JP2002323957A - Touch panel input device and image recording device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve accuracy in the detection of a pressed position on a touch panel. SOLUTION: The functions or the like of a plurality of operation keys or equipment connected to equipment for performing input operation to the equipment are displayed on a display part, the touch panel is provided while being overlapped on the display part and corresponding to the pressed position on the display part, the input operation to the equipment can be recognized by this touch panel. By dividing the touch panel into prescribed number of parts by a dividing means, an output voltage signal to the pressed position is divided into arbitrary detection units (divided units) and the orthogonal parts of respective divided units in X and Y directions are recognized and determined as a final position of the pressed position. Besides, a number of divisions divided by the dividing means is changed by a division number change means. The division number change means can suitably change the number of divisions while considering the size of operation keys, the thickness of finger of a user and impressed voltage or the like.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch panel input device and an image recording device, and more particularly, to a touch panel input device capable of recognizing an input operation on a device corresponding to a pressing position on a display unit, and a touch panel input device. The present invention relates to an image recording apparatus having the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, as typified by an image recording apparatus such as a copying machine or a facsimile, a touch panel type input device provided on a display unit has been used in various devices. With this touch panel type input device, when the user touches a menu or operation key displayed on the display unit, the coordinates on the screen are recognized corresponding to the pressed position, and the input operation to the device can be performed. Become.

FIG. 8 shows an example of such a touch panel type input device 150. The input device 150 uses an analog resistive film as a touch panel.

A touch panel 152 is provided corresponding to a display area of a display unit (not shown).
A and the lower resistance film 152B are stacked. The touch panel 152 is connected to the voltage application device 154. Then, by the voltage application device 102, for example, the X-direction (lateral direction) is applied to the upper resistance film 152A.
And the lower resistance film 152B in the Y direction (vertical direction).
Are applied alternately.

When an arbitrary portion of the touch panel 152 of the input device 150 having such a structure is pressed, first, at the timing when the voltage E is applied to the upper resistive film 152A, the resistance is divided in the X direction of the upper resistive film 152A. The voltage signal Vxout is derived from the lower resistance film 152B. continue,
At the timing when the voltage E is applied to the lower resistance film 152B, a voltage signal Vyout obtained by dividing the resistance of the lower resistance film 152B in the Y direction is derived from the upper resistance film 152A.

In other words, each of these resistance films 152A,
Voltage signals Vxout and Vyout derived from 152B serve as X-position and Y-direction pressing position information with respect to touch panel 152, respectively, and these voltage values are A / D converted to XY.
By converting the coordinates, the input coordinates on the touch panel 152 are detected, and the input contents can be recognized.

The operation keys displayed on the display unit of such an input device are usually fixed in size, and the operability may be low depending on the user. That is, if the size of the operation keys is too small compared to the size of the user's hand, or if the gap between the operation keys is too small, the operation keys that need not be pressed at the same time as the desired operation keys are pressed. Is pressed, and the pressed position may not be detected despite the desired key being pressed. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-300
In the invention described in Japanese Patent No. 287, the size of the operation keys can be changed to improve the operability of the user.

Further, depending on the voltage value applied to the touch panel, a change in the output voltage is likely to be hidden by external noise, and the pressed position may not be accurately detected. Therefore, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 7-302168, the applied voltage is made different to reduce the influence of noise between the handwriting input and the input by the user's finger, thereby improving the accuracy of detecting the pressed position. Have improved.

[0009]

However, in the conventional input device, in particular, in the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-300287, the size of the operation keys can be changed and the operability of the user can be improved. Although it is possible, since the number of divisions of the touch panel cannot be changed, depending on the size of the operation key, for example, even though the operation key is not pressed, it is recognized that the operation key is pressed, and pressing of any operation key is performed. May be detected. More specifically, in the case of FIG. 9A, it can be detected that the “paper size” key has been pressed with respect to the pressed position.
In the case of FIG. 9B in which the size of the key is changed by the same number of divisions, the pressing of the “OHP combining” key is detected together with the pressing of the “frame erase” key, so that the pressed position is accurately detected. There is a problem that you can not.

In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-302168, a handwriting input and an input by a user's touch finger are used.
The influence of noise is reduced by changing the voltage applied to the touch panel, but since the noise differs depending on the environment in which the input device is arranged, it is not always possible to prevent the entry of noise, and the pressed position cannot be accurately detected. In some cases, there is a problem.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a touch panel input device with improved detection accuracy of a pressed position and an image recording device provided with the touch panel input device.

[0012]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a display unit which is connected to a device and displays a plurality of operation keys for performing an input operation on the device, functions of the device, and the like. , Provided over the display unit,
A touch panel capable of recognizing an input operation on the device in accordance with a pressing position on the display unit; a dividing unit configured to divide the touch panel into a predetermined number; and a division number change unit configured to change a division number divided by the division unit. Means.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a plurality of operation keys, functions of the device, and the like, which are connected to the device and perform input operations on the device, are displayed on the display unit, and a touch panel is provided on the display unit. With this touch panel, an input operation on the device can be recognized in accordance with a pressed position on the display unit. By dividing the touch panel into a predetermined number by dividing means, it is possible to divide and output the voltage applied to the touch panel, and to recognize an input operation. In other words, by dividing the touch panel into a predetermined number by the dividing means, the output voltage signal corresponding to the pressed position on the touch panel is divided into arbitrary detection units (division units), and the orthogonal portions of the X and Y division units are divided. It is recognized and determined as the final position of the pressing. Also, the number of divisions divided by the division means is changed by the division number changing means. The division number changing means can appropriately change the division number in consideration of the size of the operation keys, the thickness of the user's finger, the applied voltage, and the like. For example, the size of the operation key displayed on the display unit may be appropriately determined, and the number of divisions may be determined as appropriate according to the size. The division number of the touch panel may be changed by selecting the most suitable one. In this manner, by making it possible to appropriately change the number of divisions of the touch panel depending on the environment in which the touch panel is used, the user, or the like, it is possible to improve the accuracy of detecting the pressed position of the touch panel.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel input device according to the first aspect, the division number changing means can change the division number in accordance with the size of the operation key.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel input device according to the second aspect, the division number changing means decreases the division number as the size of the operation key increases.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel input device according to the first aspect, the division number changing means divides the display area of the display section according to an area between the operation keys. The number is changed.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel input device according to the fourth aspect, the division number changing unit increases an area between the operation keys in the display area of the display unit. , The number of divisions is reduced.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, the number of divisions of the touch panel is changed based on the operation keys or the interval between the operation keys. The number of divisions can be changed in consideration of, or it can be made to correspond to the size of the screen to be displayed and the operation keys, so that even if the display screen is changed, false detection of the pressed position is reduced, The operability is improved and the detection accuracy of the pressed position is improved.

The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to claims 1 to 5
5. The touch panel input device according to claim 1, wherein a voltage application unit capable of selectively applying two or more different voltages to the touch panel, and an application that switches a voltage applied by the voltage application unit according to a predetermined condition. And voltage switching means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the touch panel input device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, two or more different voltages are selectively applied to the touch panel by the voltage applying means. The voltage to be applied is switched by the voltage applying means according to predetermined conditions by the applied voltage switching means. Thereby, for example, the applied voltage can be switched according to the environment in which the touch panel input device is arranged or the user who uses the touch panel input device. Therefore, erroneous detection of the pressed position due to noise is reduced, and the detection accuracy of the pressed position is improved.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, based on image information,
An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a predetermined recording sheet in accordance with the image information after execution of various operations, comprising: the touch panel input device according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the operability of the image recording apparatus is improved by including the touch panel input device of the first to sixth aspects.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a touch panel input device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a case will be described in which the touch panel input device 10 is connected to an image recording device that records an image on a predetermined recording sheet according to image information after execution of various operations.

As shown in FIG. 1, the touch panel input device 10 is connected to a control unit of an image recording device (not shown) to transmit and receive information to and from the image recording device and to control the touch panel input device 10 in general. Device control unit 1
2. An LCD 14, which is composed of a liquid crystal display device and the like, and displays the state and functions of the image recording device, a display control unit 22 mainly for controlling the display of the LCD 14, and an image which is arranged on the LCD 14 according to the pressed position on the LCD 14. The touch panel 16 includes a touch panel 16 capable of recognizing an input operation to the recording device, and a panel control unit 24 that controls driving and input / output of the touch panel 16.

The panel control unit 24 includes a central processing unit (hereinafter, referred to as a CPU 20) that controls driving of the touch panel 16, and the CPU 20 supplies the data from the touch panel 16 via a voltage control unit 40 and an A / D conversion unit 34. In response to the pressed position detection signal, a system program stored in advance in a ROM 26 described later is started, and operation control of each unit constituting the touch panel input device 10 is executed.

The voltage control unit 40 connected to the CPU 20 via the A / D conversion unit 34 transmits an instruction to switch the voltage applied to the touch panel 16 to the selector 30 according to a predetermined program. Here, in this predetermined program, first, in order to detect noise, a voltage output from the touch panel 16 when the power of the touch panel input device 10 is turned on is sampled for a certain time,
If the voltage value obtained as a result of this sampling frequently exceeds the reference voltage value stored in the ROM 26, it is instructed to apply a high voltage, and if the frequency exceeds the reference voltage value is low, An instruction is given to apply a low voltage.

The panel control unit 24 includes, in addition to the CPU 20, a ROM 26, a RAM 28, a panel division unit 42, and a division number switching unit 44.
Connected to U20.

In the ROM 26, the touch panel input device 1
0, various programs necessary for control and driving, data on the number of divisions of the touch panel 16 described later (see FIG. 2),
The data about the voltage value applied to the touch panel 16 and its reference value, the screen data of the screen displayed on the LCD 14, and the data about the position coordinates and the size of the operation keys are stored. The RAM 28 has the current LCD 14
Is temporarily stored with respect to the data displayed on the screen and the input signal from the touch panel 16.

The panel dividing section 42 divides the touch panel into a predetermined number and sets the voltage applied to the touch panel 16 to LC
This makes it possible to assign and output according to the pressed position of D14. The division of the touch panel 16 is performed based on data on the number of divisions (see FIG. 2) stored in the ROM 26 in accordance with an instruction from the division number switching unit 44 described later.

The number-of-divisions switching section 44 is provided in advance with the RO shown in FIG.
The dividing unit 42 is instructed to switch the number of divisions according to the correspondence table between the screen number and the number of divisions stored in M26. In other words, the correspondence table shown in FIG. 2 defines the number of divisions corresponding to the screen displayed on the LCD 14 and the operation keys displayed in a predetermined area of the screen or the interval between the operation keys. For example, when the screen 1 is displayed, the number of horizontal divisions is 27 and the number of vertical divisions is 12.

That is, when the screen 1 is displayed on the LCD 14, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the touch panel 16 is divided into 12 parts in the Y direction and 27 parts in the X direction. Similarly, when the screen 3 is displayed on the LCD 14, as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, the touch panel 16 is divided into eight parts in the Y direction and thirteen parts in the X direction.
FIGS. 3 and 4 show examples of screens for displaying the copy function since the touch panel input device 10 is connected to the image recording device in the present embodiment.

The voltage application section 32 applies a predetermined voltage to the touch panel 16 and is connected to the voltage control section 40 via the selector 30 as an applied voltage switching means. The voltage application unit 32 is 3.3 in the present embodiment.
V and 5 V can be selectively applied, and the voltage applied from the voltage application unit 32 to the touch panel 16 is:
The selector 30 is appropriately switched based on an instruction from the CPU 20, and the specified voltage is applied to the touch panel 16.

The touch panel 16 is provided so as to overlap the LCD 14 and has a touch input area corresponding to a display area of the LCD 14. The touch panel 16 is composed of an analog resistance film laminated on an upper layer and a lower layer. When a voltage is applied from the voltage application unit 32 via the voltage control unit 40 and an arbitrary part of the touch panel 16 is pressed, the resistance is reduced. The divided voltage is supplied to the A / D via the voltage control unit 40.
It is transmitted to the converter 34 as a pressed position detection voltage,
The data is converted into a digital value by the conversion unit 34, and the converted data is supplied to the CPU 20.

The operation of the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment will be described below. The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows the flow of operation when switching screens in the touch panel input device 10.

At step 100 in FIG. 5, for example, the screen shown in FIG. In the next step 102, it is determined whether or not a screen switching instruction has been transmitted from the touch panel 16, the touch panel input device 10, or a hard key of an image recording device (not shown). This determination is repeated until the determination is affirmed. If the determination is affirmed, the process proceeds to the next step 104. Here, a case where an instruction to display the screen 3 is given will be described.

In step 104, data on the screen to be displayed on the LCD 14 next, specifically, the size of the operation keys, the display function, the display area of the screen, the number of divisions, and the correspondence table between the screen and the number of divisions (FIG. 2) and various data
Search from 26. When this search is completed, step 1
In step 06, the screen data for the LCD 14 is transmitted to the display control unit 22, and the process proceeds to step 108.

In step 108, the division number switching section 44 of the panel control section 24 compares the currently displayed screen with the screen to be displayed next to determine whether or not the division number of the touch panel 16 needs to be switched. . If this determination is denied, the process proceeds to step 114, and if affirmed, the process proceeds to step 110. Here, screen 1 and screen 3 are compared, and the X direction,
It is determined whether switching of the number of divisions is necessary in both the Y direction.
Since the screens 1 and 3 have different numbers of divisions in both the X and Y directions, it is determined that the number of divisions needs to be switched.
Proceed to.

In step 110, in response to the judgment in step 108, the division number switching unit 44
An instruction to switch to a predetermined number of divisions is sent to 2. Therefore, an instruction is sent to switch to the division number 13 in the X direction and to the division number 8 in the Y direction. In the next step 112, in response to the instruction in step 110, switching to the specified number of divisions is performed, and the routine proceeds to step 114. In step 114, the screen 3 is displayed on the LCD 14 in accordance with predetermined information, and this routine ends. I do.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation flow when switching the applied voltage in the touch panel input device 10 according to the present embodiment.

In step 200 of FIG. 7, when the power of the image recording apparatus is turned on, first, a low voltage (3.3 V in this case) is applied from the voltage application unit 32 to the touch panel 16 via the selector 30. , And proceed to step 202. In step 202, the output voltage from the touch panel becomes RO
It is determined whether or not the predetermined voltage value stored in M has been reached. This determination is necessary to determine whether or not the applied voltage has reached the point where it is determined whether the applied voltage is worthy of determination of an output voltage to be described later after the power is turned on.

If the judgment in step 202 is negative, this operation is repeated until the judgment is affirmed. Step 204
Then, the voltage value output from the touch panel 16 (hereinafter, referred to as the voltage value)
The output voltage is compared with a reference voltage value (hereinafter, referred to as a reference voltage) stored in the ROM 26 to determine whether the output voltage is equal to or less than the reference voltage.

If it is determined in step 204 that the output voltage does not exceed the reference voltage, the process proceeds to step 214. If the output voltage exceeds the reference voltage, step 2
In step 06, the output voltage value is sampled for a predetermined time thereafter. Subsequently, the process proceeds to step 208, where it is determined whether or not the number of times that the output voltage is detected to be equal to or higher than the reference voltage as a result of sampling is equal to or higher than a predetermined number.

If the result of determination in step 208 is that the number of detections is less than or equal to the predetermined number, the flow advances to step 214, and
It is determined that the applied voltage is maintained, and this routine ends.
If it is determined in step 208 that the number of detections is equal to or more than the predetermined number, the process proceeds to step 210. In step 210, the CPU 20 transmits an instruction to switch the voltage to the selector 30. In step 212, the selector 30 receiving the instruction changes the voltage applied from the voltage application unit 32 to the touch panel 16 to a low voltage (3.3 V). To the high voltage (5V), and this routine ends.

The applied voltage is not limited to the value shown in the present embodiment, but can be changed as appropriate depending on the touch panel input device and the environment in which the image recording device provided with the touch panel input device is arranged. .

As described above, according to the present embodiment, erroneous detection of the pressed position can be achieved by changing the number of divisions according to the display contents such as the size of the operation keys to be displayed and the interval between the operation keys. And the accuracy of detecting the pressed position is improved. Further, the applied voltage can be changed depending on the environment in which the touch panel input device or the image recording apparatus including the touch panel input device is arranged, that is, the applied voltage is determined according to the noise level of the place where the touch panel input device is arranged. Therefore, erroneous detection of the pressed position due to noise can be reduced, and the detection accuracy of the pressed position is improved. When the noise level is low, the applied voltage is set to a low voltage, so that the power consumption of the device is reduced.

Further, since the number of divisions of the touch panel can be freely changed, the size of the operation keys can be freely set according to the size of the operation keys or the interval between the operation keys. The degree of freedom in setting the shape of the operation key is increased. Furthermore, the number of divisions is determined in advance and RO
By storing it in M, the number of divisions can be changed with a simple control program.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, an erroneous detection of a pressed position can be achieved by changing the number of divisions according to the display content such as the size of operation keys to be displayed and the interval between operation keys. And the detection accuracy of the pressed position can be improved. Further, since the applied voltage can be changed depending on the environment in which the touch panel input device or the image recording apparatus including the touch panel input device is arranged, erroneous detection of the pressed position due to noise can be reduced, and the pressed position can be reduced. There is an excellent effect that the detection accuracy of can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a touch panel input device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a correspondence table between a screen and a division number stored in a ROM 26 of the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a screen displayed on an LCD and a state of division of the touch panel in the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing a screen displayed on an LCD and a state of division of the touch panel in the touch panel input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a flow of operation when switching screens in the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on the LCD 14 in the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a flow of an operation when switching an applied voltage in the touch panel input device 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a conventional touch panel input device.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a divided state in a conventional touch panel input device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 touch panel input device 12 device control unit 14 LCD (display unit) 16 touch panel 22 display control unit 24 panel control unit 30 selector (applied voltage switching unit) 32 voltage application unit (voltage application unit) 40 voltage control unit 42 panel division unit ( Dividing means) 44 Division number switching unit (Division number changing means)

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2C061 BB10 CQ04 CQ24 2H027 DA01 DA21 DA32 DE04 DE07 DE09 ED30 EE07 EE08 GA20 GA25 GA32 GA34 GA45 GA52 GA54 GB14 GB15 GB16 ZA07 5B087 AA02 AC05 CC26 DE02

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A display unit connected to a device, for displaying a plurality of operation keys for performing an input operation on the device, a function of the device, and the like, and being provided on the display unit and being pressed on the display unit. A touch panel capable of recognizing an input operation on the device in accordance with the following; a dividing unit that divides the touch panel into a predetermined number; and a division number changing unit that changes the number of divisions divided by the dividing unit. A touch panel input device characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The touch panel input device according to claim 1, wherein said division number changing means is capable of changing the division number in accordance with the size of said operation key. 3. The touch panel input device according to claim 2, wherein the division number changing unit decreases the number of divisions as the size of the operation key increases. 4. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the division number changing unit changes the division number according to an area between the operation keys in the display area of the display unit. Input device. 5. The apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the division number changing unit decreases the number of divisions as the area between the operation keys in the display area of the display unit increases. The touch panel input device according to the above. 6. A voltage applying means capable of selectively applying two or more different voltages to the touch panel, and an applied voltage switching means for switching a voltage applied by the voltage applying means according to predetermined conditions. 6. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein:
The touch panel input device according to claim 1. 7. An image recording apparatus for recording an image on a predetermined recording sheet in accordance with the image information after performing various operations based on the image information, wherein the touch panel input device according to claim 1 An image recording apparatus, comprising: