JP2000194427A - Touch operation input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch operation input device capable of confirming where it performs a touch operation without looking at a screen. SOLUTION: Plural operation function items are shown on a display 12, and plural operation function items shown on the screen of the display 12 are selected and inputted by performing a touch operation of an input pad of a touch tracer. In such a case, a solenoid 52 is operated by the control of a vibration controlling part 54 based on a signal of a controlling part 62. Also, the control of the solenoid 52 is performed by the part 54, and vibration that is made different according to the input pad operation position of the touch tracer stored in a memory 66 of the part 62 is generated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a touch operation input device for inputting touch operation information by touching an operation surface.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, vehicles equipped with a display device having a touch operation function are increasing. As an example of this type of display device, a touch position on a display screen is detected by an optical sensor.

Specifically, a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged so as to form a plurality of parallel optical axes corresponding to a vertical direction and a horizontal direction of a display screen, and the display screen is touched with a finger. It is configured to detect the center position of the touch area based on the interruption of the optical axis from the light emitting element to the light receiving element and output the coordinate data thereof.

Further, there is a touch operation input device in which a display unit and a touch operation unit are separated and arranged at a place where the touch operation unit can be easily operated. The configuration of the touch operation input device is the same as that described above. Has become. Such a touch operation input device can provide a convenient operation by arranging the touch operation unit in a place where it is easy to operate the vehicle.

There are also control sticks and control pads with a vibrating device for games and the like, and there are those which transmit operation results of a game or the like to a hand together with a screen and sound to enhance a sense of reality.

[0006]

However, in the conventional touch operation input device, it is necessary to visually recognize an index such as a cursor on a screen and operate the input device blindly or to operate while viewing both of them alternately. There is a problem that there is.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and has as its object to provide a touch operation input device that can confirm where a touch operation is performed without looking at a screen.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a display unit for displaying a plurality of operation function items is provided separately from the display unit, and the plurality of function items are selected by a touch operation. A touch operation unit having a touch panel for inputting, a vibration generation unit provided on the touch operation unit, for generating vibration on the touch panel, and controlling the vibration generation unit to generate different vibrations depending on the operation position of the touch panel And a vibration control unit.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the plurality of operation function items displayed on the display unit are displayed by displaying a plurality of operation function items on the display unit and touching the touch panel of the touch operation unit. You can select and enter. Further, the operation position can be confirmed by vibrating the touch panel of the touch operation unit by the vibration generation unit. The vibration control unit is controlled by the vibration control unit, and different vibrations can be generated depending on the operation position of the touch panel. Therefore, it is possible to blindly check where the touch operation is being performed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the control for generating the vibration by the vibration control unit corresponds to a number representing the plurality of operation function items displayed on the display unit, and the same number of pulses as the number. It is characterized in that the vibration is output intermittently.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the operation position can be confirmed by associating a plurality of operation function items with numbers and outputting the same number of pulse vibrations intermittently as the numbers. For example, when the number of the operation function item is 2, when the touch operation is performed at that position, the vibration is transmitted to the touch panel twice at a predetermined interval, so that the operation position can be surely confirmed. Operation can be performed.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the control for generating the vibration by the vibration control unit, the vibration level is continuously varied in accordance with the position of the touch panel in the vertical direction, the horizontal direction, or both the vertical and horizontal directions. It is characterized in that it is performed by outputting it.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the touch panel is located at the vertical, horizontal, or both vertical and horizontal positions, that is, at the vertical, horizontal, or both vertical and horizontal positions displayed on the display unit. The operation position can be confirmed by continuously changing the vibration level accordingly. For example, the operating position can be confirmed by vibrating the rhythm in the vertical direction at a rhythm and changing the tempo in the horizontal direction at a tempo, and a blind operation can be performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the control for generating the vibration by the vibration control section is performed by outputting a predetermined vibration pattern according to a predetermined function displayed on the display section. It is characterized by.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, unique vibration patterns are assigned to predetermined functions displayed on the display unit, for example, "UP" and "DOWN" for audio volume control and air conditioner temperature adjustment. By transmitting this vibration pattern to the touch panel when performing a touch operation on the touch panel, it is possible to confirm the touch operation position and perform a blind operation.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, the present invention is applied to a display system for a vehicle.

FIG. 1 shows a display system 10 for a vehicle.
1 shows the overall configuration of FIG. The display system 10 for a vehicle is used to operate auxiliary equipment attached to a vehicle such as an air conditioner, an audio system, and a navigation system.
4 (hereinafter referred to as a touch tracer).

The display 12 is disposed at the center of the instrument panel, which can be easily recognized by the driver and the passenger, and displays the operation status of the air conditioner, the audio, the guidance map screen of the navigation system, and the like. A predetermined screen is displayed according to operation input information from the touch tracer 14.

The touch tracer 14 is disposed at a place where the driver can easily operate the device, for example, an armrest of a driver's seat door, a center console, or the like. Is performed.

As shown in the front view of the touch tracer 14 in FIG. 2, an input pad 16 is arranged at the center of the touch tracer 14, and various modes are selected at positions around the input pad 16. Select button to be arranged. As these selection buttons, a current location button 18, a destination button 20, a menu button 22, an air conditioner button 24, an audio button 26, and an image quality button 28 are provided. By pressing these mode selection buttons, the selection is made. A screen corresponding to the set mode is displayed on the display 12.

Input pad 1 for inputting a touch operation
6 is formed so that two arc-shaped finger guide grooves 30 intersect each two vertically and horizontally as shown in FIG.
The driver can recognize the operation position of the input pad with a tentacle without looking at the input pad. In addition, finger guide groove 3
Since 0 is an arc-shaped groove, the finger can be easily guided when the finger is slid in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction, and operation blur during operation can be prevented. The position of the finger guide groove 30 is provided corresponding to the position of the button display section displayed on the display 12, and
The driver or the passenger can select any button by a blind operation.

Further, as shown in FIG.
2 (FIG. 4 shows a menu screen 72), the finger guide groove 30 formed in the input pad 16
Is displayed on the screen, and the input pad 16 and the display 1
The positional relationship between the two screens can be easily recognized. By touching the input pad 16 on which the finger guide groove 30 is formed while watching the display 12,
The designated item on the display 12 screen is inverted in color. That is, the blind operation can be performed without confirming the operation position of the input pad 16, and the operation can be easily performed by looking at only the screen of the display 12.

Next, the internal structure of the touch tracer 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a front view showing a part of the touch tracer 14 cut away, and FIG. 6 is a transverse sectional view showing a part of the touch tracer 14 cut away.

An outer frame of the touch tracer 14 is formed by an outer casing A32 and an outer casing B34. A printed wiring board 36 is disposed on the outer casing B34 serving as a bottom surface of the touch tracer 14, and a printed wiring board 38 is disposed above the printed wiring board 36. Have been. A touch switch 40 is mounted at the center of the printed wiring board 36, and a compression coil spring 42 is provided. The compression coil spring 42
The input pad 16 is urged toward the arrow M direction in FIG. The touch switch 40 is a switch for determining the position of a touch operation on the input pad 16. After touching a desired position on the input pad 16, the input pad 16
By performing the pressing operation every time, the switch of the touch switch 40 is turned on.

The outer casing B34 is provided with a member formed into a substantially T-shape 34a to suppress the outer periphery of the input pad 16 against the bias of the compression coil spring 42. A substantially T-shape 34a for suppressing the input pad 16 of the touch switch 4 is operated by pressing an arbitrary position of the input pad 16.
When 0 is turned on, it acts as a fulcrum of the input pad 16.

An optical sensor unit is mounted on the printed wiring board 38. In this optical sensor unit, a plurality of LEDs 44 and phototransistors 46 are arranged to face each other so as to form a parallel optical axis, and the LEDs 44 and phototransistors 46 are connected to an electric circuit of a printed wiring board 38. The LED 44 and the phototransistor 46 are configured to be covered with a light shielding member 48 that shields the adjacent LED 44 and the phototransistor 46, respectively. Other parts are shielded from light by this light shielding member 48.

The input pad 16 includes a solenoid 5
2 is arranged, and the solenoid 52 is controlled by a vibration control unit described later to vibrate the input pad 16.

A plurality of operation switches 50 are mounted on the printed wiring board 38, and the corresponding operation switches 50 are turned on in response to operations on the selection buttons 18 to 28 for selecting various modes described above. It has become.

FIG. 7 shows the arrangement of the LEDs 44 and the phototransistors 46. In FIG. 7, 15 are set as illustrated vertical optical axes (hereinafter, referred to as X lines), and 11 are set as illustrated horizontal optical axes (hereinafter, referred to as Y lines). in this case,
In each of the X line and the Y line, the LED 44 and the phototransistor 46 are alternately arranged in parallel. In the LED 44 and the phototransistor 46 arranged in parallel, the phototransistor 46 is disposed behind the adjacent LED 44, so that the optical axis pitch of the X line and the Y line can be reduced.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the display system 10. As shown in FIG. The display system 10 includes an LED 44 disposed on the touch tracer 14,
The phototransistor 46, the touch switch 40, and the operation switch 50 are connected to an operation signal output unit 56, and the operation signal output unit 56 further includes an air conditioner, an audio,
It is connected to a screen / operation processing circuit 60 of a control unit 62 that controls auxiliary equipment such as a navigation system.

The input pad 1 of the touch tracer 14
6 is connected to a vibration control unit 54, and the vibration control unit 54 is connected to the screen / operation processing circuit 60 of the control unit 62 described above.

The control section 62 includes a screen / operation processing circuit 60 and a memory 66 for storing a vibration pattern for vibrating the solenoid 52, and is connected to the display 12.

The touch tracer 14 detects a signal of a phototransistor 46 that receives light projected from the LED 44 and outputs a signal detected by the phototransistor 46 to a control unit 62 via an operation signal output unit 56. . The screen / operation processing circuit of the control unit 62 calculates the position coordinates where the input pad 16 is touched with a finger based on the signal input from the operation signal output unit. For the position coordinates touched by the finger, the center position coordinates of the light-shielded lines of the X line and the Y line are calculated, and the calculated center position coordinates are used as the touch position on the input pad 16.

The control section 62 converts the calculated position coordinates touched by the finger into position coordinates corresponding to the display on the display 12 and outputs the coordinates to the display 12.
The display 12 displays the position on the screen where the finger is touching on the screen based on the position coordinate information output from the control unit 62. This position display on the screen is displayed by inverting the color of the selected item. In addition,
This screen display may be displayed by an arrow or the like.

Further, the screen / operation processing circuit 60 of the control unit 62 changes the vibration pattern corresponding to the position display of the touch operation from the vibration pattern for vibrating the solenoid 52 stored in the memory 66 of the control unit 62 to the touch tracer. 1
4 to the vibration control unit. As described above, by generating vibration corresponding to the operation position on the input pad 16, the operation position can be confirmed from a predetermined vibration pattern.

As the vibration pattern stored in the memory 66 of the control unit 62, a vibration pattern as shown in FIG. 9 is stored. For example, in the case of the menu screen 72 in FIG. Based on the displayed number,
Nine types of vibration patterns are stored, and when “1. Location registration” is selected, one vibration is transmitted to the input pad 16 at a predetermined time. When any other item is selected, the vibration of the item number times is transmitted to the input pad 16 at a predetermined time according to the item number.

The number of vibrations at which the input pad 16 is vibrated can be easily confirmed by providing a time period during which no vibration pulse is generated after the vibration of the item number is completed within a predetermined time.

For the "UP" and "DOWN" items common to the air conditioner screen and the audio screen, vibration patterns of two types of rhythms are stored. In the case of "UP", "g, g, g" The vibration is transmitted to the input pad 16 in a rhythm such as "". In the case of "DOWN",
The vibration is transmitted to the input pad 16 in a rhythm like "two, two". Furthermore, when there is no item number or common item, vibration corresponding to the X and Y coordinates of the optical sensor unit (LED 44, phototransistor 46) facing the input pad 16 is transmitted to the input pad 16. I have. By assigning X to a tempo and Y to a rhythm, the vibration corresponding to the X and Y coordinates can be confirmed by the rhythm and tempo at which the input pad 16 vibrates.

When the touch switch 40 is pressed in a state where the selection item is determined by the input pad, the touch switch 4 is sent to the control unit 62 via the operation signal output unit 56.
A signal of 0 is output.

The control unit 62 outputs the information for switching to the screen according to the selected item to the display 12, and the screen displayed on the display 12 is switched to the screen of the selected item. Further, when the operation switch 50 of the touch tracer 14 is pressed, the control unit 62 controls the screen corresponding to the selection buttons 18 to 28 for selecting the pressed mode to be displayed on the display 12 screen. .

Next, the operation at the time of operating the touch tracer will be described.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the power is turned on by turning on the ignition, the navigation function operates as an initial function, and the optical sensor unit ( The power of the LED 44 and the phototransistor 46) is turned on, and the apparatus enters a detection standby state.

On the screen of the display 12, a map screen 7 showing the current position as an example shown in FIG.
0 is displayed. At this time, navigation function selection button display sections 70a are displayed at eight corners of the map screen 70. By pressing any one of the mode selection buttons 18 to 28 for selecting a mode arranged on the touch tracer 14, the map screen 7 is displayed as shown in FIG.
The screen is switched from 0 to the screen of the selected mode, and the screen according to the mode is displayed on the display 12. For example, when the menu button 22 is pressed, a menu screen 72 as shown in FIG. On the menu screen 72 displayed on the display 12, the finger guide groove 30 provided on the input pad 16 is displayed at a position corresponding to the operation position of the input pad 16. Subsequently, the input pad 16 of the touch tracer 14
Is touched with a finger, the space between the LED 44 and the phototransistor 46 in which the X lines and the Y lines are arranged opposite to each other is blocked by the finger. A signal from the phototransistor 46, which no longer receives light due to being blocked by the finger, is transmitted to the control unit 62 via the operation signal output unit 56.
Is output to the screen / operation processing circuit 60. In the screen / operation processing circuit 60, the center of the position coordinates blocked by the finger is calculated from the signal output from the operation signal output unit 56, and is associated with the display position on the display 12 screen. As a result, the corresponding menu item is inverted on the display 12 screen.

At this time, in the memory 66 of the control unit 62, the vibration pattern for vibrating the input pad 16 is transmitted via the screen / operation processing circuit to the vibration of the touch tracer 16 in accordance with the item number corresponding to the color-reversed item. The solenoid 52 is output to the control unit 54 and controlled by the vibration control unit 54. As a result, a predetermined vibration pattern is transmitted to the input pad 16. That is, since the input pad 16 vibrates in a vibration pattern corresponding to the item number as shown in FIG. 9, the vibration pattern can be recognized with a finger, and the operation position can be confirmed.

Subsequently, by pressing the input pad 16, the touch switch 40 is turned on, and this signal is output to the screen / operation processing circuit of the control unit 62 via the operation signal output unit 56. The menu item is selected and determined. When the menu item is selected and determined, a screen corresponding to the determined item is displayed on the display 12.

As described above, when performing a touch operation on the input pad 16, the operation position can be confirmed by a predetermined vibration corresponding to the operation position, and it is possible to surely confirm where the touch operation is performed without looking at the screen. be able to.

In the above-described embodiment, the solenoid is arranged on the input pad 16 of the touch tracer 14 to vibrate the input pad 16. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a motor actuator may be used. May be. Alternatively, sound may be generated instead of vibration with a speaker or the like that generates sound instead of vibration, or pins may be provided in a matrix on an input pad, and pins may be inserted and removed, or the pins may be vibrated by a solenoid or the like. .

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a touch operation input device having an excellent effect that a touch operation can be confirmed without looking at a screen.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a configuration of a display system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of a touch tracer.

FIG. 3 is a front view and a cross-sectional view of an input pad.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a menu screen displayed on a display.

FIG. 5 is a cutaway front view of the touch tracer.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the touch tracer in a cutaway manner.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an arrangement relationship between an LED and a phototransistor.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of a display system according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a position example of a vibration pattern transmitted to an input pad.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display screen displayed in response to an operation on a touch tracer.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a map screen displayed on a display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 display system 12 display 14 touch tracer 16 input pad 52 solenoid 54 vibration control unit 60 screen / operation processing circuit 62 memory 66 control unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A display unit for displaying a plurality of operation function items, a touch operation unit provided separately from the display unit and having a touch panel for selecting and inputting the plurality of function items by performing a touch operation; A touch provided on an operation unit, comprising: a vibration generation unit that generates vibration on the touch panel; and a vibration control unit that controls the vibration generation unit to generate different vibrations depending on an operation position of the touch panel. Operation input device. 2. The control for generating the vibration by the vibration control unit corresponds to a number representing the plurality of operation function items displayed on the display unit, and intermittently outputs the same number of pulse vibrations as the number. The touch operation input device according to claim 1, wherein the touch operation input device is performed by: 3. The control for generating the vibration by the vibration control unit is performed by continuously varying a vibration level and outputting the vibration level in accordance with the vertical, horizontal, or both vertical and horizontal positions of the touch panel. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
Or the touch operation input device according to claim 2. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control of generating the vibration by the vibration control unit is performed by outputting a predetermined vibration pattern according to a predetermined function displayed on the display unit. The touch operation input device according to claim 3.