JP2014106743A - Electric tactile sense presentation device, control method and program for electric tactile sense presentation device, and portable equipment with electric tactile sense display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the time needed for touch sensing.SOLUTION: A switching control circuit 20 includes a contact detection control part 21 and a stimulation control part 22. The contact detection control part 21, for example, sets an icon area displayed on a touch screen as a monitor area, monitors a current flowing to an electrode arranged in the monitor area, and detects a finger or the like of a user being brought into contact with the touch panel on the basis of a monitor result. The stimulation control part 22, for example, sets the monitor area where the contact is detected as a stimulation area, and performs stimulation processing to supply a stimulation current to an electrode arranged on the stimulation area and to stimulate the finger or the like of the user as the stimulation current flows when the finger or the like comes into contact.

Description

  The present invention has an electric tactile presentation device (electric tactile display), detects contact of a user's finger, etc., and gives a stimulus, an electric tactile presentation device control method and program, and an electric tactile display. The present invention relates to a portable device.

  The electric contact display is employed in a device having an electric tactile sense presentation device such as a portable device such as a smartphone or a notebook PC, and can present a tactile sense distributed over a large area. The principle is to induce neural activity by electrical stimulation. Specifically, for example, when an operation pen or the like operated in place of a finger is brought into contact with the user's finger or the touch panel to prevent fingerprints from being attached, the shape of the icon displayed on the touch panel is electrically It can be perceived as a tactile sensation by an artificial stimulus.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose an example of a conventional electric contact display. FIG. 11 is an overall system diagram of the electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus described in Patent Document 1. As shown in FIG. 11, the conventional electric tactile sensation presentation device 200 includes a personal computer (hereinafter, PC) 201, a current source 202, a switching circuit 203, and an array electrode 204. The array electrode 204 is configured by arranging a plurality of stimulation electrodes in an array. Each stimulation electrode constituting the array electrode is electrically connected to the current source 202 and the ground via the switching circuit 203.

  12 (a) to 12 (c), 13 (a), and 13 (b) are diagrams showing a basic electrical stimulation method using array electrodes arranged in a two-dimensional matrix. 12A is a schematic diagram showing the switching circuit 203 and each stimulation electrode 241 connected to the switch constituting the switching circuit 203, and FIG. 12B is a schematic diagram showing the array electrode 204. FIG. (C) is a schematic diagram for explaining a switch switching interval between stimulation electrodes 241 constituting the array electrode 204. FIGS. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams showing a control method of a conventional electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus, and FIG. 13A is a schematic diagram showing the switching circuit 203 and the array electrode 204. FIG. 13B is a schematic diagram showing the anode electrode A and the cathode electrode G.

  As shown in FIG. 12A, each stimulation electrode 241 is connected to each half bridge circuit 231. The half bridge circuit 231 includes an upper switch S101 and a lower switch S102. The upper switch S101 is connected to the current source 202 on the power supply potential side, and the lower switch S102 is connected to the ground 205. In addition, as shown in FIG. 13A, one half bridge circuit 231 is connected to each stimulation electrode 241 of the array electrode 204. The stimulation electrode 241 is selectively connected to either the current source 202 or the ground 205 by switching the upper switch S101 and the lower switch S102. That is, when each stimulation electrode 241 is electrically connected to the current source 202 via the upper switch S101 of the half bridge circuit 231, a current source electrode (anode electrode) A is configured. On the other hand, when each stimulation electrode 241 is electrically connected to the ground 205 via the lower switch S102 of the half-bridge circuit 231, a ground electrode G is formed (FIG. 13B).

  12 (b) and 13 (b), when only one stimulation electrode 241 is the anode electrode A and the other is the ground electrode G, the user's finger etc. When contact is made with the surrounding ground electrode G, a current flows between the ground electrode G and the ground electrode G. The user perceives this current as a stimulus (tactile sense). By sequentially switching the position of the anode electrode A and monitoring the current value of the current source 202 at that time, it is detected which position in the region where all the array electrodes are arranged is touched by the user's finger or the like. be able to. Furthermore, after the contact is detected, a potential difference larger than that at the time of contact detection is set between the electrodes where the contact is detected, thereby forming a current path under the skin of the user's finger that is in contact and stimulating the nerve. can do. Thereby, the user can recognize the shape of a button or the like. The switching interval (current pulse period) at this time can be set to, for example, about 500 μs as shown in FIG.

  Such a conventional electric tactile sense presentation device 200 has the following merits. In the following, a description will be given by taking as an example a smartphone in which all the operation units are touch screens. First, the conventional electric tactile sensation presentation device 200 as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 can be reduced in size as compared with a conventional smartphone having a real vibration function in order to reproduce the feeling when the button is pressed. . That is, in the electric tactile sense presentation device 200 described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to detect a user's contact only by providing the switching circuit 203 having half bridge circuits 231 corresponding to the number of stimulation electrodes 241 constituting the array electrode 204, Can give irritation. On the other hand, in a conventional smartphone, since a plurality of vibrators, press sensors, and the like are provided in an array form on each smartphone and the entire touch screen, the apparatus becomes large.

  Further, since it is not necessary to provide a plurality of vibrators and pressure sensors under the touch screen, it is robust against impacts and the like, and does not need to cause mechanical resonance. Furthermore, compared with the case where a plurality of vibrators and press sensors are operated, noise is extremely reduced, and since only the switch is turned on / off, the power consumption can be reduced even if these functions are installed. From the above, it can be said that this is one of the leading methods for generating a tactile sense for a so-called multi-touch interface.

Japanese Patent No. 4360497

Japanese Patent No. 5057068

  As described above, in the conventional electric tactile sensation presentation device 200, the stimulation electrodes 241 arranged in the entire area of the screen are used, and the switching circuit 203 performs control to select each electrode one by one. As described above, the stimulation electrode 241 functions as an anode (electrode through which current flows) when the upper switch S101 is turned on, and functions as a cathode when the lower switch S102 is turned on.

  As a typical stimulation method, contact / stimulation to a stimulation point is performed by using only one point of the stimulation electrode 241 as an anode and all other stimulation electrodes 241 as a cathode. Specifically, the position of the anode is moved at high speed, and the voltage value is observed between the upper switch S101 and the current source 202 (in the case of a voltage source, the current value is observed). Then, by calculating the resistance value of the skin of the user who is in contact between the stimulation electrodes by calculating the voltage value / current value, it is determined whether the finger of the user is in contact with the stimulation electrode 241 at any position. And touch sensing of the entire touch panel can be performed. In this case, since the observation point of the voltage or current value is one in terms of the circuit, the measurement circuit can be simplified.

  That is, the electric tactile sensation presentation device (electric tactile display) of Patent Document 1 not only provides stimulation, but also has a touch sensing capability, and can be used as an electric tactile sensation presentation device with a tactile presentation function.

  However, at least one time of about 0.1 ms is required for measuring one point of skin resistance. That is, for example, when preparing a 32 × 16 stimulation point (stimulation electrode 241), 512 stimulation electrodes 241 are required. At this time, in order to measure the skin resistance value at all the stimulation electrodes 241, a time of 51.2 ms is required. If accurate observation is to be performed, 0.3 ms is required for one point, and thus 153.6 ms is required to perform touch sensing once over the entire touch screen. Such a large time interval for performing touch sensing in the touch screen area is unacceptable as the performance of the touch input device and is not realistic.

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and an electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus, a method for controlling an electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus, a control program for an electric haptic presentation apparatus, and a method for reducing the time required for touch sensing, and It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable device provided with an electrotactile presentation device.

  An electric tactile sense presentation device according to the present invention includes a first power source that generates two or more power source potentials, a second power source that supplies a reference voltage having a potential different from the power source potential, a user's finger, and a user operation A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area that is in contact with a contact body including an operation means for performing the operation, and provided corresponding to each of the electrodes, and between the first power source and the second power source. A plurality of electrode selection switching means connected in parallel, an observation means for observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the electrode selection switching means, and depending on the observation result of the observation means A switching control circuit for controlling the plurality of electrode selection switching means, wherein the electrode selection switching means is connected in series between the first power source and the second power source. The first power source has two switches. Generating a contact detection power source for detecting whether or not the contact body has touched the touch screen area, and a stimulation power source for stimulating the contact body, wherein the switching control circuit One or more monitoring areas, which are areas smaller than the touch screen area, are set in the screen area, and the contact with the monitoring area according to the observation result of the observation means when the contact detection power source of the first power source is generated A contact detection control means for executing a contact detection process for detecting a contact of a body; and a stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area is set based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected, and the stimulation power source is used. And a stimulus control means for executing a stimulus process for giving a stimulus to the contact body with respect to the stimulus region.

  In the present invention, an area smaller than the touch screen area is set as a monitoring area, and in order to detect contact in the monitoring area, contact sensing is performed by setting each of the electrodes arranged in the entire touch screen as an anode. Compared with the conventional method of performing, the time for performing contact detection can be shortened.

  Further, the contact detection control unit sets a first monitoring area and a second monitoring area having a higher probability of contact with the contact body than the first monitoring area for the touch screen area. The contact detection process in the second monitoring area can be executed faster than the first monitoring area, a plurality of monitoring areas are provided, and the frequency of contact detection is changed according to the contact frequency. May be. Thereby, contact detection can be performed more efficiently.

  Further, the contact detection control means can execute the contact detection process only for the second monitoring region, and conventionally, the stimulation performed for all the array electrodes arranged on the touch screen. For example, by setting only the monitoring region where contact is detected as the stimulation region and performing the processing only on the stimulation region, the processing can be accelerated in the stimulation processing.

  Specifically, the contact detection control unit sets two or more second monitoring areas for the touch screen area and executes the contact detection processing of each second monitoring area in a time-sharing manner. The stimulus control means speeds up the process by setting the second monitoring area where contact is detected by the contact detection control means as the stimulus area and executing the stimulus detection process.

  Still further, the contact detection control means may execute the contact detection process in a time-sharing manner with respect to the plurality of monitoring areas, with a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing the touch screen area into two or more. The touch detection can be performed with high efficiency by setting the entire touch screen area as the monitoring area.

  In addition, when it is determined that contact is detected in any of the plurality of monitoring areas, the contact detection control unit is configured to generate a plurality of divided areas obtained by newly dividing the monitoring area in which the contact is detected into two or more. The contact detection process can be executed in a time-sharing manner for a plurality of the reset monitoring areas, and the division setting / contact detection can be repeatedly performed in this manner, thereby making it wider. Touch detection in the touch screen area can be performed with high efficiency.

  Further, the stimulation control means sets the area where contact of the contact body is detected in the plurality of final monitoring areas where the resetting of the contact detection control means is completed as the stimulation area, and executes the stimulation processing In addition, by extracting a stimulation region based on the result of contact detection of a plurality of stimulation regions and performing a stimulation process only on the region, the stimulation process can be speeded up.

  Furthermore, the plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in the touch screen area or the divided area, and the contact detection control means is configured to detect any of the rows or columns of the plurality of electrodes in the array. A first scanning process for setting the monitoring area in one direction and scanning the entire area, and a second scanning for setting the monitoring area in the other direction of the row or column and scanning the entire area Any one of the processes or a combination thereof is executed as the contact detection process, and the stimulation control unit sets the stimulation region according to the observation result of the observation unit in the contact detection process, and performs the stimulation process. It is possible to execute the stimulation process more efficiently by changing the setting of the monitoring area according to the application.

  Furthermore, the plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in a region where contact is detected by the contact detection control unit, and the contact detection control unit includes two or more regions where contact is detected. A plurality of divided areas are set as a plurality of monitoring areas, and time division processing for detecting contact in a time division manner with respect to the plurality of monitoring areas, and the row and column directions of the arrayed electrodes in the area where contact is detected The contact detection process is performed in combination with a scanning process for performing contact detection by setting a monitoring area in either or both directions and scanning the entire area, and the stimulus control means includes the time-division process and The stimulation area can be set and executed according to the observation result of the observation means in the scanning process, and the method of setting the monitoring area can be devised to improve the efficiency. It can be performed processing.

  The first power supply can be provided in a necessary number so that a predetermined number or less of the electrode selection switching means are connected in parallel to one first power supply, and a plurality of first power supplies can be provided. By providing, the area | region which can process simultaneously at the time of a contact detection and a stimulus process is provided, and a process can be performed more efficiently also about a wide area | region.

  Further, the necessary number of the first power supplies is a number that allows the contact detection processing in one monitoring area to be executed in less than a predetermined time when the contact detection control means sets the plurality of monitoring areas. As a result, it is possible to perform contact detection / stimulation processing at a desired speed.

  The control method of the electric tactile sensation presentation device according to the present invention includes: a first power source that generates two or more power source potentials; a second power source that supplies a reference voltage having a potential different from the power source potential; A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including an operation means operated by a user, and provided corresponding to each of the electrodes, between the first power source and the second power source A plurality of electrode selection switching means connected in parallel to each other, and an electric tactile sense presentation device that detects and stimulates contact of a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user by the plurality of electrodes. In the control method, an observation step of observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the plurality of electrode selection switching means, and the plurality of electrodes in accordance with an observation result of the observation step Switch for controlling the selection switching means A switching control step, wherein the switching control step sets one or more monitoring areas that are smaller than the touch screen area in the touch screen area, and the first power source is connected to the contact body. While generating a contact detection power source for detecting whether or not the touch screen area is touched, a contact detection process for detecting the contact of the contact body with the monitoring area according to the observation result of the observation step is executed. A contact detection control step, and a stimulation region that is smaller than the touch screen region based on the monitoring region where the contact is detected, and a stimulus for applying a stimulus to the contact body generated by the first power source A stimulus control step of executing a stimulus process for applying a stimulus to the contact body with respect to the stimulus area using a power source for operation.

  The program according to the present invention is operated by a first power source that generates two or more power source potentials, a second power source that supplies a reference voltage having a potential different from the power source potential, a user's finger, and a user. A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area that contacts a contact body including an operation means, and each electrode is provided corresponding to each electrode, and is parallel to each other between the first power source and the second power source. In the electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus comprising: a plurality of electrode selection switching means to be connected; and an observation means for observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the plurality of electrode selection switching means. A program for causing a computer to execute a process of detecting and stimulating contact of a contact body including a user's finger and an operation unit operated by the user with the plurality of electrodes, wherein the touch screen area includes the touch screen area. While setting one or more monitoring areas that are smaller areas, the first power source generates a power source for contact detection for detecting whether or not the contact body has touched the touch screen region. An area smaller than the touch screen area based on a contact detection control process for executing a contact detection process for detecting contact of the contact body with the monitoring area according to an observation result of the observation process, and a monitoring area where the contact is detected A stimulation area is set, and a stimulation process for applying stimulation to the contact body is performed on the stimulation area using a stimulation power source for applying stimulation to the contact body generated by the first power source. Stimulation control processing.

  A portable device having an electrotactile display according to the present invention is a portable device having an electrotactile display, wherein the electrotactile display is different from the first power supply that generates two or more power supply potentials and the power supply potential. A second power source for supplying a reference voltage of potential, a plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user, and corresponding to each of the electrodes A plurality of electrode selection switching means provided and connected in parallel between the first power supply and the second power supply, and a current value or voltage between the first power supply and the electrode selection switching means Observation means for observing a change in value, and a switching control circuit for controlling the plurality of electrode selection switching means according to the observation result of the observation means, wherein the electrode selection switching means is the first selection means. First and second switches connected in series between a power source and the second power source, wherein the first power source detects whether the contact body touches the touch screen area Generating a contact detection power source and a stimulus power source for applying a stimulus to the contact body, wherein the switching control circuit is configured to monitor at least one of the touch screen regions that is smaller than the touch screen region. Contact detection control means for setting a region and executing contact detection processing for detecting contact of the contact body with respect to the monitoring region in accordance with an observation result of the observation means at the time of generation of the contact detection power source of the first power source And setting a stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected, and using the stimulation power source to stimulate the contact body with the stimulation Those having a stimulation control unit for executing processing.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an electrotactile presentation device that shortens the time required for touch sensing, a control method for the electrotactile presentation device, a control program for the electrotactile presentation device, and a portable device including the electrotactile presentation device. it can.

(A) And (b) is an external view which shows the smart phone 100. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the smart phone 100 concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which extracts and shows the part applicable to the electric tactile sense presentation apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention from the structural example of the above-mentioned smart phone. FIG. 3B is an enlarged view showing the upper switch S1 and the lower switch S2 constituting the electrode selection switching unit 41. (A) And (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the display in the touchscreen 103 of the smart phone 100, and the liquid crystal panel 102, respectively. (A) And (b) is a schematic diagram which shows the other example of the display in the touchscreen 103 of the smart phone 100, and the liquid crystal panel 102, respectively. It is a flowchart which shows the control method of the electric tactile sense presentation apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the contact detection method in the contact detection control part in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the other example of the contact detection method in the contact detection control part in embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the more simplified stepwise method. The different contact detection methods in the contact detection control part in embodiment of this invention are shown. 1 is an overall system diagram of an electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus described in Patent Literature 1. FIG. (A) thru | or (c) is a figure which shows the basic electrical stimulation method using the array electrode arrange | positioned in the two-dimensional matrix form. (A) And (b) is a figure explaining the control method of the electric tactile-sensation presentation apparatus of patent document 1. As shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, specific embodiments to which the present invention is applied will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the present invention is applied to an electric tactile sense presentation device for a smartphone. In the following embodiments, the electric tactile presentation device will be described as being used in a smartphone. However, the electric tactile presentation device of the present invention includes a portable game terminal, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), and a notebook. Of course, the present invention can also be applied as an electric tactile sense presentation device for other electronic devices such as a PC.

<Smartphone overview>
First, an outline of a smartphone according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b). FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B are external views showing the smartphone 100.

  FIG. 1A illustrates the appearance of the smartphone 100 as viewed from one main surface (front surface) side of the housing 101 of the smartphone 100. The smartphone 100 includes a liquid crystal panel (Liquid Cristal Panel) 102, a touch panel 103 (described later), several operation buttons 104, and a camera device 105 that are arranged in almost the entire area of the main surface of the housing 101. . On the other hand, FIG. 1B shows the appearance of the smartphone 100 as viewed from the other main surface (back surface) side of the housing 101. A camera device 106 is disposed on the back surface of the housing 101.

  The liquid crystal panel 102 is arranged so that its display surface is located on the front surface of the housing 101. Instead of the liquid crystal panel 102, an organic EL panel (Organic Light-Emitting Diode Panel) or the like can be used.

  The touch panel 103 is disposed so as to cover the display surface of the liquid crystal panel 102 or is disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal panel 102. The smartphone 100 is intuitively touched by touching the touch area of the liquid crystal panel 102 with an operation unit or the like (hereinafter also referred to as a contact body) such as a user's finger or a dedicated operation pen (stylus) operated by the user. Can be operated.

  The touch panel 103 according to the present embodiment detects the contact position of the finger or the pen in the touch screen area where the user's finger or the dedicated pen contacts, and is in contact when the contact position is detected. It functions as an electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus that can give a stimulus to a finger or a pen by a weak current and can give a feeling as if there are irregularities of buttons such as icons on the electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus. Details of the touch panel 103 will be described later.

  The operation button 104 is used for an auxiliary operation on the smartphone 100. Note that such operation buttons may not be provided depending on the wireless communication terminal. The camera device 106 is a main camera arranged so that its lens unit is located on the back surface of the housing 101. On the other hand, the camera device 105 is a sub camera arranged such that its lens unit is positioned on the front surface of the housing 101. Note that such a camera device may not be provided.

  Next, the internal configuration of the smartphone 100 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the smartphone 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. 2, the main board 10 of the smartphone 100 includes an application processor 11, a wireless processing unit 12, a main memory 13, a flash memory 14, a power source 15, a voice circuit 16, an audio circuit 17, a sensor 18, and the like. It is installed. The main board 10 is connected to the above-described liquid crystal panel 102, touch panel 103, and camera devices 105 and 106, as well as a microphone 107, a speaker 108, a battery 109, a USB 110, a memory card 111, an antenna 112, and the like. The

  The application processor 11 is generally a SoC (System On a Chip) device in which various peripheral circuits are integrated into one package. The application processor 11 includes a communication-related device such as a wireless processing unit 12, a touch panel 103, a camera 105, Many interface circuits such as an interface for connecting peripheral devices such as 106 are included.

  The application processor 11 reads a program stored in the main memory 13 and performs processing for realizing various functions of the smartphone 100. For example, the application processor 11 reads and executes an OS (Operating System) program from the main memory 13 and executes an application program using the OS program as an operation board. More specifically, the application processor 11 receives the transmission data from the application processor 11, performs an encoding process on the received transmission data, further performs a modulation process using a carrier wave, generates a transmission signal, and sets the antenna 112. The transmission signal is transmitted to outside. The baseband processor 121 receives a reception signal via the antenna 112, demodulates the reception signal with a carrier wave to generate reception data, and further performs a decoding process on the reception data to perform application processing. 11 to send.

  The application processor 11 according to the present embodiment has a switching control circuit (not shown). The switching control circuit sets one or more monitoring areas, which are areas smaller than the touch screen area, in the touch screen area of the liquid crystal panel 102, and performs contact detection processing for detecting contact of the user's finger or operation pen. A stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area is set based on the detection control and the monitoring area where contact is detected, and the stimulation is directly applied to the user's finger or indirectly via the operation pen. Performs stimulus control of stimulus processing. Details thereof will be described later.

  The wireless processing unit 12 includes a baseband processor 121, a wireless LAN 122, Bluetooth (registered trademark) 123, and the like. The baseband processor 121 performs baseband processing including encoding (for example, error correction encoding such as convolutional code and turbo code) processing or decoding processing on data transmitted and received by the smartphone 100.

  The main memory 13 stores programs and data used by the application processor 11. Further, the application processor 11 is connected to a nonvolatile memory (flash memory) 14 that retains stored data even when the power is turned off.

  The battery 109 is a battery, and is used when the smartphone 100 operates without depending on an external power source. Even when an external power source is connected to the smartphone 100, the power source of the battery 109 may be used. As the battery 109, a secondary battery is preferably used.

  The power management unit 15 generates an internal power supply from the battery 109 or an external power supply. This internal power supply is given to each block of the smartphone 100. At this time, the power management unit 15 performs voltage control of the internal power supply based on an instruction from the application processor 11 and supplies the same or different internal power supply for each block circuit. Further, the power management unit 15 can also control the interruption of the internal power for each block circuit. The power management unit 15 also performs charge control on the battery 109 when external power is supplied. The power management unit 15 according to the present embodiment generates two or more different power supply potentials and supplies them to the switching circuit 40 based on the control of the above-described switching control circuit of the application processor 11.

  In the switching circuit 40, a plurality of two switches (electrode selection switching means) connected in series are connected in parallel between the power supply potential and the reference potential (ground), and these switches are switched and selected. Thus, the plurality of electrodes arranged in an array in the touch area of the touch panel 103 are connected to the power supply potential or the reference potential. Therefore, the switching circuit 40 includes the same number of electrode selection switching means as the electrodes, and one electrode selection switching means is provided for each electrode, and the plurality of electrode selection switching means are connected to the power supply potential, the ground, and the like. Are connected in parallel with each other. Details of the switching circuit 40 will be described later.

  The audio 17 decodes the audio data transmitted from the application processor 11 and drives the speaker 108. The voice 16 encodes voice information obtained from the microphone 107 to generate voice data, and outputs the voice data to the application processor 11.

  The sensor unit 18 includes a temperature sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) system, and the like. The temperature sensor allows the main body to manage the battery temperature during charging. Moreover, by providing GPS, the position of the smartphone 100 can be measured with high accuracy, and navigation to a destination can be performed by accurately grasping the position. Here, the GPS system of the smartphone 100 has a function for assisting position measurement by communication and measuring a position in a short period (A-GPS (Assisted GPS)).

  The liquid crystal panel 102 displays various images according to processing in the application processor 11. The image displayed on the liquid crystal panel 102 represents a user interface image, a camera image, a moving image, or the like that gives an operation instruction to the smartphone 100 by the user.

  Furthermore, as described above, the smartphone 100 according to the present embodiment includes not only the high-resolution rear camera device 106 but also the camera device 105 on the display side, and the camera devices 105 and 106 are connected to the application processor 11. Follow the instructions to obtain an image.

<Embodiment 1 of the present invention>
Next, the configuration of the electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail. FIG. 3A is a diagram illustrating a portion corresponding to the electric tactile sense presentation device according to the present embodiment, extracted from the configuration example of the smartphone 100 described above.

  As shown in FIG. 3A, the electric tactile sense presentation device 1 includes a current source 31 as a first power source, a second power source, a plurality of electrodes 51, a switching circuit 40, and an observation unit 32 as an observation unit. And a switching control circuit 20.

  The current source 31 generates two or more power supply potentials, or two or more power supply potentials are supplied from the power management unit 15 shown in FIG. 2, and outputs a constant current according to the power supply potential. In this embodiment, the current source that outputs a constant current is described. However, one or more voltage sources that output a constant voltage may be used.

  The second power supply supplies a reference voltage having a potential different from the power supply potential, and the reference voltage is, for example, a ground potential. The plurality of electrodes 51 are arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation unit operated by the user. In the present embodiment, an example (array electrode 50) arranged in an array in the touch screen area will be described. However, a plurality of electrodes are provided with a high density according to, for example, the contact frequency and probability. May be arranged. That is, the density of a region with a high frequency and probability of contact may be set high, and the density of a region with a low frequency and probability may be set low.

  The switching circuit 40 includes an electrode selection switching unit (also referred to as a half bridge circuit) 41 as a plurality of electrode selection switching means. Each electrode selection switching unit 41 is provided corresponding to each electrode 51 and is connected in parallel between the current source 31 and the ground. The observation unit 32 observes a change in current value flowing between the current source 31 and the switching circuit 40. The switching control circuit 20 controls the plurality of electrode selection switching units 41 according to the observation result of the observation unit 32.

  Here, in the electrode selection switching unit 41, an upper switch (also referred to as a high-end switch) S1 serving as a first switch and a lower switch (also referred to as a low-end switch) S2 serving as a second switch are connected to a current. Connected between the source 31 and the ground. The switching control circuit 20 controls the switching of the upper switch S1 and the lower switch S2, thereby connecting each electrode 51 connected to each electrode selection switching unit 41 to a power supply potential or a ground potential.

  The current source 31 includes a contact detection power source for detecting whether or not a user's finger or operation pen has touched the touch screen area, and a stimulation power source for directly or indirectly stimulating the user's finger. Is generated.

  The switching control circuit 20 includes a contact detection control unit 21 as a contact detection control unit and a stimulus control unit 22 as a stimulus control unit. The contact detection control unit 21 sets one or more monitoring regions that are smaller than the touch screen region in the touch screen region of the touch panel 103, and the observation result of the observation unit 32 when the observation unit 32 generates the power for contact detection. In response to this, contact detection processing for detecting contact of the contact body with the monitoring region is executed. The stimulation control unit 22 sets a stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area based on the monitoring area where contact is detected, and uses the stimulation power source to give stimulation to the contact body. Perform stimulus processing.

  FIG. 3B is an enlarged view showing the upper switch S1 and the lower switch S2 constituting the electrode selection switching unit 41. As shown in FIG. 3B, the electrode selection switching unit 41 is configured by connecting an upper switch S1 and a lower switch S2 in series, and the upper switch S1 is connected to the current source 31 via an observation unit (not shown). The lower switch S2 is connected to a reference potential such as ground. Here, even in the contact detection phase for detecting the contact of the user's finger or the like, or in the stimulation phase for giving a stimulus to the user's finger or the like, the weakness between the electrodes 51 via the user's finger or the like. It is necessary to pass current. In the case of a smartphone, the electrodes 51 are arranged in an array at intervals of 3 mm, for example. In this case, if different potentials are set between the adjacent electrodes 51, when a user's finger or the like comes into contact, a weak current can flow from the higher potential side to the lower potential side via the finger or the like. Note that the reference potential may not be the ground or may be higher than the potential on the current source 31 side, as long as different potentials can be set between the adjacent electrodes 51.

  In addition, when using an operation pen instead of the user's finger, the operation pen itself is made of a conductive material such as metal if it is made of a material that can be used as a current path by electrically connecting electrodes having the same potential difference. It may be other than that produced by the material. Specifically, for example, a material in which a conductive cloth is coated on the tip of the pen, or a material in which a conductive paint is applied to at least a portion of the pen that contacts the panel can be used.

  In contact detection of a user's finger or the like, if a potential difference is provided between the adjacent electrodes 51, a weak current flows through the user's finger or the like when the user's finger or the like touches between the adjacent electrodes 51. Each electrode 51 is connected in parallel to the current source 31 via the upper switch S1, and accordingly, an observing unit connected between the current source 31 and each electrode causes a current from the current source 31. It is possible to detect the presence or absence of contact with the user's finger or the like by observing whether or not the current flows. Note that the observation unit basically cannot grasp which electrode 51 the finger touches, but the switching control circuit 20 that controls the switching of the electrode selection switching unit 41 or the contact detection control unit 21 determines which electrode 51 It knows whether there is a potential difference between them.

  Here, smartphone 100 according to the present embodiment performs contact detection at a higher speed, unlike the conventional case where a potential difference is provided between any one and the other. Next, the reason why the smartphone 100 according to the present embodiment can detect contact at high speed will be described.

  FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating display on the touch panel 103 and the liquid crystal panel 102 of the smartphone 100, respectively. In the following, for simplicity of explanation, as shown in FIG. 4A, in the touch area of the touch panel 103 according to the present embodiment, 64 electrodes 51 are arranged in an array of 8 × 8. The

  As shown in FIG. 4A, the contact detection control unit 21 of the switching control circuit 20 according to the present embodiment defines an area smaller than the touch panel area as the monitoring area 60 with respect to the touch panel area (103). Then, in the monitoring region 60, a power supply potential electrode 61 that turns on only the upper switch S1 and sets the power supply potential, and a ground potential electrode 62 that turns on only the lower switch S2 and sets the ground potential are set. At this time, the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 are disposed at a position where a current path is generated between the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 by the user's finger or the tip of the operation pen.

  In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 4A, the distance between the electrodes is, for example, 3 mm, so that the potentials of the adjacent electrodes are different from each other in the vertical and horizontal directions, that is, like the checkered pattern, The example which has arrange | positioned the ground potential electrode 62 is shown. In addition, when the electrode interval is small or large, when the size of the electrode is large or small, considering the interval or size, whether the contact body is a user's finger or a dedicated operation pen The arrangement of the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 may be appropriately determined in consideration of the size of the area of the contact point with the touch panel 103 formed by them. By arranging the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 in this manner, it is possible to detect whether there is a contact in the monitoring region 60 with one pulse.

  Here, in the conventional method described above, in order to detect contact on the touch panel 103, the number of all the electrodes arranged on the touch panel 103, that is, at least 64 measurements are required. In order to measure whether or not a user's finger or the like is in contact with one electrode, that is, skin resistance measurement requires a time of at least about 0.1 ms. That is, for example, when 32 × 16 electrodes (stimulation points) are arranged, since the number of electrodes is 512, it takes 521 × 0.1 ms = 51.2 ms. Furthermore, in order to perform accurate measurement, this length is three times longer (0.3 ms for each point), and 153.6 ms are required for one touch detection over the entire touch panel. The performance is not realistic. That is, the reaction to the user's contact is extremely slow.

  On the other hand, in the present embodiment, the monitoring area 60 is set, and contact detection in one monitoring area 60 is simultaneously performed. That is, as shown in FIG. 4B, only one icon area 130 is displayed in the display area of the liquid crystal panel 102, and there is only an operation whether or not the user touches the icon area 130. Assume. Here, even if contact detection is performed with respect to each electrode in the monitoring region using a method in which only one is an anode and the other is a cathode, the monitoring region 60 is defined, and the contact detection / stimulation process only in the monitoring region 60 is performed. If this is executed, it is possible to detect contact at a higher speed than in the prior art. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, contact detection in one monitoring region is performed with one pulse by devising the setting of the electrode potential in one monitoring region. That is, instead of detecting each electrode as one unit and detecting which electrode is in contact, the monitoring area is set as one unit, and it is detected whether or not there is contact in this area, thereby performing the contact detection time. Improve dramatically. In this example, since there is only one monitoring area, whether or not the user has touched this area can be detected, for example, every 0.3 ms. As will be described later, a plurality of monitoring regions 60 may be provided, and contact detection may be performed at different timings such as simultaneous or time division.

  Next, when the contact detection control unit 21 detects the user's touch operation in the monitoring region 60, the switching control circuit 20 determines that the stimulation control unit 22 selects a region smaller than the touch screen region based on the detection result. And the stimulation process is executed regardless of the user's contact with the stimulation area. The stimulation processing is executed by setting the power supply potential at only one electrode and the other at the ground potential as in the conventional case. As a result, a current corresponding to the potential difference between the two electrodes flows as a stimulation current for the user's finger or the like that is in contact with the stimulation region. The user can receive different sensations and touches according to the magnitude of the stimulation current, etc., and can recognize the button shape of the icon. Also in the stimulation process, the stimulation process in the stimulation area may be performed simultaneously by devising the potential setting of each electrode.

  In the stimulation processing, conventionally, the stimulation processing is executed for all the electrodes on the entire touch screen, but the time interval for performing the stimulation processing is set by setting a region smaller than the touch screen as the stimulation region. This can be shortened compared to the conventional time required for the entire touch screen.

  Next, another example of the monitoring area setting method will be described. FIGS. 5A and 5B are schematic diagrams illustrating other examples of display on the touch panel 103 and the liquid crystal panel 102 of the smartphone 100, respectively. As shown in FIG. 5A, in this example, 8 × 24 = 192 electrodes 51 are arranged in an array on the touch panel 103 as array electrodes 50.

  Then, as illustrated in FIG. 5A, the contact detection control unit 21 sets three monitoring areas 60 in the touch area of the touch panel 103. As an example of providing such three monitoring areas, a case where three icon areas 130 are displayed on the display surface of the liquid crystal panel 102 as shown in FIG. As described above, assuming that 0.3 ms is required for contact detection at one point (one place), since there are three monitoring areas 60 in this example, 0.9 ms is sufficient for the contact detection processing. become. On the other hand, if contact detection is to be performed for all the electrodes 51 arranged in the touch area of the touch panel 103 without setting the monitoring area 60 as in the prior art, the time required for one contact process is 56.6 ms. Even if a finger or the like touches the smartphone 100, it cannot be detected quickly.

  Here, as a simple example, it is assumed that three icon areas are set as monitoring areas and the contact detection process is sequentially performed. However, when a large number of icon areas such as 20 are displayed on the display surface, for example, The frequency with which the user uses the program may be managed, and the frequency of the contact detection process may be varied according to this frequency. In other words, when the frequency of use of applications such as e-mails and calendars is high, the contact detection processing set in the icon area for applications frequently used by users such as e-mails and schedules is monitored by setting other icon areas. You may make it carry out more frequently than an area | region. Furthermore, instead of the frequency of actual use, a detection frequency level or the like may be set in advance automatically or manually by the user for each application, and the frequency of the contact detection process may be varied according to this setting level.

  In the present embodiment, all the electrodes 51 have been described as being connected to one current source 31, but two or more current sources 31 may be provided. In that case, when connected to different current sources 31, the monitoring area can be measured simultaneously. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, by providing three current sources or voltage sources corresponding to the three monitoring regions, contact detection can be performed in parallel on the three monitoring regions. Similarly, the contact detection processing of the three monitoring areas can be performed in 0.3 ms. In addition, since the number of current sources or voltage sources can be simultaneously performed in the stimulation processing, providing a current source or voltage source of N (N is an integer of 2 or more) or more provides one current source or voltage source. Compared to the case, the stimulation process is improved N times.

  A device with a small touch panel area, such as a smartphone 100, can perform contact detection processing at a sufficiently high speed by providing a monitoring area. Therefore, a single current source or voltage source is sufficient. When the present invention is applied to a device or system having a wider touch screen, and the touch panel area is too wide to obtain an appropriate contact detection processing speed and stimulation processing speed, the processing speed is increased. It becomes an effective means to make it.

  Note that the system cannot grasp which part in the monitoring area is touched by the user's finger or the like. This is because in the present embodiment, all electrodes are connected in parallel to one power source, and the observation unit 32 observes changes in all of these current values at one point. However, for example, when the icon area is set as the monitoring area, it is not necessary to detect at which position of the icon area contact has occurred. In other words, if it can be detected that any of the electrodes arranged in the icon region is in contact, it is possible to shift to a stimulation process in which the icon region can be touched.

  Next, a control method of the electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a control method of the electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus according to the present embodiment. Here, the operation of the switching control circuit 20 shown in FIG. 3A will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

  As shown in FIG. 6, first, the contact detection control unit 21 sets the monitoring area 60 shown in FIG. 5 (step SP1). In this example, the contact detection control unit 21 sets three monitoring areas 60 in the touch area of the touch panel 103. Next, the contact detection control unit 21 controls the electrode selection switching unit 41 so that, in one monitoring region 60 among the electrodes 51 of the three monitoring regions 60, the electrodes 51 adjacent in the vertical and horizontal directions have different potentials. That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, the potentials of all the electrodes 51 in the monitoring region 6 are set so that the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 are in a checkered pattern in the monitoring region 60 that is a contact detection target. To do. While performing this process sequentially for each monitoring region 60, the observation result of the observation unit 32 shown in FIG. 3A is monitored.

  In this example, contact detection is performed for each monitoring area 60 in the same period (for example, 0.3 ms) and once (time division) to determine whether or not there is a touch of the user's finger or the like in the time division ( Step SP2). Here, when contact detection is performed, the adjacent electrodes 51 in the monitoring region 60 are set to different potentials (contact detection potential and ground potential). Thereby, when a user's finger or the like comes into contact, a current path is generated between adjacent electrodes and a current flows, so that the value of the current value observed by the observation unit 32 changes. Note that the observation unit 32 may measure the fluctuation of the current value, or may insert a resistor in series to monitor the voltage value. When the user's finger or the like is in contact, the voltage is detected, so that the presence or absence of contact can be detected (step SP3). Here, if the user's contact is not detected, the process returns to step SP <b> 2 and the next contact detection of the monitoring area 60 is performed. In the contact detection process, the current (contact detection current) that flows through contact with the user's finger or the like may be a current that cannot be detected by the user (contact detection current). Therefore, the contact detection potential may be set as appropriate so that the contact detection current becomes a weak current at a level at which a change in the current value can be monitored.

  Next, a case where contact with the user's finger is detected will be described. In this case, the contact detection process of the contact detection control unit 21 is temporarily terminated, and the stimulation control unit 22 executes the stimulation process. In the present embodiment, the contact detection process is described as being terminated when contact is detected. However, in the case where there are a plurality of monitoring regions and a plurality of contacts can be assumed, 1 Even if contact is detected in one monitoring region, the contact detection processing may be continued until the contact detection in all the monitoring regions is once completed.

  In the stimulation process, first, the stimulation control unit 22 sets the monitoring area 60 where the user's contact is detected as a stimulation area (step SP4). Then, a stimulation current is supplied from each electrode in the stimulation region so that the user's finger or the like recognizes the button shape of the icon, for example (step SP5). That is, by turning on the upper switch S1 of the electrode selection switching unit 41, each electrode in the stimulation region is sequentially set to the stimulation potential. Thereby, a potential difference larger than the potential difference between the electrodes 51 in the contact detection process is set, a stimulation current larger than the contact detection current is generated by the stimulation power supply, and sequentially applied to each electrode 51 arranged in the stimulation region. Here, if there is a contact with the user's finger or the like, the stimulation current flows to the adjacent electrode through the finger or the like. With this stimulation current, the user can recognize the button shape of the icon on the touch surface on the touch panel 103 and can perceive the scroll bar by touch.

  Next, a method for ending the stimulation process will be described. In the stimulation process, after the contact is detected and the process proceeds to the stimulation process, the stimulation process can be continued for a predetermined time, and after the elapse of the predetermined time, the process can automatically proceed to the contact detection process again (step SP6). . When returning to the contact detection process after executing the stimulus process for a predetermined period, the process from the step SP1 is repeatedly performed. If the contact is detected again, the stimulus control is performed. If the contact is not detected, the contact detection process is performed until the contact is detected. Etc.

  For example, in order to give the user a feeling of pressing an icon, typically, a stimulus of about 100 Hz (about every 10 ms) may be given 3 to 10 times, and the time required for this is about 0.1 seconds. It becomes.

  Further, in the case of automatically shifting to contact detection after the elapse of a predetermined time in this manner, it is not necessary to observe the voltage and current in the observation unit 32 because the process does not return to the contact detection process during the stimulation process period. During the period of the stimulation process, the observation unit 32 does not need to observe a change in the value of the current flowing between the current source 31 and each electrode, and the process is simplified.

  On the other hand, the current value control corresponding to the skin state is performed by measuring the resistance value during the stimulation pulse by observing the change of the current value or the voltage value by the observation unit 32 even during the stimulation process. It becomes possible. That is, it is also possible to use the observation result of the observation unit 32 during the stimulus process, stop the stimulus process halfway, and shift to the contact detection process. Specifically, according to the observation value of the observation unit 32, if no stimulation current is flowing during the stimulation process, it can be determined that there is no contact with the user's finger or the like. It is also possible to return to the contact detection process. Specifically, this method is more effective when the stimulation processing time cannot be predicted in advance or when the stimulation processing time is short. For example, a piano keyboard is displayed, and high-speed repeated strikes are performed on the keyboard. When it is necessary to grasp, for example, the observation value of the observation unit 32 may be monitored during the stimulus process, and the process may return to the contact detection process as soon as it is determined that there is no contact.

  As a result, the stimulation process is performed only while the user's finger or the like is in contact, and the contact detection process is performed during the other period, thereby saving power and more quickly detecting the next contact of the user's finger or the like. The effect that it can be performed is produced.

  Further, the stimulation process and the contact detection process may be mixed depending on the area of the touch panel 104. That is, as shown in FIG. 5B, it is also possible to execute the contact detection process for the area of the icon 130 of the program B while performing the stimulation process for the area of the icon 130 of the program A. It is. Specifically, the stimulation power is supplied to each of the 16 electrodes arranged in the area of the icon 130 of the program A. For example, the time for connecting each electrode to the power source for stimulation is 0.1 ms × 16 = 1.6 ms, that is, the stimulation process in the region can be completed once with 1.6 ms. Next, with respect to the 16 power supplies arranged in the area of the icon 130 of the program B, as shown in FIG. Contact detection can be performed. In this case, the time required for one contact detection is, for example, 0.1 ms.

  In addition, as described above, the current source 31 is individually provided for the monitoring region 60, or the electrodes are connected in parallel for each monitoring region 60 and connected to the current source 31 in parallel for each monitoring region 60. It is of course possible to perform the contact detection process in the other monitoring area 60 while setting the monitoring area 60 as the stimulation area and executing the stimulation process. For example, in the case of a multi-touch interface, parallel processing is required for each monitoring area 60 in this way.

  Next, another example of the monitoring area 60 set by the contact detection control unit 21 will be described. As described above, in the present embodiment, in the contact detection process, an area smaller than the touch panel area is set as the monitoring area 60, and contact detection is performed on a part or all of the monitoring area 60 at a time. That is, instead of detecting which electrode a user's finger or the like is in contact with, the region where contact is expected is predicted as appropriate, and contact detection is simultaneously performed on one or a plurality of electrodes in the grouped region. As a result, the time required for one contact detection is greatly reduced, and high-speed contact detection is possible.

  7 to 10 show different contact detection methods in the contact detection control unit 21. FIG. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the monitoring area set by the contact detection control unit 21 is not limited to a rectangular area. FIG. 7A shows an example in which a monitoring area is set in the column direction, and FIG. 7B shows an example in which the monitoring area is set in a V shape. For example, when the user wants to determine whether or not he / she is touching a certain line, all the electrodes on that line are connected to the power supply potential side to form an anode, so that even if it is strip-like, it is V-shaped. Even if it exists, a contact detection process and a stimulation process can be performed similarly. For example, it is important to touch a line at the border of the window.

FIG. 8 shows the touch panel 103 using the monitoring area set in the column direction shown in FIG.
It is a figure explaining the method to perform the contact detection process of the whole touch area | region. As shown in FIGS. 8A to 8D, the column direction of the electrodes arranged in an array is set as a monitoring region. This is suitable, for example, when the column direction can be touched anywhere, such as an application for playing a piano keyboard, and only the contact position information in the horizontal direction is important. In this example, the monitoring region is composed of one row of electrodes. However, if a plurality of rows are used, contact detection in a wider area can be performed simultaneously, so that the detection process can be speeded up.

  As shown in FIG. 8A, one row (vertical column) of the monitoring region is set at the left end, only the electrode of this monitoring region is set as the power supply potential electrode 61, and the electrode of the other region is set as the ground potential electrode 62. Perform contact detection with. By shifting the monitoring area by one column as shown in FIGS. 8B to 8D, contact detection can be performed for the entire region in a time of 0.1 × number of columns. Further, in this case, it is possible to detect which column is touching, but when it is desired to detect the position on the column (the number of the row), a monitoring area of one row is set, and 1 from the upper end or the lower end is also set. By sequentially scanning the monitoring region with all the electrodes constituting the rows (rows) as the power supply potential electrodes 61 and the other electrodes as the ground potential electrodes 62, contact can be made in any column (vertical) and row (horizontal). It can be detected. Further, by sequentially scanning the region in the column direction or the row direction as the stimulation region in this way, it is possible to express unevenness such as a scroll bar.

  Furthermore, FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a more simplified stepwise approach. As described above, one or a plurality of monitoring areas consisting of one or a plurality of columns are set out of electrodes arranged in an array in the touch panel area, the monitoring area is the power supply potential electrode 61 (anode), and the other electrodes are grounded. It is determined which column is touched as the potential electrode 62 (cathode). Similarly, one or a plurality of monitoring areas consisting of one or a plurality of rows are set, and the same processing is performed for the rows (row direction), thereby detecting which row is touched. Thereby, since the vertical contact area and the horizontal contact area are determined, the contact point exists in the crossed area. Therefore, more accurate contact determination can be performed by determining contact of the crossed areas one by one. In the case of a single touch application (operating with only one finger), the center of gravity of the contact can be found from only the contact determination results in the column and row, and this is sufficient.

  When the monitoring region 60 in the column direction is not a single column but a region composed of, for example, four columns, the power supply potential electrode 61 and the ground potential electrode 62 are generated (arranged) so that adjacent electrodes have different potentials. ) The same applies to the monitoring area 60 in the row direction. Further, when a plurality of current sources 31 are provided, even if there are a plurality of monitoring regions in the column direction, the same number of monitoring regions as the current sources 31 can be contact-inspected at the same time. Even if it exists, a contact processing speed can be maintained. In addition, when there is one current source 31, the cross area is increased by the vertical and horizontal band-shaped monitoring areas 60, but the cross area may be contact-inspected as necessary.

  Next, a method that is extremely suitable when it is not necessary to set a predetermined monitoring area in the touch panel area, that is, when contact detection is necessary in the entire touch panel area will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another example of the monitoring area setting method.

  As shown in FIG. 10, an area that the user may touch on the touch panel 103 is divided into four areas, for example, and four monitoring areas 60 are set. Then, the contact detection control unit 21 performs contact detection on the four monitoring areas 60 in a time division manner. In the example shown in FIG. 10, compared with the conventional method in which 64 × 0.1 ms is required for one contact detection, any one of the regions of the array electrode 50 takes 4 × 0.1 ms, that is, 1/16 of the time. It is possible to detect whether there is a user contact in the monitoring area.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 10B, any one of the above-described four divided areas where contact is detected is further divided into four to set a new monitoring area 70. Similarly, these four divided areas are set as a new monitoring area 60, and similarly, contact detection is performed in time division. Then, which electrode is in contact with the user's finger or the like can be detected by sequentially repeating the dividing process on the monitoring area 60. In the example shown in FIG. 10, among the four monitoring areas 60 (FIG. 10A), four monitoring areas 70 are set from the monitoring area 60 that detected the contact (time 10 (b), and further contact is detected. 10 shows an example in which four monitoring areas 80 are set from the monitoring area 70. In this case, (4 + 4 + 4) × 0.1 ms = 1.2 ms, and one touch on the touch panel 103 as a whole. Furthermore, in the example shown in Fig. 10, it is only necessary to repeat the same division process, and the control becomes easier, where the contact detection of the monitoring region 60 is performed as in the above example. The anodes are arranged in a checkered pattern with respect to the electrodes in the monitoring region 60. Thus, any position in the monitoring region 60 can be detected.

  For example, when the monitoring area such as an icon area displayed on the touch panel is clear in advance, the method shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 described above is suitable, but in the example shown in FIG. Even when it is not possible to predict a predetermined monitoring area, by performing hierarchical scanning on the entire area of the touch screen, contact sensing can be performed more quickly than by scanning the electrodes one by one and detecting contact. It is possible to speed up contact detection. Furthermore, the method of setting the V-shaped area shown in FIG. 7B as the monitoring area, the method of setting one or more columns or rows shown in FIG. 9 as the monitoring area, and the divided area shown in FIG. 10 as the monitoring area. The contact detection process may be performed by combining two or more methods among the methods set to “1”.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the hardware configuration has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and arbitrary processing may be realized by causing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) to execute a computer program. Is possible. In this case, the computer program can be stored using various types of non-transitory computer readable media and supplied to the computer. Non-transitory computer readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (for example, flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (for example, magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / W and semiconductor memory (for example, mask ROM, PROM (Programmable ROM), EPROM (Erasable PROM), flash ROM, RAM (random access memory)) are included. The program may also be supplied to the computer by various types of transitory computer readable media. Examples of transitory computer readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The temporary computer-readable medium can supply the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electric wire and an optical fiber, or a wireless communication path.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Electric tactile sense presentation apparatus 10 Main board 12 Wireless processing part 11 Application processor 13 Main memory 14 Flash memory 15 Power supply management part 16 Voice circuit 17 Audio circuit 18 Sensor 20 Switching control circuit 21 Contact detection control part 22 Stimulation control part 31 Current source 32 Observation unit 40 Switching circuit 41 Electrode selection switching unit 50 Array electrode 51 Electrode 60, 70, 80 Monitoring area 61 Power supply potential electrode 62 Ground potential electrode 100 Smartphone 101 Housing 102 Liquid crystal panel 103 Touch panel 104 Operation button 105 Camera device 106 Camera device 107 Microphone 108 Speaker 109 Battery 110 USB
111 Memory Card 112 Antenna 121 Baseband Processor 122 Wireless LAN
123 Bluetooth
130 Icon area 200 Electric tactile display device 201 PC
202 Current source 203 Switching circuit 204 Array electrode 205 Ground 231 Half bridge circuit 241 Stimulation electrode S1 Upper switch S2 Lower switch S101 Upper switch S102 Lower switch

Claims (22)

A first power supply that generates two or more power supply potentials;
A second power supply for supplying a reference voltage having a potential different from the power supply potential;
A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user;
A plurality of electrode selection switching means provided corresponding to each of the electrodes and connected in parallel to each other between the first power source and the second power source;
Observation means for observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the electrode selection switching means;
A switching control circuit for controlling the plurality of electrode selection switching means according to the observation result of the observation means,
The electrode selection switching means includes first and second switches connected in series between the first power source and the second power source,
The first power source generates a contact detection power source for detecting whether or not the contact body has touched the touch screen area, and a stimulation power source for stimulating the contact body,
The switching control circuit sets one or more monitoring areas that are smaller than the touch screen area in the touch screen area, and sets the observation result of the observation means when generating the contact detection power source of the first power source. In response, a contact detection control means for performing contact detection processing for detecting contact of the contact body with the monitoring area, and a stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area are set based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected. An electrical tactile sensation presentation apparatus comprising: a stimulus control unit that executes a stimulus process for applying a stimulus to the contact body with respect to the stimulus region using the stimulus power source. The contact detection control unit sets a first monitoring area and a second monitoring area having a higher probability of contact with the contact body than the first monitoring area for the touch screen area, The electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the contact detection process in the second monitoring area is executed at a higher speed than in the first monitoring area. The electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the contact detection control unit performs the contact detection process only on the second monitoring region. The contact detection control means sets two or more second monitoring areas for the touch screen area and executes the contact detection processing of each second monitoring area in a time-sharing manner,
The electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the stimulus control unit sets the second monitoring region in which contact is detected by the contact detection control unit as the stimulus region and executes the stimulus detection process. The contact detection control means executes the contact detection processing in a time division manner with respect to the plurality of monitoring areas, with a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing the touch screen area into two or more as a plurality of monitoring areas. Electric tactile presentation device. When it is determined that a contact is detected in any of the plurality of monitoring areas, the contact detection control unit monitors a plurality of divided areas obtained by newly dividing the monitoring area in which the contact is detected into two or more. The electric tactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the contact detection process is performed in a time-sharing manner for the plurality of reset monitoring areas. The stimulation control means sets the area where contact of the contact body is detected in the final plurality of monitoring areas where the resetting of the contact detection control means is completed as the stimulation area, and executes the stimulation process. 6. The electric tactile sensation presentation device according to 6. The plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in the touch screen area or the divided area,
The contact detection control means includes a first scanning process in which a monitoring region is set in one of the rows or columns of the plurality of electrodes in the array and the entire region is scanned, and the row or column Performing any one or a combination thereof with the second scanning process for setting the monitoring region in the other direction and scanning the entire area as the contact detection process,
The electrical tactile sensation presentation according to claim 1, wherein the stimulation control unit sets the stimulation region according to an observation result of the observation unit in the contact detection processing and executes the stimulation processing. apparatus. The plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in a region where contact is detected by the contact detection control means,
The contact detection control means includes a plurality of divided regions obtained by dividing a region where contact is detected into two or more as a plurality of monitoring regions, a time division process for performing contact detection in time division on the plurality of monitoring regions, and a contact In combination with a scanning process in which contact detection is performed by setting a monitoring area in one or both of the row and column directions of the array-like electrode in the area where the detection is detected and scanning the entire area. Execute the contact detection process
The electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the stimulation control unit sets the stimulation region according to an observation result of the observation unit in the time division processing and the scanning processing and executes the stimulation processing. A necessary number of the first power supplies are provided so that a predetermined number or less of the electrode selection switching means are connected in parallel to one first power supply.
The electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The required number of the first power supplies is a number that allows the contact detection processing in one monitoring area to be executed in less than a predetermined time when the contact detection control unit sets the plurality of monitoring areas. Item 10. The electric tactile sense presentation device according to Item 10. A first power supply that generates two or more power supply potentials;
A second power supply for supplying a reference voltage having a potential different from the power supply potential;
A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user;
A plurality of electrode selection switching means provided corresponding to each of the electrodes and connected in parallel to each other between the first power source and the second power source;
In the control method of the electric tactile sensation presentation device for detecting and stimulating the contact of the contact body including the user's finger and the operation means operated by the user by the plurality of electrodes,
An observation step of observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the plurality of electrode selection switching means;
A switching control step of controlling the plurality of electrode selection switching means according to the observation result of the observation step,
The switching control step includes
One or more monitoring areas that are smaller than the touch screen area are set in the touch screen area, and the first power source detects whether the contact body has touched the touch screen area or not. A contact detection control step for performing a contact detection process for detecting contact of the contact body with the monitoring region according to an observation result of the observation step, while generating a power source for detection;
A stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area is set based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected, and the stimulation power source for applying stimulation to the contact body generated by the first power source is used. A control method for an electrotactile sensation presentation device, comprising: a stimulus control step of executing a stimulus process for applying a stimulus to the contact body with respect to a stimulus region. In the contact detection control step, for the touch screen area, a first monitoring area and a second monitoring area having a higher probability of contact with the contact body than the first monitoring area are set, The method for controlling an electrotactile sensation presentation device according to claim 12, wherein the contact detection process in the second monitoring area is executed at a higher speed than in the first monitoring area. The method of controlling an electric tactile sensation presentation device according to claim 13, wherein, in the contact detection control step, the contact detection process is executed only for the second monitoring region. In the contact detection control step, two or more second monitoring areas are set for the touch screen area, and the contact detection processing of each second monitoring area is executed in a time-sharing manner,
The control method of the electrotactile sensation presentation device according to claim 14, wherein, in the stimulus control step, the stimulus detection process is executed by setting the second monitoring region where the contact is detected in the contact detection control step as the stimulus region. The contact detection control step executes the contact detection process in a time-sharing manner with respect to the plurality of monitoring regions, with a plurality of divided regions obtained by dividing the touch screen region into two or more as a plurality of monitoring regions. A method for controlling an electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus. In the contact detection control step, when it is determined that contact is detected in any of the plurality of monitoring regions, a plurality of divided regions obtained by newly dividing the monitoring region in which the contact is detected into two or more are monitored. The method of controlling an electric tactile sensation presentation device according to claim 16, wherein the touch detection process is performed in a time-sharing manner for a plurality of reset monitoring areas. The stimulation control step sets the region where contact of the contact body is detected in the final plurality of monitoring regions where the resetting of the contact detection control step is completed as the stimulation region, and executes the stimulation process. The control method of the electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus according to claim 17. The plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in the touch screen area or the divided area,
In the contact detection control step, a first scanning process in which a monitoring region is set in one direction of either the row or column of the plurality of electrodes in the array and the entire region is scanned, and the row or column Performing any one or a combination thereof with the second scanning process for setting the monitoring region in the other direction and scanning the entire area as the contact detection process,
19. The electric tactile sensation presentation device according to claim 12, wherein in the stimulus control step, the stimulus region is set according to an observation result of the observation step in the contact detection process and the stimulus process is executed. Control method. The plurality of electrodes are arranged in an array in a region where contact is detected by the contact detection control step,
In the contact detection control step, a plurality of divided areas obtained by dividing a region where contact is detected into two or more are set as a plurality of monitoring areas, and time division processing for performing contact detection in a time division manner on the plurality of monitoring areas; In combination with a scanning process in which contact detection is performed by setting a monitoring area in one or both of the row and column directions of the array-like electrode in the area where the detection is detected and scanning the entire area. Execute the contact detection process
The method for controlling an electrotactile sensation presentation device according to claim 12, wherein in the stimulus control step, the stimulus region is set according to an observation result of the observation step in the time-sharing process and the scanning process and the stimulus process is executed. A first power supply that generates two or more power supply potentials;
A second power supply for supplying a reference voltage having a potential different from the power supply potential;
A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user;
A plurality of electrode selection switching means provided corresponding to each of the electrodes and connected in parallel to each other between the first power source and the second power source;
In the electrotactile sensation presentation apparatus having an observing means for observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the plurality of electrode selection switching means, the plurality of electrodes allow the user's finger and the user to A program for causing a computer to execute a process of detecting and stimulating contact of a contact body including an operating means for operating,
One or more monitoring areas that are smaller than the touch screen area are set in the touch screen area, and the first power source detects whether the contact body has touched the touch screen area or not. A contact detection control process for executing a contact detection process for detecting a contact of the contact body with respect to the monitoring region according to an observation result of the observation process, while generating a power source for detection;
A stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area is set based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected, and the stimulation power source for applying stimulation to the contact body generated by the first power source is used. A stimulation control process for executing a stimulation process for applying a stimulus to the contact body with respect to a stimulation area. A portable device having an electrotactile display,
The electrotactile display is
A first power supply that generates two or more power supply potentials;
A second power supply for supplying a reference voltage having a potential different from the power supply potential;
A plurality of electrodes arranged in a touch screen area in contact with a contact body including a user's finger and an operation means operated by the user;
A plurality of electrode selection switching means provided corresponding to each of the electrodes and connected in parallel to each other between the first power source and the second power source;
Observation means for observing a change in current value or voltage value between the first power source and the electrode selection switching means;
A switching control circuit for controlling the plurality of electrode selection switching means according to the observation result of the observation means,
The electrode selection switching means includes first and second switches connected in series between the first power source and the second power source,
The first power source generates a contact detection power source for detecting whether or not the contact body has touched the touch screen area, and a stimulation power source for stimulating the contact body,
The switching control circuit sets one or more monitoring areas that are smaller than the touch screen area in the touch screen area, and sets the observation result of the observation means when generating the contact detection power source of the first power source. In response, a contact detection control means for performing contact detection processing for detecting contact of the contact body with the monitoring area, and a stimulation area that is smaller than the touch screen area are set based on the monitoring area where the contact is detected. A portable device having an electrotactile display, comprising: a stimulus control unit that executes a stimulus process for applying a stimulus to the contact body with respect to the stimulus region using the stimulus power source.

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