JP2019086811A - Touch panel apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a touch panel apparatus capable of improving versatility of button press detection.SOLUTION: A touch panel apparatus includes: a plurality of button areas provided on one of a pair of transparent conductive films disposed opposite to each other; low resistance frame parts provided on respective outer edges of the plurality of button areas; and high resistance connection parts connecting between adjacent button areas among the plurality of button areas. The plurality of button areas are electrically connected in series between a pair of electrodes provided on the transparent conductive film.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 7

Description

  The present disclosure relates to a touch panel device.

  A partial area of the 4-wire touch panel is used as a button input area (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-151728

  In the configuration in which the conventional button input area is provided, it is necessary to determine the button number corresponding to the XY coordinate value on the resistive film. That is, each button in the button input area is associated with the XY coordinate value, and the pressed button is determined based on the coordinate value detected at the time of pressing. In such a detection method, when the button design is changed, the correspondence between the button and the XY coordinate values also needs to be sequentially changed according to the change.

  This indication is made in view of the above, and aims at providing a touch panel device which can improve versatility of button press detection.

  A touch panel device according to one aspect of an embodiment of the present invention is a touch panel device including a pair of transparent conductive films disposed to face each other, and a plurality of button areas provided on one of the pair of transparent conductive films A low resistance frame portion provided on an outer edge of each of the plurality of button areas, and a high resistance connection portion connecting between adjacent button areas of the plurality of button areas, the plurality of button areas Are electrically connected in series between a pair of electrodes provided on the transparent conductive film.

  According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide a touch panel device capable of enhancing the versatility of button press detection.

Sectional view of a four-wire touch panel device according to an embodiment A perspective view of a four-wire touch panel device according to an embodiment The figure which shows the 1st reference example which provided the button input area in the transparent conductive film. The figure which shows the voltage gradient characteristic in the button input area in FIG. 3 The figure which shows the 2nd reference example which provided the button input area in the transparent conductive film. The figure which shows the voltage gradient characteristic in the button input area in FIG. 5 The figure which shows the structure of embodiment which provided the button input area in the transparent conductive film The figure which shows the voltage gradient characteristic in the button input area in FIG. 7 The figure which shows an example of the laminated structure of the button input area in FIG. 7 Diagram showing two different layout examples of button input area A diagram showing voltage gradient characteristics in the layout example shown in FIG. A diagram showing an example of a multi-row button connection structure Diagram showing another example of multi-row button connection structure Figure showing an example of another form of high resistance connection

  Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In order to facilitate understanding of the description, the same constituent elements in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals as much as possible, and redundant description will be omitted.

  First, the touch panel device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the touch panel device 1 according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the touch panel device 1. In each figure, the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction are directions perpendicular to each other, the X-axis direction is the extending direction of one opposite side of the rectangular transparent conductive films 30 and 40, and the Y-axis direction is transparent. It is the extending direction of the other opposite side of the conductive films 30 and 40.

  The touch panel device 1 according to the present embodiment is a resistive film type four-wire touch panel device. The resistive film type touch panel is installed such that the transparent conductive films formed on the upper electrode substrate and the lower electrode substrate are opposed to each other, and each transparent conductive film is applied by applying a force to one point of the upper electrode substrate Detection of the contact position of

  As shown in FIG. 1, in the four-wire touch panel device 1, a film 10 serving as an upper electrode substrate having a transparent conductive film 30 formed on one surface and a lower portion having a transparent conductive film 40 formed on one surface It has the glass 20 used as an electrode substrate, and the transparent conductive film 30 and the transparent conductive film 40 are connected via the spacer 50 so that it may oppose. Such a touch panel is electrically connected to a host computer or the like by a cable (not shown). The material of the transparent conductive films 30 and 40 is, for example, ITO (Indium Tin Oxide).

  As shown in FIG. 2, electrodes 31 and 32 are provided on the film 10 at both ends in the X-axis direction of the surface on which the transparent conductive film 30 is formed, along the Y-axis direction. Electrodes 41 and 42 are provided on the glass 20 at both ends in the Y-axis direction of the surface on which the transparent conductive film 40 is formed, along the X-axis direction.

  In such a touch panel device 1, when detecting the position of the point P in contact with the touch panel, a voltage is applied to the electrode 31 and the electrode 32 in the upper electrode substrate. In the present embodiment, for example, the electrode 31 is grounded (0 V), and the power supply voltage VDD (for example, 5 V) is applied to the electrode 32. At this time, a voltage is applied to the transparent conductive film 30 so that a potential gradient is generated in the X-axis direction by the electrodes 31 and 32. When the transparent conductive film 30 and the transparent conductive film 40 are in contact at the point P, the potential at the point P can be detected from the transparent conductive film 40. The X coordinate at the point P can be detected based on the detected potential.

  Similarly, a voltage is applied to the electrode 41 and the electrode 42 in the lower electrode substrate, for example, the electrode 41 is grounded, and the power supply voltage VDD is applied to the electrode 42. At this time, a voltage is applied to the transparent conductive film 40 so that a potential gradient is generated in the Y-axis direction by the electrodes 41 and 42. When the transparent conductive film 30 and the transparent conductive film 40 come in contact with each other at the point P, the potential at the point P can be detected from the transparent conductive film 30. The Y coordinate at the point P can be detected based on the detected potential.

  The touch panel device 1 according to the present embodiment has a display input area 51 for displaying an image and inputting information in the transparent conductive film 40 by physically dividing the transparent conductive film 40 of the lower electrode substrate by inserting slits 53 therein; A button input area 52 for performing input by button operation is provided (see FIG. 7).

  First, with reference to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, the reference example which physically divides the transparent conductive film 40 and provides the button input area 52 will be described. FIG. 3 is a view showing a first reference example in which the button input area 52 is provided in the transparent conductive film 40. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the first reference example, a slit 53 extending in the Y direction is provided in the transparent conductive film 40, and the transparent conductive film 40 is divided into two in the X direction by the slit 53. In the example of FIG. 3, the left side (X negative direction side) of the figure is the display input area 51, and the right side (X positive direction side) of the figure is the button input area 52.

  Both the display input area 51 and the button input area 52 are provided with electrodes 41 and 42 at both ends in the Y-axis direction, and voltages are applied such that a potential gradient is generated in the Y-axis direction by the electrodes 41 and 42. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing voltage gradient characteristics in the button input area 52 in FIG. The horizontal axis in FIG. 4 indicates the position between the electrodes 41 and 42 in the button input area 52, and the vertical axis in FIG. 4 indicates the applied voltage.

  In the first reference example, as shown in FIG. 3, the button input area 52 is a single area, and this area includes the electrodes 41 and 42. Therefore, as shown by the arrow in FIG. 3, a voltage drop occurs in the direction from point A of electrode 42 to which power supply potential VDD is applied to point B of electrode 41 to which the ground potential is applied. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, the voltage gradient characteristic of the button input area 52 monotonously decreases from the point A of the electrode 42 to the point B of the electrode 41.

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, a second reference example will be described in which the transparent conductive film 40 is physically divided to provide the button input area 52. FIG. FIG. 5 is a view showing a second reference example in which the button input area 52 is provided in the transparent conductive film 40. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 5, in the second reference example, the button input area 52 divided by the slits 53 from the display input area 51 in FIG. 3 is further divided into a plurality of button areas 52A, 52B, 52C. In the second reference example, the button input area 52 is divided into a plurality in the Y direction by the plurality of slits 54 provided in the button input area 52 and extending in the X direction. In the example of FIG. 5, a power supply electrode area 52D including an electrode 42 connected to the power supply potential, a first button area 52A, a second button area 52B, a third button area 52C, and an electrode connected to the ground potential 41 including a ground electrode area 52E including these elements 41, which are arranged in series along the Y direction.

  Furthermore, in the second embodiment, a high resistance connection portion 55 is provided to connect between the power supply electrode area 52D, the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, the third button area 52C, and the ground electrode area 52E. It is done. The connection portion 55 is provided as a bridge of the slits 54 between the areas. Thereby, the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C are electrically connected to the electrodes 41 and 42.

  The material of the connection portion 55 is a material (for example, a carbon-based conductive material) having a resistance value higher than that of ITO which is a material of the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C.

  Also in the second reference example, as in the first reference example, in the button input area 52, a voltage is generated so that a potential gradient is generated in the Y-axis direction by the electrodes 41 and 42 provided at both ends in the Y-axis direction. Applied. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing voltage gradient characteristics in button input area 52 in FIG. The horizontal and vertical axes in FIG. 6 are the same as in FIG.

  In the second reference example, as shown in FIG. 5, the button input area 52 is arranged in series in the Y direction between the electrodes 41 and 42, and is connected in series with the first button area 52A by the connection portion 55. , The second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C. In the button input area 52, a voltage drop occurs in the direction from the point A of the electrode 42 to which the power supply potential VDD is applied to the point B of the electrode 41 to which the ground potential is applied. The voltage gradient characteristic of the button input area 52 is relatively reduced at the connection portion 55 as shown in FIG. 6, and is relatively relative to the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C. The decrease is

  Next, with reference to FIGS. 7-9, the structure which divides the transparent conductive film 40 physically, and provides the button input area 52 based on this embodiment is demonstrated. FIG. 7 is a view showing the configuration of an embodiment in which the button input area 52 is provided in the transparent conductive film 40. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 7, in the present embodiment, a low resistance frame portion 56 is provided. The frame portion 56 is provided at the outer edge of the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C. The material of the frame portion 56 is a material (for example, silver) having a resistance value lower than that of ITO which is a material of the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C. The first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C are connected in series by connecting the frame portions 56 with each other by the connection portion 55 with high resistance. That is, in the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C, the connection portions 55 and the frame portions 56 are alternately arranged and electrically connected.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram showing voltage gradient characteristics in the button input area 52 of FIG. The horizontal and vertical axes in FIG. 8 are the same as in FIGS. 4 and 6. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C are surrounded by the frame portion 56. For this reason, as shown in FIG. 8, in the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C, current mainly passes through the frame portion 56, and a voltage drop does not occur. It becomes fixed value. Further, since the button areas 52A to 52C are connected by the connection portion 55 and a voltage drop occurs, the voltage values of the button areas 52A to 52C become different, and the potential becomes higher as it is closer to the electrode 42. The lower the potential, the closer it is. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the voltage values of the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C are different constant values.

  FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the laminated structure of the button input area 52 of FIG. The laminated structure shown in FIG. 9 can be produced, for example, by the following procedure. First, slits 53 and 54 are formed in the transparent conductive film 40 formed on the upper surface of the glass 20 using a method such as etching or laser. The transparent conductive film 40 is divided into the display input area 51 and the button input area 52 by the slits 53 (see FIG. 7), and the transparent conductive film 40 is divided into the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the It is divided into 3 button areas 52C.

  Next, the connection portion 55 is formed between the button areas 52A to 52C by a method such as printing. The connection portion 55 is provided on each button area 52A to 52C across the slit 54. The connection unit 55 connects the first button area 52A and the second button area 52B, and connects the second button area 52B and the third button area 52C.

  Furthermore, a frame portion 56 is formed on the outer edge of the first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C by a method such as printing. The frame portion 56 is provided on each button area and the connection portion 55.

  The effects of the touch panel device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. The touch panel device 1 includes a pair of transparent conductive films 30 and 40 disposed to face each other. The touch panel device 1 includes a plurality of button areas (a first button area 52A, a second button area 52B, and a third button area 52C) provided on one of the pair of transparent conductive films 30 and 40 (the transparent conductive film 40 in the present embodiment). And a frame portion 56 provided on the outer edge of each of the button areas 52A to 52C, and a connection portion 55 for connecting adjacent button areas of the button areas 52A to 52C. The first button area 52A, the second button area 52B, and the third button area 52C are electrically connected in series between the electrodes 41 and 42 provided on the transparent conductive film 40.

  With this configuration, as described with reference to FIG. 8, when a voltage is applied to the electrodes 41 and 42, a voltage drop occurs at the connection portion 55 connecting the button areas 52A to 52C, and the button areas 52A to 52C In 52C, voltage is applied to the frame portion 56, and therefore no voltage drop occurs. For this reason, the voltage values detected when the button areas 52A to 52C are pressed can be made different constant values, so that the correspondence between the button areas 52A to 52C and the voltage values can be made clearer, and button operation Detection accuracy can be improved.

  Here, with reference to FIG.10 and FIG.11, matching with several button area 52A-52C and a voltage value is further demonstrated. FIG. 10 shows two different layout examples of the button input area 52. As shown in FIG. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing voltage gradient characteristics in the layout example shown in FIG. The horizontal and vertical axes in FIG. 11 are the same as in FIGS. 4, 6, and 8, respectively. The solid line in FIG. 11 indicates the voltage gradient characteristic of the layout example (a) of FIG. 10, and the dotted line of FIG. 11 indicates the voltage gradient characteristic of the layout example (b) of FIG.

  The voltage value of each button area of the button input area 52 is determined by the number of button areas between the electrodes 41 and 42 (see FIG. 7). For example, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, consider two configurations in which the number of button areas is common and the sizes of the button areas are different. FIG. 10A shows an example in which four button areas (the button 1a, the button 2a, the button 3a, and the button 4a) have the same size. On the other hand, FIG. 10B shows an example in which the sizes of four button areas (button 1 b, button 2 b, button 3 b, and button 4 b) are not identical. The button 1 b and the button 2 b in FIG. 10 (b) are smaller than the button 1 a and the button 2 a in FIG. 10 (a). Further, the button 3 b of FIG. 10 (b) is larger than the button 3 a of FIG. 10 (a).

  In the configurations shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, since the number of button areas provided in the button input area 52 is the same, the number of connection parts 55 disposed between the respective buttons is also the same. As described above, in the button input area 52, a voltage drop occurs at the connection 55. Therefore, when the voltage gradient characteristics shown in FIGS. 10 (a) and 10 (b) are compared as shown in FIG. 11, in the button areas in the same order from the power supply potential VDD, there is a deviation in the horizontal axis direction. The voltage values on the vertical axis are the same. That is, in the configurations of FIGS. 10A and 10B, although the layout of the button areas is different, the voltage values of the button areas are the same in the same order from the high potential side. Thus, in either of the configurations shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, which button is pressed can be detected using a common controller in which the button area and the voltage value are associated with each other.

  As described above, if the number of button areas 52A to 52C in the button input area 52 is the same due to the configuration of the button input area 52 according to the present embodiment, each button area is different even if the size or arrangement of each button area is different. It is not necessary to change the correspondence between the voltage value and the voltage value, and the button detection method can be made common. Therefore, the touch panel device 1 of the present embodiment can enhance the versatility of button press detection.

  Further, the touch panel device 1 according to the present embodiment is provided with the slits 53 and 54 which are formed on the transparent conductive film 40 and divide the plurality of button areas 52A to 52C. When the transparent conductive film 40 intervenes between the button areas, the resistance value between the button areas is smaller than the resistance value of the connection 55 because the resistance between the button areas is the combined resistance of the connection 55 and the transparent conductive film 40. In some cases, voltage drop between areas may not be obtained sufficiently. On the other hand, by physically dividing the button areas 52A to 52C by the slits 53 and 54, the connection portions between the button areas 52A to 52C can be narrowed to only the connection portion 55, so that the button areas 52A to 52C are separated. The voltage drop can be reliably performed by sufficiently increasing the resistance of the connection portion of Thereby, the difference of the voltage value of each button area 52A-52C can be enlarged, and the detection precision of button operation can further be improved.

Further, in the touch panel device 1 of the present embodiment, the resistance value R _AB between the pair of electrodes 41 and 42 in the button input area 52 is larger than the resistance value R _CD between the pair of electrodes 41 and 42 in the display input area 51. Is preferred.

As described above, the display input area 51 and the button input area 52 are divided by the slits 53 provided along the opposing direction of the electrodes 41 and 42 provided on the transparent conductive film 40, and arranged in parallel to the electrodes 41 and 42. It is done. When the resistance value of the button input area 52 is smaller than the resistance value of the display input area 51, more current flows in the button input area 52, and the current flowing in the display input area 51 decreases. For this reason, there is a possibility that the position accuracy of touch position detection in the display input area 51 may be lost. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the positional accuracy of the display input area 51 can be prevented from being impaired by adjusting the resistance values of both the areas 51 and 52 so that R _AB > R _{CD as} described above.

Here, an adjustment method for realizing such a relationship of resistance values will be described. The resistance value R _CD between the electrodes 41 and 42 in the display input area 51 can be calculated by the following equation (1).

Resistance R _CD幅 width H × length L × resistivity of material (ITO) (1)
Here, the width H is a dimension of the display input area 51 in the X direction as shown in FIG. The length L is the Y-direction distance between the electrodes 41 and 42 as shown in FIG.

Resistance _{R AB} between the electrodes 41 and 42 in the button input area 52 can be calculated by the following equation (2).

Resistance R _AB ((resistance value of connection portion 55 × (number of buttons + 1)) +
(Resistance value of frame portion 56 in button area × number of buttons) (2)

  As in the above equations (1) and (2), the resistance value of the display input area 51 is determined by the resistivity of the transparent conductive film 40 and the size ratio of the area. The resistance value of the button input area 52 is determined by the number of buttons, the resistance value of the connection portion 55, and the resistance value of the frame portion 56.

  If the material of the transparent conductive film 40 is not changed, the resistance value of the display input area 51 can not be changed, so to make the resistance value of the display input area 51 lower than the resistance value of the button input area 52, It is necessary to increase the resistance of the button input area 52.

  The resistance value of the button input area 52 is mainly determined by the resistance value of the connection portion 55 and the number of buttons, but if the number of buttons is structurally fixed, the resistance value of the connection portion 55 is adjusted. For example, the resistance value of the connection portion 55 is increased such that the following equation (3) holds.

Resistance R _CD of Display Input Area 51 <
(Resistance value of connection portion 55 × (number of buttons + 1)) (3)

  As a method of increasing the resistance value of the connection portion 55, for example, the connection portion 55 is formed of a material having high resistance to ITO which is a material of the transparent conductive film 40, the cross-sectional area of the connection portion 55 is reduced, It can be mentioned.

  When a plurality of button areas of the button input area 52 are provided in a plurality of rows between the electrodes 41 and 42, in the touch panel device 1 of the present embodiment, the button area is connected between one electrode 42 and the other electrode 41 It is connected in a one-stroke manner by the unit 55.

  FIG. 12 is a view showing an example of the button connection structure of a plurality of rows, and FIG. 13 is a view showing another example of the button connection structure of the plurality of rows. The one-stroke connection means, for example, a structure connected in a zigzag manner along the X direction as shown in FIG. 12, a structure connected in a zigzag manner along the Y direction as shown in FIG. Contains a combination of In FIG. 12 and FIG. 13, the connection order of each button area from the electrode 42 on the power supply potential VDD side is indicated by a continuous number. Each button area outputs a voltage value so as to decrease in the order of this number.

  By connecting the button areas in a single writing like this, even when a plurality of button areas are provided between the electrodes 41 and 42 of the transparent conductive film 40, each button area is electrically connected in series between the electrodes 41 and 42. The voltage value of each button area can be different.

  The present embodiment has been described above with reference to the specific example. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these specific examples. Those appropriately modified in design by those skilled in the art are also included in the scope of the present disclosure as long as the features of the present disclosure are included. The elements included in the above-described specific examples, and the arrangement, conditions, and shapes thereof are not limited to those illustrated, but can be appropriately modified. The elements included in the above-described specific examples can be appropriately changed in combination as long as no technical contradiction arises.

  Although the configuration in which the button input area 52 is provided in the transparent conductive film 40 is illustrated in the above embodiment, the button input area 52 may be provided in either the transparent conductive film 30 or the transparent conductive film 40. The button input area 52 may be provided.

  Although the configuration in which the connection portion 55 is made of a material having a resistance value higher than that of the transparent conductive film 40 is exemplified in the above embodiment, the connection portion 55 can also be made of the same material as the transparent conductive film 40. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, the button areas 52A to 52C may not be completely separated by the slits 54, and a part of the transparent conductive film 40 may be left, and the remaining portion 55A may be used as a connection. Since the remaining portion 55A is narrowed with respect to the width in the X direction of the button areas 52A to 52C, the cross-sectional area can be made smaller than when the button areas are connected by the entire width, and thereby the resistance value can be increased. .

  In the above embodiment, the configuration in which the plurality of button areas 52A to 52C are physically divided by the slits 53 and 54 is exemplified, but the button areas 52A to 52C are not physically divided by the slits 53 and 54, and one transparent conductive film Part 40 may be used as a button area. In this case, each region of the transparent conductive film 40 used as each button area 52A to 52C is surrounded by the low resistance frame portion 56, and the frame portions 56 of the respective regions are connected by the high resistance connection portion 55. Thus, a plurality of button areas 52A to 52C can be created.

Reference Signs List 1 touch panel device 30, 40 transparent conductive film 31, 32, 41, 42 electrode 51 display input area 52 button input area 52A, 52B, 52C button area 53, 54 slit 55 connection portion 56 frame portion

Claims (4)

A touch panel device comprising a pair of transparent conductive films disposed opposite to each other, comprising:
A plurality of button areas provided on one of the pair of transparent conductive films;
A low resistance frame portion provided on an outer edge of each of the plurality of button areas;
A high resistance connection portion connecting between adjacent button areas among the plurality of button areas;
Equipped with
The plurality of button areas are electrically connected in series between a pair of electrodes provided on the transparent conductive film.
Touch panel device. A slit for dividing the plurality of button areas;
The touch panel device according to claim 1. The transparent conductive film is
Display input area for image display and information input,
Including a plurality of button areas, and having a button input area for performing input by button operation;
The display input area and the button input area are divided along the opposing direction of a pair of electrodes provided on the transparent conductive film,
The resistance between the pair of electrodes in the button input area is greater than the resistance between the pair of electrodes in the display input area,
The touch panel device according to claim 1. When the plurality of button areas are provided in a plurality of rows between the pair of electrodes, the plurality of button areas are connected in a one-stroke manner by the connection portion from one of the pair of electrodes to the other.
The touch panel device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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