KR20140077607A - Optical finger mouse - Google Patents

Abstract

Provided is an optical finger mouse. The optical finger mouse includes: a first substrate; a first input device which receives a first input and a second input; and a switch which is arranged on the upper surface of the first substrate and responds to a click motion to a target object. The first input device includes: a second substrate which is arranged on the upper part of the switch and has a light source and an image sensor mounted on; a light transmission unit which is arranged on the upper part of the second substrate and transmits the light emitted from the light source and reflected on the target object; a lens which is arranged on the upper part of the second substrate and adjusts the light path of the reflected light; and a cover unit which is arranged on the upper part of the second substrate and is in contact with the target object.

Description

Optical finger mouse < RTI ID = 0.0 >

The present invention relates to an optical finger mouse.

As the field of computer science progresses, various devices are being developed that allow users to input information into computer devices. For example, when the user operates the pointing device, position data corresponding to the movement of the pointing device is generated. This position data is then converted into the motion of the pointer image appearing on the display.

Thus, by moving the pointing device, the user can associate the pointer image with the displayed object on the display. Here, an object refers to a user interface that allows a specific operation to be performed when a menu, button, image, or the like is selected. Thereafter, the user can perform a specific command related to the object through a selection operation such as pressing a specific button of the pointing device.

On the other hand, for example, Windows (Windows), Android (Android), and the like are used as an operating system (OS) of a personal computer. When a user inputs a specific command, the user can input commands by dragging, scrolling, clicking, and the like of a pointing device such as a mouse.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an optical finger mouse and a micro touch pad device which reduce costs and minimize spatial restrictions.

The problems to be solved by the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned problems, and other matters not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical finger mouse including a first substrate, a first input device receiving a first input and a second input, and a second input device disposed on an upper surface of the first substrate, And a switch for responding to a click of an object, wherein the first input device comprises: a second substrate disposed above the switch, the second substrate having a light source and an image sensor mounted thereon; A lens disposed on the second substrate and adapted to adjust an optical path of the reflected light; a second lens disposed on the second substrate, .

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical finger mouse including: a second substrate having a light source and an image sensor mounted thereon; a second substrate disposed on the second substrate; A lens disposed on the second substrate and adapted to adjust an optical path of the reflected light, a cover portion disposed on the second substrate, the cover portion contacting the object, and a light- And a dome key that is responsive to a click of the object.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an optical finger mouse for receiving a dome key responsive to a click of a target object and a light reflected from the target object, The first input device includes a second substrate on which a light source and an image sensor are mounted, and a second substrate on the second substrate. The first input device includes a first substrate on which a light source and an image sensor are mounted, And a cover disposed on the second substrate and in contact with the object. The cover includes a light transmitting portion, a lens disposed on the second substrate, a lens for adjusting an optical path of the reflected light, and a cover portion disposed on the second substrate.

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an optical finger mouse and a micro touch pad device which can reduce cost and minimize spatial limitation.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description of the claims.

1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical finger mouse according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is an exploded perspective view of a first input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view of the first input device of Fig.
4 is an exploded perspective view of a first input device according to another embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view of the first input device of Fig.
6 is a cross-sectional view of the switch.
7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the optical finger mouse of FIG.
8 is a cross-sectional view of an optical finger mouse according to another embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the optical finger mouse of FIG. 8. FIG.
10 is a conceptual block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
11 is an embodiment in which an optical finger mouse is used.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention and the manner of achieving them will become apparent with reference to the embodiments described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification.

One element is referred to as being "connected to " or" coupled to "another element, either directly connected or coupled to another element, One case. On the other hand, when one element is referred to as being "directly connected to" or "directly coupled to " another element, it does not intervene another element in the middle. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. "And / or" include each and every combination of one or more of the mentioned items.

Although the first, second, etc. are used to describe various elements, components and / or sections, it is needless to say that these elements, components and / or sections are not limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element, element or section from another element, element or section. Therefore, it goes without saying that the first element, the first element or the first section mentioned below may be the second element, the second element or the second section within the technical spirit of the present invention.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of illustrating embodiments and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. In the present specification, the singular form includes plural forms unless otherwise specified in the specification. It is noted that the terms "comprises" and / or "comprising" used in the specification are intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the components, steps, operations, and / Or additions.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein may be used in a sense commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Also, commonly used predefined terms are not ideally or excessively interpreted unless explicitly defined otherwise.

Hereinafter, an optical finger mouse according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7. FIG.

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an optical finger mouse according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of a first input device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a cross- 4 is a cross-sectional view of the first input device of FIG. 4, FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the switch, and FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the first input device of FIG. Sectional view for explaining the operation of the optical finger mouse.

Referring to FIG. 1, an optical finger mouse 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first substrate 110, a switch 200, and a first input device 300. The optical finger mouse 100 is a kind of input device and can be mounted on various electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a smart phone, a PDA, a netbook, a notebook, a tablet PC, and the like. However, the present invention is not limited thereto.

The first substrate 110 may be disposed under the optical finger mouse 100. The first substrate 110 may be a printed circuit board (PCB), but is not limited thereto.

Subsequently, the switch 200 may be disposed on the upper surface of the first substrate 110, and the first input device 300 may be positioned on the upper portion of the switch 200. That is, the switch 200 may be positioned between the first substrate 110 and the first input device 300, and may have a stacked structure. The first input device 300 and the switch 200 may be electrically connected to the first substrate 110 to transmit signals. The type and operation of the first input device 300 and the switch 200 will be described later.

Recently, an O / S has been developed which provides a multi-touch gesture function with a single input device. According to O / S development, an input device has also been developed to perform multi-touch gesture operation using a plurality of object objects. The multi-touch gesture may mean, for example, performing operations such as scrolling, zooming in, zooming out, rotating, and the like to a plurality of object objects, but is not limited thereto. An input device capable of performing such a multi-touch gesture operation may be limited in space, for example, in a mobile device or a keyboard, which is required to have a large size and requires portability, for example, in a miniaturized mobile device or a keyboard. Therefore, the first input device 300 and the switch 200 can be combined in one optical finger mouse 100 to improve spatial constraints and realize a multi-touch gesture. In this case, there is no need to use a plurality of optical finger mice 100 or add additional function keys to perform multi-touch gesture operation, which is advantageous in space and economy. Also, it is convenient for the user because only one object is required.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the first input device 300 will be described in detail.

2 and 3, the first input device 300 may include a second substrate 310, a fixing portion 320, a lens 333, a prism 335, and a lid 340 .

The second substrate 310 may be, for example, a PCB. A light source 315 and an optical sensor 313 may be mounted on the second substrate 310 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The light source 315 of the first input device 300 may be an infrared Or an infrared light source that emits infrared (IR) light. More specifically, the light source 12 may be an infrared LED light source that emits infrared light.

The fixing portion 320 may serve to fix the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323 to maintain the alignment between the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323, As shown in FIG. Here, the lens 333 functions to adjust the optical path of the reflected light reflected from the object (not shown) by being emitted from the light source 315, and the light transmitting portion 323 transmits the reflected light, The fixing portion 320 fixes the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323 so that the light sensor 313 disposed below the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323 is properly aligned with the lens 333, And 323 can be reliably detected.

The fixing of the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323 so that the fixing portion 320 maintains the alignment between the lens 333 and the light transmitting portion 323 is performed by fixing the fixing projection 325 formed on the fixing portion 320 ≪ / RTI >

2 and 3, the lens 333 is fixed by a fixing protrusion 325 formed on the fixing part 320 and the light transmitting part 323 is formed on the fixing part 320, So that the alignment with the guide groove 333 is maintained.

Meanwhile, in the first input device 300, the light transmitting portion 323 may be formed in the fixing portion 320 as shown in FIGS. Therefore, the first input device 300 can be miniaturized in size as compared with the case where the light transmitting portion 323 and the fixing portion 320 are separately formed.

The lens 333 is disposed above the light transmitting portion 323 formed in the fixing portion 320 and has a function of adjusting the light path of the reflected light that is emitted from the light source 315 and reflected on an object (not shown) Can be performed. The prism 335 may be disposed on the light source 315 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. The prism 335 may be disposed on the object (not shown) The optical path can be formed to reach the optical path. To this end, the prism 335 may include a condenser lens for condensing the light, a reflection surface for reflecting the condensed light, and an emission surface for transmitting the reflected light to a target object (not shown). On the other hand, in the first input device 300, the lens 3330 and the prism 335 may be integrally formed as shown in FIG.

The lid unit 340 may be disposed on the substrate 310 and may be disposed to cover the light source 315, the optical sensor 313, the fixing unit 320, the lens 333, and the prism 335 described above , And to protect them. In general, a target object (not shown) may be located on this lid 340.

4 and 5, another embodiment of the first input device 301 will be described. The contents overlapping with those described above will be omitted.

The first input device 301 may further include a conductive pad 350. The conductive pad 350 may be disposed under the cover 340, as shown in FIGS. The conductive pad 350 may be required when applying the capacitive input method to the first input device 301. The capacitive input method is an input method that responds to the touch of a target object (not shown). When the target object (not shown), for example, a finger, approaches the first input device 301, the capacitance value changes This is a way to recognize it as an input.

Referring again to FIG. 4, the conductive pad 350 may include a plate 353 and a protective portion 355. The plate 353 is a portion for sensing a touch of a target object. The plate 353 may be made of SUS (Steel Use Statinless) material, but is not limited thereto. The protector 355 may be present in the lid 340 and may be on the bottom surface of the plate 353. The protective portion 355 may be required to protect the fixing portion 320, the lens 333, the prism 335, and the like from the plate 353. [

Meanwhile, the conductive pad 350 may be integrated with the cover 340. When the conductive pad 350 is integrated with the lid portion 340, the size of the first input device 301 can be minimized, which is advantageous for miniaturization. In addition, the conductive pad 350 may have an open portion. The first input device 301 must be able to sense the light emitted from the light source 315 and reflected by the object (not shown) and the light sensor 313. Therefore, the conductive pad 350 may be perforated so that the light passes through the conductive pad 350 as shown in FIG. 4 so that the light emitted from the light source 315 can reach the object (not shown). There may be a portion of both the plate 353 and the protective portion 355 that is pierced.

The conductive pad 350 may be connected to a touch sensor (not shown). The touch sensor (not shown) may be present inside the first input device 301, externally or integrally with the optical sensor 313. When the optical sensor 313 and the touch sensor (not shown) are integrated, a separate space or wiring for a touch sensor (not shown) is not required, which is advantageous for miniaturization and economical advantage.

The switch 200 will be described with reference to Fig. In FIG. 6, the case where the switch 200 is a dome key is shown, but this is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited thereto.

The switch 200 may be disposed below the first input device. While the first input device senses the movement of light and / or a target object (not shown), the switch 200 may respond to a click of a target object (not shown), for example a membrane switch, a poly A dome switch or a tact switch, or the like. Also, the switch 200 may be a dome key. A dome key refers to a switch in which a metal conductive dome is placed on a wire and the metal dome is brought into contact with the wire by user's operation. If the switch 200 is a dome key, it can have an excellent effect in life, productivity, click feeling, size, and the like compared to other switches.

Referring to FIG. 6, the switch 200 may include a third substrate 201, a dome switch wiring 210, a dome switch 220, and a transparent PET film 230. The third substrate 201 shown in FIG. 6 may be replaced with the first substrate 110 shown in FIG. 1 in order to miniaturize the optical finger mouse. A dome switch wiring 210 is patterned on the third substrate 201, and the dome switch wiring 210 may be a conductive material.

A dome switch 220 may be located on the dome switch wiring 210. The dome switch 220 is in contact with the first dome switch wiring 210a and may have a dome shape. The dome switch 220 is usually spaced apart from the signal line 210b, but may contact the signal line 210b when pressed to transmit the input signal. The transparent PET film 230 may cover the dome switch 220 and thus protect the dome switch 220.

The operation of the optical finger mouse will be described with reference to FIG.

The first input device 300 of the optical finger mouse according to an embodiment of the present invention receives an optical first input. A target object (not shown) is placed on the upper surface of the lid unit 340 of the first input device 300 and the target object (not shown) is moved in a direction perpendicular to the upper surface of the lid unit 340 as a first input. Specifically, when the object (not shown) touches or touches the lid portion 340 of the first input device 300 in the vertical direction, the light sensor 313 senses the vertical movement of the object (not shown) 1 input.

In addition, the first input device 300 may also respond to a horizontal movement of the object (not shown), that is, a sweep. Specifically, a target object (not shown) is placed on the upper surface of the lid portion 340 of the first input device 300, and a target object (not shown) is swept up and down and left and right in a horizontal direction with respect to the upper surface of the lid 300 The device recognizes it as a second input, and recognizes the device (not shown) connected to the optical finger mouse as a motion of a screen or a cursor.

Although not shown in FIG. 7, the first input device 301 may include a conductive pad 350 as shown in FIG. 5. In this case, when the object 700 touches the first input device 301 It can be detected as the first input. That is, the first input device 301 including the conductive pad 350 is not moved in the vertical direction of the object, but when the object (not shown) touches the first input device 301, . However, it is the same as the first input device 300 that does not include the conductive pad 350 in response to the horizontal movement of the object (not shown).

On the other hand, the switch 200 may respond to a click of the object 700. [ When the object 700 touches the lid part 340, the generated pressure is transmitted to the dome switch 220 so that the dome switch 220 can be pushed as shown in FIG. As a result, the dome switch 220 contacts the signal line 210b to transmit the input.

Hereinafter, the operation of the optical finger mouse will be described by way of example. As described above, the optical finger mouse can receive two inputs, i.e., a switch click and a first input. One optical finger mouse can receive two inputs, so various operations can be performed.

For example, an optical finger mouse can be used like an existing computer mouse. The first input is recognized as the left button input of the computer mouse and the click of the switch 200 is recognized as the right button input of the computer mouse. Alternatively, the first input may be recognized as the right button input of the computer mouse, and the switch click may be recognized as the left button input of the computer mouse.

As another example, a plurality of key inputs can be performed with an optical finger mouse. Specifically, when the object 700 is positioned on the lid unit 340 of the first input device 300 and swept vertically and horizontally, the cursor of the screen of the electronic device connected to the optical finger mouse is moved in accordance with the movement of the object 700 Move. When the switch 200 is clicked once, the icon of the electronic device screen is selected. When the switch 200 is clicked twice, the icon on the cursor is executed. When the switch 200 is clicked long, ≪ / RTI >

When the first input is once, the zoom mode is switched to, and the object 700 is swept by the cover 340 of the first input device 300, and zoom in according to the sweep direction. Or zoom out. When the first input is twice, the display mode is switched to the scroll mode, and the object 700 is sweeped by the cover 340 of the first input device 300 to scroll the electronic device screen up or down. have.

Although the optical finger mouse has been described in detail for two examples, the present invention is not limited thereto. Anyone skilled in the art can use the optical finger mouse of the present invention in various ways. .

8 and 9, an optical finger mouse according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described. The contents overlapping with those described above will be omitted and the differences will be mainly described.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of an optical finger mouse according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the optical finger mouse of FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, the optical finger mouse 101 may include a switch 202 and a first input device 300. 1, the switch 202 may be coupled to the first input device 300 in a turned-up state, and the first input device 300 may be placed on the switch 202. [ When the first input device 300 and the switch 202 are disposed as shown in FIG. 8, the second substrate 310 (see FIG. 3) of the first input device 300 and the third substrate 201 6). Thus, unlike FIG. 1, the first substrate is not required, and only one substrate can be used, which is advantageous economically and spatially. Since only one substrate is used, the dome switch wiring 210 can be formed on the lower surface of the second substrate 310, and the dome switch 220 can have a convex shape downward.

The optical finger mouse 101 of FIG. 9 operates in the same manner as the optical finger mouse 300 of FIG. The first input device 300 receives input and / or contact of the object 700 as an input, and the switch 202 receives a click of the object 700 as an input. Specifically, when the object 700 clicks the optical finger mouse 301, the dome sheet 220 receives pressure and contacts the signal line 210b to transmit the input, as shown in FIG. An electronic apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 11 is an embodiment in which an optical finger mouse is used.

Referring to FIG. 10, an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an input device 1000, a display device 900, and a control unit 800 according to embodiments of the present invention.

The input device 1000 may be an optical finger mouse or a micro touch pad device according to the embodiments of the present invention described above, which detects the presence, position, and / or click of a target object and outputs a detection signal. The display device 900 may be a device for displaying an image based on a sensing signal output from the input device 1000. The control device 800 may relay the sensing signal between the input device 1000 and the display device 900, And may control the operation of the input device 1000 and the display device 900. [

Examples of electronic devices according to various embodiments of the present invention include a mobile phone, a notebook, and a remote controller, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 11 shows an input device for replacing a touch pad used in a notebook or wireless keyboard using the optical finger mouse devices 100 and 101 of FIG. 1 or FIG. The input device includes a first button 810, a second button 820, and an optical finger mouse 100, 101.

The first button 810 can perform the same function and operation as the right button of the mouse, and the second button 820 can perform the same function and operation as the left button of the mouse. The optical finger mice 100 and 101 may correspond to a touch pad portion of a notebook or a wireless keyboard. Since the optical finger mice 100 and 101 are small in diameter and can only touch a single object, multi-touch gestures can not be performed. However, since they are clickable, they can have various functions. For example, a zoom in or zoom out function for zooming in or out of a screen can generally be performed by touching two object objects on the touch pad and pinching or widening two object objects. However, In the present invention, it is possible to perform the same function by clicking the optical finger mouse 100, 101 and tilting the target object vertically or horizontally.

12, the first button 810 is disposed on the right side, the second button 820 is disposed on the left side, and the optical finger mice 100 and 101 are disposed in the center. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the optical finger mouse 100, 101, the first and second buttons 810, 820 may be arranged in a triangular shape. The arrangement, shape and size of the optical finger mouse 100, 101 and the first and second buttons 810, 820 may vary depending on the size, type, use, and the like of the electronic device to be applied.

While the present invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, It is to be understood that the invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

100, 101: Optical finger mouse 110: First substrate
200, 202: switch 201: third substrate
210: dome switch wiring 210a: first dome switch wiring
210b: signal line 220: dome switch
230: Transparent pet film 300, 301: First input device
310: second substrate 340:
350: conductive pad 500: micro touch pad device
510: substrate 540: touchpad

Claims (11)

A first substrate;
A first input device receiving a first input and a second input;
A switch disposed on an upper surface of the first substrate and responsive to a click of the object,
Wherein the first input device comprises:
A second substrate disposed above the switch and having a light source and an image sensor mounted thereon,
A light transmitting portion that is disposed on the second substrate and transmits the reflected light that is emitted from the light source and reflected by the object,
A lens disposed on the second substrate for adjusting an optical path of the reflected light,
And a cover portion disposed on the second substrate and in contact with the object. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first input includes a vertical motion of the object on the first input device,
Wherein the second input comprises a sweep of the object. The method according to claim 1,
The switch is a domed key optical finger mouse. The method according to claim 1,
And a conductive pad connected to the touch sensor and sensing a touch of the object,
Wherein the first input comprises touching the first input device with the object, and the first input comprises an object finger touching the first input device. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the conductive pad is integral with the cover portion. 5. The method of claim 4,
Wherein the touch sensor and the image sensor are integrated with each other. A first input device receiving a vertical movement of the object and a horizontal sweep of the object;
And a dome key disposed below the first input device for recognizing a click of the object as an input,
Wherein the first input device comprises:
A second substrate on which a light source and an image sensor are mounted,
A light transmitting portion that is disposed on the second substrate and transmits the reflected light that is emitted from the light source and reflected by the object,
A lens disposed on the second substrate for adjusting an optical path of the reflected light,
A cover portion disposed on the second substrate and contacting the object,
And a dome key disposed below the second substrate and responsive to a click of the object. 8. The method of claim 7,
And a conductive pad connected to the touch sensor and sensing a touch of the object. 8. The method of claim 7,
Wherein the conductive pad is integral with the cover portion. 10. The method of claim 9,
Wherein the touch sensor and the image sensor are integrated with each other. A dome key responsive to a click of a destination object; And
And a first input device receiving light reflected from the object and disposed on the dome key,
Wherein the first input device comprises:
A second substrate on which a light source and an image sensor are mounted,
A light transmitting portion that is disposed on the second substrate and transmits the reflected light that is emitted from the light source and reflected by the object,
A lens disposed on the second substrate for adjusting an optical path of the reflected light,
And a cover portion disposed on the second substrate and in contact with the object.

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