JP2012160055A - Electronic device and method for input to electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in an electronic device in which a touch panel capable of stylus input is placed on a capacitive coupling type touch panel capable of finger touch input that stylus input may operate both touch panels, causing incorrect operation in the electronic device.SOLUTION: An electronic device includes: a capacitive coupling type first touch panel having plural electrodes; a second touch panel provided on the first touch panel and capable of input by a stylus; and a control unit for, when a touch position, which is a predetermined area on the second touch panel, is touched, controlling electrical characteristics of the electrode placed in an area corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and an input method to the electronic device, and more particularly to an electronic device having a capacitively coupled touch panel and an input method to the electronic device.

  In recent years, in the spread of mobile devices, touch panel technology capable of realizing a “human-friendly” graphical user interface has become important. As this touch panel technology, a capacitive coupling type touch panel is known.

  The capacitive coupling type touch panel described in Patent Document 1 extends in a first direction (for example, the Y direction), and is arranged in parallel in a second direction (for example, the X direction) that intersects the first direction. A plurality of X electrodes, and a plurality of Y electrodes that cross the X electrodes and extend in the second direction and are arranged in parallel in the first direction. The plurality of X electrodes and the plurality of Y electrodes are stacked on the substrate via an interlayer insulating film. Further, the X electrode and the Y electrode are made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide). The touch panel detects the coordinates of the touched position by calculating the coupling capacitance of the X-direction electrode and the Y-direction electrode that change when the observer touches the touch panel.

  An input method using a capacitively coupled touch panel includes a method in which coordinates of a touched position are input by an observer touching the surface of the touch panel with a finger (hereinafter referred to as a finger touch input method), There is a method in which the coordinates of the touched position are input by touching the surface of the touch panel with a stylus pen or the like (hereinafter referred to as a stylus input method). In any case, it is necessary to touch the X electrode and the Y electrode at the same time in order to detect the touch position coordinates.

  In the case of the finger touch input method, since the contact area between the surface of the touch panel and the observer's finger is relatively large, the X electrode and the Y electrode can be touched simultaneously. On the other hand, in the case of the stylus input method, the contact area between the surface of the touch panel and the stylus is smaller than that of the finger touch input method. For this reason, in the stylus input method, it is difficult to simultaneously touch the area of the touch panel surface on the X electrode and the Y electrode, and it is difficult to detect the capacitance difference of the coupling capacitance between the X electrode and the Y electrode. As a result, the stylus input may fail.

  Patent Document 2 discloses an electronic device that can perform both finger touch input and stylus input. This electronic device has an electrostatic coupling tablet and an ultrasonic touch panel superimposed on the electrostatic coupling tablet. This electronic device identifies a stylus input by a dedicated pointing tool on an electrostatic coupling type tablet, and identifies a touch input by a finger on an ultrasonic touch panel with stylus restriction.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-16307 (FIG. 1, paragraph “0006”) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-179787 (FIG. 1, paragraph “0010”)

  When stylus input is performed on a capacitively coupled touch panel using a finger input method, the stylus input may fail as described above. Therefore, in order to solve this problem, like the electronic device described in Patent Document 2, a touch panel that allows stylus input is arranged on a capacitive touch panel that uses a finger input method, The form of the electronic device which performs stylus input using the latter touch panel can be considered. However, as described above, some capacitively coupled touch panels allow both a stylus input method and a finger touch input method. For this reason, when the stylus is input in the case of an electronic device in which a touch panel that simply allows a stylus input method is applied to a finger touch input electrostatic coupling type tablet of an existing product by applying the technology of Patent Document 2 In addition, the electrostatic coupling tablet may be reacted. If the electrostatic coupling tablet reacts when a stylus is input, the same input will be made from both the touch panel and the electrostatic coupling tablet that enable the stylus input method, which may cause the electronic device to malfunction. There is sex.

  In the electronic device of the present invention, both touch panels operate when a stylus input is performed on an electronic device in which a touch panel capable of stylus input is superimposed on a capacitive coupling type touch panel capable of finger touch input, and the electronic device malfunctions. It is an object of the present invention to provide an electronic device and an input method for an electronic device that solve the problem of the possibility of causing a problem.

  The electronic device of the present invention is a capacitive coupling method, and includes a first touch panel having a plurality of electrodes, a second touch panel provided on the first touch panel and capable of being input by a stylus, And a control unit that controls electrical characteristics of electrodes arranged in a region corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel when a touch position that is a predetermined region on the touch panel is touched.

  In addition, the input method to the electronic device of the present invention is a capacitive coupling method, and includes a first touch panel having a plurality of electrodes, and a second touch panel provided on the first touch panel and capable of being input by a stylus. An input method for inputting data to an electronic device having a touch panel, which is arranged in an area corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel when a touch position that is a predetermined area on the second touch panel is touched Controlling the electrical properties of the formed electrodes.

  According to the electronic device and the input method to the electronic device of the present invention, both touch panels are provided when stylus input is performed on an electronic device in which a touch panel capable of stylus input is superimposed on a capacitive coupling type touch panel capable of finger touch input. It is possible to prevent the electronic device from malfunctioning.

It is the (a) top view and the 1b-1b line sectional view of (b) top view (a) which show the electronic equipment of a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows another electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the use condition of the electronic device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention.

  Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1A is a plan view of the electronic device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a sectional view taken along line 1b-1b of the plan view 1A.

  The electronic device 100 includes a first touch panel 101, a second touch panel 102, and a control unit 103. The first touch panel 101 is a capacitive coupling method and has a plurality of electrodes. The second touch panel 102 is provided on the first touch panel 101 and can be input with a stylus. The control unit 103 controls the electrical characteristics of the electrodes arranged in the area corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel 101 when a touch position that is a predetermined area on the second touch panel 102 is touched. To do.

  As the second touch panel 102, a general resistive film type can be used. A resistive film type touch panel has a plurality of electrodes arranged to face each other with a slight gap. The electrode is preferably a transparent electrode. The resistance film type touch panel measures the resistance value of the electrode when pressed by the stylus for each of the X and Y coordinates, and obtains the position of the electrode in contact with each other based on the change of the resistance value. Note that the touch panel is not limited to the resistive film type, and an optical method, a surface wave method, a radio wave method, or the like may be used for the second touch panel 102 as long as it is a touch sensor that reacts with a stylus.

  A connection relationship between components included in the electronic device 100 will be described below with reference to FIG. The second touch panel 102 and the control unit 103 are connected by a signal connection line 104. The first touch panel 101 and the control unit 103 are connected by a signal connection line 105. As the signal connection lines 104 and 105, a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) may be used. The FPC is generally used to establish an electrically inexpensive connection with the control unit 103. Further, the signal connection lines 104 and 105 are not limited to the FPC but may be a discrete line, a thin coaxial line, or the like.

  Details of the first touch panel 101 will be described with reference to FIG. The first touch panel 101 has a plurality of electrodes 110. For example, a transparent electrode is used as the electrode 110. Each electrode 110 is connected to the control unit 103.

  The planar size of the electrode 110 is said to be suitable for the area where a human finger touches the panel in normal use (the area of a circle corresponding to a diameter of about 6 mm to 10 mm), but may be smaller than this. When the planar size of the electrode 110 is smaller than this, by simultaneously controlling the plurality of electrodes 110, it is possible to virtually create the electrode 110 corresponding to the area when a human finger touches.

  An example of the electronic device 100 will be described with reference to FIG. The control unit 103 has a plurality of switches and a capacitance connected to each switch. Each switch is individually connected to electrodes 110a, 110b, and 110n provided on the first touch panel 101. Each electrode 110 may be grounded with a capacitance of about 1 to several hundred pF by a switch connected to each electrode, or may have a circuit configuration equivalent to this. In the case where the electronic device 100 is in the form as shown in FIG. 1A, the switches are collected in the control unit 103 and connected to the electrodes 110 from there using wirings or the like.

  The control unit 103 is connected to the first touch panel 101 and the second touch panel 102. The second touch panel 102 is connected to a CPU (Central Processing Unit). That is, a signal input to the second touch panel 102 is transmitted to the first touch panel 101 via the control unit 103 and input from the first touch panel 101 to the CPU. The CPU controls the entire electronic device 100 based on a signal from the first touch panel 101.

  As illustrated in FIG. 4, the electronic device 100 may include a storage unit 112, an external interface 113, and a battery 114. The storage unit 112 can store a signal detected by the second touch panel 102. The external interface 113 allows the electronic device 100 to be connected to a network and connected to another interface. The battery 114 supplies power to each component included in the electronic device 100.

  Next, the operation of the electronic device 100 will be described. Hereinafter, the operation of the electronic apparatus of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5. Note that the second touch panel 102 is a resistive film type.

  First, an arbitrary position on the second touch panel 102 is touched with a stylus. Then, a signal (resistance value) corresponding to the touched position is transmitted from the second touch panel 102 to the control unit 103. The control unit 103 determines which position on the second touch panel 102 is touched based on the transmitted signal.

  Next, the control unit 103 controls the electrical characteristics of the electrode 110 arranged in the region corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel, and sets the value to which the first capacitive touch panel reacts. Change. Specifically, the capacitance of the electrode 110 may be controlled to a capacitance equivalent to that when a human finger touches the first touch panel (about 1 pF to several hundred pF). For example, in the case of the electronic device 100 illustrated in FIG. 4, if only the switch connected to the control target electrode 110 among the switches of the control unit 103 is switched, the capacitance of only the control target electrode 110 can be changed. it can.

  As described above, in the electronic device and the input method according to the present embodiment, when the control unit 103 touches a touch position that is a predetermined area on the second touch panel 102, the touch position on the first touch panel 101. The electrical characteristics of the electrodes arranged in the region corresponding to are controlled. The input signal input from the second touch panel 102 is not input directly to the CPU that controls the entire electronic device 100 but is input via the first touch panel 101. For this reason, in the electronic device and the input method to the electronic device of the present embodiment, an electronic device in which the second touch panel 102 capable of stylus input is superimposed on the first capacitive touch panel 101 capable of finger touch input. When a stylus is input to the device, both the first and second touch panels operate, and it is possible to prevent the electronic device from malfunctioning.

  Further, in order to transmit the signal input to the second touch panel 102 to the first touch panel 101 of the capacitive coupling method by the electronic device and the input method to the electronic device of this embodiment, It can be converted into a capacity change. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 7 (a), the electronic device is simply stacked on the surface of the first touch panel 101a of the capacitive coupling type capable of finger touch input of the existing electronic device. As shown in FIG. 7B, stylus input becomes possible. As a result, the user can make fine inputs to the electronic device using the pen-shaped stylus 106 with a thin tip, and the operability of the electronic device is improved.

  Furthermore, by storing the stylus input signal in the storage unit, an operation based on the stored signal becomes possible. For this reason, when performing the same operation repeatedly, the signal input by the stylus for the first time can be stored in the storage unit, and the operation can be executed based on the signal stored in the storage unit for the second and subsequent times. As a result, the user can omit the second and subsequent stylus inputs.

  In addition, a signal input by a stylus using a touch panel of another electronic device may be stored in a storage unit, and an operation may be executed based on the signal. Thereby, the user can input a stylus to the electronic apparatus according to the present embodiment using the touch panel of another electronic apparatus.

  The electrodes whose electrical characteristics are controlled by the control unit are a predetermined number of electrodes selected in order from the position on the first touch panel corresponding to the touch position corresponding to the touched area on the second touch panel. . For example, when this number is 1, as shown in FIG. 5, the electrode 110p closest to the position on the first touch panel 101 corresponding to the touch position on the second touch panel 102 (indicated by an asterisk in the figure). Will be controlled. On the other hand, for example, when this number is 4, as shown in FIG. 6, it is 4 closer to the position on the first touch panel corresponding to the touch position on the second touch panel 102 (indicated by the star in the figure). The two electrodes 110q, 110r, 110s, and 110t are controlled.

  When the control unit controls a plurality of electrodes, it is desirable to obtain the center of gravity of the region surrounded by these electrodes based on the amount of change in the electrical characteristics of each electrode. This is because the center of gravity obtained in this way can be handled as a highly accurate touch position. Usually, when finger touch input is performed on a capacitively coupled touch panel, the minimum unit of the touch position is an area where the finger touches the panel. On the other hand, the minimum unit of the touch position when the stylus input is performed is an area where the tip of the stylus touches the panel, and the accuracy is higher than the touch position by the finger touch input. The center of gravity obtained as described above corresponds to a touch position by stylus input. Therefore, if the center of gravity is obtained in this way, it is possible to handle the touch position by the stylus input with higher accuracy than the touch position by the finger touch input on the first touch panel.

  Further, when the control unit controls a plurality of electrodes, the area of each electrode can be made smaller than the area corresponding to a human finger. When the area of the electrode is reduced, the total area of the combination of a plurality of electrodes is the area of a circle corresponding to a diameter of about 6 mm to 10 mm in order to ensure the capacity for the capacitive coupling type touch panel of the electronic device to be operated to react. You can do it.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims, and it is also included within the scope of the present invention. Not too long.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Electronic device 101, 101a 1st touch panel 102 2nd touch panel 103 Control part 104, 105 Signal connection line 106 Pen-type stylus 110, 110a, 110b, 110n, 110p, 110q, 110r, 110s, 110t Electrode

Claims (7)

A first touch panel having a capacitive coupling method and having a plurality of electrodes;
A second touch panel provided on the first touch panel and capable of inputting by a stylus;
A control unit that controls electrical characteristics of the electrodes arranged in a region corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel when a touch position that is a predetermined region on the second touch panel is touched. And electronic equipment.   2. The electron according to claim 1, wherein the electrodes arranged in a region corresponding to the touch position are a predetermined number of the electrodes selected in order from a position corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel. machine. The control unit has a plurality of switches and a capacitance connected to the switches,
3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein each of the switches is individually connected to the electrode of the first touch panel.   When the touch position is touched, the control unit switches the switch connected to the electrode disposed in the area corresponding to the touch position, and is disposed in the area corresponding to the touch position. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein the capacitance of the electrode is changed. A storage unit for storing information input to the second touch panel;
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls the electrode based on the information stored in the storage unit.   The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the second touch panel is a resistive film type touch panel. An input method for inputting into an electronic device that is a capacitive coupling method and includes a first touch panel having a plurality of electrodes and a second touch panel provided on the first touch panel and capable of being input by a stylus. Because
An electronic device that controls electrical characteristics of the electrodes arranged in a region corresponding to the touch position on the first touch panel when a touch position that is a predetermined region on the second touch panel is touched Input method.

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