JP2012027765A - Touch panel device, display device with touch panel including touch panel device and touch panel device control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch panel device in which a positional relationship between an operation part displayed on a display screen and a fingertip can be recognized in a moment only with a tactile sense, and to provide a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device and a touch panel device control method.SOLUTION: A touch panel device includes: a coordinate input device that has transparency; a vibration generation unit that is positioned below the coordinate input device and that has a plurality of vibrators with transparency; an operation part generation unit that generates an operation part to be displayed as an image on a display unit positioned below the vibration generation unit; and a drive control unit that drives and controls the plurality of vibrators of the vibration generation unit in a vibration mode in which the coordinate input device produces a standing wave corresponding to a position of which one or more operation parts generated by the operation part generation unit are displayed on the display unit.

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel device that displays an operation component on a display screen and receives an operation input of an operator input on a coordinate input surface, a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device, and a control method for the touch panel device.

  On the display screen of terminal devices such as ticket vending machines at stations, ATMs (Automated Teller Machines) installed in financial institutions and convenience stores, or mobile phone terminals, music players, game machines, etc. An input device using a touch panel (hereinafter, touch panel device) is widely used.

  A general touch panel device is used by superimposing a coordinate input device on a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel, and displays operation parts such as buttons on the display screen of the display panel so that an operator can touch the coordinate input device. Provide the corresponding operation. As an operation component such as a button, a GUI (Graphical User Interface) component is typically cited.

  Since such a touch panel device can freely set GUI parts such as buttons by software, it is highly convenient for both the manufacturer and the operator, and it is expected that the demand will increase further in the future.

  By the way, when operating a button or the like displayed on the display screen, it may be difficult to operate because the fingertip covers the button or the like and the button or the like becomes difficult to see. In addition, since the operation of buttons and the like displayed on the display screen does not have an operation feeling like an actual button operation, the operator may feel uncomfortable. For this reason, it may occur that an operation input such as a button is not recognized by the touch panel device and it becomes difficult for the operator to grasp the operation state.

  For example, when an operation is input to the touch panel device, it does not operate even if it is input, or an operation contrary to the intention of the user, such as an operation that does not intend to input, occurs, a check to prevent erroneous input, There have been cases where labor is increased due to an operation input for correction and the like, causing stress on the operator and difficulty in using the touch panel device itself.

  Here, in order to make it easy for the operator to recognize that the operation input has been recognized on the touch panel device side, a device such as reversing the display of the operated button or generating an operation sound can be considered.

  However, there are individual differences in vision and hearing, and the appearance and sound may vary depending on the environment in which the touch panel device is installed, so the operator can fully recognize the display inversion and operation sound notification. There were cases where it was not possible.

  In order to solve such problems related to operations, there is a touch panel device that uses a vibration pattern that vibrates the touch panel device and changes the display pattern according to the position of the fingertip of the operator who touches the touch panel device and the movement of the fingertip. It has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  However, in the above-described conventional touch panel device, it is difficult to identify an operation component such as a button without moving the fingertip, and the positional relationship between the operation component and the finger can be instantaneously recognized only by tactile sensation. There wasn't.

  For this reason, for example, in a state where the fingertip is touching the end of the button or the like, it has not been possible to instantly recognize which side of the fingertip the button or the like is present with only the tactile sensation.

  In addition, for example, when the position of the button or the like is shifted by the first touch, it is necessary to visually confirm and press it again, and it becomes difficult to use especially for a visually handicapped operator. There was a possibility.

  Accordingly, the present invention provides a touch panel device capable of instantly recognizing the positional relationship between an operation component displayed on a display screen and a fingertip with only a tactile sensation, a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device, and a control method for the touch panel device. The purpose is to do.

  A touch panel device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a coordinate input device having transparency, a vibration generation unit that is provided below the coordinate input device and includes a plurality of transducers having transparency, An operation component generation unit that generates an operation component to be displayed as an image on a display unit disposed below the vibration generation unit, and one or a plurality of the operation components generated by the operation component generation unit are the display unit And a drive control unit that performs drive control of the plurality of vibrators of the vibration generation unit in a vibration mode that causes the coordinate input device to generate a standing wave corresponding to a position displayed on the coordinate input device.

  The vibration mode is a vibration mode in which a standing wave having a waveform corresponding to a shape displayed on the display unit is generated in addition to a position where the operation component is displayed on the display unit. May be.

  The vibration generating unit may include an elastic elastic substrate, and the plurality of vibrators may be arranged on one surface or both surfaces of the elastic substrate.

  The drive control unit includes a vibrator on one surface side of the elastic substrate and a vibrator on the other surface of the elastic substrate among the plurality of vibrators arranged on both surfaces of the elastic substrate. And may be driven in opposite phases.

  Each of the plurality of vibrators includes a pair of electrodes and a piezoelectric element disposed between the pair of electrodes, and any one of the pair of electrodes is disposed on the elastic substrate. May be.

  The vibration mode in which the drive control unit generates a standing wave in the coordinate input device is a stationary mode based on the natural frequency of the elastic substrate by the drive control unit performing drive control of the plurality of vibrators. A vibration mode in which a wave is generated on the elastic substrate may be used.

  The drive generation unit may be configured such that the size of the operation component input by the operator is different from the size of other operation components input by the operator before the operation component. The vibration mode may be switched to a vibration mode corresponding to the size of the operation component.

  The drive pattern may include a drive pattern for performing drive control of the vibration generating unit so that the antinode or node of the standing wave is located at a central portion or a boundary portion of the operation component.

  In addition, when the operation component generated by the operation component generation unit is changed or moved, the drive control unit is configured to generate a standing wave having a waveform corresponding to the position of the operation component after the change or movement. The drive control of the vibration generating unit may be performed with a pattern.

  A pressing degree detection unit that detects a pressing degree of an operation input to the coordinate input device; and a pressing degree determination unit that determines whether or not the pressing degree detected by the pressing degree detection unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. And the drive control unit controls the drive of the vibration generation unit with the drive pattern when it is determined that the pressing degree of the operation input detected by the pressing degree determination unit is less than a predetermined threshold. And when it is determined that the pressing degree of the operation input detected by the pressing degree determination unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the drive control of the vibration generation unit is performed with another driving pattern different from the driving pattern. May be performed.

  The other drive pattern may be a drive pattern for performing drive control of the vibration generating unit so that an operator perceives completion of operation of the operation component.

  A display device with a touch panel according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention includes the touch panel device according to any one of the above and a display unit that displays an operation component generated by the operation component generation unit as an image.

  A touch panel device control method according to an aspect of an embodiment of the present invention includes a coordinate input device having transparency, and vibration generation including a plurality of transducers disposed below the coordinate input device. A touch panel device control method including: an operation component generation unit configured to generate an operation component to be displayed as an image on a display unit disposed below the vibration generation unit, wherein the operation component generation unit generates the operation component Drive control of the plurality of vibrators of the vibration generation unit in a vibration mode in which the coordinate input device generates a standing wave corresponding to a position where the one or more operation parts are displayed on the display unit. Do.

  It is possible to provide a touch panel device that can instantly recognize a positional relationship between an operation component displayed on a display screen and a fingertip with only a tactile sensation, a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device, and a control method for the touch panel device.

(A) is a figure which shows the cross-section of the display apparatus with a touchscreen of Embodiment 1, (B) is a figure which expands and shows the cross-section of a part of display apparatus with a touchscreen of Embodiment 1. FIG. (A)-(D) are the figures which show the arrangement | sequence of the electrode 8C contained in 400 cells of the display apparatus 100 with a touch panel of Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of display on the liquid crystal panel 3 of the display device with a touch panel 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a part of the circuit configuration included in main controller 40 of display device 100 with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the standing wave generation circuit illustrated in FIG. 4. 2 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of a drive control circuit 30 of the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment together with a cell and a main control device 40. FIG. 4 is a timing chart illustrating timings for driving actuators 8 of each cell in display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment. (A)-(C) are figures which show operation | movement of the actuator 8 of the display apparatus 100 with a touch panel of Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a waveform of a drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) in the display device with a touch panel 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a waveform of a drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) in the display device with a touch panel 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a standing wave generated in the display device with a touch panel 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in a memory 50 of the display device with a touch panel 100 according to Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a procedure of drive pattern generation processing executed by main controller 40 of display device 100 with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1; It is a figure which shows the image pattern and standing wave by the display apparatus with a touch panel of Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the image pattern and standing wave by the display apparatus with a touch panel of Embodiment 1. FIG. (A)-(C) are the figures which expand and show the actuator of the display apparatus with a touchscreen of Embodiment 2. FIGS. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship between a drive control circuit and each cell of a display device with a touch panel according to a third embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments to which a touch panel device of the present invention and a display device with a touch panel including the same are applied will be described.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1A illustrates a cross-sectional structure of the display device with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1.

  FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of a partial cross-sectional structure of the display device with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1A, a display device 100 with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1 includes a substrate 1, a vibration isolating sheet 2, a liquid crystal panel 3, a side wall 4, a surface substrate 5, a contact sensor 6, an elastic substrate 7, and an actuator. 8, a contact sensor processing circuit 10, an image display circuit 20, a drive control circuit 30, a main controller 40, and a memory 50.

  Among these, the substrate 1, the side wall 4, the surface substrate 5, the contact sensor 6, the elastic substrate 7, the actuator 8, the contact sensor processing circuit 10, the image display circuit 20, the drive control circuit 30, the main controller 40, and the memory 50 are The touch panel device according to the first embodiment is configured. That is, in the first embodiment, the term “touch panel device” represents a device that does not include the vibration-proof sheet 2 and the liquid crystal panel 3.

  The substrate 1 is a substrate on which the vibration isolating sheet 2, the liquid crystal panel 3, the side wall 4, the surface substrate 5, the contact sensor 6, the elastic substrate 7, and the actuator 8 are mounted. For example, the substrate 1 is a glass epoxy substrate or a glass composite substrate. A configured printed circuit board (PCB) can be used.

  The anti-vibration sheet 2 is disposed between the substrate 1 and the liquid crystal panel 3 and is provided to absorb the vibration of the actuator 8. The vibration-proof sheet 2 may be made of, for example, resin or rubber, and may be fixed on the substrate 1 with a double-sided tape or an adhesive, for example.

  The liquid crystal panel 3 is a display unit that is mounted on the anti-vibration sheet 2 and displays GUI components generated by the image display circuit 20. Hereinafter, an area where the liquid crystal panel 3 displays a GUI component is referred to as a display area. Instead of the liquid crystal panel 3, for example, an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel may be used.

  The side wall 4 is provided to hold the surface substrate 5 with respect to the substrate 1. Since the board | substrate 1 and the surface board | substrate 5 are substantially square by planar view, the side wall 4 should just be a substantially square-shaped rectangular annular wall member by planar view.

  Here, a contact sensor 6, an elastic substrate 7, and an actuator 8 are mounted on the lower surface side of the surface substrate 5. Further, an interval of, for example, about 0.2 mm to 1 mm is provided between the actuator 8 and the liquid crystal panel 3.

  For this reason, the side wall 4 is strong enough to hold the contact sensor 6, the elastic substrate 7, and the actuator 8 with respect to the substrate 1, and can hold the above-described gap between the actuator 8 and the liquid crystal panel 3. It only has to be set to the height.

  The front substrate 5 is a transparent substrate that serves as an operation input unit of the touch panel device. The surface substrate 5 constitutes a coordinate input device together with the contact sensor 6. The size of the surface substrate 5 in plan view may be larger than the size of the display area of the liquid crystal panel 3.

  Since the coordinates of the operation position are detected by the contact sensor 6 when the operator presses the surface (upper surface) of the surface substrate 5, the surface of the surface substrate 5 operates the touch panel device of the first embodiment. It becomes a coordinate input surface for As the surface substrate 5, for example, an acrylic or polycarbonate resin substrate or a glass substrate can be used.

  The contact sensor 6 constitutes a coordinate input device together with the surface substrate 5 as described above. The contact sensor 6 is mounted on the lower surface of the front substrate 5 and detects the coordinates of the position where the operator has pressed the surface of the front substrate 5. In the first embodiment, a mode in which a resistive film type sensor is used as the contact sensor 6 will be described. However, the contact sensor 6 may be, for example, a capacitive sensor or a pressure-sensitive sensor.

  The resistive film type sensor has an electrode sheet in which a plurality of transparent electrodes are arranged to face each other in a matrix at regular intervals, and when the operator presses the surface of the surface substrate 5 with a fingertip, the opposing electrodes come into contact with each other. Then, the resistance value in the X direction and the Y direction of the electrode sheet changes depending on the contact position. Due to the change in the resistance value, the voltage value corresponding to the X direction and the Y direction output from the resistive film type sensor changes. By this change in voltage value, the coordinates of the pressed operation position are specified. As the electrode sheet, for example, an ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) film can be used.

  The elastic substrate 7 is disposed on the lower surface side of the contact sensor 6, and a plurality of thin film actuators 8 are arranged in a matrix on the lower surface of the elastic substrate 7. Note that the size of the elastic substrate 7 in plan view may be larger than the size of the display area of the liquid crystal panel 3. In the first embodiment, the plurality of actuators 8 are arranged so as to fill the display area of the liquid crystal panel 3 to the four corners.

  In the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment, standing waves are generated on the elastic substrate 7 by driving the plurality of actuators 8 in a predetermined vibration mode. The vibration mode has a plurality of patterns depending on the position, size, and shape of the GUI component displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3.

  For this reason, the dimensions (longitudinal and horizontal lengths and thicknesses in plan view) and the elastic modulus of the elastic substrate 7 can be adapted to the pattern of all standing waves generated on the elastic substrate 7 by a plurality of vibration modes. It should be set as follows.

  The elastic substrate 7 may be fixed to the lower surface of the contact sensor 6 with a double-sided tape or an adhesive, for example.

  The actuator 8 is a thin film actuator arranged in a matrix on the lower surface of the elastic substrate 7, and has a structure in which a piezoelectric film such as PVDF (Polyvinylidene fluoride) is sandwiched between a pair of thin transparent electrodes. The actuator can be used.

  In the first embodiment, as an example, 400 actuators 8 in 20 rows × 20 columns are arranged in a matrix on the lower surface of the elastic substrate 7. FIG. 1A shows actuators 8 (1, 1), 8 (2, 1), 8 (3, 1), which are located in the first row among 400 actuators 8 in 20 rows × 20 columns. .. 8 (18, 1), 8 (19, 1), 8 (20, 1) are shown.

  All the actuators 8 are driven by a voltage (predetermined positive voltage or negative voltage) applied from the drive control circuit 30. When a voltage is supplied from the pair of electrodes, the piezoelectric film of the actuator 8 is deflected and displaced in the thickness direction. This displacement is transmitted to the elastic substrate 7 as vibration.

  In FIG. 1A, for convenience of explanation, signal lines for applying a voltage from the drive control circuit 30 to each of the plurality of actuators 8 are indicated by arrows.

  The contact sensor processing circuit 10 is a circuit that performs signal processing on a voltage value that represents the coordinates of the operation position output from the contact sensor 6. By this signal processing, the voltage value representing the coordinates of the operation position is amplified, noise-removed, and digitally converted, and output as a digital voltage value. Since signal processing is performed in this way, the operation position can be accurately detected even if the voltage value output from the contact sensor 6 is very small. In addition, when using the resistive film type contact sensor 6 in which a plurality of transparent electrodes are arranged in a matrix as described above, the contact area can be obtained from the number of electrodes in which contact is caused by pressing, The operation position (contact position) can be accurately derived by calculating the center position of the contact surface. Furthermore, the contact sensor processing circuit 10 can also detect the time change amount of the operation position and the contact area.

  The front substrate 5, the contact sensor 6, and the contact sensor processing circuit 10 also have a function as a pressing degree detection unit that detects the pressing degree of the operation input made on the coordinate input surface.

  The contact sensor processing circuit 10 performs the above-described signal processing on the voltage value representing the coordinates of the operation position, and outputs input coordinate information representing the position where the operation is input and area information representing the contact area. The input coordinate information represents, for example, the coordinates of the center position of the region where the operation input has been performed, and the area information indicates the size of the contact area. When the degree of pressing by the operator increases, the contact area with which the electrode sheets of the contact sensor 6 arranged to face each other increases, so that the resistance value between the electrode sheets decreases and represents the area information output from the contact sensor processing circuit 10. The voltage value becomes low. On the other hand, when the degree of pressing is low, the contact area is reduced, and the voltage value representing the area information is high. The change in the area information can be used as information representing a change in the degree of pressing of the surface substrate 5 by the operator. The input coordinate information and the area information are input to the main control device 40 as information representing the contents of the operation input by the operator.

  The image display circuit 20 is a circuit for driving each pixel of the liquid crystal panel 3 to display a desired image. For example, when the liquid crystal panel is driven in an active matrix, the image display circuit 20 includes a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) for driving each pixel based on the image data and display coordinate data input from the main controller 40. To drive. The image display circuit 20 converts the image data read from the memory 50 by the main controller 40 into an analog voltage signal and outputs the analog voltage signal to drive the liquid crystal panel 3. As a result, an image (image pattern) corresponding to the image data is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3 at a display position corresponding to the display coordinate data. The image data is stored in the memory 50 and is, for example, data for generating a GUI component that is an operation component of the display device 100 with a touch panel and an image (image pattern) around the GUI component. The display coordinate data is data for specifying the position representing the image data on the coordinates, and is stored in the memory 50 in association with the image data.

  The drive control circuit 30 is a circuit that outputs a drive voltage (drive signal) for driving the 400 actuators 8, and for example, a function generator can be used. The drive control circuit 30 modulates and amplifies the voltage waveform of the drive voltage according to the drive pattern input from the main controller 40 and drives the actuator 8. Since the drive pattern is determined by the frequency and amplitude of the voltage waveform, the frequency and amplitude of the voltage waveform are set by the natural frequency data and amplitude data that the main controller 40 reads from the memory 50.

  The main control device 40 is configured by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and is a processing device that controls the control of the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment.

  In the first embodiment, the main control device 40 executes the program stored in the memory 50 to provide the operator with a predetermined service, and input coordinate information or area input from the contact sensor processing circuit 10 Based on the information and data representing the type of GUI component displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3, the operation content of the operator is determined.

  Then, processing is executed according to the determination result, and image data for generating an image pattern necessary for the processing is read from the memory 50 and displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3 through the image display circuit 20.

  For example, when the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment is used as a smartphone, the main control device 40 displays a GUI component representing a keyboard button for inputting text according to an operation input by the operator. It is displayed on the panel 3, and a sentence input process or the like is executed in accordance with an operation input by the operator.

  Here, in display device 100 with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1, image data, amplitude data, and natural frequency data are associated with each other and stored in memory 50.

  Then, main controller 40 reads the image data from memory 50 and displays the image on liquid crystal panel 3 in association with the image data in memory 50 in order to execute processing such as the text input process described above. It is a drive control unit that reads the amplitude data and natural frequency data that have been read and drives the actuator 8 via the drive control circuit 30 to execute processing for vibrating the surface substrate 5. Details of the process for vibrating the surface substrate 5 will be described later.

  The memory 50 is a memory for storing various data such as a program necessary for driving the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment. In the first embodiment, a program for providing a predetermined service, an image, and the like are provided. In addition to data and display coordinate data, amplitude data and natural frequency data are stored.

  The image data is data representing an image of a GUI component to be displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3 and other images. The display coordinate data is data for specifying on the coordinates a position where an image based on each image data is displayed.

  The amplitude data and the natural frequency data are data representing a drive pattern for driving the actuator 8 via the drive control circuit 30.

  The amplitude data and the natural frequency data representing the drive pattern are stored in the memory 50 in association with the image data and the display coordinate data.

  Although the details of the driving method of the actuator 8 will be described later, the touch panel device and the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment are located at the center of a GUI part that is a button or the like displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3. In addition, the actuator 8 is driven so that the node is positioned at the boundary part of the GUI part.

  Next, the structure of the actuator 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 1B shows actuators 8 (2, 1) and 8 (2, 2) located in the first to third columns of the second row of 400 actuators 8 in 20 rows × 20 columns. , 8 (2, 3).

  Since the sectional structures of the 400 actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) are all the same, here, the three actuators 8 (2, 1), 8 (2) shown in FIG. , 2) and 8 (2, 3) will be described.

  Hereinafter, the 400 actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) are simply referred to as actuators 8 unless particularly distinguished.

  The actuator 8 has a structure in which an electrode 8A, a piezoelectric film 8B, and an electrode 8C are stacked.

  The electrode 8A is one common electrode for the 400 actuators 8 (1,1) to 8 (20,20). For example, the elastic substrate 7 is reversed from the state shown in FIG. In this state, it is created by forming ITO on the elastic substrate 7.

  The piezoelectric film 8B is one electrode common to the 400 actuators 8 (1,1) to 8 (20,20), similarly to the electrode 8A. For example, the elastic substrate 7 and the electrode 8A are formed as shown in FIG. The state shown in B) is a state in which the top and bottom are reversed, and is created by forming PVDF on the electrode 8A.

  The electrode 8C is divided for each of the 400 actuators 8 (1,1) to 8 (20,20). For example, the elastic substrate 7, the electrode 8A, and the piezoelectric film 8B are shown in FIG. The state is created by forming ITO on the piezoelectric film 8B and dividing it into 400 pieces by laser processing or the like with the top and bottom reversed.

  The signal lines that connect the electrodes 8A and 8C and the drive control circuit 30 may be made of, for example, an ITO film. do it. The signal lines for connecting each of the 400 electrodes 8C and the drive control circuit 30 may be wired through a gap between the 400 electrodes 8C, for example.

  A voltage is applied between the electrodes 8A and 8C from the drive control circuit 30 via a signal line.

  Hereinafter, a region where each of the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) is formed is referred to as a cell. The size of the cell in plan view is defined by the size of the electrode 8C.

  2A to 2D are diagrams illustrating an arrangement of electrodes 8C included in 400 cells of display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment. FIGS. 2A to 2D are diagrams showing an exemplary arrangement pattern of the electrodes 8C. Here, in order to make the arrangement pattern easier to see, the reference numeral 8C is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, the display device with a touch panel 100 of Embodiment 1 has 400 electrodes 8C arranged in a matrix of 20 rows × 20 columns. Each electrode 8C is square in plan view.

  Here, using the XY coordinates having the origin 0 shown in FIG. 2A, the row direction (the direction in which each row extends) is the X-axis direction, and the column direction (the direction in which each column extends) is the Y-axis direction. And Further, a cell (i, j) that is i-th (i is any one of 1 to 20) in the X-axis direction and j-th (j is any one of 1 to 20) in the Y-axis direction is displayed. ).

  In Embodiment 1, each electrode 8C is described as being square in plan view, and each cell is also square in plan view. However, the electrode 8C is illustrated in FIGS. 2B, 2C, and 2 as well. As shown in (D), it may be a regular triangle, a regular hexagon, or a circle in plan view.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an example of display on the liquid crystal panel 3 of the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment.

  Main controller 40 accesses memory 50 using an image pattern ID, which will be described later, and reads image data corresponding to the image data ID associated with the image pattern ID and display coordinate data. When the main control device 40 inputs image data and display coordinate data to the image display circuit 20, the image display circuit 20 uses the image data and display coordinate data to display an image (image pattern) at a desired position in the liquid crystal panel 3. Is generated. Thus, for example, eight GUI buttons 21 and a GUI slide bar 22 are displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3 as GUI parts.

  4 is a block diagram showing a part of the circuit configuration included in main controller 40 of display device 100 with a touch panel according to Embodiment 1, and FIG. 5 shows the circuit configuration of the standing wave generating circuit shown in FIG. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 4, main controller 40 includes a contact state determination circuit 41, an operation completion pattern generation circuit 42, and a standing wave generation circuit 43. Note that, as described above, the main control device 40 is a processing device that controls various processes of the display device 100 with a touch panel, and therefore the circuit shown here is a part of the main control device 40.

  The contact state determination circuit 41 is a circuit that determines the degree of pressing of the coordinate input surface (surface of the front substrate 5) by the operator based on the area information among the input coordinate information and the area information input from the contact sensor processing circuit 10. It is. When the pressing degree determined by the contact state determination circuit 41 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the main control device 40 causes the operation completion pattern generation circuit 42 to execute a process, and the pressing degree determined by the contact state determination circuit 41 is If it is less than the predetermined threshold, the standing wave generation circuit 43 is caused to execute the process.

  The operation completion pattern generation circuit 42 is one of two circuits that generate a drive pattern input to the drive control circuit 30, and is operated by an operator touching a GUI button or a slide bar displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3. When performing the above, a drive pattern for driving the actuator 8 is generated so as to give a tactile sensation for notifying the completion of the operation. Here, “operation completion” means that the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment has recognized the operation input of the operator.

  The standing wave generation circuit 43 is the other circuit of the two circuits that generate the drive pattern input to the drive control circuit 30, and is used for buttons and slide bars that are GUI parts displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3 by the operator. When touching, a drive pattern for driving the actuator 8 is generated so as to give a feeling of touching an actual button.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the standing wave generation circuit 43 includes a frequency control circuit 44 and an amplitude control circuit 45.

  The frequency control circuit 44 is a circuit that reads out and outputs the natural frequency data stored in the memory 50. Since the frequency control circuit 44 is included in the main controller 40, the process in which the main controller 40 reads out the natural frequency data stored in the memory 50 is actually performed by the frequency control circuit 44 in the memory 50. This is realized by reading the frequency data.

  The amplitude control circuit 45 is a circuit that reads and outputs the amplitude data stored in the memory 50. Since the amplitude control circuit 45 is included in the main control device 40, the process of reading the amplitude data stored in the memory 50 by the main control device 40 is actually performed by the amplitude control circuit 45 using the amplitude data in the memory 50. Realized by reading.

  When the natural frequency data and the amplitude data are read from the memory 50 by the frequency control circuit 44 and the amplitude control circuit 45, these data are output from the standing wave generation circuit 43, whereby the natural frequency data and the amplitude data are output. Is input from the main controller 40 to the drive control circuit 30.

  The period of the standing wave, the position of the antinodes and nodes, and the amplitude can be adjusted by changing the natural frequency data or the amplitude data.

  Further, by changing the natural frequency data and the amplitude data, it is possible to generate a drive pattern in which a plurality of waveforms are superimposed. Furthermore, the generated waveform is not limited to a sine wave, and a waveform such as a pulse wave or a triangular wave can also be generated. Moreover, the drive pattern of the actuator 8 can be performed by either a common pattern or a different pattern.

  Next, the configuration of the drive control circuit 30 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a circuit configuration of the drive control circuit 30 of the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment, together with the cells and the main control device 40.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the drive control circuit 30 includes a power supply drive unit 31, an X direction scanning circuit 32, and a Y direction scanning circuit 33, and based on a cell selection drive signal input from the main control device 40, the cell ( i, j) are sequentially driven.

  The cell selection drive signal includes a signal that specifies the cell (i, j) and a signal that represents a drive pattern represented by the natural frequency data and the amplitude data.

  The power supply drive unit 31 outputs an X-direction drive signal and a Y-direction drive signal for specifying a cell, and a voltage to be applied to each cell, based on a cell selection drive signal input from the main controller 40.

  The X-direction scanning circuit 32 is connected to the signal lines X1, X2, X3... X20, and scans the signal lines X1 to X20 in order based on the X-direction driving signal input from the power supply driving unit 31. Apply voltage.

  The Y-direction scanning circuit 33 is connected to the signal lines Y1, Y2, Y3... Y20, and scans the signal lines Y1 to Y20 based on the Y-direction drive signal input from the power supply drive unit 31 in order. Apply voltage.

  For example, when the actuator 8 (2, 2) is selected and driven by the signal lines X2 and Y2, a voltage is applied between the signal lines X2 and Y2 and the actuator 8 (2, 2) as indicated by a thick line.

  Next, the timing for driving the actuator 8 of each cell in the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment will be described using the timing chart of FIG.

  FIG. 7 is a timing chart showing the timing for driving the actuator 8 of each cell in the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment.

  The X direction scanning circuit 32 and the Y direction scanning circuit 33 scan the signal lines X1 to X20 and the signal lines Y1 to Y20 based on the X direction driving signal and the Y direction driving signal output from the power supply driving unit 31.

  FIG. 7 shows signal waveforms of the signal lines X1, X2, X3... X18, X19, X20, and the signal waveforms of the signal lines X4 to X17 are omitted, but actually, the signal lines X1 to X20 are omitted. These signal waveforms shall rise in order.

  Similarly, FIG. 7 shows signal waveforms of the signal lines Y1, Y2, Y3... Y18, Y19, Y20, and the signal waveforms of the signal lines Y4 to Y17 are omitted. The signal waveform of the signal line Y20 rises in order.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment selects the signal lines X1 to X20 in order while selecting each of the signal lines Y1 to Y20. That is, when selecting each of the signal lines Y1 to Y20 in order, the signal lines X1 to X20 are repeatedly selected in order.

  For this reason, the period in which the signal waveforms of the signal lines X1 to X20 rise is a period in which the drive voltage is applied to each actuator 8, and this is Ts.

  The scanning order of the signal lines X1 to X20 and the signal lines Y1 to Y20 is as follows. First, the Y direction scanning circuit 33 selects the signal line Y1 and supplies a voltage, and the X direction scanning circuit 32 performs the signal line X1. Scan ~ X20 in order. Thereby, the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 1) are driven in order.

  Next, the Y-direction scanning circuit 33 scans the signal lines X1 to X20 in order in a state where the signal line Y2 is selected and the voltage is supplied. Thereby, the actuators 8 (1, 2) to 8 (20, 2) are sequentially driven.

  Hereinafter, the signal lines X1 to X20 are repeatedly scanned in order in a state where the Y20 signal line is sequentially selected from the Y3 signal line and each of the Y20 signal line is selected from the Y3 signal line. Accordingly, the actuators 8 (1, 3) to 8 (20, 3), 8 (1, 4) to 8 (20, 4), 8 (1, 5) to 8 (20, 5), ... 8 ( 1, 19) to 8 (20, 19) and 8 (1, 20) to 8 (20, 20) are selected in order.

  That is, actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) are actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 1), 8 (1, 2) to 8 (20, 2). Driven in the order of (1, 19) to 8 (20, 19) and 8 (1, 20) to 8 (20, 20).

  The order of selecting the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) is included in the cell selection drive signal input from the main controller 40.

  The voltage applied to the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) will be described later.

  Next, the operation of the actuator 8 will be described with reference to FIG.

  8A to 8C are diagrams illustrating the operation of the actuator 8 of the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment. Here, for convenience of explanation, the cross section of the elastic substrate 7 and the actuator 8 included in one cell is shown, and the operation of one actuator 8 will be described.

  In FIGS. 8A to 8C, the distortion of the elastic substrate 7 and the actuator 8 is emphasized for easy understanding of the operation.

  8A to 8C, the polarization direction of the PVDF piezoelectric film 8B is indicated by arrows in the drawing.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, in the state where no voltage is applied between the electrodes 8A and 8C, the piezoelectric film 8B is not distorted, and thus the elastic substrate 7 is not distorted.

  Next, when a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 8A and a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 8C, the elastic substrate 7 becomes convex as shown in FIG. 8B due to distortion in the direction in which the piezoelectric film 8B extends. Is distorted.

  On the other hand, when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 8A and a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 8C, the elastic film 7 is projected upward as shown in FIG. Distorted.

  In the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment, each actuator 8 is driven to distort the elastic substrate 7 in each cell as shown in FIGS. 8B and 7C. A standing wave is generated throughout.

  Next, the voltage applied to the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) will be described.

A drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) represented by the formula (1) is applied to the actuator 8. The drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) is a single vibration mode (harmonic vibration), and is a voltage for generating a standing wave in the elastic substrate 7.

Here, the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) is applied between the electrodes 8A and 8C (see FIG. 1B) of the actuator 8 (i, j) of the cell (i, j) at time t. Voltage.

g _{m, n} (i, j) represents the amplitude generated in the elastic substrate 7 in the portion of the cell (i, j), and is represented by Expression (2).

Here, Lx is the length (mm) of the elastic substrate 7 in the X-axis direction, Ly is the length (mm) of the elastic substrate 7 in the Y-axis direction, and m is the number of antinodes of the standing wave in the X-axis direction. , N is the number of antinodes of the standing wave in the Y-axis direction, x (i) is the coordinate of the center point of the i-th column in the X-axis direction, and y (i) is the i-th column in the Y-axis direction. Represents the coordinates of the center point.

Data representing the amplitude g _{m, n} (i, j) is stored as amplitude data in the memory 50 (see FIG. 1A), and the amplitude in the main controller 40 when the actuator 8 is driven. The control circuit 45 reads out from the memory 50 and sets the driving voltage e _{i, j} (t) for driving the actuator 8 of the cell (i, j). Thereby, the actuator 8 of the cell (i, j) is driven so as to generate the amplitude g _{m, n} (i, j).

Further, the voltage v (t) included in the expression (1) is a function of the time t and is expressed by the expression (3). v ₀ is a voltage value having the amplitude of the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t), and may be determined according to the physical characteristics of the piezoelectric film 8B of the actuator 8.

ω _{m, n} is the natural frequency of the standing wave generated in the elastic substrate 7.

Here, in general, the natural vibration mode is determined by the material and size of the object. For example, m in the rectangular flat plate-like elastic substrate 7 in which the four sides are supported as in the display device with a touch panel 100 of the first embodiment, The frequency of the n mode (m and n are arbitrary integers and the number of antinodes of the standing wave in the X-axis backward and Y-axis directions) is the Young's modulus of the object, the density ρ, the Poisson's ratio ν, and the elasticity the length of the substrate 7 Lx, Ly, the height of the surface substrate h, the angular frequency and omega _{m, n,} the frequency freq m for the angular frequency obtained natural vibration modes of the omega _{m, n, n} is (4) It can represent with Formula.

Here, when scanning each cell, the time during which the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) is applied to the actuator 8 of one cell is Ts, and the excitation period determined by the natural frequency ω _{m, n} is Tf. . The excitation period Tf is represented by Tf = 2π / ω _{m, n} .

In the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment, as described above, the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) are scanned one by one with the signal lines X1 to X20 and the signal lines Y1 to Y20. However, the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) is applied to each actuator 8 in order.

The magnitude relation of Ts and Tf, the drive voltage e _i to be applied to the actuator 8 of each _cell, the waveform of _j (t) are different, Ts> For Tf and Ts <driving voltage for Tf e _{i, j} ( The waveform of t) is as shown in FIGS.

9 and 10 are diagrams illustrating examples of waveforms of the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) in the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment.

In FIG. 9 and FIG. 10, the vertical axis is the voltage value, and the horizontal axis is the time. 9 and 10, as an example, in order to show the waveform of the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) sequentially applied to the cells (1, 3) to (20, 3), the coordinate value (1 , 3) to (20, 3).

When Ts is a time for applying the driving voltage e _{i, j} (t) to the actuator 8 of one cell, Tf is an excitation period determined by the natural frequency ω _{m, n} , and Ts> Tf, FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the excitation period Tf is included in the application time Ts to the cell at least one period. The waveform shown in FIG. 9 is a waveform in the case of Ts = 3Tf, and an excitation period Tf for three periods is included in each application time Ts.

  On the other hand, when Ts <Tf, as shown in FIG. 10, the excitation period Tf of less than one period is included in the application time Ts to the cell.

In the first embodiment, Ts and Tf are determined according to the position, shape, and the like of the GUI component displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3, and the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) as shown in FIG. It applies in order to 8 (1, 1) -8 (20, 20).

  Next, an example of a standing wave generated on the elastic substrate 7 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically illustrating a standing wave generated in the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment.

Here, as the elastic substrate 7, for example, a polycarbonate transparent substrate having a Young's modulus of 2.5 × 10 ⁹ [Pa], a density of 1200 [kg / m ³ ], and a Poisson's ratio of 0.38 is used, and Lx is 40. When [mm] and Ly are 30 [mm] and h is 1.21 [mm], the actuator 8 is driven at about 20 kHz to vibrate the elastic substrate 7, and FIG. As shown in B), three- and four-mode distributed vibrations distributed two-dimensionally can be generated.

  In FIGS. 11A and 11B, the light-colored portion indicates the convex portion of the standing wave, and the dark-colored portion indicates the concave portion of the standing wave.

  As shown in the plan view of FIG. 11A, 3 and 4 mode standing waves of m = 3 and n = 4 are generated. The standing wave shown in FIG. 11A is a standing wave at a certain moment when the amplitude is maximum.

  Moreover, what is shown along the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is the maximum amplitude of each cell when a standing wave is seen from the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. Since the mode is 3, 4, there are three antinodes in the X-axis direction and four antinodes in the Y-axis direction.

  In addition, the perspective view of FIG. 11B shows a standing wave at the moment when the amplitude in the antinode is maximized. In the 3, 4 mode, there are 12 antinodes, and there are 6 convex antinodes and 6 concave antinodes.

The standing wave shown in FIG. 11B is that at a certain moment, and the value of the term of sin (ω _m, nt) included in the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) varies with time t. Thus, the amplitude in each cell changes periodically.

  In addition, the numerical value shown here is only an example, and is not intended to exclude values other than the numerical value.

  Next, a data structure of data necessary for generating a standing wave will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a table stored in the memory 50 of the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in the table of FIG. 12, in the memory 50, an image pattern ID, an image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency data, amplitude data, and application time data Ts are stored in association with each other.

  The image pattern ID is an ID used as an identifier (ID) for managing the image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency data, and amplitude data, and is given to the image pattern represented by the associated image data. ID.

  The image pattern ID is assigned for each type of screen displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3, for example. For example, when the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment is a smartphone, the image pattern ID includes, for example, an image for a main screen on which icons of a plurality of applications are arranged, an image representing a keyboard, and an input key of a calculator May be assigned to each image such as an image representing

  The image data ID is an ID representing the type of image data. The image data itself is stored in the memory 50 as image data such as a GUI component or an image around the GUI component separately from the table shown in FIG.

  Similarly to the image pattern ID, for example, when the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment is a smartphone, the image data ID is, for example, for a main screen on which icons of a plurality of applications are arranged. May be allocated for each image such as an image representing a keyboard, an image representing a keyboard, and an image representing an input key of a calculator.

  FIG. 12 shows a seven-digit number as an example of the image data ID. The image data ID is all necessary to represent an image for the main screen, an image representing the keyboard, an image representing the calculator input key, and the like. The image data may be configured to be read out.

  The display coordinate data represents XY coordinates (X, Y) for displaying an image pattern on the liquid crystal panel 3. The display coordinate data defines the display position of the image pattern generated from the image data.

  FIG. 12 shows exemplary X and Y coordinates as an example of display coordinate data. The display coordinate data represents an image for a main screen, an image representing a keyboard, an image representing an input key of a calculator, and the like. It suffices if it is configured to have the positions of all the image data necessary for this.

The natural frequency data and the amplitude data are data representing the frequency and amplitude for driving the actuator 8. Among these, the natural frequency data is data indicating the value of ω _mn and differs depending on the image pattern ID because the type of standing wave differs depending on the image pattern ID. The amplitude data is data indicating the value of g _{m, n} (i, j) represented by the equation (2), and the value varies depending on the cell position (i, j). That is, the amplitude data is assigned to each actuator 8. The frequency data and the amplitude data are set for each image data represented by the image data ID.

  Here, the natural frequency data and the amplitude data are the image patterns of the image data specified by the image data ID (that is, in order to generate various standing wave antinodes or nodes at the central part or the boundary part of the GUI part). It is set to a value that can generate a standing wave that matches the shape of the GUI component.

The application time data Ts is data representing the time Ts during which the drive voltage e _{i, j} (t) is applied to the actuator 8. When the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) are scanned by the application time data Ts, the drive voltages e _{i, j} ( The time for applying t) is determined.

  The main controller 40 reads out the data included in the table as described above from the memory 50 using the image pattern ID to read out the image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency data, and amplitude data. An image of the GUI component and an image around the GUI component are displayed on the liquid crystal panel of the display device with a touch panel 100, and a predetermined service is provided according to the operation of the operator.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a procedure of drive pattern generation processing executed by the main control device 40 of the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment. This processing procedure represents the control method of the touch panel device of the first embodiment.

  When the display device with a touch panel 100 of the first embodiment is activated, the main control device 40 starts the process shown in FIG. 13 (Start).

  The display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment displays a predetermined initial operation screen on the liquid crystal panel 3 in an initial state.

  The initial operation screen uses the image pattern ID of the GUI component that is displayed on the initial operation screen by the main controller 40 at the time of startup, and from the table shown in FIG. 12, the image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency data, and amplitude By reading the data and inputting the image data associated with the image data ID and the display coordinate data to the image display circuit 20, the initial operation screen is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3.

  As described above, in the initial state of the display device 100 with the touch panel according to the first embodiment, the initial operation screen is displayed on the liquid crystal panel 3, but the actuator 8 is not driven and is fixed on the surface substrate 5. No waves are generated.

  First, main controller 40 detects a contact state with the coordinate input surface (the surface of front substrate 5) (step S1). The contact state is detected by detecting input coordinate information input from the contact sensor processing circuit 10.

  Next, main controller 40 determines whether or not the degree of pressing on the coordinate input surface (the surface of surface substrate 5) is less than a predetermined threshold (step S2). The determination of the pressing degree is performed by the main control device 40 as a pressing degree determination unit based on the voltage value representing the area information input from the contact sensor processing circuit 10.

  Here, a state where the degree of pressing is low (not pressed or lightly pressed) corresponds to a state where the voltage value representing the area information is high, and a state where the pressing degree is high (a state where the pressure is strongly pressed). ) Corresponds to a state where the voltage value representing the area information is low. Therefore, actually, the determination process in step S2 is performed by determining whether or not the voltage value representing the area information is higher than a predetermined voltage threshold value.

  The processes in steps S1 and S2 are processes executed by the contact state determination circuit 41 included in the main controller 40.

  When it is determined in step S2 that the degree of pressing is less than the predetermined threshold value, main controller 40 uses the natural frequency data and amplitude data that have been read from memory 50 in advance after activation to drive patterns (constant Wave driving pattern) is generated (step S3A).

  The process of step S3A is a process executed by the frequency control circuit 44 and the amplitude control circuit 45 in the standing wave generation circuit 43.

  Next, main controller 40 inputs a drive pattern (standing wave drive pattern) represented by the natural frequency data and amplitude data for generating a standing wave to drive control circuit 30 and drives the actuator ( Step S4).

  As a result, a standing wave is generated in the elastic substrate 7. The standing wave generated on the elastic substrate 7 is transmitted to the surface substrate 5 through the contact sensor 6, and a standing wave antinode is generated at the center of the button of the GUI component.

  For this reason, when the operator touches the GUI button, the outline of the boundary portion of the GUI button can be recognized by the vibration of the standing wave. Therefore, if the operator touches the coordinate input surface (the surface of the surface substrate 5), only the tactile sensation is instantaneous. The position of the GUI button can be recognized.

  As described above, when the degree of pressing is less than the predetermined threshold, the standing wave is generated on the surface substrate 5 when the degree of pressing is less than the predetermined threshold. This is because a standing wave is generated so that the operator can instantly recognize the position of the GUI button with only a tactile sensation.

  On the other hand, if the main control device 40 determines in step S2 that the degree of pressing is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, the main control device 40 generates a drive pattern (operation completion drive) for generating a tactile sensation for notifying the GUI button of the completion of the operation. Pattern) is read from the memory 50 (step S3B).

  In this case, in the subsequent step S4, the drive pattern (operation completion drive pattern) generated in step S3B is input to the drive control circuit 30, and the actuator 8 is driven.

  This operation completion drive pattern can be any pattern that can convey the completion of the operation by changing the tactile sensation provided to the operator by changing the frequency, phase difference, or amplitude for driving the actuator 8, for example. Such a pattern may be used.

  The process of step S3B and the subsequent step S4 is executed by main controller 40. Further, the operation completion drive pattern used in step S3B may be stored together with the table shown in FIG. 12, or may be stored in the memory 50 separately from the table.

  Main controller 40 determines whether or not the processing by the program for providing the service to the operator has ended (step S5). For example, when the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment is used as a smartphone, the processing in step S5 is performed based on whether the program for text input processing has ended or a program for executing the application. This can be realized by determining whether or not the processing has been completed.

  When main controller 40 determines in step S5 that the program has not ended, it returns the flow to step S1. Thereby, main controller 40 repeats the processing from step S1.

  As described above, when the display device with a touch panel according to the first embodiment is a smartphone and the operator is inputting text through a keyboard displayed as a GUI button on the liquid crystal panel, the operator's Operation input is repeated.

  In such a case, main controller 40 repeatedly executes the processes of steps S1 to S5.

  In addition, after it determines with a press degree being less than a predetermined threshold value by step S2 mentioned above and a standing wave is produced | generated through steps S3A and S4, it returns by the above-mentioned step S5, and determination of step S2 is again. If it is determined that the degree of pressing is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the flow proceeds to step S4 via step S3B, and the vibration of the surface substrate 5 is due to the standing wave, thus completing the operation. It switches to the pattern for transmitting.

  This flow corresponds to a case where the pressing force is increased to complete the operation after the operator first touches the GUI button for the first time.

  For this reason, the operator can instantly recognize the position of the GUI button only by tactile sensation by vibration due to standing waves at the beginning of touching, and can confirm completion of the operation by tactile sensation when pressing is completed.

  FIG. 13 illustrates the process of switching the standing wave drive pattern based on the degree of pressing in order to transmit the completion of the operation to the operator, but the drive pattern for transmitting the completion of the operation to the operator. There is no need to switch between.

  14 and 15 are diagrams showing image patterns and standing waves by the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment. 14 and 15, the standing wave is shown as a contour line. The light-colored portion indicates the convex portion of the standing wave, and the dark-colored portion indicates the concave portion of the standing wave.

  As shown in FIG. 14A, when twelve GUI buttons of the numeric keypad, *, and # are displayed evenly arranged in three columns in the X-axis direction and four rows in the Y-direction, the three- and four-mode settings are performed. By generating a standing wave, an antinode of a standing wave can be generated at the same place as each of the 12 GUI buttons.

  Similarly, as shown in FIG. 14B, when a GUI button is displayed in 4 columns and 5 rows, a standing wave in the 4th and 5th mode is generated, so that the GUI button is placed at the same place as each GUI button. Wave belly can be generated.

  For this reason, as shown in FIGS. 14A and 14B, by aligning the positions of the antinodes of the standing waves with each GUI button, the operator can perceive the position of the GUI button with a tactile sensation. It is possible to recognize the positional relationship between the fingertip and the GUI button instantly only by touch.

  Also, as shown in FIG. 15 (A), when the size of each GUI button is different as shown in FIGS. 14 (A) and 13 (B), such as when a keyboard for inputting alphabets is displayed. Alternatively, if the GUI buttons are not evenly arranged in the display area, a single image pattern may have a plurality of vibration modes.

  For example, for the image pattern shown in FIG. 15A, two image pattern IDs shown in FIG. 12 are allocated, the image data ID associated with each of the two image pattern IDs is the same, and the natural frequency data It can be realized by making the amplitude data different.

  If the main control device 40 determines through the contact sensor 6 and the contact sensor processing circuit 10 that there is an operator input in any of the alphabets A to Z, the main control device 40 uses one of the image pattern IDs. Using the associated image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency, and amplitude data, as shown in FIG. 15A, a standing wave is located at the same place as each of the 26 GUI buttons A to Z. It is enough to generate the belly of

  Such a standing wave can be generated by utilizing the 12.6 mode vibration mode.

  Further, through the contact sensor 6 and the contact sensor processing circuit 10, the main control device 40 determines that an operator input has been made to any of the space key (SPC), the reset key (RET), or a GUI button representing an arrow key. In this case, the main controller 40 uses the image data ID, display coordinate data, natural frequency, and amplitude data associated with the other image pattern ID, as shown in FIG. (SPC), a reset key (RET), or an arrow key may be generated at the same place as the antinode of the standing wave.

  Such a standing wave can be generated by utilizing vibration modes of 3 and 6 modes.

  As described above, when the sizes of the GUI buttons are different or when the GUI buttons are not evenly arranged in the display area, by switching the vibration mode for one image pattern according to the input of the operator, The operator can perceive the position of the GUI button with a tactile sensation, and can instantly recognize the positional relationship between the fingertip and the GUI button only with the tactile sensation.

  As described above, in the touch panel device according to the first embodiment and the display device with a touch panel 100 including the touch panel device, when the operator's fingertip touches the surface of the surface substrate 5, the standing wave generated according to the position of the GUI button is touched. Since it can be perceived, it is possible to instantly recognize the positional relationship between the fingertip and the GUI component only by touch. Therefore, it is possible to provide a touch panel device with excellent operability and a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device.

  In addition, when the number of GUI parts is large, the size of the GUI button or the like may be small and may be hidden behind the fingertip. However, the touch panel device according to the first embodiment and a display with a touch panel including the touch panel device may be included. According to the device 100, since the position of the GUI button or the like can be recognized instantly with only the tactile sensation, it is possible to suppress erroneous operations, reduce the physical and mental burden on the operator, and greatly improve usability. Can be improved.

  Further, when the pressing degree of the front substrate 5 becomes a predetermined threshold value or more, the driving pattern of the actuator 8 is changed, so that the operator can recognize that the operation input is recognized by the apparatus side (completion of operation). . Thereby, the position of the GUI component can be recognized instantly by tactile sensation, and the completion of the operation can be transmitted through the change in tactile sensation, thereby further improving convenience.

  In the above description, the mode in which vibration is applied to the surface substrate 5 so as to position the antinodes or nodes of the standing wave at the center or boundary part of the GUI component has been described. As long as the position is generated according to the position of the GUI part so that the position of the GUI part can be understood, the position is not limited to the position described above.

  Further, when the waveform of the standing wave is disturbed due to reflection of the waveform generated by the actuator 8 at the end of the surface substrate 5, the frequency and phase difference of the actuator 8 are adjusted, or the surface A vibration absorbing member may be disposed at the end of the substrate 5.

<Embodiment 2>
The display device with a touch panel of the second embodiment is different from the display device 100 with a touch panel of the first embodiment in the structure of the actuator.

  Hereinafter, the same components as those in the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In the following description, differences will be mainly described.

  FIG. 16 is an enlarged view of the actuator of the display device with a touch panel according to the second embodiment. FIG. 16 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 8 of the first embodiment. For convenience of explanation, a cross section of the elastic substrate 7 and the actuators 8 and 9 included in one cell is shown, and the operation of the actuators 8 and 9 will be described. .

  The display device with a touch panel 100 according to the second embodiment includes actuators 9 arranged in a matrix on the upper surface side of the elastic substrate 7. The configuration of the actuator 9 is the same as that of the actuator 8, and 400 actuators are arranged in 20 rows × 20 columns, and each actuator 9 is disposed at the same location as each actuator 8 in plan view.

  For this reason, the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the second embodiment includes two actuators 8 and 9 disposed on both surfaces of the elastic substrate 7 in one cell.

  Insulation between the actuator 9 and the contact sensor 6 may be ensured by an insulating layer or an insulating sheet.

  16A to 16C show the distortion of the elastic substrate 7 and the actuators 8 and 9 in an emphasized manner for easy understanding of the operation.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, the actuator 9 includes an electrode 9A, a piezoelectric film 9B, and an electrode 9C. The electrode 9A is formed on the upper surface of the elastic substrate 7, and the piezoelectric film 9B and the electrode 9C are laminated on the electrode 9A.

  Similarly to the electrode 8A and the piezoelectric film 8B of the actuator 8, the electrode 9A and the piezoelectric film 9B are common to all the cells, and the electrode 9C is divided for each cell.

  The electrode 9A, the piezoelectric film 9B, and the electrode 9C can be manufactured in the same manner as the electrode 8A, the piezoelectric film 8B, and the electrode 8C of the actuator 8.

  16A to 16C, the polarization directions of the PVDF piezoelectric films 8B and 9B included in the actuators 8 and 9 are indicated by arrows in the drawing. As shown in FIGS. 16A to 16C, in the second embodiment, the polarization directions of the piezoelectric films 8B and 9B are set to face the same direction.

  In the second embodiment, an elastic substrate 7 is applied to the electrodes 8A and 8C of the actuator 8 and between the electrodes 9A and 9C of the actuator 9 by applying voltages having opposite phases to each other as compared with the first embodiment. The stress concerning is increased.

  As shown in FIG. 16A, in the state where no voltage is applied between the electrodes 8A and 8C, the piezoelectric film 8B is not distorted, and therefore the elastic substrate 7 is not distorted.

  Next, when a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 8A, a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 8C, a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 9A, and a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 9C, the piezoelectric film 8B is distorted in the extending direction, When the piezoelectric film 9B is distorted in the shrinking direction, the elastic substrate 7 is distorted so as to protrude downward as shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, when a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 8A, a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 8C, a negative voltage is applied to the electrode 9A, and a positive voltage is applied to the electrode 9C, the piezoelectric film 8B is distorted in a contracting direction and piezoelectric By distorting in the direction in which the film 9B extends, the elastic substrate 7 is distorted so as to protrude upward as shown in FIG.

  In the display device with a touch panel according to the second embodiment, each of the actuators 8 and 9 is driven as a pair to distort the elastic substrate 7 in each cell as shown in FIGS. 16 (B) and 15 (C). A standing wave is generated on the entire elastic substrate 7.

  In addition, what is necessary is just to reverse the polarity of the voltage applied between the electrodes 8A and 8C and between the electrodes 9A and 9C when the polarization directions of the piezoelectric films 8B and 9B are different from those in FIGS.

  As described above, according to the touch panel device of the second embodiment and the display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device, when the operator's fingertip touches the surface of the front substrate 5, the standing wave generated according to the position of the GUI button is tactile. Therefore, it is possible to instantly recognize the positional relationship between the fingertip and the GUI component only by tactile sensation. Therefore, it is possible to provide a touch panel device with excellent operability and a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device.

  In addition, since the two actuators 8 and 9 are included in each cell, the vibration of the standing wave is stronger than that in the first embodiment, so that it is easy to transmit the tactile sensation to the operator.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a connection relationship between the drive control circuit and each cell of the display device with a touch panel according to the third embodiment.

  The display device with a touch panel according to the third embodiment is different from the display device with a touch panel 100 according to the first embodiment in that each actuator 8 is not scanned and driven in order, but is driven simultaneously.

  Hereinafter, the same components as those in the display device 100 with a touch panel according to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted. In the following description, differences will be mainly described.

  In FIG. 17, among the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20), nine actuators 8 (1, 1), 8 (2, 1), 8 (3, 1), 8 (1, 2), 8 (2, 2), 8 (3, 2), 8 (1, 3), 8 (2, 3), 8 (3, 3) are shown, but the same applies to the actuator 8 (not shown). .

  The display device with a touch panel according to the third embodiment includes a drive control circuit 330 connected to the electrodes 8A and 8C of all the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20). An amplifier 331 is inserted in a signal line connecting the drive control circuit 330 and each of the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20).

The drive control circuit 330 modulates and amplifies the voltage waveform of the drive voltage in accordance with the drive pattern input from the main control device 40, and drives the drive voltage e _{i, j} ( t) is simultaneously applied to each of the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20).

  By driving the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) in this manner, a standing wave having the same pattern as that of the first embodiment can be generated on the elastic substrate 7.

  In the third embodiment, the actuator 8 (1, 1) using the drive control circuit 330 connected to the electrodes 8A, 8C of the actuators 8 (1, 1) to 8 (20, 20) via signal lines. By driving ˜8 (20, 20), when the operator's fingertip touches the surface of the front substrate 5, a standing wave corresponding to the position of the GUI button can be generated.

  For this reason, since the operator can perceive the standing wave generated at the position of the GUI button with the tactile sensation, the positional relationship between the fingertip and the GUI component can be recognized instantly only with the tactile sensation. Therefore, it is possible to provide a touch panel device with excellent operability and a display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device.

  Although the touch panel device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the display device with a touch panel including the touch panel device, and the control method of the touch panel device have been described above, the present invention is limited to the specifically disclosed embodiment. However, various modifications and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Display apparatus with a touch panel 1 Board | substrate 2 Anti-vibration sheet 3 Liquid crystal panel 4 Side wall 5 Surface board 6 Contact sensor 7 Elastic board 8, 8 (1, 1) -8 (20, 20), 9 Actuator 8A, 8C, 9A, 9C Electrode 8B, 9B Piezoelectric film 10 Contact sensor processing circuit 20 Image display circuit 30 Drive control circuit 31 Power supply drive unit 32 X direction scanning circuit 33 Y direction scanning circuit X1, X2, X3... X20 Signal line Y1, Y2, Y3, ..Y20 signal line 40 main controller 41 contact state determination circuit 42 operation completion pattern generation circuit 43 standing wave generation circuit 44 frequency control circuit 45 amplitude control circuit 50 memory 330 drive control circuit 331 amplifier

JP 2003-186622 A

Claims (13)

A coordinate input device having transparency;
A vibration generating unit provided on the lower side of the coordinate input device and including a plurality of vibrators having transparency;
An operation component generation unit that generates an operation component to be displayed as an image on a display unit disposed below the vibration generation unit;
In the vibration mode in which the coordinate input device generates a standing wave according to the position where one or a plurality of the operation components generated by the operation component generation unit is displayed on the display unit, the plurality of the vibration generation units And a drive control unit that controls the drive of the vibrator.   The vibration mode is a vibration mode in which a standing wave having a waveform corresponding to a shape displayed on the display unit is generated in addition to a position where the operation component is displayed on the display unit. Item 10. The touch panel device according to Item 1.   The touch panel device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generation unit includes an elastic elastic substrate, and the plurality of vibrators are arranged on one surface or both surfaces of the elastic substrate.   The drive control unit includes a vibrator on one surface side of the elastic substrate and a vibrator on the other surface of the elastic substrate among the plurality of vibrators arranged on both surfaces of the elastic substrate. The touch panel device according to claim 3, wherein the touch panel device is driven in an opposite phase.   Each of the plurality of vibrators includes a pair of electrodes and a piezoelectric element disposed between the pair of electrodes, and any one of the pair of electrodes is disposed on the elastic substrate. The touch panel device according to claim 3 or 4.   In the vibration mode in which the drive control unit generates a standing wave in the coordinate input device, the drive control unit performs drive control of the plurality of vibrators, thereby generating a standing wave based on the natural frequency of the elastic substrate. The touch panel device according to claim 3, wherein the touch panel device is a vibration mode generated on the elastic substrate.   When the size of the operation component input by the operator is different from the size of other operation components input by the operator before the operation component, the drive generation unit, The touch panel device according to claim 2, wherein the vibration mode is switched to a vibration mode corresponding to the size of the operation component.   8. The drive pattern according to claim 1, wherein the drive pattern includes a drive pattern for performing drive control of the vibration generation unit such that the antinode or node of the standing wave is located at a central part or a boundary part of the operation component. The touch panel device according to one item.   When the operation component generated by the operation component generation unit is changed or moved, the drive control unit generates a standing wave having a waveform corresponding to the position of the operation component after the change or movement. The touch panel device according to claim 1, wherein the vibration generation unit is driven and controlled. A pressing degree detection unit that detects a pressing degree of an operation input to the coordinate input device;
A pressing degree determination unit that determines whether or not the pressing degree detected by the pressing degree detection unit is a predetermined threshold value or more, and
The drive control unit, when it is determined that the pressing degree of the operation input detected by the pressing degree determination unit is less than a predetermined threshold, performs drive control of the vibration generation unit with the driving pattern, When it is determined that the pressing degree of the operation input detected by the pressing degree determination unit is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, drive control of the vibration generation unit is performed with another driving pattern different from the driving pattern. Item 10. The touch panel device according to any one of Items 1 to 9.   The touch panel device according to claim 10, wherein the other drive pattern is a drive pattern for performing drive control of the vibration generation unit so that an operator perceives completion of operation of the operation component. The touch panel device according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
A display device with a touch panel, comprising: a display unit that displays the operation component generated by the operation component generation unit as an image. A coordinate input device having transparency;
A vibration generating unit provided on the lower side of the coordinate input device and including a plurality of vibrators having transparency;
An operation component generation unit that generates an operation component to be displayed as an image on a display unit disposed below the vibration generation unit,
In the vibration mode in which the coordinate input device generates a standing wave according to the position where one or a plurality of the operation components generated by the operation component generation unit is displayed on the display unit, the plurality of the vibration generation units A control method for a touch panel device, which performs drive control of the vibrator.