TWI603232B - Electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Electronic device

The present invention relates to an electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having a touch function.

In today's information society, human dependence on consumer electronic devices is increasing. Personalized Digital Assistance (PDA), smart phone or tablet PC can be seen everywhere in life, so consumer electronic devices are inseparable from the daily lives of modern people. Relationship.

In the above electronic device, taking a smart phone as an example, in order to make the smart phone more convenient, lighter and more humanized, many products have been converted from input devices such as a traditional keyboard or mouse to Use the touch panel as an input device. However, some of the input components on the smart phone, such as power on or volume adjustment, are still mechanical buttons as input components. These input devices of different operation modes are respectively disposed in the electronic product, which increases the production cost. In addition, when these keys are assembled to the body, it is easy to affect the appearance due to the tolerance of the key size or the accumulation of tolerances during assembly.

The present invention provides an electronic device capable of replacing a conventional button with a touch device.

The invention provides an electronic device comprising a housing, a touch module and a controller. The touch module is embedded on the outer casing and includes a plurality of conductive sheets and an insulating material. The insulating material is electrically insulated and bonded to the conductive sheet. The controller is electrically connected to the touch module to identify a touch event occurring on the conductive sheet.

In an embodiment of the invention, the outer casing is made of metal, and the outer casing and the conductive sheet are electrically insulated by an insulating material.

In an embodiment of the invention, the conductive sheet is made of metal, and the insulating material is made of plastic.

In an embodiment of the invention, the conductive sheet and the outer casing are integrally combined via an insulating material.

In an embodiment of the invention, the number of the conductive sheets is two, and each of the conductive sheets has a triangular shape, and the conductive sheets collectively form a quadrilateral sensing region.

In an embodiment of the invention, the number of the conductive sheets is four, and the conductive sheets are arranged in a row to form a quadrilateral sensing region.

In an embodiment of the invention, the touch module is embedded on a side of the outer casing.

Based on the above, a touch module is embedded on the outer casing of the electronic device of the present invention. The touch module is composed of a plurality of electrically separated conductive sheets and an insulating material, and the conductive sheets are respectively connected to the controller. When a touch event occurs, such as when a user's finger approaches or contacts the conductive sheets, the controller can recognize the touch locations occurring on the conductive sheets to control the electronic device. The conductive sheet of the present invention can be used as an input element instead of a button to maintain the appearance of the electronic device.

In order to make the above features and advantages of the present invention more obvious, the following The embodiments are described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2A is a partial enlarged view of the electronic device of FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2A , the electronic device 100 of the embodiment includes a housing 110 , a touch module 120 , and a controller 130 . The touch module 120 is embedded on the outer casing 110 and includes a plurality of conductive sheets 122 and an insulating material 124. The insulating material 124 is electrically insulated and bonded to the conductive sheet 122. The controller 130 is electrically connected to the touch module 120 to recognize a touch event occurring on the conductive sheet 122.

The electronic device 100 of the embodiment can utilize the conductive sheet 122 of the touch module 120 as an input component. The touch module 120 is embedded, for example, on the side of the outer casing 110. The conductive sheets 122 are electrically connected to the controller 130, respectively. For example, when the user's finger approaches or contacts the conductive sheets 122, the capacitance value between the conductive sheets 122 changes, and the controller 130 can recognize the position where the touch event occurs by the amount of capacitance change. The electronic device 100 is enabled to generate feedback correspondingly. The conductive sheet 122 of this embodiment can be used as an input element instead of a mechanical button, such as a volume control button or a power switch.

In this embodiment, the material of the outer casing 110 and the conductive sheet 122 is, for example, metal. In order to prevent the outer casing 110 from being electrically connected to the conductive sheet 122, an insulating material 124 is disposed between the outer casing 110 and the conductive sheet 122 to be electrically insulated. When the conductive sheet 122 made of metal is combined with the outer casing 110 of the metal material, the appearance consistency of the electronic device 100 can be improved, that is, the full metal casing 110 is The touch module 120 is provided.

In this embodiment, the material of the insulating material 124 is, for example, plastic. When the electronic device 100 is configured to provide the conductive sheet 122 as a touch input component, an opening is provided in the outer casing 110, and the conductive strip 122 and the insulating material 124 of the touch module 120 are disposed in the opening. The conductive sheet 122 and the outer casing 110 are integrated into one body via an insulating material 124. The conductive sheet 122 and the insulating material 124 are disposed on the outer casing 110, for example, by an insert-molding process. The conductive sheet 122 is first placed in the opening and fixed by the mold, and the insulating material 124 of the plastic material is filled between the conductive sheet 122 and the outer casing 110 to isolate the conductive sheet 122 from the outer casing 110, thereby avoiding the conductive sheet 122 and the metal. The outer casing 110 of the material is turned on. However, the present invention does not limit the method in which the insulating material 124 and the conductive sheet 122 are disposed on the outer casing 110 to be buried.

The design of the conductive sheet 122 and the manner of touch sensing will be described below. FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a touch event occurring in the conductive sheet of FIG. 2A. Referring to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B , in the embodiment, the number of the conductive sheets 122 of the touch module 120 is two, and each of the conductive sheets 122 has a triangular shape. The two conductive sheets 122 form a quadrilateral sensing area. . When a touch event occurs, the controller 130 senses the amount of change in the capacitance value of the conductive sheets 122 to determine the touch position.

In detail, in FIG. 2B, the conductive sheet 122 includes, for example, a first conductive sheet 122a and a second conductive sheet 122b. The first conductive sheet 122a and the second conductive sheet 122b have the same outer shape, but the first conductive sheet 122a and the second conductive sheet 122b are disposed opposite to each other to form a rectangular-like sensing area. An insulating material 124 is disposed between the conductive sheets 122. The controller 130 is connected to each of the conductive sheets 122 by a plurality of connecting lines 132 to independently sense the capacitance value variation of the different conductive sheets 122.

When the user's finger approaches the conductive sheet 122, a first coupling region can be formed in the first conductive sheet 122a, and a second coupling region can be formed in the second conductive sheet 122b. Since the first coupling region is different from the second coupling region, the amount of change in the capacitance value generated by the first conductive sheet 122a and the second conductive sheet 122b is also different, so the controller 130 can determine the touch by the amount of change in the capacitance value. The position at which the handle is generated.

When the user's finger touches different areas of the touch module 120, for example, the area A and the area B shown in FIG. 2B, the capacitance values induced by the first conductive piece 122a and the second conductive piece 122b are according to the touch. The location varies. For example, when the user's finger touches the area A, the capacitances induced by the first conductive piece 122a and the second conductive piece 122b are C-Aa and C-Ab, respectively. When the user's finger touches the area B, the capacitances induced by the first conductive piece 122a and the second conductive piece 122b are C-Ba and C-Bb, respectively.

In other words, when the user's finger touches the area A and the area B, respectively, the capacitance value C-Aa induced by the first conductive sheet 122a is different from C-Ba. Therefore, the touch module 120 can determine the position of the finger according to different capacitance values. Similarly, the second conductive sheet 122b can also operate in accordance with the same principle.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a partial enlarged view of the electronic device of FIG. 3. Please refer to Figure 3 and Figure 4, In this embodiment, the touch module 220 composed of a plurality of conductive sheets 222 and an insulating material 224 is also embedded in the outer casing 210 of the electronic device 200, and the number of the conductive sheets 222 is four, and the four conductive sheets 222 are arranged. A column constitutes a quadrilateral sensing area. When a touch event occurs, the controller 230 senses which of the conductive sheets 222 the touch event occurs.

In this embodiment, the conductive sheet 222 includes, for example, a first conductive sheet 222a, a second conductive sheet 222b, a third conductive sheet 222c, and a fourth conductive sheet 222d. The four conductive sheets 222 are sequentially arranged in a row, and not every conductive sheet 222 has the same outer shape. These conductive sheets 222 constitute a quadrilateral-like sensing area. The shape of the conductive sheet 222 may vary depending on the shape of the electronic device 200, and the present invention is not limited thereto. The insulating material 224 between each of the conductive sheets 222 enables the controller 230 to independently sense the amount of change in the capacitance value of the different conductive sheets 222.

When the user's finger approaches the conductive sheets 222, a capacitance can be induced in at least one of the conductive sheets 222. The controller 230 can obtain different capacitance value changes on different conductive sheets 222 by connecting lines 232 electrically connected to the first conductive sheet 222a, the second conductive sheet 222b, the third conductive sheet 222c, and the fourth conductive sheet 222d. To determine where the touch event is generated.

In summary, the touch module is embedded in the outer casing of the electronic device of the present invention. The touch module is composed of a plurality of electrically separated conductive sheets and an insulating material. The conductive sheets are electrically insulated from each other and electrically connected to the controller. The conductive sheets may have different shapes and arrangements depending on the design requirements, and the conductive sheets constitute a sensing area in the electronic device. area. When a touch event occurs, such as when a user's finger approaches or contacts the conductive sheets, the controller can recognize the touch locations occurring on the conductive sheets to control the electronic device. The conductive sheet of the present invention can replace the button as an input element, and the metal member is used as the material of the conductive sheet, and the conductive sheet can have a metallic texture to increase the aesthetic appearance of the electronic device.

Although the present invention has been disclosed in the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention, and any one of ordinary skill in the art can make some modifications and refinements without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is defined by the scope of the appended claims.

100, 200‧‧‧ electronic devices

110, 210‧‧‧ Shell

120, 220‧‧‧ touch module

122, 222‧‧‧ conductive sheet

124, 224‧‧‧Insulation materials

122a, 222a‧‧‧ first conductive sheet

122b, 222b‧‧‧second conductive sheet

130, 230‧‧ ‧ controller

132, 232‧‧‧Connected lines

222c‧‧‧ Third conductive sheet

222d‧‧‧4th conductive sheet

A, B‧‧‧ area

1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a partial enlarged view of the electronic device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2B is a schematic diagram of a touch event occurring in the conductive sheet of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of an electronic device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a partial enlarged view of the electronic device of FIG. 3.

120‧‧‧Touch Module

122‧‧‧Conductor

122a‧‧‧First conductive sheet

122b‧‧‧Second conductive sheet

124‧‧‧Insulation materials

130‧‧‧ Controller

132‧‧‧Connected lines

Claims (5)

An electronic device includes: a housing having an opening, and the housing is made of metal; a touch module is embedded on the housing, the touch module includes: a plurality of conductive sheets disposed on the a gap is formed in the opening, and a gap is maintained with the inner wall of the opening; an insulating material fills the gap for fixing the conductive sheets in the opening, and electrically insulating the conductive sheets and the outer casing; And a controller electrically connected to the touch module to identify a touch event occurring on the conductive sheets, wherein the outer casing, the conductive sheets and the insulating material together form a smooth surface. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the conductive sheets are made of metal, and the insulating material is made of plastic. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the number of the conductive sheets is two, and each of the conductive sheets has a triangular shape, and the conductive sheets collectively form a quadrilateral sensing region. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the number of the conductive sheets is four, and the conductive sheets are arranged in a row to form a quadrilateral sensing region. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the touch module is embedded on one side of the outer casing.