JP2008065504A - Touch panel control device and touch panel control method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve operability while performing accurate input even when displaying a number of selection buttons on a small screen. <P>SOLUTION: When a touch panel 5 is touched with the finger in a status (figure 1(a)) that a plurality of buttons 2 are displayed on a display screen 1 consisting of a liquid crystal display 4 and a touch panel 5, the selection button 2 in the periphery of a finger contact part 3 is enlargement-displayed (figure 1(b)). Then, the finger is moved to the upper part of the button "A" as the selection button 2 to be touched without being released from the touch panel 5 as it is, and then the finger is released (figure 1(c)). At that time, it is decided that the selection button "A" has been depressed based on the coordinate data touched just before the finger is released and the display position of the selection button enlargement-displayed on the display screen. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel control device and a touch panel control method for detecting a touch position of a touch panel arranged on a display screen for displaying an image, and in particular, a touch panel used for an in-vehicle electronic device or a portable electronic device. In order to facilitate the selection operation of the operation buttons when the operation buttons displayed on the touch panel are small and close to each other, the display screen size is limited. The present invention relates to a touch panel control device and a touch panel control method for enlarging and displaying an operation button within a predetermined range when a touch operation on the operation button is detected.

  Recently, various small electronic devices such as an in-car car navigation device, an audio device, a DVD playback device, and a television device, or a portable information processing device, a game machine, and a music player device have been provided. Further, it tends to be provided as a composite electronic device in which electronic devices having various functions as described above are combined.

  In these electronic devices, the display unit has a touch panel function for operating devices and selecting their functions, displaying various operation buttons on the display screen, and pressing the desired operation buttons with a finger. It is configured to operate the equipment. Such operation buttons are generally called soft keys in contrast to mechanical keys and buttons provided in electronic devices, so-called hard keys.

  A display unit having such a touch panel function displays an operation button (soft key) on the display screen, and when the user touches the button position on the touch panel (display screen), the touch panel controller touches the button. The coordinates of the position are detected and it is determined that the button is pressed.

  By the way, in a small electronic device, since the display unit is also relatively small, the size of each soft key displayed on the display screen of the display unit having a touch panel function is restricted, resulting in a small key display. In addition, since the functions of the electronic device tend to be complex and complex, the number of displayed soft keys also increases. If the number of soft keys to be displayed is increased, the display size of each soft key is further reduced.

  For this reason, when a user performs an operation of discriminating a plurality of soft keys displayed on the display screen and selecting a desired soft key, it becomes difficult to accurately press the corresponding key with a finger. There was a case where a soft key was operated.

  Various methods for dealing with such problems have been proposed. For example, there is a method disclosed as a touch panel control device in the following Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-185265). When the touch panel control device disclosed in Patent Document 1 touches the touch panel with a fingertip, the periphery of the touched position is displayed in an enlarged manner, and a desired button can be touched again in that state to enable accurate input. ing.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the touch panel control device includes a display unit 11, a touch panel 12, a coordinate detection unit 13 that detects coordinates on the display screen instructed based on information from the touch panel 12, and the display unit 11. The touch panel control device includes a display unit corresponding to the detected coordinates or an input processing unit 14 for inputting data corresponding to the display data. The input processing unit 14 is a touch panel. The display data displayed in a predetermined range centered on the coordinates detected by the coordinate detection unit 13 by pressing is enlarged and the coordinate range specifying the display data is changed according to the expansion of the display data, The display data corresponding to the next coordinate detected at the time of the enlarged display is searched and input based on the coordinate range. It has been.
JP-A-8-185265 (FIG. 1)

  However, in the touch panel control device disclosed in Patent Document 1, after touching the touch panel once, it is necessary to wait for the enlarged display and then touch again. There was a problem.

  The inventor of the present application has conducted various studies to solve the above problems, and as a result, in the touch panel control device, in order to facilitate the selection operation of the operation button, a touch operation to an arbitrary operation button is detected. Then, if the operation button within the predetermined range is displayed in an enlarged manner, and then the finger is released from the touch panel, it is determined that the selection button at the touch coordinates is pressed immediately before the finger is released. The present invention has been completed by conceiving that a desired button can be accurately operated by moving a finger on the enlarged button.

  That is, the present invention has an object to solve the above problems, and a touch panel control device capable of improving the operability while enabling accurate input even when a large number of selection buttons are displayed on a small screen. It is another object of the present invention to provide a touch panel control method.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is
A touch panel control device that displays a selection button on a display screen and determines a pressed selection button by detecting a touch coordinate of a finger on a touch panel arranged on the display screen,
When the touch panel is touched with a finger while a plurality of selection buttons are displayed on the display screen, the selection button around the touch coordinates is enlarged and then the finger is released when the finger is released from the touch panel. It is characterized in that it is determined that the selection button that was immediately before the touch coordinates has been pressed.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is the touch panel control device according to claim 1, wherein when the touch panel is touched with a finger, the selection button at the touch coordinates is highlighted so as to be distinguishable from other selection buttons. It is characterized by doing.

The invention according to claim 3 of the present application is
A touch panel control method for determining a selection button pressed by displaying a selection button on a display screen and detecting a touch coordinate of a finger on a touch panel arranged on the display screen,
When the touch panel is touched with a finger while a plurality of selection buttons are displayed on the display screen, the selection button around the touch coordinates is enlarged and then the finger is released when the finger is released from the touch panel. It is characterized in that it is determined that the selection button that was immediately before the touch coordinates has been pressed.

  The invention according to claim 4 of the present application is the touch panel control method according to claim 3, wherein when the touch panel is touched with a finger, the selection button at the touch coordinates is highlighted so as to be distinguishable from other selection buttons. It is characterized by doing.

  The touch panel control device and the touch panel control method of the present invention have the following effects.

  That is, in the first and third aspects of the invention, when the touch panel is touched with a finger while a plurality of selection buttons are displayed on the display screen, the selection buttons around the touch coordinates are enlarged and displayed. After that, when the finger is released from the touch panel, it is determined that the selection button at the touch coordinates is pressed immediately before the finger is released. As a result, even if a large number of selection buttons are displayed on a small screen, an accurate input can be performed and the operability can be improved.

  In the invention according to claim 2 and claim 4, in the touch panel control device according to claim 1 or the touch panel control method according to claim 3, when the touch panel is touched with a finger, the touch coordinates are present. Since the selection button is highlighted so as to be distinguishable from other selection buttons, it is possible to easily determine which selection button is currently pressed.

  Hereinafter, specific examples of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples and drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a touch panel operation in the touch panel control device of the present invention, and FIGS. 1 (a) to 1 (c) are diagrams each showing a transition of a display image. 2 is a diagram showing the structure of the touch panel, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the touch panel control device, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing of the touch panel control device of the present invention.

  However, the embodiment shown below exemplifies a touch panel control device for embodying the technical idea of the present invention, and is not intended to identify the present invention as this touch panel control device. The present invention is equally applicable to touch panel control devices of other embodiments included in the scope of claims.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the structure of the touch panel used in the touch panel control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. A transparent touch panel 5 having a predetermined positional relationship is disposed on the surface of the liquid crystal display 4 for displaying an image. On the surface of the touch panel 5, a large number of X-axis electrode lines 6 are provided in parallel in the horizontal direction, and Y-axis electrode lines 7 are provided in parallel in the vertical direction.

  When the X-axis electrode line 6 and the Y-axis electrode line 7 are touched with a finger, a voltage drop occurs. Based on the positions of the X-axis electrode line 6 and the Y-axis electrode line 7 where the voltage drop occurs, Detects whether a finger is touching the position. For example, when there is a voltage drop in each of the X-axis electrode line 6 and the Y-axis electrode line 7, the intersection of the middle electrode line is set as the finger touch position.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the touch panel control device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The liquid crystal display control unit 8 performs an image drawing process to be displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 in response to a command from the CPU 10. The touch panel control unit 9 detects the voltage drop of the X-axis electrode line 6 and the Y-axis electrode line 7, calculates the position coordinates where the finger is touching on the touch panel 5, and inputs them to the CPU 10.

  The configuration of the touch panel control apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention is as described above. Next, the operation of the touch panel control apparatus will be described. In the touch panel control device of the present invention, when the touch panel 5 is touched with a finger in a state where a plurality of selection buttons 2 are displayed on the display screen 1 including the liquid crystal display 4 and the touch panel 5 as shown in FIG. The selection button 2 around the finger contact portion 3 is enlarged and displayed as shown in FIG.

  The operation up to this point is the same as that of the touch panel control device disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the present invention, in the state of being enlarged as shown in FIG. 1 (b), the user does not take his finger off the touch panel 5 as it is, and the selection button he / she is trying to touch as shown in FIG. 1 (c). 2. Move the finger over the “A” button, which is 2, and then release the finger. At that time, based on the coordinate data input from the touch panel control unit 9 and touched immediately before the finger is released, and the display position of the selection button 2 that is enlarged by the liquid crystal display control unit 8, the CPU 10 displays “ It is determined that the “A” selection button has been pressed.

  When the touch panel 5 is touched with a finger, the selection button at the touch position coordinate determined by the touch panel control unit 9 is selected and displayed in a state where it can be distinguished from other selection buttons. For example, the selection button is highlighted and displayed with a color different from other selection buttons or a different density. By doing so, it is possible to easily determine which selection button is currently pressed, and it is possible to perform a user's operation more accurately, which is preferable.

  In this way, if the highlighted button is a button that is not intended by the user, the user can easily recognize it and move the button to the position of the button that was originally intended to be operated with the finger touched. The correct button can be selected by moving the finger and then releasing the finger. The position to touch with your finger is rough before the enlarged display, but the button you want to select is in the vicinity of the button you touched with your finger. You can choose.

  Next, processing of the touch panel control device of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, a selection button group is displayed on the liquid crystal display 4 (step S1), and it is determined whether or not the touch panel 5 is touched, that is, whether or not the button is pressed (step S2). As a result, if the button is pressed, a timer for measuring the button pressing time is started (step S3), and the pressed position coordinates are acquired from the touch panel control unit 9 (step S4).

  Next, it is determined whether or not the finger that has been pressed has been released from the touch panel 5 (step S5). If the finger has been pressed without being released, the timer started in step S3 is set for a predetermined time T ( For example, it is determined whether or not the passage of 1 second is indicated (step S6). As a result, if the predetermined time T has not elapsed, the process returns to step S4. However, if the predetermined time T has elapsed, the selection button around the pressed position coordinate is enlarged (step S7).

  On the other hand, in step S5, when the pressed finger is released from the touch panel 5, it is determined that the selection button displayed at the position coordinate pressed immediately before is selected, and the device is assigned to the button. The function being performed is executed (step S8).

It is a figure for demonstrating the touchscreen operation in the touchscreen control apparatus of this invention, and FIG.1 (a)-FIG.1 (c) are the figures which show the transition of a display image, respectively. It is a figure which shows the structure of the touchscreen used for the touchscreen control apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the touchscreen control apparatus of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the touchscreen control apparatus of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the conventional touch panel control apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Display screen 2 ... Selection button 3 ... Finger contact part 4 ... Liquid crystal display 5 ... Touch panel 6 ... X-axis electrode line 7 ... Y Axis electrode line 8 ... Liquid crystal display controller 9 ... Touch panel controller 10 ... CPU

Claims (4)

A touch panel control device that displays a selection button on a display screen and determines a pressed selection button by detecting a touch coordinate of a finger on a touch panel arranged on the display screen,
When the touch panel is touched with a finger while a plurality of selection buttons are displayed on the display screen, the selection button around the touch coordinates is enlarged and then the finger is released when the finger is released from the touch panel. A touch panel control device, characterized in that it is determined that the selection button at the touch coordinates immediately before has been pressed.   The touch panel control device according to claim 1, wherein when the touch panel is touched with a finger, the selection button at the touch coordinates is displayed so as to be distinguishable from other selection buttons. A touch panel control method for determining a selection button pressed by displaying a selection button on a display screen and detecting a touch coordinate of a finger on a touch panel arranged on the display screen,
When the touch panel is touched with a finger while a plurality of selection buttons are displayed on the display screen, the selection button around the touch coordinates is enlarged and then the finger is released when the finger is released from the touch panel. A touch panel control method, characterized in that it is determined that the selection button that was in the touch coordinates immediately before has been pressed.   The touch panel control method according to claim 1, wherein when the touch panel is touched with a finger, the selection button at the touch coordinates is displayed so as to be distinguishable from other selection buttons.

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