and the encoder output value received from the encoder 23 match each other, so that there has been an input by the user to the jog dial 21. Determine whether or not.

  When there is an input by the user to the jog dial 21, the output value determination unit 25 generates an operation state instruction signal from the encoder output value by referring to the input table T2, and this operation state instruction signal is displayed in the state. It transmits to the adjustment unit 12. On the other hand, when there is no user input to the jog dial 21, the output value determination unit 25 does not generate an operation state instruction signal, and therefore does not transmit this operation state instruction signal to the state adjustment unit 12.

  That is, the state adjustment unit 12 determines whether or not there is an input by the user to the jog dial 21 based on whether or not an operation state instruction signal is received from the output value determination unit 25 (S13).

  When the state adjustment unit 12 receives the operation state instruction signal from the output value determination unit 25 (YES in S13), it is determined whether the operation state instruction signal indicates “stop” (S14). When the state adjustment unit 12 determines that the received operation state instruction signal is an operation state instruction signal indicating “stop” (YES in S14), the state adjustment unit 12 ends the reproduction of music or video, The motor control unit 24 stops the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 (S15).

  Specifically, the state adjustment unit 12 transmits an application adjustment signal indicating the end of music or video playback. When receiving the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 ends the reproduction of the music or the moving image. That is, the application execution unit 13 changes the operation state of the application from the “playback” state to the “stop” state.

  The state detection unit 11 detects from the application execution unit 13 that the application is in the “stop” state, and transmits the detection result to the motor control unit 24 as an operation state signal indicating “stop”. When the motor control unit 24 controls the motor 22, the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 is stopped. When the process of S15 is completed, the process in the digital audio player 1 is terminated.

  On the other hand, when the operation state instruction signal received by the state adjustment unit 12 is not an operation state instruction signal indicating “stop” (NO in S14), in the digital audio player 1, the user makes an operation on the jog dial 21. Processing according to the input is performed (S16). In the digital audio player 1, the operation state of the application corresponding to this process is adjusted, and the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 is continued according to the motor output value corresponding to this operation state. When the process of S16 is completed, the process returns to S12.

  Here, for the processing in S16, the processing shown in FIGS. 8A to 8F is performed. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing each process in the digital audio player 1 in response to an input from the user to the jog dial 21.

  When the input by the user to the jog dial 21 indicates “reproduction”, as illustrated in FIG. 8A, when the state adjustment unit 12 receives the operation state instruction signal indicating “reproduction” from the output value determination unit 25, “ An application adjustment signal indicating “play” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 sets the music or moving image to the reproduction state. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 rotates in a rotation operation corresponding to the reproduction state (that is, the rotation direction “right rotation”, the rotation speed “low speed”) (S31).

  That is, when music or a moving image is reproduced by the application execution unit 13, the state detection unit 11 detects that the operation state of the application is “reproduction” from the application execution unit 13, and the detection result is “reproduction”. Is transmitted to the motor control unit 24 as an operation state signal. The motor control unit 24 outputs a motor output value indicating the rotation direction “right rotation” and the rotation speed “low speed” to the motor 22 by referring to the operation table T1. As a result, the jog dial 21 performs a rotation operation indicating “reproduction”.

  When the input by the user to the jog dial 21 indicates “fast forward”, as illustrated in FIG. 8B, the state adjustment unit 12 receives an operation state instruction signal indicating “fast forward” from the output value determination unit 25. An application adjustment signal indicating “fast forward” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 puts the music or moving image in a fast-forward state. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 is rotated by a rotation operation corresponding to the fast-forwarding state (that is, the rotation direction “right rotation” and the rotation speed “high speed”) (S32). The specific processing in FIG. 8B is the same as the processing shown in FIG. The description of FIGS. 8C to 8F is also omitted.

  When the user input to the jog dial 21 indicates “rewind”, the state adjustment unit 12 receives an operation state instruction signal indicating “rewind” from the output value determination unit 25 as shown in FIG. , An application adjustment signal indicating “rewind” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 sets the music or moving image to the rewind state. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 is rotated by a rotation operation corresponding to the rewinding state (that is, the rotation direction “left rotation” and the rotation speed “high speed”) (S33).

  When the input by the user to the jog dial 21 indicates “tune feed”, the state adjustment unit 12 receives an operation state instruction signal indicating “tune feed” from the output value determination unit 25 as shown in FIG. , An application adjustment signal indicating “music feed” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 puts the music or the moving image into a song advance state. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 rotates in a rotation operation corresponding to the state of the music feed (that is, the rotation direction “right rotation”, the rotation speed “ultra-high speed”) (S34). When the music feed process in S34 is completed, the reproduction process in S31 is performed (S35).

  When the input by the user to the jog dial 21 indicates “tune return”, as illustrated in FIG. 8E, the state adjustment unit 12 receives an operation state instruction signal indicating “tune return” from the output value determination unit 25. , An application adjustment signal indicating “music return” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 puts the music or moving image in a song-backed state. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 is rotated by a rotation operation corresponding to the bent back state (that is, the rotation direction “left rotation”, the rotation speed “ultra-high speed”) (S36). When the music return process in S36 is completed, the reproduction process in S31 is performed (S37).

  Finally, when the user input to the jog dial 21 indicates “pause”, the state adjustment unit 12 receives an operation state instruction signal indicating “pause” from the output value determination unit 25 as shown in FIG. Is received, an application adjustment signal indicating “pause” is generated and transmitted to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 pauses the music or the moving image. Then, under the control of the motor control unit 24, the jog dial 21 performs an operation corresponding to the temporarily stopped state (ie, “vibrates or intermittently rotates”) (S38).

  In the processes shown in FIGS. 8A to 8F, a table similar to the operation table T1 shown in FIG. 4 is stored in the digital audio player 1. For example, the state detection unit 11, the state adjustment unit 12, and the like are stored. An operation corresponding to the table may be performed.

  In S13 of FIG. 7, when the state adjustment unit 12 has not received the operation state instruction signal from the output value determination unit 25 (NO in S13), the state adjustment unit 12 is provided with function keys (provided in the digital audio player 1). It is determined whether or not a song change has been performed (not shown) (S17). Here, “music change” refers to “music advance” or “music return”. In addition, the song change ("Song advance" or "Song return") is a change of a movie ("Movie advance" or "Movie return") or a chapter change ("Chapter advance" or "Chapter") when playing a movie. Return ")".

  When the song change is performed by the state adjustment unit 12 (YES in S17), the state adjustment unit 12 transmits an application adjustment signal indicating the song change to the application execution unit 13. As a result, the application execution unit 13 changes the music or moving image. At this time, when the state detection unit 11 detects that the music execution has been changed by the application execution unit 13 as an operation state of the application, the state detection unit 11 transmits an operation state signal indicating the music change to the motor control unit 24. The motor control unit 24 refers to the operation table T1 and transmits a motor output value indicating a song change to the motor 22. Here, when the song change is “song feed”, the motor output value indicates the rotation direction “right rotation” and the rotation speed “ultra-high speed”, and when the song change is “turn back”, the motor output value is The rotation direction is “left rotation” and the rotation speed is “ultra-high speed”.

  The motor 22 drives the jog dial 21 in response to the motor output value indicating the music change. As a result, the jog dial 21 outputs a rotation operation indicating a song change (S18).

  When the song change is completed, the state adjustment unit 12 transmits an application adjustment signal indicating reproduction to the application execution unit 13. When the application execution unit 13 receives the application adjustment signal, the application execution unit 13 sets the music (or moving image) to the reproduction state. When the state detection unit 11 detects that the music (or moving image) is in the playback state from the application execution unit 13, it transmits an operation state signal indicating “playback” to the motor control unit 24. That is, the jog dial 21 continues the rotation by the rotation operation corresponding to the “reproduction” state (S19). When the process of S19 is completed, the process returns to S12.

  On the other hand, when the song change is not performed by the state adjustment unit 12 (NO in S17), the operation state of the application currently being executed by the application execution unit 13 is continued. Therefore, the motor control unit 24 continues without changing the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 corresponding to the operation state of the application (that is, the rotation direction and rotation speed of the jog dial 21) (S20). Then, when the process of S20 is completed, the process returns to S12.

[Modified example of input / output device]
Next, an arrangement example of the input / output device 2a having an appearance different from that of the input / output device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the external appearance of the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2a, FIG. 9 (a) is a top view showing the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2a, and FIG. It is a side view which shows schematic structure of the apparatus 2a.

  Here, since the input / output device 2a has the same functions as the jog dial 21, the motor 22, the gear 22a, and the encoder 23 provided in the input / output device 2 shown in FIG. Omitted. Similarly to the digital audio player 1, the digital audio player (electronic device) 1 a includes an operation key 3, a display 4, a state detection unit 11, a state adjustment unit 12, and an application execution unit 13. On the other hand, the input / output device 2 a includes a motor control unit 24, an output value determination unit 25, and an input / operation table storage unit 26, similar to the input / output device 2. The same applies to digital audio players (electronic devices) 1b and 1c, which will be described later, and input / output devices 2b and 2c.

  In the input / output device 2a, as shown in FIG. 9B, one side (hereinafter, exposed surface) of the circular substrate of the jog dial 21 is exposed on the surface of the digital audio player 1a. As in FIG. 3, the jog dial 21 is provided on the side surface of the digital audio player 1a (here, the side surface refers to the same surface as the side surface of the digital audio player 1 described above). It is only necessary to provide at an arbitrary position where the user can operate. A rotation shaft of the jog dial 21 is provided at the center of the surface opposite to the exposed surface of the jog dial 21. In addition, the arrow shown to Fig.9 (a) shows the rotation direction of "right rotation" shown to the operation table T1 and the input table T2.

  The motor 22 is provided such that the rotational axis direction thereof is substantially horizontal with the exposed surface of the jog dial 21 (that is, the side surface of the digital audio player 1a described above). Further, a gear 22 a is disposed at the shaft tip of the rotating shaft of the motor 22 so as to mesh with the rotating shaft of the jog dial 21 so that the jog dial 21 can rotate in conjunction with the driving of the motor 22.

  The encoder 23 is provided at the axis of the rotary shaft of the jog dial 21 so as not to contact the gear 22a. That is, the main shaft of the encoder 23 is coupled to the rotation shaft center of the jog dial 21 and to the rotation shaft center so as to be interlocked with the rotation operation of the jog dial 21.

  In the input / output device 2a as well, like the input / output device 2, the motor 22 is driven by the motor output value transmitted from the motor control unit 24, and the jog dial 21 rotates in conjunction with this drive. Further, the encoder 23 detects the rotational operation of the jog dial 21 and transmits the detection result to the output value determination unit 25 as an encoder output value.

  With the above configuration, the user can know the operation state of the application simply by touching the exposed surface of the jog dial 21. On the other hand, the user can change the operation state of the application corresponding to this input operation by rotating the exposed surface of the jog dial 21. Therefore, the user can check and change the operation state of the application without visually recognizing the operation state of the application on the display 4.

  Here, in the input / output device 2a shown in FIG. 9, the position where the motor 22 is disposed can be changed as appropriate. That is, in the input / output device 2 b shown in FIG. 10, the motor 22 is provided such that the rotation axis direction thereof is substantially perpendicular to the exposed surface of the jog dial 21. The rotation shaft of the motor 22 is provided with a gear 22a, and the gear 22a and the rotation shaft of the jog dial 21 are arranged to mesh with each other.

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the appearance of the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2b, which is an arrangement example different from the input / output devices 2 and 2a. FIG. 10 (a) shows the schematic configuration of the input / output device 2b. FIG. 5B is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the input / output device 2b. Moreover, the arrow shown to Fig.10 (a) is the same as the arrow shown to Fig.9 (a).

  Next, an arrangement example of the input / output device 2c having an appearance different from that of the input / output devices 2, 2a, and 2b will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an appearance of a schematic configuration of an input / output device 2c which is an arrangement example different from the input / output devices 2, 2a and 2b.

  In the input / output device 2c, as shown in FIG. 11, the circular substrate of the jog dial 21 is arbitrary with respect to the side surface of the digital audio player 1c (here, the side surface refers to the same surface as the side surface of the digital audio player 1). It is arranged with an inclination of. That is, the exposed areas of the two surfaces of the circular substrate of the jog dial 21 (the exposed surface in FIG. 10 and the opposite surface) are different.

  Further, the jog dial 21 of the input / output device 2c only needs to be exposed to the extent that the user can perceive the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 and can operate the jog dial 21 as in the case of the input / output device 2 shown in FIG. That is, in FIG. 11, the rotation axis of the jog dial 21 is arranged so as to be in the digital audio player 1c.

  The motor 22 is arranged so that the rotation axis direction thereof is substantially horizontal with the rotation axis direction of the jog dial 21. Further, a gear 22 a is provided at the shaft tip of the rotating shaft of the motor 22, and the gear 22 a is arranged so as to mesh with the side wall of the jog dial 21.

  The encoder 23 is provided on the surface of the gear 22a opposite to the surface on which the shaft tip of the rotating shaft of the motor 22 is provided. In this case, the main shaft of the encoder 23 is coupled to a rotation shaft of the gear 22 a that is different from the rotation shaft of the motor 22.

  That is, the input / output device 2 c is not configured such that the encoder 23 is directly coupled to the rotating shaft of the jog dial 21. This is because when the user performs an input operation on the jog dial 21 (that is, when an external force is applied to the jog dial 21 by the user), the gear 22a operates in conjunction with the rotation operation of the jog dial 21. It is.

  In the input / output device 2c, similarly to the input / output devices 2, 2a and 2b described above, the motor 22 is driven by the motor output value transmitted from the motor control unit 24, and the jog dial 21 rotates in conjunction with this drive. Do. In the input / output device 2c, the encoder 23 detects the rotation operation of the jog dial 21, and transmits the detection result to the output value determination unit 25 as an encoder output value.

  Therefore, also in the input / output device 2c, the user can know the operation state of the application simply by touching the jog dial 21. On the other hand, the user can change the operation state of the application corresponding to this input operation by rotating the exposed surface of the jog dial 21. Therefore, the user can check and change the operation state of the application without visually recognizing the operation state of the application on the display 4.

  Here, in the input / output devices 2a to 2c shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 11, the user changes the operation state of the application by rotating the exposed surface of the jog dial 21, but this is not a limitation. Absent. That is, the user may change the operation state of the application by applying a force to the jog dial 21 in a substantially vertical or oblique direction to stop the rotation of the jog dial 21.

  That is, in the input / output devices 2a to 2c shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, for example, a member (not shown) that can expand and contract on the unexposed surface of the jog dial 21 and the user presses the jog dial 21 ("push" operation). It is good also as a structure provided with the press detection part (not shown) to detect. In this case, the jog dial 21 of the input / output devices 2a to 2c moves up and down in the vertical direction with respect to the side surfaces of the digital audio players 1a to 1c (that is, the exposed surface of the jog dial 21 in FIGS. 9 and 10).

  In this configuration, the user can press the jog dial 21 (that is, perform a “push-in” operation). Therefore, the operations of the input / output devices 2a to 2c can be controlled in association with the “push” operation on the jog dial 21.

  For example, the rotation operation of the jog dial 21 can be stopped by a “push” operation by the user. In this case, when a “push” operation is performed, the press detection unit detects this “push” operation, and transmits a jog dial press signal as a detection result to the motor control unit 24. When receiving the jog dial pressing signal, the motor control unit 24 transmits a motor output value indicating “stop” to the motor 22. Thereby, the motor 22 stops the operation of the jog dial 21.

  Further, the operation state of the application associated with the “push” operation by the user may be set in the input / operation table storage unit 26. In this case, when a “push” operation is performed, the press detection unit detects this “push” operation, and transmits a jog dial press signal as a detection result to the output value determination unit 25. When the output value determination unit 25 receives the jog dial pressing signal, the output value determination unit 25 refers to the input / operation table storage unit 26 to obtain application state information associated with the “push” operation. Thereby, in the digital audio players 1a to 1c, the operation state of the application associated with the “push” operation can be changed.

[Supplement]
Finally, each block of the input / output devices 2, 2a, 2b, and 2c, in particular, the motor control unit 24 and the output value determination unit 25 may be configured by hardware logic, or software using a CPU as follows. It may be realized by.

  That is, the input / output devices 2, 2a, 2b, and 2c expand a CPU (central processing unit) that executes instructions of a control program that realizes each function, a ROM (read only memory) that stores the program, and the program. A RAM (random access memory), a storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data, and the like are provided. The object of the present invention is to allow the computer to read the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program of the input / output devices 2, 2a, 2b, 2c, which is software that realizes the above-described functions. This can also be achieved by supplying the recording medium recorded in the above to the input / output devices 2, 2a, 2b, and 2c and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU). It is.

  Examples of the recording medium include a tape system such as a magnetic tape and a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and an optical disk such as a CD-ROM / MO / MD / DVD / CD-R. Card system such as IC card, IC card (including memory card) / optical card, or semiconductor memory system such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM / flash ROM.

  Further, the input / output devices 2, 2a, 2b, and 2c may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication. A net or the like is available. Also, the transmission medium constituting the communication network is not particularly limited. For example, even in the case of wired such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL line, etc., infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth ( (Registered trademark), 802.11 wireless, HDR, mobile phone network, satellite line, terrestrial digital network, and the like can also be used. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims. That is, embodiments obtained by combining technical means appropriately modified within the scope of the claims are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The input / output device according to the present invention can control the operation of the application only by using a jog dial for confirming the operation state of the application without the user visually recognizing the display. Therefore, the input / output device can be effectively used for a portable digital audio player, for example. Further, the present invention is not limited to a digital audio player, and can be applied to various electronic devices such as a PC and a PDA (personal digital assistance).

1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a digital audio player and an input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of the digital audio player shown in FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the external appearance of schematic structure of the input / output device shown in FIG. 1, The same figure (a) is a top view which shows schematic structure of the said input / output device, The same figure (b) is the said input / output. It is a side view which shows schematic structure of an apparatus. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation table stored in an input / operation table storage unit of the input / output device illustrated in FIG. 1. It is a figure which shows an example of the input table memorize | stored in the input / operation table memory | storage part of the input / output device shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of a process in the input / output device shown in FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing in the digital audio player shown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 8A to 8F are flowcharts showing respective processes in the digital audio player for the input when the user inputs to the input / output device shown in FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating another example of arrangement in the input / output device of FIG. 1, and is an explanatory diagram illustrating the appearance of the schematic configuration. FIG. 1A is a top view illustrating the schematic configuration of the input / output device, FIG. 2B is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the input / output device 2a. FIG. 9 shows a modification of the arrangement example in the input / output device shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9A is a top view showing a schematic configuration of the input / output device, and FIG. It is a side view which shows schematic structure of the apparatus 2a. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating another example of arrangement in the input / output device shown in FIGS. FIG. 2 is a view showing a conventional technique, and is an external view showing a conventional electronic device. FIG. 1A shows an electronic device having a push cross key as an input device, and FIG. An electronic device provided with a rotation key as an input device is shown, and FIG. 10C shows an electronic device provided with a touch panel as an input device. It is a side view which shows a prior art and shows the mechanism part containing the manual operation part with which the conventional vehicle-mounted input device was equipped.

Explanation of symbols

1, 1a, 1b, 1c Digital audio player (electronic equipment)
2 Input / output device 3 Operation key (starting means)
11 State detection unit (application state detection means)
12 State adjustment unit (application execution control means)
13 Application execution unit (application execution means)
21 Jog dial (input / output means)
23 Encoder (state detection means)
24 Motor controller (state control means)
25 Output value determination unit (input / output determination means, application control means)
T1 action table (table)
T2 input table (table)

Claims (5)

An input / output means for outputting tactilely recognizable rotation or vibration of the dial member and receiving an input operation on the dial member ;
State control means for controlling the output state of rotation or vibration of the dial member corresponding to the type of operation of the application;
State detection means for detecting an output state of the dial member changed by an input operation on the dial member ;
Input / output determination means for determining whether or not the target output state of the dial member as a control target by the state control means is inconsistent with the detection state detected by the state detection means;
Control that changes the type of operation of the application in response to the detection state detected by the state detection unit when the input / output determination unit determines that the target output state and the detection state do not match An input / output device comprising: application control means for performing A table in which the state of the application and the target output state of the dial member are associated in advance;
The state control means obtains the state of the application and refers to the table to determine the target output state of the dial member corresponding to the obtained state of the application as a control target.
The application control means refers to the table and performs control to change the type of operation of the application using application state information indicating the state of the application corresponding to the detection state detected by the state detection means. The input / output device according to claim 1. An electronic device comprising the input / output device according to claim 2 ,
Application execution means for executing the application;
An application state detection unit that detects a state of the application executed by the application execution unit and transmits the detected state to the state control unit;
An electronic apparatus comprising: application execution control means for controlling the application execution means using the application state information received from the application control means.   The electronic apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an activation unit that activates the input / output device by acquiring a user operation. A control method for an input / output device including input / output means for receiving an input operation on a dial member ,
The state of the input / output means that outputs the rotation or vibration of the dial member recognizable tactilely and receives an input operation to the dial member is rotated according to the type of operation of the application. Or a state control step for controlling the output state of vibration ;
A state detecting step of detecting an output state of the dial member changed by an input operation on the dial member ;
An input / output determination step for determining whether or not the target output state of the dial member , which is a control target in the state control step, is inconsistent with the detection state detected in the state detection step;
Control that changes the type of operation of the application in response to the detection state detected in the state detection step when it is determined in the input / output determination step that the target output state and the detection state do not match the method of the input and output device which comprises a, an application control step of performing.

Images