JP4910726B2 - Touch panel display device, manufacturing method thereof, and electronic device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel display device, a manufacturing method thereof, and an electronic 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 the user who operates is disclosed (see Patent Document 1).
This touch panel display device is configured to generate a tactile sensation at a user's fingertip by vibrating a touch panel that is touched by the user's fingertip.
JP 2003-288158 A

By the way, as a specific structure of such a touch panel display device, a flat movable panel including a display panel and a touch panel integrally provided on the display surface of the display panel is provided inside the housing. Some units support the unit along the surface of the touch panel so as to be displaceable, and the movable panel unit is vibrated along the surface of the touch panel by an actuator disposed inside the housing.
In such a structure, the housing has a frame-shaped front panel having an opening, and the movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening.
In the above structure, in order to prevent dust from entering the inside of the housing from the gap formed between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, it is conceivable to provide a sealing material such as rubber in the gap.
However, such a sealing material hinders the vibration of the movable panel unit, which increases the load on the actuator, leading to an increase in component cost and disadvantageous power saving.
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel display device that is advantageous in reducing costs and reducing power while reliably preventing dust from entering, a manufacturing method thereof, and To provide electronic equipment.

In order to achieve the above object, a touch panel display device of the present invention includes a housing, a flat plate-shaped movable panel unit provided inside the housing and provided with a touch panel, and a display disposed below the touch panel. A panel, a support mechanism that supports the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel, and an actuator that is disposed inside the housing and vibrates the movable panel unit along the surface of the touch panel. The housing includes a front panel having an opening, and the movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening, and the front panel and the surroundings around the opening. Between the touch panel, a sealant is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel. When the movable panel unit vibrates, the seal material part that is in contact with the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material part that is in contact with the touch panel is against the touch panel. The seal material portion which is immovable and the seal material portion between the portions is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit and comes into contact with the front panel or one panel of the touch panel. Is bonded to the one panel, and the bonded portion of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed by a flat surface that protrudes from the other portion to which the sealing material is not bonded and extends in a frame shape. It is characterized by being.
The touch panel display device of the present invention includes a housing, a flat plate-shaped movable panel unit provided inside the housing and provided with a touch panel, a display panel disposed below the touch panel, and the movable panel. A support mechanism that supports the unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel; and an actuator that is disposed inside the casing and vibrates the movable panel unit along the surface of the touch panel. The movable panel unit has a front panel having an opening, and is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening, and between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, A sealing material is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel, and the sealing material is connected to the movable pad. When the vibration unit is vibrated, the seal material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material portion that contacts the touch panel is immovable with respect to the touch panel. The portion of the sealing material in between is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit, and the portion of the sealing material that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel And the adherend portion of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed of a flat surface extending in a frame shape, and on both sides of the flat surface on the both sides in the width direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the flat surface. A concave portion that divides both sides in the width direction from a portion to which the sealing material is not bonded extends in the extending direction of the flat surface.
Or the present invention is an electronic apparatus having a apparatus-side housing, a touch panel display device is incorporated in the apparatus-side housing, wherein the touch panel display device is disposed a housing, the interior of the housing A flat plate-shaped movable panel unit provided with a touch panel; a display panel disposed below the touch panel; a support mechanism that supports the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel; and the housing And an actuator that vibrates the movable panel unit along the surface of the touch panel, the housing has a front panel having an opening, and the movable panel unit has the touch panel at the opening. It is arranged inside the front panel so as to face the front panel and the touch panel around the opening. In between, a sealing material is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel, and the sealing material is in contact with the front panel when the movable panel unit vibrates. The seal material portion that is stationary and in contact with the touch panel is immovable with respect to the touch panel, and the seal material portion between the portions follows the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit. Then, the sealing material portion that is deformed and contacts the one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel, and the bonded portion of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is the seal It is characterized in that it is formed of a flat surface that protrudes from other places where the material is not bonded and extends in a frame shape.
Further, the present invention is an electronic device having a device-side housing, wherein the device-side housing includes a touch panel display device, and the touch panel display device is disposed inside the housing, A flat plate-shaped movable panel unit provided with a touch panel; a display panel disposed below the touch panel; a support mechanism that supports the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel; An actuator that is disposed inside and vibrates the movable panel unit along the surface of the touch panel, the housing has a front panel having an opening, and the movable panel unit has the touch panel facing the opening. So as to be disposed inside the front panel, and around the opening, the front panel and the touch panel In between, a sealing material is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel, and the sealing material is in contact with the front panel when the movable panel unit vibrates. The seal material portion that is stationary and in contact with the touch panel is immovable with respect to the touch panel, and the seal material portion between the portions follows the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit. Then, the sealing material portion that contacts the one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel, and the adherend portion of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded has a frame shape The sealing material is formed of an extending flat surface, and both sides of the flat surface in the width direction are on both sides in the width direction orthogonal to the extending direction of the flat surface. Wherein the recess partitioning between a position not bonded extends along the extending direction of the flat surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the intrusion of dust without increasing the load on the actuator and without increasing the cost of parts, which is advantageous in achieving power saving.

(First embodiment)
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below.
1 is a plan view of a touch panel display device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a configuration of the touch panel display device 10 excluding a front panel 22. .
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the touch panel display device 10 includes a housing 12, a movable panel unit 14, a support mechanism 16, an actuator 18, a seal material 40, an actuator drive control unit 56 (see FIG. 4), and the like. It is configured.

The housing 12 includes a lower frame 20 and an upper frame 21.
The lower frame 20 includes a rectangular plate-shaped bottom wall 20A and four side walls 20B that are erected from four sides of the bottom wall 20A.
The upper frame 21 includes a rectangular plate-shaped front panel 22 having a rectangular frame shape and a size larger than the outer periphery of the lower frame 20, and four side walls 23 erected from four sides of the front panel 22. A rectangular opening 24 is formed in the front panel 22.
The upper frame 21 is attached to the lower frame 20 with four side walls 23 positioned on the outer surfaces of the four side walls 20 </ b> B of the lower frame 20.

The movable panel unit 14 includes a display panel 26 that displays an image when a control signal for displaying an image is supplied, and a touch panel 28 that is provided integrally with the display surface 2602 of the display panel 26. It has a rectangular plate shape (flat plate shape).
The movable panel unit 14 has four end surfaces 14A.
In the present embodiment, the display panel 26 is composed of a transmissive liquid crystal display device.
More specifically, the display panel 26 is attached to a display body composed of a liquid crystal layer and two glass substrates sandwiching the liquid crystal layer, and a back surface opposite to the display surface 2602 of the display body. And a backlight that illuminates toward the display surface 2602, and the backlight is integrally attached to the display main body.
The display panel 26 may be a reflective liquid crystal display device or an organic EL display device that does not require a backlight.

The touch panel 28 includes, for example, two transparent PET films and a so-called film-film type touch panel in which a transparent electrode film is formed between the two films, so that the movable panel unit 14 can be thinned. It has been.
The structure of the touch panel 28 is not limited to the film-film type, and various conventionally known structures can be employed.
The touch panel 28 has a size that covers the entire area of the display surface 2602, and is provided integrally with the display panel 26 by being superimposed on the display surface 2602 and bonded by an adhesive or the like.
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14, that is, the panel surface 1402 is configured by the surface of the touch panel 28, and the back surface 1404 of the movable panel unit 14 is configured by the back surface of the backlight.

The support mechanism 16 makes the movable panel unit 14 parallel to the bottom surface 2001 of the bottom wall 20A, and faces the movable panel unit 14 on the surface of the touch panel 28 (of the display panel 26) with the surface 1402 facing the side opposite to the bottom wall 20A. It is supported on the bottom wall 20A so as to be displaceable along a plane parallel to the display surface 2602).
In addition, the movable panel unit 14 has one end face 14A of the four end faces 14A facing one side wall 20B of the four side walls 20B of the lower frame 20, and in a parallel state via the support mechanism 16. It is disposed on the bottom surface 2001 of the bottom wall 20A.
In the present embodiment, the support mechanism 16 includes the elastic members 17 disposed at the four corners of the back surface 1404 of the movable panel unit 14.
The elastic member 17 is provided between the movable panel units 14 and 20A, and the movable panel unit 14 is urged by the elastic member 17 so that the touch panel 28 returns to a predetermined position (initial position) in the opening 24. Yes.
It is desirable that the elastic material constituting the elastic member 17 is such that the movable panel unit 14 can be displaced as easily as possible. For this purpose, the elastic material is made of a polymer gel material of ultra-low hardness. Good.
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 particularly suitable as a material for the elastic member 17. . 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. The elastic member 17 is disposed by bonding both surfaces to the bottom wall 20A and the four corners of the back surface 1404 of the movable panel unit 14 using a double-sided adhesive sheet or the like.
Examples of suitable materials other than the polymer gel material as the elastic material include various rubber materials, soft polyethylene, and silicon resin.

The actuator 18 is disposed between one end face 14A of the four end faces 14A of the movable panel unit 14 facing each other and the side wall 20B of the main body 20 facing the end face 14A.
Both ends of the actuator 18 in the longitudinal direction are connected to the side wall 20B via the spacer block 30, and between each spacer block 30 and each end of the actuator 18, and between each spacer block 30 and the side wall 20B. The gap is bonded using a double-sided adhesive tape.
Further, the actuator 18 is connected to the end surface 14A of the movable panel unit 14 through the spacer block 32 at the center in the longitudinal direction thereof, between the spacer block 32 and the actuator 18, and between the spacer block 24 and the movable panel unit. The two end surfaces 14A are bonded using a double-sided adhesive tape.
When a voltage is applied to the actuator 18 attached between the side wall 20B of the support structure 12 and the movable panel unit 14 in this way, the actuator 18 generates a bending displacement. The movable panel unit 14 is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow A (the surface direction of the touch panel 28), and is displaced in the direction indicated by the arrow B (the surface direction of the touch panel 28).
The direction and magnitude of this displacement correspond to the polarity and magnitude of the applied voltage. Further, the direction of the displacement of the movable panel unit 14 thus generated is a direction along a plane parallel to the panel surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14. Therefore, the actuator 18 drives the movable panel unit 14 in a direction along a plane parallel to the panel surface 1402.

As the actuator 18, an elongated plate-like bending displacement type piezoelectric actuator can be used. As this type of piezoelectric actuator, a bimorph type piezoelectric actuator and a monomorph type piezoelectric actuator are known, and among them, the bimorph type is preferable because it can exhibit a stronger driving force. In the piezoelectric piezoelectric actuator and the multilayered bimorph piezoelectric actuator, the latter can be driven at a lower voltage, and thus can be said to be more suitable for use in mobile electronic devices.
For this reason, in the present embodiment, a laminated bimorph piezoelectric actuator is used as the actuator 18.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control unit and an electronic circuit which are components of the touch panel display device 10.
Reference numeral 50 denotes a control system for an electronic device equipped with the touch panel display device 10, and a control unit and an electronic circuit of the touch panel display device 10 are under the control of the control system 50.
The control unit and the electronic circuit of the touch panel display device 10 are connected to the touch panel circuit 52 connected to the touch panel 28 that is one component of the movable panel unit 14 and the display panel 26 that is the other component of the movable panel unit 14. The LCD drive circuit 54 and the actuator drive control unit 56 that controls the actuator 18 are included.

The touch panel circuit 52 is a circuit attached to a general touch panel. By processing a signal obtained from the touch panel, a user's fingertip on the panel surface 1402 of the touch panel (the surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14) comes into contact. A signal representing the position of the current position is generated.
In addition, when the touch panel 28 can detect the contact pressure, the touch panel circuit 52 also generates a signal indicating the contact pressure. If necessary, the touch panel circuit 52 determines the contact position of the panel surface 1402. This signal is further processed to generate a signal representing the moving speed and acceleration of the fingertip that is in contact with the panel surface 1402.
A signal generated by the touch panel circuit 52 is supplied to the control system 50 as a touch panel input signal.
The LCD driving circuit 54 is a circuit attached to a general liquid crystal display panel, and drives the display panel 26 according to a control signal received from the control system 50 to perform visual display.

  The actuator drive control unit 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 unit 56 includes a memory 57, and the memory 57 stores data (waveform data) necessary for waveform generation corresponding to each of a plurality of waveforms. The actuator drive control unit 56 further includes a waveform generation mechanism 59, an output signal transmission circuit 60, and a power amplifier 62.

The waveform generation mechanism 59 is a mechanism configured by software, reads data corresponding to the waveform designated by the waveform selection signal from the memory 57, and generates a waveform according to the read waveform data. The output signal sending circuit 60 sends an output signal having a waveform generated by the waveform generating mechanism 59 over a period specified by the output timing signal.
The power amplifier 62 amplifies the output signal of the output signal transmission circuit 60 and supplies it to the piezoelectric actuator 18 as the drive signal S.

5A to 5D show specific examples of waveforms generated by the waveform generation mechanism 59. 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 64 includes data relating 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 64, and the drive signal S having the waveform is supplied to the actuator 18. Therefore, the movable panel unit 14 vibrates along the surface direction of the panel surface 1402 of the touch panel 28 according to the waveform of the drive signal S.
The frequency of the drive signal S is, for example, 100 Hz to 300 Hz. In order to provide tactile feedback, the drive signal S for one cycle or more may be provided.
Then, the vibration of the movable panel unit 14 generates a tactile sensation corresponding to the waveform of the drive signal S at the fingertip of the user touching the surface 1402 (panel surface 1402) of the movable panel unit 14. Therefore, in other words, the actuator drive control unit 56 drives the movable panel unit 14 to vibrate with a vibration pattern selected from a plurality of predetermined vibration patterns, and the plurality of predetermined vibrations. The patterns generate different tactile sensations on the user's fingertips that are in contact with the panel surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14. In other words, the actuator drive control unit 56 supplies the drive signal S to the actuator 18. Thus, the actuator 18 is driven and controlled.

  When the vibration amplitude of the movable panel unit 14 was set to about 10 μm to 50 μm, and what kind of tactile sensation was generated on the fingertip was actually tested, the fingertip touching the panel surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14 is Although it is sensitively perceived that the movable panel unit 14 is vibrating, the vibration direction of the movable panel unit 14 cannot 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 movable panel unit 14, it is possible to cause the fingertip to perceive a pseudo unevenness or texture.

Next, the sealing material 40 which is the gist of the present invention will be described in detail.
As described above, the movable panel unit 14 is disposed inside the front panel 22 such that the touch panel 28 faces the opening 24 as shown in FIG. 2, and the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28 are surrounded by the opening 24. Between them, the sealing material 40 is disposed in contact with both the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28.
The sealing material 40 prevents dust from entering the housing 20 from the opening 24 without hindering the vibration of the movable panel unit 14.

In the present embodiment, the sealing material 40 is formed of an ultra-low hardness silicon material or a styrene-based gel and extends in a rectangular frame shape along the opening 24.
As such a styrenic gel, for example, “KG Gel (trademark)” of Kitagawa Kogyo Co., Ltd. can be used.
That is, in the present embodiment, the sealing material 40 is made of an elastic material, and the hardness thereof is about 2 in terms of JIS hardness.
The portion of the sealing material 40 that contacts the front panel 22 is bonded to the front panel 22, and the sealing material 40 is compressed between the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28.
The sealing material 40 is stationary with respect to the front panel 22 because the portion of the sealing material 40 that contacts the front panel 22 is bonded when the movable panel unit 14 vibrates, and the sealing material that contacts the touch panel 28. The portion 40 is immovable with respect to the touch panel 28 due to a frictional force generated between the touch panel 28 and the sealing material 40.
Therefore, when the movable panel unit 14 vibrates, the sealing material 40 has 40 sealing material portions between the sealing material 40 portion that contacts the front panel 22 and the sealing material 40 portion that contacts the touch panel 28. It deforms following the relative displacement with the movable panel unit 14.

According to the present embodiment, between the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28 around the opening 24, the sealing material 40 is disposed in contact with both the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28, and the touch panel 28 is vibrated. The sealing material 40 portion that does not slide on the front panel 22 or the touch panel 28, does not move with respect to the front panel 22 and does not slide on the front panel 22, and contacts the touch panel 28. Is made stationary with respect to the touch panel 28, and the portion of the sealing material 40 between the contact portions is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel 22 and the movable panel unit 14.
The deformation of the sealing material 40 can be performed with an extremely small force that does not inhibit the vibration of the movable panel unit 14.
Therefore, the movable panel unit 14 can be vibrated with a small force, and at the same time, dust can be prevented from entering the housing through the opening 24.
Therefore, it is possible to prevent the intrusion of dust without increasing the load on the actuator and without increasing the cost of parts, which is advantageous in saving power.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described.
The same portions and members as those in the first embodiment will be described with the same reference numerals.
Similar to the first embodiment, the movable panel unit 14 is disposed inside the front panel 22 so that the touch panel 28 faces the opening 24 as shown in FIG. Between the touch panel 28 and the touch panel 28, a sealing material 40 is disposed in contact with both the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28.
The sealing material 40 prevents dust from entering the housing 20 from the opening 24 without hindering the vibration of the movable panel unit 14.

In the present embodiment, the sealing material 40 is formed by molding a silicon-based material, and extends in a rectangular frame shape along the opening 24.
As such a silicon-based material, for example, “KE-1380A / B (trademark)” manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd. can be used.
That is, in the present embodiment, the sealing material 40 is formed of an elastic material.
Unlike the first embodiment, the sealing material 40 is not bonded, and is simply compressed and disposed between the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28.
When the movable panel unit 14 vibrates, the sealing material 40 is fixed to the front panel 22 by the frictional force generated between the touch panel 28 and the sealing material 40 at the portion of the sealing material 40 that contacts the front panel 22. Further, the portion of the sealing material 40 that comes into contact with the touch panel 28 is immovable with respect to the touch panel 28 due to a frictional force generated between the touch panel 28 and the sealing material 40.
Therefore, when the movable panel unit 14 vibrates, the sealing material 40 has 40 sealing material portions between the sealing material 40 portion that contacts the front panel 22 and the sealing material 40 portion that contacts the touch panel 28. It deforms following the relative displacement with the movable panel unit 14.

6A, 6 </ b> B, and 6 </ b> C show the cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40.
The cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40 shown in FIG. 6A includes a base portion 4002 that is elastically contacted with the touch panel 28 and a convex portion 4004 that bulges from the center of the base portion 4002 and whose tip is elastically contacted with the front panel 22. Has been.
The sealing member 40 having such a cross-sectional shape is advantageous in stably bringing the base 4002 into contact with the touch panel 28, and the convex portion 4004 is easily deformed, so that the resistance when the sealing member 40 is deformed is reduced. This is advantageous.
The cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40 shown in FIG. 6B includes a base portion 4010 located in the middle portion in the thickness direction, and a convex portion 4012 that bulges from the center of one surface of the base portion 4010 and elastically contacts the touch panel 28. The base portion 4010 bulges out from the center of the other surface and has a convex portion 4016 whose tip is elastically contacted with the front panel 22.
By making the sealing material 40 have such a cross-sectional shape, the convex portions 4012 and 4014 are easily deformed, which is advantageous in reducing resistance during deformation of the sealing material 40.
The cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40 shown in FIG. 6C is as follows. The base 4020 is elastically contacted with the touch panel 28, and a plurality of bulges are spaced from one surface of the base 4020 so that their tips elastically contact the front panel 22. It is comprised with the some convex part 4022.
Such a cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40 is advantageous in stably bringing the base portion 4020 into contact with the touch panel 28. Also, since the plurality of convex portions 4022 are easily deformed, resistance when the sealing material 40 is deformed. This is advantageous in reducing the size.
That is, if the cross section of the sealing material 40 has an irregular shape as described above, it is advantageous in reducing the resistance during deformation of the sealing material 40 as compared with the case where the cross section of the sealing material 40 is a square shape or a circular shape. Even when the hardness of the sealing material 40 is set to a level that can be easily handled by hand, for example, when the JIS hardness is set to about 5, it is advantageous for reducing the resistance when the sealing material 40 is deformed. It becomes.

Next, the manufacturing method of this invention is demonstrated.
First, the first manufacturing method will be described.
As the sealing material 40, a gel-like ultra-low hardness silicon material having thixotropy or a styrene gel is used.
As such a styrenic gel, for example, “KG Gel (trademark)” of Kitagawa Kogyo Co., Ltd. can be used.
The sealing material 40 is extended in a rectangular frame shape on the surface where the front panel 22 faces the touch panel 28 around the opening 24 or on the surface where the touch panel 28 faces the front panel 22 around the opening 24.
In the present embodiment, the sealing material 40 is extended around the opening 24 to the surface where the front panel 22 faces the touch panel 28.
Specifically, the sealing material 40 was applied so as to have a width of about 1 mm and a thickness of about 0.5 mm to 1 mm using a known dispenser capable of accurately managing the coating amount.
7A is a rear view of the front panel 22, FIG. 7B is an enlarged view showing an example of a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. 7A, and FIG. 7C is an enlarged view showing another example of a cross section taken along line AA of FIG. It is.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 7B, the seal material 40 is extended to a portion where the seal material 40 is extended, that is, to the adherend portion of the seal material 40 from other places where the seal material 40 is not bonded, and extends in a frame shape. If the existing flat surface 2204 is formed and the sealing material 40 having thixotropy is extended on the flat surface 2204, the sealing material 40 is prevented from spreading and advantageous in obtaining the sealing material 40 having a large thickness. It becomes.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7C, a flat surface 2212 extending in a frame shape is formed at a portion where the sealing material 40 extends, that is, at a portion to be bonded to the sealing material 40, and the flat surface 2212 is formed. On both sides in the width direction orthogonal to the extending direction, concave portions 2210 are formed along the extending direction of the flat surface 2212 so as to partition both sides of the flat surface 2212 in the width direction between the portions to which the sealing material 40 is not bonded. If the sealing material 40 having thixotropy is extended on the flat surface 2212, it is advantageous in preventing the sealing material 40 from spreading and obtaining the sealing material 40 having a large thickness.

If the sealing material 40 is extended to the flat surface 2204 or the flat surface 2212, the inner surface of the front panel 22 and the portion of the sealing material 40 in contact with the inner surface are bonded by curing the sealing material 40.
As a bonding method of the sealing material 40, there are the following methods.
In the case where the sealing material 40 is a silicon material having ultraviolet curing properties, the sealing material 40 is cured by irradiating the sealing material 40 with ultraviolet rays, whereby the sealing material 40 is bonded to the flat surface 2204 or the flat surface 2212.
In the case where the sealing material 40 is a styrene gel having thermoplasticity, the sealing material 40 is heated to form a gel (liquid) and then the sealing material 40 is naturally radiated to dissipate the sealing material 40. As a result, the sealing material 40 is bonded to the flat surface 2204 or the flat surface 2212.
Thereby, arrangement | positioning to the front panel 22 of the sealing material 40 is made | formed.
As in the conventional case, the movable panel unit 14, the support mechanism 16, the actuator 18, and the like are incorporated in the lower frame 20, and the upper frame 21 in which the sealing material 40 is incorporated as described above is assembled to the lower frame 20, and the front surface. The panel 22 and the touch panel 28 are brought close to each other, and the sealing material 40 is compressed and disposed.
According to such a manufacturing method, the sealing material 40 is easily arranged, which is advantageous in reducing the cost of the touch panel display device 10.
Further, when the sealing material 40 is applied to the front panel 22 and cured as described above, the cured sealing material 40 may have a JIS hardness of about 2 or so, even after the curing. Since it is not necessary to handle the sealing material 40 by hand alone, there is no possibility that workability is lowered, which is advantageous in reducing the resistance when the sealing material 40 is deformed.

Next, the second manufacturing method will be described.
A material in which liquid silicon is molded is used as the sealing material 40.
The sealing material 40 is molded in advance as a single product. Specifically, the sealing material 40 is formed in a rectangular frame shape surrounding the opening 24.
When the touch panel display device 10 is assembled, that is, the movable panel unit 14, the support mechanism 16, the actuator 18, and the like are incorporated in the lower frame 20 in the same manner as in the past, and the touch panel 28 is extended on the periphery of the opening 24. The upper frame 21 is assembled to the lower frame 20, the front panel 22 and the touch panel 28 are brought close to each other, and the sealing material 40 is compressed and disposed.
Also by such a manufacturing method, arrangement | positioning of the sealing material 40 is made simple and it is advantageous when aiming at the cost reduction of the touchscreen display apparatus 10. FIG.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described.
In the third embodiment, the touch panel display device 10 according to the present invention is applied to a mobile phone as an electronic device.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are explanatory views of the cellular phone 2 according to the fifth embodiment. The same or same parts and members as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. To do.
The mobile phone 2 has an elongated rectangular plate-shaped device-side housing 202 that constitutes an exterior.
As shown in FIG. 8B, the touch panel display device 10 is incorporated in the device-side housing 202 so that the surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14 is exposed to the outside from the opening 204 on the upper surface of the device-side housing 202. Is arranged.
An opening / closing lid 206 is swingably attached to the lower end of the device-side housing 202 via a hinge. The open / close lid 206 has a closed position that covers a part of the surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14 shown in FIG. 8A, and an open position that opens the entire surface 1402 of the movable panel unit 14 shown in FIG. 8B. Is swung.
A plurality of operation keys 208 including numeric keys and function keys are provided on the outer surface where the opening lid 206 faces outward in a state where the opening / closing lid 206 is located at the open position shown in FIG. 8B.
The user presses the touch panel 28 with a stylus or a fingertip while viewing the screen displayed on the display panel 26 of the touch panel display device 10 with the open / close lid 206 positioned at the open position shown in FIG. 8B. Various operations are performed.
It goes without saying that the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained in such a mobile phone 2 as well.
In particular, such a mobile phone 2 is often used in an environment with much dust, such as outdoors, and is driven by a battery, so there is a concern about the intrusion of dust, and low power consumption is required. However, according to the present embodiment, dust can be effectively prevented from entering, and the power consumption of the actuator 18 can be suppressed, which is advantageous.
Of course, the housing 12 or the front panel 22 of the touch panel display device 10 may be formed separately from the device-side housing 202 or may be formed of the device-side housing 202. It is.

(Fourth embodiment)
Next, a fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of the touch panel display device 10 according to the fourth embodiment.
In the first to third embodiments, the case where the display panel 26 and the touch panel 28 are integrally coupled to form the movable panel unit 14 has been described, but the present invention is a case where they are not integrated. Of course, it is also applicable.
That is, as shown in FIG. 9, the display panel 26 is disposed at a location spaced below the touch panel 28.
The movable panel unit 14 is arranged so that the touch panel 28 is positioned so as to overlap the display panel 26.
An opening 2010 corresponding to the display panel 26 is formed in the bottom wall 20A of the housing 12.
Moreover, the thing of the form joined to the base material 60 like the transparent hard glass board etc. is used for the touchscreen 28. FIG.
In FIG. 9, reference numeral 62 indicates the housing of the display panel 26. In this case, the housing 62 of the display panel 26 and the housing 12 of the touch panel 28 may be integrated or separated.
As described above, the present invention is also applied to the touch panel display device 10 in which the display panel 26 and the touch panel 28 are arranged apart from each other, and the same effects as those of the first embodiment are achieved.

In the embodiment, the case where the elastic member 17 is used as the support mechanism 16 that supports the movable panel unit 14 on the bottom wall 20A so as to be displaceable along a plane parallel to the surface of the touch panel 28 has been described. As the support mechanism 16, various conventionally known mechanisms can be employed.
For example, by disposing a roller between the back surface 1404 of the movable panel unit 14 and the bottom wall 20A of the lower frame 20, the movable panel unit 14 can be displaced along a surface parallel to the surface of the touch panel 28 by the roller. You may support on the bottom wall 20A. In that case, by disposing a spring between the end surface 14A of the movable panel unit 14 and the side wall 20B of the lower frame 20, the touch panel 28 is returned to a predetermined position (initial position) in the opening 24 by the spring. Energize.
In the embodiment, the case where the sealing material 40 is formed of an elastic material has been described. However, the sealing material 40 may be formed with an extremely small force such that the deformation does not hinder the vibration of the movable panel unit 14. Of course, the sealing material 40 may be formed of a plastically deformable material. In that case, if no frictional force is generated between the sealing material 40 and the front panel 22 or the touch panel 28, for example, the portion of the sealing material 40 that contacts the front panel 22 is bonded to the front panel 22 and contacts the touch panel 28. What is necessary is just to adhere | attach the sealing material 40 part to touch panel 28. FIG.

  In the above-described embodiment, a mobile phone has been described as an example of an electronic device to which the touch panel display device 10 is applied. However, the present invention is not limited to a portable information terminal device (PDA (Personal Digital Assistant)), a car navigation system, Applicable to various electronic devices such as ATM (automated teller machine), cash register in POS (point-of-sale information management system), gaming equipment such as arcade games, home gaming equipment, portable gaming equipment, and other various gaming equipment is there.

1 is a plan view of a touch panel display device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the touch panel display apparatus 10 except the front panel 22. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control unit and an electronic circuit that are components of the touch panel display device 10. FIG. (A)-(D) are figures which show the specific example of the waveform produced | generated by the waveform production | generation mechanism 59. FIG. (A), (B), (C) is a figure which shows the cross-sectional shape of the sealing material 40. FIG. (A) is a rear view of the front panel 22, (B) is an enlarged view showing an example of an AA line section of (A), (C) is an enlarged view showing another example of an AA line section of (A). . (A), (B) is explanatory drawing of the mobile telephone 2 of 3rd Embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the touchscreen display apparatus 10 of 4th Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

  2 ... Mobile phone, 10 ... Touch panel display device, 12 ... Housing, 14 ... Movable panel unit, 16 ... Support mechanism, 18 ... Actuator, 22 ... Front panel, 24 ... Opening, 26 ... ... display panel, 28 ... touch panel, 40 ... sealing material.

Claims (11)

A housing,
A movable panel unit having a flat plate shape and a touch panel provided inside the housing;
A display panel disposed below the touch panel;
A support mechanism for supporting the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel;
An actuator that is disposed inside the housing and vibrates the movable panel unit along a surface of the touch panel;
The housing has a front panel having an opening;
The movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening,
Between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, a sealant is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel,
The seal material is configured such that, when the movable panel unit vibrates, the seal material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material portion that contacts the touch panel is against the touch panel. And the seal material part between those parts is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit,
The sealing material portion that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel,
The adherend part of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed by a flat surface that protrudes from the other part to which the sealing material is not bonded and extends in a frame shape.
A touch panel display device characterized by that. A housing,
A movable panel unit having a flat plate shape and a touch panel provided inside the housing;
A display panel disposed below the touch panel;
A support mechanism for supporting the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel;
An actuator that is disposed inside the housing and vibrates the movable panel unit along a surface of the touch panel;
The housing has a front panel having an opening;
The movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening,
Between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, a sealant is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel,
The seal material is configured such that, when the movable panel unit vibrates, the seal material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material portion that contacts the touch panel is against the touch panel. And the seal material part between those parts is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit,
The sealing material portion that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel,
The adherend part of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed by a flat surface extending in a frame shape,
On both sides in the width direction orthogonal to the direction in which the flat surface extends, a recess that divides both sides in the width direction of the flat surface from the portion where the sealing material is not bonded extends along the direction in which the flat surface extends. Exist,
A touch panel display device characterized by that. The sealing material is formed of an elastic material,
The sealing material is compressed and disposed between the front panel and the touch panel,
The sealing material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel due to friction generated between the front panel and the sealing material, and the sealing material portion that contacts the touch panel is: It is immovable with respect to the touch panel due to the frictional force generated between the touch panel and the sealing material,
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. The sealing material is formed of an elastic material,
The sealing material is compressed and disposed between the front panel and the touch panel,
The sealing material portion that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel,
The sealing material part that contacts the other panel of the front panel or the touch panel is immobile by frictional force with respect to the other panel,
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. The sealing material portion that contacts the front panel is bonded to the front panel, and the sealing material portion that contacts the touch panel is bonded to the touch panel,
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. The sealing material is formed of a plastic material,
The sealing material portion that contacts the front panel is bonded to the front panel, and the sealing material portion that contacts the touch panel is bonded to the touch panel,
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. The movable panel unit is configured by integrally combining the display panel and the touch panel.
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. The display panel is disposed at a location spaced below the touch panel,
The movable panel unit is arranged so that the touch panel is positioned so as to overlap the display panel.
The touch panel display device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel display device is a touch panel display device. An electronic device having a device-side casing,
A touch panel display device is incorporated in the device-side casing,
The touch panel display device
A housing,
A movable panel unit having a flat plate shape and a touch panel provided inside the housing;
A display panel disposed below the touch panel;
A support mechanism for supporting the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel;
An actuator that is disposed inside the housing and vibrates the movable panel unit along a surface of the touch panel;
The housing has a front panel having an opening;
The movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening,
Between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, a sealant is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel,
The seal material is configured such that, when the movable panel unit vibrates, the seal material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material portion that contacts the touch panel is against the touch panel. And the seal material part between those parts is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit,
The sealing material portion that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel,
The adherend part of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed by a flat surface that protrudes from the other part to which the sealing material is not bonded and extends in a frame shape.
An electronic device characterized by that. An electronic device having a device-side casing,
A touch panel display device is incorporated in the device-side casing,
The touch panel display device
A housing,
A movable panel unit having a flat plate shape and a touch panel provided inside the housing;
A display panel disposed below the touch panel;
A support mechanism for supporting the movable panel unit so as to be displaceable along the surface of the touch panel;
An actuator that is disposed inside the housing and vibrates the movable panel unit along a surface of the touch panel;
The housing has a front panel having an opening;
The movable panel unit is disposed inside the front panel so that the touch panel faces the opening,
Between the front panel and the touch panel around the opening, a sealant is disposed in contact with both the front panel and the touch panel,
The seal material is configured such that, when the movable panel unit vibrates, the seal material portion that contacts the front panel is immovable with respect to the front panel, and the seal material portion that contacts the touch panel is against the touch panel. And the seal material part between those parts is deformed following the relative displacement between the front panel and the movable panel unit,
The sealing material portion that contacts one panel of the front panel or the touch panel is bonded to the one panel,
The adherend part of the one panel to which the sealing material is bonded is formed by a flat surface extending in a frame shape,
On both sides in the width direction orthogonal to the direction in which the flat surface extends, a recess that divides both sides in the width direction of the flat surface from the portion where the sealing material is not bonded extends along the direction in which the flat surface extends. Exist,
An electronic device characterized by that. 11. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the electronic device is a mobile phone.

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