초록 ▼

A coordinate input apparatus comprising: a designation device having a light emission device for designating a three-dimensional position; and a photoreception unit having a plurality of line sensors for receiving light emitted by the light emission device and determining the three-dimensional posit

A coordinate input apparatus comprising: a designation device having a light emission device for designating a three-dimensional position; and a photoreception unit having a plurality of line sensors for receiving light emitted by the light emission device and determining the three-dimensional position of the light emission device. Based on the determined value obtained by the photoreception unit, three-dimensional coordinates of the position of the designation device are calculated by a microcomputer.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A coordinate input apparatus for inputting three-dimensional coordinates, comprising:designation means, having a light emission device, for designating a three-dimensional position,a plurality of line sensors for receiving light emitted by the light emission device and determining a three-dimensi

1. A coordinate input apparatus for inputting three-dimensional coordinates, comprising:designation means, having a light emission device, for designating a three-dimensional position,a plurality of line sensors for receiving light emitted by the light emission device and determining a three-dimensional position where the light emission device exists;a photoreception device for receiving light emitted by the light emission device;calculation means for calculating three-dimensional coordinates of a position where said designation means exists, based on a determined value obtained by said plurality of line sensors; andsynchronization means for synchronizing a light emission cycle of the light emission device with a photoreception cycle of said line sensors based on a signal outputted by said photoreception device,wherein the light emission device emits light in a predetermined cycle, each of said plurality of line sensors comprises an electronic shutter function, and the electronic shutter function is turned on and off with a phase synchronous with the light emission cycle of the light emission device or a cycle which is an integral multiple of the light emission cycle,wherein said designation means includes a plurality of switches,the light emission device emits light based on one of a plurality of different modulation signals modulated by a carrier frequency higher than the predetermined cycle, andselection from the plurality of different modulation signals is made by the plurality of switches,wherein said synchronization means comprises generation means for generating a group of signals representing auxiliary data, indicative of time axis data of a signal from the light emission device and switch data for the plurality of switches of said designation means, based on a signal obtained by inputting a signal from the photoreception device to a band-pass filter having the same frequency characteristic as the carrier frequency, andbased on the group of signals generated by the generation means, the light emission cycle of the light emission device and the photoreception cycle of said plurality of line sensors are synchronized,wherein said synchronization means executes a timing sequence, serving as a control signal of said plurality of line sensors, by referring to an arbitrary light-on timing of the light emission device obtained by the group of signals, and repeats the timing sequence each time coordinate data for a point is processed.2. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said plurality of line sensors comprise:a line sensor arranged in a first direction; anda line sensor arranged in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction,wherein at least one of the first or second direction includes a plurality of line sensors.3. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said calculation means calculates relative three-dimensional coordinates of said designation means with respect to the plurality of line sensors, based on a plurality of two-dimensional data and difference between the two-dimensional data determined by said plurality of line sensors.4. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 1, wherein each of said plurality of line sensors is a ring-type CCD comprising a cyclical charge transfer path constructed with a plurality of cells,wherein each charge is simultaneously transferred from arbitrary photoelectric transducers arranged in line to the cyclical charge transfer path and circulated in the cyclical charge transfer path in a cycle synchronous with turning on and off the electronic shutter function, and each time the charge circulates once, new charge is added from the same photoelectric transducer and accumulated.5. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in each of said plurality of line sensors, a signal reader is connected to a cell of the cyclical charge transfer path, and outputs a voltage proportional to a charge passing the cell to an external unit.6. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the signal reader reads out a voltage proportional to a difference between charges of two adjacent cells.7. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the electronic shutter function is turned on at each timing of light-on and light-off of the light emission device, and transfers charges accumulated at each timing to an adjacent cell in the cyclical charge transfer path.8. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in said plurality of line sensors, a control for circulating a charge while accumulating charges by turning on and off the electronic shutter function, and a control for circulating a charge while halting the accumulation of charges by turning off the electronic shutter function, are executed by an external unit.9. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 4, wherein in said plurality of line sensors, a number of times of accumulation of the charge is controlled in accordance with a received amount of light which has been emitted by the light emission device.10. A control method of a coordinate input apparatus for inputting three-dimensional coordinates, comprising the steps of:receiving light, emitted by a designation device having a light emission device, with a plurality of line sensors and determining a three-dimensional position where the light emission device exists;receiving light, emitted by the light emission device, with a photoreception device;calculating three-dimensional coordinates of a position where the light emission device exists, based on a determined value obtained in said determining step;synchronizing a light emission cycle of the light emission device with a photoreception cycle of the line sensors based on a signal outputted by said photoreception device,wherein the light emission device emits light in a predetermined cycle, each of said plurality of line sensors comprises an electronic shutter function, and the electronic shutter function is turned on and off with a phase synchronous with the light emission cycle of the light emission device or a cycle which is an integral multiple of the light emission cycle,wherein said designation device includes a plurality of switches,the light emission device emits light based on one of a plurality of different modulation signals modulated by a carrier frequency higher than the predetermined cycle, andselection from the plurality of different modulation signals is made by the plurality of switches,wherein said synchronizing step comprises a step of generating a group of signals representing auxiliary data, indicative of time axis data of a signal from the light emission device and switch data for the plurality of switches based on a signal obtained by inputting a signal from the photoreception device to a band-pass filter having the same frequency characteristic as the carrier frequency, andbased on the group of signals generated in the generation step, the light emission cycle of the light emission device and the photoreception cycle of the plurality of line sensors are synchronized,wherein in said synchronizing step, a timing sequence, serving as a control signal of said plurality of line sensors, is executed by referring to an arbitrary light-on timing of the light emission device obtained by the group of signals, and the timing sequence is repeated each time coordinate data for a point is processed.11. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said plurality of line sensors comprise:a line sensor arranged in a first direction; anda line sensor arranged in a second direction which is perpendicular to the first direction,wherein at least one of the first or second direction includes a plurality of line sensors.12. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 10, wherein in said calculation step, relative three-dimensional coordinates of the light emission device with respect to the plurality of line sensors are calculated based on a plurality of two-dimensional data and difference between the two-dimensional data determined in said determining step.13. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 10, wherein each of said plurality of line sensors is a ring-type CCD comprising a cyclical charge transfer path constructed with a plurality of cells,wherein each charge is simultaneously transferred from arbitrary photoelectric transducers arranged in line to the cyclical charge transfer path and circulated in the cyclical charge transfer path in a cycle synchronous with turning on and off the electronic shutter function, and each time the charge circulates once, new charge is added from the same photoelectric transducer and accumulated.14. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 13, wherein in each of said plurality of line sensors, a signal reader is connected to a cell of the cyclical charge transfer path, and outputs a voltage proportional to a charge passing the cell to an external unit.15. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the signal reader reads out a voltage proportional to a difference between charges of two adjacent cells.16. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the electronic shutter function is turned on at each timing of light-on and light-off of the light emission device, and transfers charges accumulated at each timing to an adjacent cell in the cyclical charge transfer path.17. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 13, wherein in said plurality of line sensors, a control for circulating a charge while accumulating charges by turning on and off the electronic shutter function, and a control for circulating a charge while halting the accumulation of charges by turning off the electronic shutter function, are executed by an external unit.18. The control method of a coordinate input apparatus according to claim 13, wherein in the plurality of line sensors, a number of times of accumulation of the charge is controlled in accordance with a received amount of light which has been emitted by the light emission device.19. A computer-readable memory storing program codes for controlling a coordinate input apparatus which inputs three-dimensional coordinates in a space including said coordinate input apparatus and a host device, said memory comprising:program codes for a receiving step of receiving light, emitted by a designation device having a light emission device, with a plurality of sensors and a photoreception device;program codes for a calculation step of calculating and determining an absolute three-dimensional position, in the three-dimensional coordinates, of the light emission device with regard to said coordinate input apparatus based on values corresponding to positions where the light is emitted on said plurality of sensors;program codes for a synchronizing step of synchronizing a light emission cycle of the light emission device with a photoreception cycle of the sensors based on a signal outputted by said photoreception device; andprogram codes for transferring the absolute three-dimensional position to said host devices,wherein the light emission device emits light in a predetermined cycle, each of said plurality of sensors comprises an electronic shutter function, and the electronic shutter function is turned on and off with a phase synchronous with the light emission cycle of the light emission device or a cycle which is an integral multiple of the light emission cycle,wherein said designation device includes a plurality of switches,the light emission device emits light based on one of a plurality of different modulation signals modulated by a carrier frequency higher than the predetermined cycle, andselection from the plurality of different modulation signals is made by the plurality of switches,wherein said synchronizing step comprises a step of generating a group of signals representing auxiliary data, indicative of time axis data of a signal from the light emission device and switch data for the plurality of switches, based on a signal obtained by inputting a signal from the photoreception device to a band-pass filter having the same frequency characteristic as the carrier frequency, andbased on the group of signals generated in the generation step, the light emission cycle of the light emission device and the photoreception cycle of the plurality of sensors are synchronized,wherein in said synchronizing step, a timing sequence, serving as a control signal of said plurality of sensors, is executed by referring to an arbitrary light-on timing of the light emission device obtained by the group of signals, and the timing sequence is repeated each time coordinate data for a point is processed.20. A coordinate input apparatus for detecting a position of a light spot with regard to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate surface with light emitted by a designation device which emits light in a predetermined blinking cycle, and for outputting detected coordinate data, said apparatus comprising:a first photoreception sensor for detecting from the light spot, a light emission position in two-dimensional direction;a second photoreception sensor for detecting from the light spot, time series variance of light emitted;synchronization control means for synchronizing detection operation of said first photoreception sensor with the blinking cycle of light in the light spot based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by said second photoreception sensor; andcalculation means for calculating coordinates of the position of the light spot relative to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on the two-dimensional coordinate surface, based on a signal outputted from said first photoreception sensor brought to a synchronous state by said synchronization control means,wherein each time coordinate data of the light spot for a point is processed, said synchronization control means detects a light-on period start timing or end timing in the blinking cycle of light in the light spot based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by said second photoreception sensor and synchronizes detection operation of said first photoreception sensor with a timing which has been deviated from the detected timing by a predetermined time period.21. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 20, wherein said first photoreception sensor includes two line sensors arranged in two directions which are not parallel.22. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 21, wherein each of the line sensors is a ring-type CCD having a photoelectric transducer and a ring-shaped charge transfer path capable of consecutively adding and accumulating a charge generated in the photoelectric transducer,said synchronization control means controls the ring-type CCD such that the photoelectric transducer performs photoelectric conversion in synchronization with the blinking cycle of light in the light spot, and that a charge generated by the photoelectric conversion is circulated in the charge transfer path and is consecutively added and accumulated in synchronization with the blinking cycle, andsaid calculation means sequentially reads out the charge accumulated in the charge transfer path as an electric signal, and based on difference of the read electric signals, calculates coordinates of the position of the light spot generated on the two-dimensional coordinate surface.23. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 22, wherein said synchronization control means changes a period of adding and accumulating the charge, generated in the photoelectric transducer, in the charge transfer path in accordance with the amount of light in the light spot.24. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the designation device comprises modulation means for modulating a light-on cycle of blinking light by a carrier frequency sufficiently higher than a blinking frequency, andsaid synchronization control means comprises a waveform processor which inputs an electric signal, representing the light spot detected by said second photoreception sensor, to a band-pass filter having substantially the same resonance frequency characteristic as the carrier frequency, to extract only a frequency component substantially the same as the carrier frequency included in the electric signal.25. The coordinate input apparatus according to claim 20, wherein the designation device further comprises an operation switch and modulation control means for controlling said modulation means to modulate or not modulate according to operation of the switch, andsaid synchronization control means comprises detection means for detecting an operation state of the switch by determining whether or not modulation has been performed by said modulation means based on a time series variance of the electric signal representing the light spot detected by said second photoreception sensor.26. A control method of a coordinate input apparatus which detects a position of a light spot with regard to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate surface with light emitted by a designation device which emits light in a predetermined blinking cycle, and outputs detected coordinate data, said method comprising:a first detection step of detecting from the light spot, a light emission position in two-dimensional direction, by using a first photoreception sensor;a second detection step of detecting from the light spot, time series variance of light emitted, by using a second photoreception sensor;a synchronization control step of synchronizing detection operation of the first photoreception sensor with the blinking cycle of light in the light spot based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor; anda calculation step of calculating coordinates of the position of the light spot relative to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on the two-dimensional coordinate surface, based on a signal outputted from said first photoreception sensor brought to a synchronous state by said synchronization control step,wherein in said synchronization control step, each time coordinate data of the light spot for a point is processed, a light-on period start timing or end timing in the blinking cycle of light in the light spot is detected based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor and detection operation of the first photoreception sensor is synchronized with a timing which has been deviated from the detected timing by a predetermined time period.27. The control method of the coordinate input apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the first photoreception sensor includes two line sensors arranged in two directions which are not parallel.28. The control method of the coordinate input apparatus according to claim 27, wherein each of the line sensors is a ring-type CCD having a photoelectric transducer and a ring-shaped charge transfer path capable of consecutively adding and accumulating a charge generated in the photoelectric transducer,in said synchronization control step, the ring-type CCD is controlled such that the photoelectric transducer performs photoelectric conversion in synchronization with the blinking cycle of light in the light spot, and that a charge generated by the photoelectric conversion is circulated in the charge transfer path and is consecutively added and accumulated in synchronization with the blinking cycle, andin said calculation step, the charge accumulated in the charge transfer path is sequentially read out as an electric signal, and based on difference of the read electric signals, coordinates of the position of the light spot generated on the two-dimensional coordinate surface are calculated.29. The control method of the coordinate input apparatus according to claim 28, wherein in said synchronization control step, a period of adding and accumulating the charge, generated in the photoelectric transducer, in the charge transfer path is changed in accordance with the amount of light in the light spot.30. The control method of the coordinate input apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the designation device comprises a modulator for modulating a light-on cycle of blinking light by a carrier frequency sufficiently higher than a blinking frequency, andsaid synchronization control step comprises a waveform processing step of inputting an electric signal, representing the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor, to a band-pass filter having substantially the same resonance frequency characteristic as the carrier frequency, to extract only a frequency component substantially the same as the carrier frequency included in the electric signal.31. The control method of the coordinate input apparatus according to claim 26, wherein the designation device further comprises an operation switch and a modulation controller for controlling the modulator to modulate or not modulate according to operation of the switch, andsaid synchronization control step comprises a detection step of detecting an operation state of the switch by determining whether or not modulation has been performed by the modulator based on a time series variance of the electric signal representing the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor.32. A computer-readable memory storing program codes for controlling a coordinate input apparatus which detects a position of a light spot with regard to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on a predetermined two-dimensional coordinate surface with light emitted by a designation device which emits light in a predetermined blinking cycle and outputs detected coordinate data, said memory comprising:program codes for a first detection step of detecting from the light spot, a light emission position in two-dimensional direction, by using a first photoreception sensor;program codes for a second detection step of detecting from the light spot, time series variance of light emitted, by using a second photoreception sensor;program codes for a synchronization control step of synchronizing detection operation of the first photoreception sensor with the blinking cycle of light in the light spot based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor; andprogram codes for a calculation step of calculating coordinates of the position of the light spot relative to said coordinate input apparatus, generated on the two-dimensional coordinate surface, based on a signal outputted from said first photoreception sensor brought to a synchronous state by said synchronization control step,wherein in said synchronization control step, each time coordinate data of the light spot for a point is processed, a light-on period start timing or end timing in the blinking cycle of light in the light spot is detected based on the time series variance of the light spot detected by the second photoreception sensor and detection operation of the first photoreception sensor is synchronized with a timing which has been deviated from the detected timing by a predetermined time period.