JP2675454B2 - Touch panel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a touch panel,
In particular, it relates to a touch panel for an operator to directly touch and input information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a keyboard has often been used as an information input device in a computer or the like. However, in recent years, a liquid crystal display element (LC
When a transparent touch panel (hereinafter, simply referred to as a touch panel) is arranged on the display surface of a display device for displaying a predetermined item by using D) and the part on the touch panel corresponding to this display item is pressed, the display item is displayed. Information input devices that are capable of inputting information of are often used.

The touch panel is classified into a transparent electrode contact type, an infrared matrix type, a capacitance type and the like depending on the detection method and the circuit method. Among them, the transparent electrode contact type is made by stacking two transparent polyester sheets, each of which has a conductive wire etched, one electrode for running in the X direction, and the other sheet for Y electrode. Electrodes that run in the direction are arranged. The electrodes of each sheet are connected by a resistance film, and the two sheets are arranged facing each other with the resistance films separated from each other. When the front sheet is pressed toward the back sheet with a finger or pen, the two sheets come into contact with each other through the resistance film, and the XY coordinates of the contact point are transmitted to the host processor. Is to be processed.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art This transparent electrode contact type touch panel is roughly classified into an analog type touch panel as shown in FIG. 5, a digital type touch panel as shown in FIG. It is classified as a mixed touch panel of analog and digital type. The configuration of the conventional example of each of these types of touch panels will be described below.

First, in FIG. 5, an analog type touch panel 101 has electrodes 104 running in the X direction on both ends of a resistive film 103 formed on one sheet 102.
a and 104b are formed, and the other sheet 105 is formed.
Electrodes 107a and 107b running in the Y direction are formed on both ends of the resistance film 106 formed on the upper and lower sides of the sheet 10
The resistance films 103 and 106 of the reference numeral 2 and 105 are separated from each other and overlapped with each other. Then, when the portion on one sheet 102 is pressed toward the other sheet 105 and the resistance films 103 and 106 are brought into contact with each other, the resistance at the contact point becomes the lead wires 108, 109 and.
The XY coordinates are obtained by taking out the data from 110 and 111. In this analog type, since the pressed position is not specified, it is often used when it is desired to set a free position on the display surface of the display device with a free size.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, the digital type touch panel 201 has an electrode 204 on one end side, and a Y
A plurality of resistance film lines 203 (in this example, 13 lines) running in one direction are formed in parallel on one sheet 202, and a resistance film line 206 running in the X direction having an electrode 207 on one end side is formed on the other side. Multiple sheets (in this example, 6 sheets) on the sheet 205 of
This is formed in a state in which the resistance film lines 203 and 206 of both sheets 202 and 205 are assembled in a matrix and overlapped. Further, in the digital type touch panel 201, the analog type touch panel 101 shown in FIG. 5 has only four lead wires (108 to 111), whereas the lead wires 208, 207 are provided for the respective electrodes 204, 207. 209 is provided, the lead wire 20
8 and 209 are required as many as the resistance film lines 203 and 206.

When a portion on one sheet 202 is pushed toward the other sheet 205, the resistance film line 203 and the resistance film line 206 intersect at the corresponding portion.
And the electrode 204 of the resistive film wire 203 in contact with
A signal is taken out between the electrode 207 and the electrode 207 of the resistance film line 206 to obtain the XY coordinates. In this digital type touch panel 201, the resistive film line 2
Since 03 and the resistive film line 206 cross each other and a conductive portion is detected, the pressed portion is specified.
Therefore, it is used when the position on the display surface of the display device can be fixed.

Further, referring to FIG. 7, the touch panel 301 of the mixed analog / digital type has one sheet 3
Electrodes 305a and 305b running in the X direction on both ends of each of the two resistance films 303 and 304 formed on
And 306a and 306b are formed, and the resistance film 309 formed on both sides of the resistance film 308 formed on the other sheet 307 and adjacent to the resistance film 308 on the sheet 307 is divided.
Electrodes 310a, 310b and 311 running in the Y direction are formed on one side (in this example, 6 divisions), and resistance films 303 and 308 (analog touch panel) and 304 and 309 (digital touch panel) of both sheets 302 and 307 are formed. ) Are separated from each other and are made to face each other.

In the analog / digital mixed type touch panel 301, the number of lead wires is larger than that of the analog type touch panel shown in FIG. It is possible to realize a parallel pressing function that could not be realized with a touch panel alone. When the analog touch panel portion on one sheet 302 is pushed toward the analog touch panel portion on the other sheet 307, the resistance films 303 and 308 come into contact with each other, and the resistance at the contact point is lead wires 312, 313 and. 31
6, 317 to obtain the XY coordinates.

When the digital touch panel portion on one sheet 302 is pushed toward the digital touch panel portion on the other sheet 307, the resistance film 304 and the divided resistance film 309 are brought into contact with each other at the corresponding portion. Then, the signals are taken out from the lead wires 314, 315, 318,
The XY coordinates are obtained. In this analog / digital mixed type touch panel, the analog touch panel section is set at a free position on the display surface of the display device, and the digital touch panel section is set at a free size. Used when the position can be fixed.

[0011]

However, among the various types of touch panels described above, in the analog type touch panel 101, for example, other keys such as the "shift" key and the "expansion" key which are frequently used for keyboard switches are used. It cannot be used in the state where it is provided with a parallel pressing function such as pressing and inputting two parts simultaneously with the key. That is, in the analog type touch panel 101, when two display item portions are pressed at the same time, two locations on the same resistance film 103, 106 simultaneously come into contact with each other, so that a parallel circuit of resistors is provided on the same touch panel 101. This is because the combined resistance is formed and the combined resistance is recognized as the resistance of one display item portion.

Therefore, in order to realize a function similar to the function of simultaneously pressing the keyboard switches, for example, when inputting an uppercase letter "A", first press the "Shift" key or the "Extend" key. By first pressing the corresponding display item portion once to instruct the uppercase input, and then by pressing the display item portion at the lowercase letter "a" to modify it, the uppercase letter "A" can be input. On the contrary, when returning to the original state of inputting lowercase letters, it is necessary to push down the display item portion for canceling the double-pressing function again to return to the lowercase input state. Therefore, there are problems that the operability is poor and the software processing for realizing the operation is complicated.

A digital type touch panel 20 is also provided.
In 1, the plurality of independent resistance film lines 203 and 206 are formed in a matrix, and the resistances at the pressed positions can be individually taken out. Therefore, it is relatively easy to provide the simultaneous pressing function. Is. However, it is necessary to draw out the lead wires 208 and 209 as many as the resistance film wires 203 and 206, which causes a problem that the outer shape becomes large. At the same time, since the number of drive lines and read lines that match the matrix shape increases, the circuit configuration of the control system of the touch panel becomes complicated, and the positions of keys are fixed, resulting in a lack of versatility. .

On the other hand, since the analog / digital mixed type touch panel 301 has both an independent analog touch panel section and independent digital touch panel section, the digital touch panel section can be given a parallel push-down function by allocating it as a parallel push-down key. , The operability is better than that of the analog type touch panel, and the software processing is simple. In addition, the number of lead wires drawn out is smaller than that of a digital type touch panel, so that the circuit configuration of the control system of the touch panel can be simplified and versatility is provided.

However, as described above, since the analog touch panel section and the digital touch panel section are independent of each other, an independent touch panel control circuit and an independent software process are required for each touch panel section. There was a problem that it took extra time. In addition, an opaque lead wire 317 is provided between the analog touch panel unit and the digital touch panel unit.
Since it is necessary to pull out (see FIG. 7), there is a problem that the area that can be used as a touch panel is reduced and further the visibility is deteriorated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and a touch panel having a parallel pressing function and excellent operability without increasing the outer shape of the touch panel or complicating the circuit configuration of the control system. The purpose is to provide.

[0017]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has two resistance sheets on which resistance films are formed. When the resistance sheets are not pressed, both resistance films are in contact with each other. In the touch panel having a structure in which two resistance sheets are arranged so as not to face each other, one of the two resistance sheets has a resistance film divided in parallel with one end of the resistance film and A pair of electrodes respectively arranged along the side edges, a first resistance film region including a resistance film between the pair of electrodes, and one of the pair of electrodes and the other side end of the resistance film. A second resistance film region made of a resistance film is provided, and the first resistance film is formed on the other resistance sheet.
A resistance film region facing the resistance film region, a pair of electrodes arranged along both end portions of the resistance film region orthogonal to the pair of electrodes of the one resistance sheet, and the second resistance film region. And a resistance film group that is divided into a plurality of portions and an electrode group that is arranged at each end of the resistance film group.

[0018]

In one of the resistance sheets, the area formed of the resistance film between the pair of electrodes is used as the analog signal detection section, and the area formed of the resistance film between the one electrode and the other end is used as the digital signal detection section. In the other resistance sheet, an analog touch panel is formed by arranging a pair of electrodes along both side ends of the region facing the analog signal detection unit, and the resistance film facing the digital signal detection unit is divided into a plurality of parts. Moreover, a digital touch panel is formed by arranging electrodes at the ends of the divided resistive film groups.

That is, a normal key area portion that is normally pressed alone and a parallel press key area portion that is pressed simultaneously with the normal key area portion can be divided and shared between both key area portions, and switching control can be performed. By providing a possible electrode, even if the display item part corresponding to the normal key and the display item part corresponding to the double-press key are pressed at the same time, the signals from the two display item parts are simultaneously extracted from the respective key area parts. And can be processed separately. Therefore, the operation of simultaneously pressing the display item portion corresponding to the normal key and the display item portion corresponding to the double-press key can be performed in a short software processing time. In addition, even if the touch panel is divided into two key areas, only two lead wires are needed on the side of the analog type key area, and even if the touch panel is divided into two key areas, the number of lead wires increases significantly. It doesn't become big.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a touch panel according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a circuit configuration of a control system in an information input device using the touch panel shown in FIG. First, in FIG. 1, when a portion of the touch panel 1 corresponding to an item corresponding to a normal key is pressed with a finger or a pen, this is the control circuit unit 2 shown in FIG.
The data is converted into data in 8 and transmitted to a higher-level device (host processor) (not shown) for processing.

Here, the touch panel 1 of FIG. 1 shows an example of a transparent electrode contact type, and is formed by using two insulating sheets 2 and 3 made of a transparent polyester sheet or the like as a base. Then, on the lower surface of one sheet 2, a pair of electrodes 5a and 5b for the normal key region 4 are formed.
In addition, the electrode for the combined depression key area 6 is also commonly used as one electrode 5b for the key area, but the electrodes 5a and 5b are individually provided by being printed and wired while running in the X direction. . In addition, between the pair of electrodes 5a and 5b, and between the one electrode 5b and the electrode 5a, the combined depression key area portion 6 is formed.
The resistance films 7 and 8 are formed between the ends of the electrodes 5a and 5b, for example, by applying a conductive paint, and the resistance films 7 electrically connect the electrodes 5a and 5b. Further, lead wires 9a and 9b are led out from the electrodes 5a and 5b, respectively.

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the other sheet 3, a pair of electrodes 10a and 10b for the normal key region 4 are provided.
And the electrodes 11a to 11f of the plurality of combined pressing key area portions 6a to 6f are printed and wired in a state of running in the Y direction, and are independently provided. Also, a pair of electrodes 1
Resistive films 12 and 13a to 13f are formed by applying a conductive paint, for example, between 0a and 10b and in the combined depression key regions 6a to 6f including the electrodes 11a to 11f. Electrodes 10a and 10b at 12
Are electrically connected to each other, and lead wires 14a, 14b and 15a to 15f are led out from the electrodes 10a, 10b and 11a to 11f, respectively.

The two sheets 2 and 3 are made of, for example, dot spacers (not shown) so that the resistance films 7 and 8 and the resistance films 12 and 13a to 13f face each other apart from each other so as not to contact each other. No.) and are stacked face-to-face in the hollow state to form a sheet. Then
The normal key area 4 and the side-by-side key area 6 electrically connected to each other are formed in the same sheet, and in this sheet state, on the display surface (not shown) that constitutes the information input device (not shown). Will be placed. Further, on the display surface, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, display items (SHIFT, A, B, C, D in this embodiment) 18, 19, 2 displayed on the display surface.
Display items 19 to 22 indicated by symbols A, B, C, and D, which can be seen through the touch panel 1 and are usually operated independently, correspond to those in the key area portion 4. , Display items 19 to 2 indicated by symbols A, B, C, and D
The display item 18 indicated by the symbol SHIFT that is pressed at the same time as 2 corresponds to the combined pressing key area portion 6.

Then, in the touch panel 1, as shown in FIG. 4, reference numerals A, B, and
One of the portions C and D indicated by the reference symbol A (see FIG. 4).
In the case of, the portion indicated by the display item 19) is selected and the finger 16
1 is pressed, the portion on the one sheet 2 corresponding to the pressed portion of the display item 19 comes into contact with the portion on the other sheet 3 through the resistance films 7 and 12, and this contact is made. The XY coordinate signal of the selected point is the lead wire 9a,
It is input to the control circuit unit 23 of FIG. 2 through 9b, 14a and 14b and processed. At the same time, the simultaneous pressing key area portion 6
When the portion of the display item 19 represented by the symbol SHIFT displayed therein is pressed with another finger 17 or the like, the one sheet 2 corresponding to the pressed portion of the display item 19
The upper portion is formed on the other sheet 3 on the resistive films 8 and 13a.
.About.13f, and the XY coordinate signal of the contact point is input to the control circuit unit 23 of FIG. 2 through the lead wires 9b, 15a to 15f and processed.

The control circuit section 23 in FIG. 2 has a sense section 24, an A / D conversion section 25, and an O section in which a digital sense section 24a and an analog sense section 24b are formed in the same circuit.
It is composed of an N / OFF determination circuit 26, a detection unit 27, a control unit 28, and a drive unit 29.

Next, the overall operation of the information input device using the touch panel constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. Now, as shown in FIG. 4, it is assumed that the portions of the display item 19 and the portion of the display item 18 which are seen on the touch panel 1 are simultaneously pressed by the fingers 16 and 17. In this case, the control unit 28 in the control circuit unit 23 constantly monitors the sense unit 24 including the digital sense unit 24a and the analog sense unit 24b sharing the lead wire 5b, and the display items 18 and 19 are displayed. The operation for detecting the designated coordinate is started when is pressed.

The control unit 28 firstly drives the drive unit 2
A command is output to 9 to sequentially drive the parallel pressing key area portions 6a to 6f. The drive unit 29 drives according to this command. Next, the control unit 28 controls the digital sense unit 24.
A command is issued from the lead wire 5b to read the signal from the parallel pressing key area portion 6, and the digital sense portion 24a
Reads the signal according to the command and sends the signal to the ON / OFF determination circuit unit 26 in the next stage. Also, ON / OFF
The determination circuit section 26 determines whether or not the display item section is pressed down according to a command from the control section 28 based on this signal, and sends the result to the detection section 27.

Then, in the detection unit 27, the control unit 28
The instruction item value of the combined depression key area 6 is calculated from the detection result in accordance with the command (4) and is sent to the control unit 28. Then, in the control unit 28, it is confirmed again whether or not this item value still exists in the combined press key area unit 6, and when the display item 19 is being pressed and still exists. Stores this data in a memory (not shown) in the control unit 28.
To be stored. On the other hand, when the pressing of the display item 19 is already released and the item value is not in the combined pressing key area 6, it is treated that there is no instruction by pressing the display item 19.

Next, the control section 28 issues a command to drive the drive section 29 and the normal key area section 4 of the touch panel 1, respectively. Further, the control unit 28 issues a command to switch the reading of the signal to the analog sense unit 24b. The analog sense unit 24b follows this command, and in this case, the A / D
The signal is sent to the conversion unit 25. Further, the A / D conversion unit 25 converts this signal into a digital value according to a command from the control unit 28 and sends it to the detection unit 27. The detection unit 27 is the control unit 2
The command coordinate value of the normal key area section 4 is calculated by the command of No. 8 and sent to the control section 28. The control unit 28 having received the information again confirms whether or not the coordinate value still exists in the normal key area unit 4.

After that, if there is data that the portion corresponding to the display item 18 is being pressed, the portion corresponding to the display item 19 (or 20, 21, 22) is modified by the portion corresponding to the display item 18. If the display items (normally the symbols A, B, C, D in the key area 4 are uppercase letters, the display items to be modified are lowercase letters a, b, c, d) are converted and the data is sent to the host device. To do. Then, as indicated by the slanted lines in FIG. 4, the display items 19 and 20 are displayed in reverse so that the operator is made aware that the simultaneous pressing function has been performed.
Further, in this case, if the display can be returned to the original display when the fingers 16 and 17 are released, the operator can easily confirm that it is possible to move to the next instruction input, and the next operation can be smoothly performed. You can move.

Therefore, according to this touch panel,
Lead wires 9a, 9b, 14a, 14b, 15a to 15f
It is possible to reduce the size of the control circuit 23 by increasing the number of electrodes and reducing the size, and by sharing the electrodes in the analog area and the digital area, the area that can be used as a touch panel is increased. It is possible to obtain a device which is less in number and has good operability and visibility.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiment, it is needless to say that the invention is not limited to the structure of this embodiment.
Various design changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the structure using the touch panel of the transparent electrode contact type has been described, but an opaque type other than this may be used.

[0033]

As described in detail above, according to the touch panel of the present invention, a normal key area portion that is normally pressed alone, and a parallel press key area portion that is pressed simultaneously with this normal key area portion. Since it is divided into two parts, and both key areas are electrically connected to each other and switched,
Even if the display item portion corresponding to the normal key and the display item portion corresponding to the double-press key are pressed at the same time, the signals from the two display item portions are simultaneously extracted from the respective key area portions and are processed separately. be able to. Therefore,
It is possible to simultaneously press the display item portion corresponding to the normal key and the display item portion corresponding to the double-press key, and the operability is improved.

Further, since the key area portion is usually formed by an analog type touch panel, even if the touch panel is divided into two key area portions, only two lead wires are required on the side of the key area portion formed in the analog type. , Even if it is divided into two key areas, the number of lead wires will increase extremely and become large, and the operability and visibility will be improved without the circuit configuration becoming independent or complicated. You can

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an embodiment of a touch panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an information input device using a touch panel according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a display surface including a touch panel.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory diagram of a touch panel.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view showing a conventional example of an analog type touch panel.

FIG. 6 is an exploded view showing a conventional example of a digital type touch panel.

FIG. 7 is an exploded view showing a conventional example of a mixed analog / digital touch panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Touch panel 2, 3 Resistance sheet 4 Normal key area | region part 5a, 5b, 10a, 10b, 11a-11f Electrode 6 Simultaneous press key area part 7,8,12 Resistive film 9a, 9b, 14a, 14b, 15a-15f Lead wire 18 to 22 display items 23 control circuit section

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A structure having two resistance sheets having a resistance film formed thereon, wherein the two resistance sheets are arranged so as to face each other so that the resistance films do not contact each other when the resistance sheets are not pressed. In the touch panel, one of the two resistance sheets has a pair of resistance sheets arranged in parallel with one end of the resistance film so as to divide the resistance film and along the one end. Electrode, a first resistance film region formed of a resistance film between the pair of electrodes, and a second resistance film region formed of a resistance film between one of the pair of electrodes and the other end of the resistance film. Is provided on the other resistance sheet along the resistance film region facing the first resistance film region and both side ends of the resistance film region orthogonal to the pair of electrodes of the one resistance sheet. A pair of electrodes and a pair of the second resistive film region and A touch panel comprising: a resistive film group facing each other and divided into a plurality of groups; and an electrode group arranged at each end of the resistive film group.