JP4604902B2 - INPUT / OUTPUT DEVICE AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE HAVING INPUT / OUTPUT DEVICE - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an input / output device and an electronic apparatus including the input / output device.

  A touch panel display device used as an input device or an input / output device can freely configure an input screen by software. Therefore, the touch panel display device has flexibility that cannot be obtained by an input device configured using a mechanical switch. Since it can be compactly configured and has many advantages such as low frequency of mechanical failure, it is now widely used from operation panels of various relatively large machines to very small portable device input / output devices. It's being used.

  In many touch panel display devices, the fingertip of the user who operates the touch panel device only touches a flat and smooth panel surface. Therefore, the click feeling felt by the fingertip when operating an input device configured using a mechanical switch. Thus, there is no feedback to the user by the sense of touch of the fingertip, which makes the operation feeling of the device not relied on. In order to improve this point, a touch panel display device in which a tactile sensation is fed back to the fingertip of an operating user is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-288158. The touch panel display device disclosed in this publication generates a tactile sensation on a user's fingertip by vibrating a touch panel in contact with the user's fingertip in a direction perpendicular to the panel surface.

  Also, sound output devices are widely used. The acoustic output device emits an operation sound when the user operates the input device to provide acoustic feedback to the user, and also issues an alarm sound or voice instruction to the user, or reproduces audio contents. It has a wide range of uses.

JP 2003-288158 A

  The more electronic devices a user performs daily input operations, the greater the convenience that can be obtained by mounting both an input / output device and a sound output device that provide tactile feedback on the electronic device. However, however, it is not always easy to mount the devices together in an electronic device if the increase in manufacturing cost, product weight, and product volume associated with doing so is taken into consideration.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to generate a tactile sensation on the fingertip of the user who operates the apparatus with little increase in manufacturing cost, product weight, and product volume. The function of the sound output device is incorporated into the input / output device.

The input / output device of the present invention includes a housing, a touch panel supported on the housing so as to be displaceable via a movable support means, a wall fixed to the housing, and at least a wall and a touch panel coupled to the touch panel. comprising a single actuator, and the actuator drive control means for driving and controlling the actuators by sending an actuator drive signal, and means for superimposing the audio signal to the actuator drive signal actuators drive control means sends, drives the actuators and it caused the haptic to the user's fingertip in contact with the panel surface of the motor touch panel depending on the motion along the direction parallel to the panel surface of the filter touch panel to occur when, to occur when driving the actuators that is intended to generate an acoustic by the vibration of the housing.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes a housing and an input / output device, and the input / output device is movably supported on the housing via a movable support means, a wall fixed to the housing, superimposing at least one actuator coupled to each of the walls and the touch panel, and an actuator drive control means for driving and controlling the actuators by sending an actuator driving signal, an acoustic signal to the actuator drive signal actuators drive control means sends and means for, to generate a haptic to the user's fingertip in contact with the panel surface of the motor touch panel by the motion along the direction parallel to the panel surface of the filter touch panel to occur when driving the actuators , those which generate sound by the vibration of to that housing occurs when driving the actuators.

  According to the present invention, sound is generated by vibrating the casing of the input / output device or the electronic device, and the component for vibrating the casing is in contact with the panel surface. Since most of the input / output devices originally designed to generate tactile sensations at the user's fingertips are associated with such an input / output device, the manufacturing cost, product weight, and product volume are almost increased. In addition, the function of the sound output device can be added.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Since this figure is a schematic diagram for clarifying the principle of the present invention, the ratio and the shape of each member, such as the length and thickness, are not accurately drawn. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the back side of a camera having a still image shooting function and a moving image shooting function, which is an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The camera in FIG. 3 includes a housing and a monitor device configured by the input / output device shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the camera housing and the input / output device along the line AA in FIG. 2.

  In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates the entire input / output device, and reference numeral 12 indicates a housing of an electronic device (such as the camera shown in FIG. 2) equipped with the input / output device. The housing 12 is a housing for the electronic device and also a housing for the input / output device 10. The input / output device 10 includes a flat touch panel 14 having a rectangular shape in plan view. The input / output device 10 in the illustrated example is configured as a so-called touch panel display device. Therefore, the touch panel 14 is integrated with a liquid crystal display panel, but the present invention does not include a display panel. It is also possible to adopt a form. Therefore, in the present invention, both those that are integrated with the display panel and those that are not are referred to as a touch panel. The surface of the touch panel 12 forms a panel surface on which a user who wants to operate the input / output device 10 touches the fingertip.

  The touch panel 14 is supported on the housing 12 via a movable support means so as to be displaceable along a plane parallel to the panel surface. The movable support means in the illustrated example is configured by small elastic blocks 16 provided between the touch panel 14 and the housing 12 at the four corners of the back surface of the touch panel 14. When the elastic body blocks 16 are elastically sheared, the touch panel 14 is displaced along a plane parallel to the panel surface. It is desirable that the movable support means be such that the touch panel 14 can be displaced as easily as possible. For this purpose, the elastic body block 16 may be made of a polymer gel material having an extremely low hardness. For example, a sheet-like ultra-low hardness polymer gel material provided by Kitagawa Industry Co., Ltd. under the product name “KG Gel (trademark)” is a particularly suitable material for the elastic block 16. is there. A specific example will be described. For example, by cutting a sheet of “KG Gel (trademark)” having a thickness of 1 mm into 2 mm squares, an elastic body block having a height of 1 mm is formed, and the upper and lower sides of the elastic body block are formed. By adhering both surfaces to the housing 12 and the touch panel 14 using a double-sided adhesive sheet or the like, the movable support means of the touch panel 14 can be suitably configured. Examples of suitable materials for the elastic block 16 other than the polymer gel material include various rubber materials, soft polyethylene, and silicone resin. Furthermore, the movable support means for supporting the touch panel 14 on the housing 12 is not limited to the one constituted by the elastic block 16 as described above, and may have various other configurations. For example, you may comprise using rolling elements, such as a ball | bowl and a roller, and you may comprise using low friction materials, such as a polytetrafluoroethylene resin.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the housing 12 is provided with a fixed wall 30 having a large rigidity so as to face one side of the flat touch panel 14 having a rectangular shape in plan view. It has been. The fixed wall 30 in the illustrated example forms part of the housing 12, but the fixed wall 30 may be formed by a frame fixedly coupled to the housing 12. Further, an actuator 32 is disposed between the side of the touch panel 14 facing each other and the fixed wall 30. Although the present invention can be implemented using various types of actuators, it is preferable to use a piezoelectric actuator for a lightweight and compact configuration, and a bimorph type or unimorph type bending displacement type piezoelectric actuator is used. This is more preferable in terms of weight reduction and size reduction. In addition, both the bimorph type piezoelectric actuator and the monomorph type piezoelectric actuator are classified into a laminated type and a single layer type. The former can be driven with a lower voltage, and thus is more suitable for use in a mobile electronic device. Therefore, it is considered to be most preferable at the present time to use a laminated bimorph type piezoelectric actuator or a laminated unimorph type piezoelectric actuator as the actuator 32. In the illustrated example, the laminated bimorph type actuator is also used. In FIG. 1, the dimension in the thickness direction of the actuator 32 is exaggerated for easy understanding of the structure, but the actual laminated bimorph type piezoelectric actuator or laminated monomorph type actuator is shown in the figure. It is a much thinner and very lightweight actuator. Further, the number of actuators provided in the input / output device 10 is not limited to one, and a plurality of actuators may be provided if necessary.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the long and thin plate-shaped laminated bimorph piezoelectric actuator 32 has both ends in the longitudinal direction connected to the fixed wall 30 via spacer blocks 34. Between the end portions and between each spacer block 34 and the fixed wall 30 are bonded using a double-sided adhesive tape. In addition, the actuator 32 has a central portion in the longitudinal direction connected to the side of the touch panel 14 (side facing the fixed wall 30) via the spacer block 36. The spacer block 36 and the side of the touch panel 14 are bonded using a double-sided adhesive tape. When a voltage is applied to the laminated bimorph type piezoelectric actuator 32 attached between the fixed wall 30 of the housing 12 and the touch panel 14 in this way, the actuator 32 generates a bending displacement. Then, the touch panel 14 is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow B. The direction and magnitude of this displacement correspond to the polarity and magnitude of the applied voltage. The direction of displacement of the touch panel 14 thus generated is a direction along a plane parallel to the panel surface of the touch panel 14. Therefore, the actuator 32 drives or touches the touch panel 14 in a direction along a plane parallel to the panel surface.

  Further, when the actuator 32 is driven to vibrate the touch panel 14 in the direction indicated by the arrow B, the fixed wall 30 is also opposite to the touch panel 14 due to the reaction force acting on the actuator 32 from the touch panel 14. It is driven to vibrate as shown by the arrow C, and therefore the casing 12 itself vibrates due to the reaction. In the electronic device equipped with the input / output device 10, most of the components are fixed to the housing 12, and therefore the total mass of the housing 12 and the components fixed to the housing 12 is Therefore, the acceleration and amplitude of the vibration of the housing 12 generated when the actuator 32 is driven to vibrate the touch panel 14 are much larger than the mass of the touch panel 14. Much smaller than However, since the surface area of the housing 12 is much larger than the surface area of the touch panel 14, it is possible to generate sound having a size that is practical enough by using the small vibration of the housing 12.

  However, when the resonance phenomenon occurs, the acoustic characteristics are significantly deteriorated. The touch panel 14 is supported on the housing 12 via an elastic block 16 which is a movable support means, and is connected to the housing 12 via a bimorph piezoelectric actuator 32 having a strong property as a spring element. Yes. Therefore, the touch panel 14, the elastic body block 16, and the actuator 32 constitute a vibration system that uses the touch panel 14 as a vibration mass. Since it is inconvenient if the vibration system resonates with the frequency of the sound to be generated, in the illustrated example, the primary natural frequency of the vibration system is set to 700 Hz or less mainly by adjusting the spring constant of the elastic body block 16. Is set. The spring constant of the elastic body block 16 can be easily adjusted by increasing or decreasing the bottom area of the elastic body block 16. The primary natural frequency, which is the resonance frequency at which the vibration system generates the largest vibration, is set to 700 Hz or less because the lower limit of the frequency of the acoustic signal in this type of acoustic output device is often This is because it is set to about 800 Hz.

  In the configuration described above, both ends of the actuator 32 are connected to the fixed wall 30 of the housing 12 and are attached to both ends, and the touch panel 14 is driven by the central portion of the actuator 32. It is. However, how to attach the actuator 32 is not limited to this. For example, contrary to the above configuration, it is needless to say that both ends of the actuator 32 may be connected to the touch panel 14 side, and the center part may be attached to the fixed wall 30 side. Instead, one end of the actuator 32 can be connected to the fixed wall 30 and the other end can be connected to the touch panel 14 to be attached in a cantilever manner.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control mechanism and an electronic circuit, which are components of the input / output device 10. In the figure, reference numeral 50 is a control system for an electronic device equipped with the input / output device 10, and the control mechanism and electronic circuit of the input / output device 10 are under the control of this control system 50. A touch panel circuit 52 connected to the touch panel 14, an LCD drive circuit 54 connected to a liquid crystal display panel bonded to the lower surface of the touch panel 14, and an actuator signal are sent to the control mechanism and electronic circuit of the input / output device 10. An actuator drive control mechanism 56 that drives and controls the actuator 32 is included.

  The touch panel circuit 52 is a circuit attached to a general touch panel, and generates a signal indicating a position where the user's fingertip is in contact with the panel surface of the touch panel 12 by processing a signal obtained from the touch panel 12. Let Further, when the touch panel 12 can detect the contact pressure, the touch panel circuit 52 also generates a signal indicating the contact pressure, and indicates the contact position on the panel surface if necessary. The signal is further processed to generate a signal representing the moving speed and acceleration of the fingertip in contact with the panel surface. A signal generated by the touch panel circuit 52 is supplied to the control system 50 as a touch panel input signal. The LCD drive circuit 54 is a circuit attached to a general liquid crystal display panel, and drives the liquid crystal display panel according to an LCD control signal received from the control system 50 to perform visual display.

  The actuator drive control mechanism 56 is composed of a one-chip computer having a central processing unit and a memory, and an electronic circuit, and includes an interface 58 for receiving a control signal from the control system 50. The control signal received from the control system 50 includes an output timing signal and a waveform selection signal. The actuator drive control mechanism 56 includes a memory 60, and the memory 60 stores data (waveform data) necessary for waveform generation corresponding to each of a plurality of waveforms. The actuator drive control mechanism 56 further includes a waveform generation mechanism 62, a mixing circuit 64, and a power amplifier 66.

  The waveform generation mechanism 62 is a mechanism configured by software, reads data corresponding to the waveform designated by the waveform selection signal from the memory 60, and generates a waveform according to the read waveform data. The mixing circuit 64 sends an output signal having a waveform generated by the waveform generation mechanism 62 over a period specified by the output timing signal, and also sends an acoustic signal supplied from the control system 50 as an output signal. In addition, these signals are not sent individually but are mixed and sent as one output signal. The power amplifier 66 amplifies the output signal of the mixing circuit 64 and supplies it to the piezoelectric actuator 32 as an actuator drive signal. Therefore, the actuator drive control mechanism 56 has a function as means for superimposing an acoustic signal on the actuator drive signal.

  5A to 5D show specific examples of waveforms generated by the waveform generation mechanism 62. FIG. As is apparent from the figure, they are vibration waveforms, and the amplitude, period, and waveform may be constant or may vary. The waveform data stored in the memory 60 includes data related to amplitude and period. Then, the waveform data of the waveform specified by the waveform selection signal is read from the waveform data corresponding to the plurality of waveforms stored in the memory 60, and the actuator drive signal having the waveform is supplied to the actuator 32. Therefore, the touch panel 14 vibrates along a plane parallel to the panel surface according to the waveform of the actuator drive signal. The vibration of the touch panel 14 generates a tactile sensation corresponding to the waveform of the drive signal at the fingertip of the user touching the panel surface of the touch panel 14. Therefore, in other words, the actuator drive control mechanism 56 drives the touch panel 14 to vibrate with a vibration pattern selected from a plurality of predetermined vibration patterns, and the plurality of predetermined vibration patterns are Different tactile sensations are generated at the user's fingertips in contact with the panel surface of the touch panel 14.

  When the vibration amplitude of the touch panel 14 was set to about 20 μm to 50 μm, and what kind of tactile sensation was generated on the fingertip was actually tested, the touch panel 14 vibrated with the fingertip touching the panel surface of the touch panel 14. However, the vibration direction of the touch panel 14 could not be identified. On the other hand, it was found that different tactile sensations occur due to the difference in the waveform of the output signal. It has also been found that depending on the vibration pattern of the touch panel 14, it is possible to cause the fingertip to perceive a pseudo unevenness or texture. As described above, in the illustrated embodiment, the motion of the touch panel 14 generated by driving with an actuator to generate a tactile sensation at the fingertip of the user to operate is a motion in the form of vibration, thereby achieving good results. Have gained. However, as long as a tactile sensation that can be clearly perceived by the user can be generated, the motion of the touch panel 14 generated by driving the actuator 32 may be an arbitrary motion other than the vibration.

  When the control system 50 sends an acoustic signal to the actuator drive control mechanism 56, the acoustic signal is also superimposed on the actuator drive signal and supplied to the actuator 32. However, the frequency band differs between the waveform as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D generated by the waveform generation mechanism 62 and the acoustic signal superimposed thereon. Since the waveform generated by the waveform generation mechanism 62 is intended to generate a tactile sensation at the user's fingertip, the vibration frequency is relatively low 50 Hz to 200 Hz for the purpose of sensitively sensing the fingertip of the user. To the extent. On the other hand, the frequency of the acoustic signal is about 800 Hz to 1500 Hz. For this reason, even when the user's fingertip touches the panel surface of the touch panel 14 when the input / output device 10 generates sound, the tactile sensation generated at the fingertip is not so large. In addition, when the touch panel 14 is vibrated by driving the actuator 32 in order to generate tactile feedback, the volume of sound generated in association with the vibration is relatively small. Therefore, the input / output device 10 described above can function as a touch panel display device that generates a tactile sensation on the fingertip of the user to operate, and also as an acoustic output device. Since it is easy to reduce the thickness and weight, consumes less power, and does not require a large number of actuators, it is an excellent input / output device for mobile electronic devices.

  The camera 70 shown in FIG. 3 includes a monitor device 72 on the back surface thereof, and the monitor device 72 includes the input / output device having the structure described above. The touch panel 14 is exposed through a window portion 74 formed on the back side of the housing 12. In the shooting mode, the scene image is displayed on the touch panel 14, and various soft keys are displayed in the setting mode. The control system of the camera 70 is based on an input signal supplied from the touch panel circuit 52 (that is, a signal representing the position, moving speed, acceleration, operating force (contact pressure), etc. of the fingertip of the user who operates the touch panel 14). , Detecting which soft key is operated and how, and depending on the detection result, the touch panel 14 is vibrated with a different vibration pattern and / or appropriate sound output or sound output is transmitted. To do. Various tactile sensations are generated at the user's fingertip according to the vibration pattern of the touch panel 14, and various information can be obtained from the tactile feedback, and information can also be obtained from acoustic output or sound output.

  The input / output device 10 according to the present invention is configured to generate sound by vibrating the casing 12, and the component for vibrating the casing 12 is a user who is in contact with the panel surface. The input / output device 10 that generates the tactile sensation at the fingertips is originally provided. Therefore, when the function of the acoustic output device is added to such an input / output device, the manufacturing cost, the product weight, and the product volume are hardly increased, which is very advantageous in that respect.

1 is a schematic perspective view of an input / output device according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is the perspective view which showed the back side of the camera which is an electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing of the housing | casing of a camera and an input / output device along the AA line of FIG. It is the figure which showed the control mechanism and electronic circuit which are the components of a touchscreen display apparatus in the form of a block diagram. A to D are diagrams showing specific examples of waveforms generated by the waveform generation mechanism.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Input / output device, 12 ... Housing, 14 ... Touch panel, 16 ... Elastic body block, 30 ... Fixed wall, 32 ... Actuator, 56 ... Actuator drive control mechanism, 70 ... Camera.

Claims (16)

A housing,
A touch panel supported movably on the housing via a movable support means;
A wall fixed to the housing;
At least one actuator coupled to each of the wall and the touch panel ;
An actuator drive control means for sending an actuator drive signal to drive-control the actuator;
Means for superimposing an acoustic signal on the actuator drive signal sent out by the actuator drive control means,
Occurs when the actuator is driven by generating a tactile sensation in the user's fingertip that is in contact with the panel surface of the touch panel by movement along a direction parallel to the panel surface of the touch panel that occurs when the actuator is driven. The sound is generated by the vibration of the casing.
Input and output devices.   The wall is provided to face one side of the touch panel,
  The actuator is provided between the wall and one side surface of the touch panel.
  The input / output device according to claim 1.   The actuator has an elongated plate shape, and is connected to one of the wall and the touch panel at both ends or one end in the longitudinal direction, and the other of the wall and the touch panel at a central portion in the longitudinal direction. Connected
  The input / output device according to claim 2. The actuator drive signal includes waveform data selected based on an external input signal from a plurality of patterns of waveform data.
  The input / output device according to claim 1. A primary natural frequency of a vibration system including the touch panel, the movable support means, and the at least one actuator is set to 700 Hz or less.
請 Motomeko 1 input and output device as claimed. The at least one actuator is a piezoelectric actuator
請 Motomeko 1 input and output device as claimed. The piezoelectric actuator is a bimorph type or unimorph type bending displacement type piezoelectric actuator.
Input and output devices of 請 Motomeko 6 described. The piezoelectric actuator is a laminated bimorph piezoelectric actuator or a laminated unimorph piezoelectric actuator.
Input and output devices of 請 Motomeko 6 described. In an electronic device equipped with a housing and an input / output device,
The input / output device includes a touch panel supported on the housing in a displaceable manner via movable support means, a wall fixed to the housing, and at least one connected to each of the wall and the touch panel . An actuator, actuator drive control means for driving the actuator by sending an actuator drive signal, and means for superimposing an acoustic signal on the actuator drive signal sent by the actuator drive control means, when the actuator is driven The vibration of the housing generated when the actuator is driven by generating a tactile sensation on the user's fingertip that is in contact with the panel surface of the touch panel by a movement along a direction parallel to the panel surface of the touch panel. To generate sound,
Electronic equipment.   The wall is provided to face the side surface of the touch panel,
  The actuator is provided between the wall and a side surface of the touch panel.
  The electronic device according to claim 9.   The actuator has an elongated plate shape, and is connected to one of the wall and the touch panel at both ends or one end in the longitudinal direction, and the other of the wall and the touch panel at a central portion in the longitudinal direction. Connected
  The electronic device according to claim 10. The actuator drive signal includes waveform data selected based on an external input signal from a plurality of patterns of waveform data.
  The electronic device according to claim 9. A primary natural frequency of a vibration system including the touch panel, the movable support means, and the at least one actuator is set to 700 Hz or less.
請 Motomeko 9 electronic device according. The at least one actuator is a piezoelectric actuator
請 Motomeko 9 electronic device according. The piezoelectric actuator is a bimorph type or unimorph type bending displacement type piezoelectric actuator.
請 Motomeko 14 electronic device according. The piezoelectric actuator is a laminated bimorph piezoelectric actuator or a laminated unimorph piezoelectric actuator.
請 Motomeko 14 electronic device according.

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