JP2013250826A - Touch sensor control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch sensor control device having improved operability by performing proper slide operation processing depending on an area where a touch is detected.SOLUTION: A touch sensor control device includes: coordinate detection means for detecting the position of a touch to a touch sensor as a one-dimensional coordinate; area length calculation means for calculating the length of a touch area; representative coordinate setting means for setting an end point of the touch area as a representative coordinate when the touch area length exceeds a predetermined value or when there are plural touch areas, and for setting a central point of the touch area as a representative coordinate when the touch area length is below the predetermined value; and slide operation processing means for performing predetermined processing on the basis of the direction and amount of movement of the representative coordinate.

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch sensor control device, and more particularly to a control device for sliding operation input to a touch sensor.

  In recent years, devices having an elongated rectangular touch sensor (hereinafter referred to as a slide touch sensor) that detects a touch position of a finger as one-dimensional coordinates have appeared.

  In such an apparatus, a process based on the moving direction and the moving amount can be executed by a sliding operation that moves while touching the slide touch sensor with a finger. However, when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the hand holding the device, not only the fingertip but also the abdominal part may touch the slide touch sensor, and the user intends that a wide area is touch-detected simultaneously. The slide operation cannot be performed properly.

  Patent Document 1 is known as a solution to this problem. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-133867 discloses a means for executing processing only for the icon closest to the fingertip and not performing processing for other icons when a plurality of icons on the touch panel are simultaneously touched with one finger.

JP 2010-134487 A

  However, in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a problem that the operability when a touch operation is performed only with a fingertip is impaired. When the slide touch sensor is controlled by the means of Patent Document 1, the portion closest to the fingertip of the touch-detected region, that is, the coordinates of the end point of the region is used for processing. For example, when a sliding operation is performed with a fingertip of a hand not holding the apparatus, it is assumed that the contact of the fingertip changes greatly and the coordinates of the end points change greatly because the hand is not fixed. Accordingly, there is a possibility that the process is executed only by changing the contact level of the fingertip even though the user does not intentionally perform the slide operation.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a touch sensor control device that improves operability by performing an appropriate slide operation process in accordance with a touch-detected region.

  To achieve the above object, in the touch sensor control device, the present invention provides a coordinate detection unit that detects a touch position on a touch sensor as a one-dimensional coordinate, a region length calculation unit that calculates a touch region length, When the touch area length exceeds a predetermined value, or when the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas, the end point of the touch area is set as a representative coordinate, and when the touch area length is less than the predetermined value, the center point of the touch area is represented. It is characterized by comprising representative coordinate setting means for setting as coordinates, and slide operation processing means for executing predetermined processing based on the moving direction and moving amount of the representative coordinates.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the touch sensor control apparatus which improved the operativity can be provided by performing an appropriate slide operation process according to the area | region where touch was detected.

Flowchart of slide operation processing in the first embodiment Operation unit appearance of the digital camera in the first embodiment Block diagram of the digital camera in the first embodiment Representative coordinate setting for slide operation processing in the first embodiment Problems and effects of representative coordinate setting of slide operation processing in the first embodiment Representative coordinate setting for slide operation processing in the second embodiment Slide operation guide display in the third embodiment

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a flowchart of a slide operation process of the touch sensor control device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[Example 1]
The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  FIG. 2 shows an appearance of an operation unit of a digital camera 200 as an example of a touch sensor control apparatus in which the present invention can be implemented.

  201 is a slide touch sensor. The slide touch sensor 201 is an elongated rectangular capacitive touch sensor disposed on the upper surface of the digital camera 200. The capacitive touch sensor detects a touch position by detecting a change in capacitance of a sensor electrode that occurs when a finger is brought close to the sensor. In the slide touch sensor 201, the touch position is detected as coordinates on the one-dimensional coordinate axis 202 with the left end as the origin by an input unit described later. By performing a slide operation on the slide touch sensor 201, processing such as zoom-in / zoom-out at the time of shooting and enlargement / reduction at the time of image display is executed based on the moving direction / movement amount.

  Reference numeral 203 denotes a touch panel integrated display unit, and a transparent capacitive touch panel is disposed on the screen of the display unit configured by a liquid crystal display (LCD) or the like. Display items such as images and operation button icons are displayed on the touch panel integrated display unit 203, and the touch position is detected as coordinates of the two-dimensional coordinate axis 204 with the upper left corner as the origin by an input unit described later. By touching the position of the operation button icon displayed on the touch panel integrated display unit 203, processing corresponding to the operation button is executed.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the digital camera 200.

  Reference numeral 300 denotes a CPU (central processing unit). Arithmetic processing according to system control of the digital camera 200 and various programs is performed through the internal bus 301.

  Reference numeral 302 denotes a ROM. Various programs for operating the CPU 300 are stored.

  Reference numeral 303 denotes a RAM. It is used as a work memory for arithmetic processing of the CPU 300.

  Reference numeral 304 denotes a storage medium drive, 305 denotes an external storage medium, and 306 denotes an imaging unit. The storage medium drive 304 is a device that reads and writes data from and to an external storage medium 305 configured by a flash memory or the like. An image picked up by the image pickup unit 306 is stored in the external storage medium 305 through the storage medium drive 304.

  Reference numeral 307 denotes an input unit. The input unit 307 detects the coordinates of the touch position of the slide touch sensor 201 and the touch panel integrated display unit 203 every unit time. Furthermore, it detects motion information such as a touch direction (hereinafter referred to as touch-down), a release (hereinafter referred to as touch-up), and a sliding movement direction / movement amount, and notifies the CPU 300 of the detected coordinates and motion information.

  The representative coordinate setting of the slide operation process will be described with reference to FIG.

  In the slide operation process, the process is determined based on the movement direction and movement amount of the representative coordinates. For example, zooming in is performed when the representative coordinates move in the positive direction of the coordinate axis 202 with respect to the touchdown position during photographing, and zoom out is performed when the representative coordinates move in the negative direction. The amount of movement from the touchdown position is proportional to the zoom operation speed, and the larger the amount of movement, the faster the zoom operation. In addition, when the image is displayed, enlargement is performed when the representative coordinate moves in the positive direction of the coordinate axis 202 with respect to the touchdown position, and reduction is performed when the representative coordinate moves in the negative direction. The amount of movement from the touchdown position is proportional to the enlargement / reduction magnification, and the enlargement / reduction magnification increases as the movement amount increases. Note that slide operation processing other than the above-described processing can be defined using various parameters such as the position of representative coordinates, the moving direction, the moving amount, and the moving speed.

  FIG. 4A shows representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the hand 400 holding the digital camera 200. FIG. 4A shows a state where not only the fingertip but also the abdomen is touched on the slide touch sensor 201. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 401 are touched simultaneously, and sets the end point 402 of the touch area 401 as a representative coordinate. In the first embodiment, the end point on the origin side of the coordinate axis 202 is selected on the premise of gripping with the right hand.

  FIG. 4B shows representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the hand 403 holding the digital camera 200. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the touch position of the fingertip is the same, but the contact level of the abdomen is different. FIG. 4B shows a state in which the belly portion of the finger touches the slide touch sensor 201. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the plurality of touch areas 404 are touched simultaneously, and sets the end point 402 of the touch area 404 as the representative coordinates.

  FIG. 4C shows a representative coordinate setting when the slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the hand 405 not holding the digital camera 200. FIG. 4C shows a state in which only the fingertip touches the slide touch sensor 201. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 406 are simultaneously touched, and sets the center point 407 of the touch area 406 as the representative coordinates.

  The representative coordinate settings shown in FIGS. 4A, 4 </ b> B, and 4 </ b> C are switched according to the determination by the input unit 307. The input unit 307 calculates the touch area length, and uses the setting shown in FIG. 4A when it exceeds the predetermined value, and uses the setting shown in FIG. 4C when it falls below the predetermined value. Here, the predetermined value is a value set in advance assuming an upper limit value of the touch area length when the touch is performed only with the fingertip. The input unit 307 determines whether the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas, that is, whether the touch position is detected as continuous coordinates. If the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas, the setting shown in FIG. 4B is used. To do.

  The problem and effect of the representative coordinate setting of the slide operation process will be described with reference to FIG.

  5A and 5B show representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of a hand holding the digital camera 200. FIG. Here, it is assumed that the center point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinates. In FIG. 5A, the hand 500 is in a state where not only the fingertip but also the abdominal part touches the slide touch sensor 201. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 501 are touched at the same time, and sets the center point 502 of the touch area 501 as the representative coordinates. Next, FIG. 5B shows a state where the touch position of the fingertip of the hand 500 is left as it is, and the contact adjustment of the abdomen is changed. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 505 are touched simultaneously, and sets the center point 506 of the touch area 505 as a representative coordinate. 5 (a) and 5 (b), the representative coordinates move from the center point 502 to the center point 506 because the contact level of the abdomen has changed even though the fingertip has not moved. Therefore, there arises a problem that the slide operation process is executed even though the user does not intentionally perform the slide operation. Here, when the end point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate, the representative coordinate is set to the end point 503. Since the end point 503 does not move even if the contact level of the abdomen of the finger changes, the above-mentioned problems can be avoided.

  FIGS. 5C and 5D show representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of a hand not holding the digital camera 200. Here, it is assumed that the end point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate. In FIG. 5C, the hand 507 is in a state where only the fingertip touches the slide touch sensor 201. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 508 are touched simultaneously, and sets the end point 509 of the touch area 508 as a representative coordinate. Next, a state in which the contact adjustment of the fingertip of the hand 507 has changed is shown as a hand 511 in FIG. In FIGS. 5C and 5D, since the slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the hand not holding the digital camera 200, the hand is not fixed and the contact of the fingertip is likely to change. At this time, the input unit 307 detects that the coordinates included in the touch area 512 are touched simultaneously, and sets the end point 513 of the touch area 512 as a representative coordinate. In FIGS. 5C and 5D, the representative coordinates move from the end point 509 to the end point 513 because the contact level of the fingertip has changed. Therefore, there arises a problem that the slide operation process is executed even though the user does not intentionally perform the slide operation. Here, when the center point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate, the representative coordinate is set to the center point 510. The center point 510 does not move even if the contact level of the fingertip changes, or the amount of movement can be suppressed to be sufficiently smaller than the end points, so that the above-mentioned problems can be avoided. As described above, a malfunction that is not intended by the user can be avoided by switching to an appropriate representative coordinate setting according to the state of the touch area.

  The procedure of the slide operation process will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. When the user touches down the slide touch sensor 201, the flow shown in FIG. 1 is started.

  S101 is a determination of whether or not a touch-up has been performed. If it is determined by the input unit 307 that the touch-up has occurred, the slide operation process ends. If it is determined that the touch-up is not performed, the process proceeds to S102.

  S102 is coordinate detection of the touch position. The input unit 307 detects the coordinates of all current touch positions.

  S103 is a determination as to whether or not the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas. If the coordinates of the touch position detected in S102 are not continuous, the input unit 307 determines that the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas, and proceeds to S104. This corresponds to the case of FIG. 4B, and in S104, the input unit 307 sets the end point of the touch area as the representative coordinates. On the other hand, when the coordinates of the touch position detected in S102 are continuous, the input unit 307 determines that the touch area is not divided into a plurality of areas, and proceeds to S105.

  S105 is a determination of whether or not the touch area length is less than a predetermined value. If the input unit 307 calculates the touch area length and determines that the touch area length is less than the predetermined value, the process proceeds to step S106. This corresponds to the case of FIG. 4C, and in S106, the input unit 307 sets the center point of the touch area as the representative coordinates. On the other hand, if the input unit 307 determines that the touch area length exceeds the predetermined value, the process proceeds to S104. This corresponds to the case of FIG. 4A, and in S104, the input unit 307 sets the end point of the touch area as the representative coordinates.

  S107 is a determination as to whether or not it is immediately after touchdown. If it is determined that the representative coordinates are initially set after the input unit 307 is touched down, the process proceeds to S108. When it is determined that the representative coordinates are set after the second time, the process proceeds to S109.

  In S108, the representative coordinates immediately after the touchdown are stored. The input unit 307 touches up the first set representative coordinates after touching down and holds it until the slide operation processing is completed.

  S109 is a slide operation process execution. The input unit 307 compares the current representative coordinates with the representative coordinates immediately after touchdown, calculates the movement direction / movement amount, and notifies the CPU 300 of it. The CPU 300 executes a corresponding slide operation process based on the movement direction / movement amount of the representative coordinates.

  S110 is Wait. After waiting for the Wait period, the process returns to S101. The input unit 307 repeats the update of the representative coordinates every cycle defined by Wait. Since the determination of the state of the touch area in S103 and S105 is performed every time the representative coordinates are updated, it is possible to always switch to an appropriate representative coordinate setting according to the current state.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to avoid malfunctions not intended by the user and improve operability by switching to an appropriate representative coordinate setting according to the state of the touch area. .

[Example 2]
The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  In the first embodiment, when the end point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate, the end point on the origin side of the coordinate axis 202 is selected on the premise that the right hand is held. In the second embodiment, when the end point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate, the end point closest to the center point of the slide touch sensor 201 is selected on the assumption that the right hand or the left hand is held.

  FIG. 6A shows representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the right hand 600 holding the digital camera 200. At this time, the input unit 307 sets an end point 603 closest to the center point 602 of the slide touch sensor 201 in the touch area 601 as a representative coordinate. FIG. 6B shows representative coordinate settings when a slide operation is performed with the fingertip of the left hand 604 holding the digital camera 200. At this time, the input unit 307 sets the end point 606 closest to the center point 602 of the slide touch sensor 201 in the touch area 605 as a representative coordinate.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, when the end point of the touch area is set as the representative coordinate, the end point closest to the center point of the slide touch sensor is selected. As a result, appropriate representative coordinate setting can be performed according to the gripping with the right hand or the left hand, and the operability can be improved.

[Example 3]
The third embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  In the third embodiment, a slide operation guide display is performed at a position indicating the representative coordinates immediately after touching down the slide touch sensor 201. FIG. 7 shows an example of a slide operation guide display.

  FIG. 7A shows a zoom-in / zoom-out guide display during photographing. Assume that the touch area 701 is detected and the representative coordinates 702 are set immediately after touching down the slide touch sensor 201 with the hand 700. At this time, a reference bar 703 is displayed at a position indicating the representative coordinates 702 immediately after touchdown on the touch panel integrated display unit 203, and a zoom-in guide 704 is displayed on the right side of the reference bar 703, and a zoom-out guide 705 is displayed on the left side. These guide displays continue to be displayed at the same positions until the slide operation process is completed after touching up. Therefore, during the slide operation, the user can grasp that zooming in is performed if the fingertip is slid to the right side of the reference bar 703 and zooming out is performed if the fingertip is slid to the left side. Further, when the slide touch sensor 201 is touched down to a different position, the guide display position is also changed in accordance with the touch down position, so that the user can easily perform a slide operation using any position of the slide touch sensor 201. Is possible.

  FIG. 7B shows an enlargement / reduction guide display during image display. Similarly to FIG. 7A, the reference bar 703 is displayed at the position indicating the representative coordinates 702 immediately after the touchdown in the touch panel integrated display unit 203, the enlargement guide 706 is on the right side of the reference bar 703, and the reduction guide is on the left side. 707 is displayed. During the slide operation, the user can grasp that the enlargement is executed by sliding the fingertip to the right side of the reference bar 703 and the reduction is executed by sliding the fingertip to the left side.

  As described above, according to the third embodiment of the present invention, guide display of the slide operation is performed at the position indicating the representative coordinates immediately after the touchdown to the slide touch sensor on the display unit. As a result, the user can easily perform a slide operation using an arbitrary position of the slide touch sensor.

  As mentioned above, although preferable embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to these embodiment, A various deformation | transformation and change are possible within the range of the summary.

201 Slide touch sensor 202 Coordinate axis 307 Input unit 401 Touch area 402 Touch area end point 404 Touch area 406 Touch area 407 Touch area center point 501 Touch area 502 Touch area center point 503 Touch area end point 505 Touch area 506 Touch area 506 Center point 508 Touch area 509 Touch area end point 510 Touch area center point 512 Touch area 513 Touch area end point

Claims (3)

Coordinate detection means for detecting a touch position on the touch sensor as a one-dimensional coordinate;
An area length calculating means for calculating a touch area length;
When the touch area length exceeds a predetermined value, or when the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas, the end point of the touch area is set as a representative coordinate, and when the touch area length is less than the predetermined value, the center point of the touch area is set. Representative coordinate setting means for setting as representative coordinates;
Slide operation processing means for executing predetermined processing based on the movement direction and movement amount of the representative coordinates;
A touch sensor control device comprising: The representative coordinate setting means sets the end point of the touch area closest to the center point of the touch sensor as the representative coordinates when the touch area length exceeds a predetermined value or when the touch area is divided into a plurality of areas. The touch sensor control device according to claim 1, wherein: A display unit provided in parallel with the touch sensor; and a display unit configured to display a guide for a slide operation at a position instructing the representative coordinates immediately after the touch-down to the touch sensor in the display unit. The touch panel control device according to claim 1 or 2.