JPH02137013A - Control method for touch panel and touch panel device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evade the report of the wrong coordinates and to realize the continuous use of a touch panel by excluding an abnormal element pair out of a coordinate detecting process in case the abnormal element is detected during a normal coordinate detecting action. CONSTITUTION:An abnormal light shielding detecting part 94 of a processor 90 of a touch panel device decides the presence or absence of the abnormal detection light from the contents of a light shielding decision result table 72. Then a counter of a counting means 80 calculates continuously the scan frequency of an element pair whose abnormal light shielding states are decided for each axis. In case >=2 axes have the element pairs decided as abnormal light shielding are detected, the scan frequency of the utmost left element pair is counted. When this count value exceeds a fixed level, the element pair is decided abnormal and registered into an abnormal element table 73. An alarm means 75 refers to the contents of the table 73 and turns on an LED 1 as a 1st alarm. Then the element pair registered in the table 73 is excluded out of the subsequent coordinate deciding processes of a coordinate deciding process part 93.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an optical touch panel, and in particular, the present invention relates to an optical touch panel that can be used continuously for months even if an abnormality occurs in the light emitting or light receiving element during normal use. The present invention relates to a touch panel control method and a touch panel device.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, a touch panel is known as an input device that is mainly attached to a monitor tube surface and allows input operations corresponding to the display screen to be performed on the screen.

Various types of operating systems have been proposed for such touch panels, but optical systems are popular from the viewpoints of accuracy, reliability, visibility, operability, and the like. In this method, a plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements are arranged to face each other, and coordinates are detected when light is not blocked by a finger or the like.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional optical touch panel device.

This touch panel device detects two-dimensional coordinates, and a plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements xO to Xm are arranged facing each other in the horizontal (X-axis) direction with a detection area in between,
At the same time, a plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements YO to YO are similarly arranged to face each other in the vertical (Y-axis) direction. (Since LED is a typical light-emitting element, below,
The light emitting element is simply called an LED. ) In each axis, the LE
The Dl driver 35 generates a voltage for driving the LED array lO, and the multiplexer 40 generates a voltage for driving the LED array lO.
According to the timing signal from 5, the LEDs are sequentially distributed to each LED. As a result, the LEDs in the X-axis direction (7) are
Drive scanning is repeated in the order of i, X2° . . . , XR+. Similarly, the LEDs in the Y-axis direction are YO, Yl, Y2. −
, Yn are repeatedly driven and scanned in this order. Each L E I
) lights up and emits infrared rays when activated. On the other hand, the selector 30 receiving the output of the light-receiving element array 20 is controlled by the timing generation circuit 45 so as to sequentially select the outputs of the light-receiving elements facing the sequentially activated LEDs. The rotation scanning section 91 issues commands for driving and scanning the LED and the light receiving element. output signal of selector 30,
That is, the analog output signal of each light-receiving element is sequentially converted into digital data by the analog-to-digital converter 50 and latched in the register 60.

This data is temporarily stored in the light reception data table 71 in the memory 70 by the processing device 90. After the sleep scanning of all the elements, the processing device 90 uses its light shielding determination unit 92 to determine whether each element pair is shielded from light.

A coordinate determination unit 93 determines detected coordinates.

FIG. 3 shows the light emission timings of L E DXO, XI, and X2 and an example of the corresponding output of the selector 30. In this example, it is assumed that the LEI)X2 and ■EDYI(7) lights are blocked by a finger. L E DXO,
Xi and X2° are turned on sequentially for a certain period of time at a certain period.

Ll! : When an LED other than DX2 lights up, the selector; 30 outputs a signal with a chevron-shaped waveform, and the LED
When X2 is lit, the light is blocked by the finger, so the selector 30 does not output a chevron-shaped waveform signal. Although not shown, L E DYO, Yl, Y2. . . . lights up sequentially for a certain period of time at a certain period. In this example, a signal having a chevron-shaped waveform is output from the selector 30 only when L E DYI is lit. In this way, the coordinates (Xi, Y2) are detected. In fact, if you touch the coordinate detection area with your finger, two fingers (two pairs) will be displayed at the same time.
The distance between the element pairs of the touch panel is set to such an extent that the above element pairs are shielded from light. In that case, one of the plurality of detected coordinates or an intermediate value is output for each axis. The coordinate determination unit 93 performs such coordinate determination processing.

FIG. 5 shows a flowchart of coordinate detection processing of the conventional touch panel device shown in FIG. 2.

First, the active scanning means 91 performs L E DXO, Xi, -
, Xm, then L E 110. Yl, ..., Yn
are sequentially driven and scanned. As a result, each LED
Light reception data representing the light reception result of the corresponding light receiving element is obtained in the light reception data table 71. A shading determination unit 91 in the processing device 90 compares each received light data with a predetermined threshold value, and determines "no shading" when the received light data is larger than the threshold value, and determines "no shading" when the received light data is smaller than the threshold value. It is determined that the light is blocked. In the case of "light shielding", the coordinate determination unit 93 determines detection coordinates from the position of the element pair of the light reception data and reports it to a host computer (not shown).

In the case of "no light shielding", the process returns to the beginning of the coordinate detection process and restarts the driving scan.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] As described above, in conventional touch panel devices, the operator can It is designed to detect the indicated coordinates of the LED.
Alternatively, if the light receiving element fails, the output of the selector 30 will fall below a certain level. In such cases, there is a problem in that incorrect coordinates are reported. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, if either the LED or the light-receiving element f of element pair v3 fails, the output of the selector 30 for element pair Y3 will always be constant and below the bell; For example, if the operator specifies point A at the coordinates (X2.Yl), the touch panel device determines that point B at the other coordinates (X2.Y3) is also specified, and selects one of the coordinates or The intermediate value will be reported as the detected coordinates.

In conventional touch panel devices, each element is checked during inspection and any malfunctioning element is replaced. If a malfunction occurs, there is no way to detect it, and there is a risk that the product may continue to be used without noticing the malfunction. Also, even if you notice a malfunction,
Depending on the system in which the touch panel device is employed, it may not be permissible or desirable to interrupt the use of the touch panel while the system is in operation.

An object of the present invention is to enable detection of a failure even if a light emitting or light receiving element fails during use of a touch panel, and
An object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel control method and a touch panel device that can be used continuously even if an element breaks down during use.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, a touch panel control method according to the present invention includes a method in which a plurality of pairs of a light emitting element and a light receiving element are arranged facing each other, and the plurality of pairs are sequentially and periodically driven and scanned. This is a touch panel control method for detecting coordinates corresponding to a light-shielded pair of elements, in which 1% normal element detection processing is performed during normal coordinate detection operation, and an abnormal element is detected from the detection processing ratio. In some cases, the abnormal cord pair is excluded from the coordinate detection process thereafter.

According to another aspect of the touch panel control method according to the present invention, a plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements are arranged facing each other, and the plurality of pairs are sequentially and periodically driven and scanned to correspond to the light-blocked element pairs. A control method for a touch panel that detects coordinates, wherein an abnormal element detection process is performed during a normal coordinate detection operation, and when an abnormal element is detected from the detection processing ratio, the abnormal element pair is thereafter It is assumed that there is no light shielding, and the coordinate detection operation continues. Alternatively, when abnormal element detection processing is performed during normal coordinate detection operation and an abnormal element is detected from the detection processing ratio, the abnormal element pair will be treated as "the light shielding determination result of the adjacent element pair". It is assumed that the two coordinates are the same, and the coordinate detection operation continues.

The light shielding during the normal coordinate detection operation is preferably performed for a plurality of consecutive element pairs.

As an abnormal element detection process performed during normal coordinate detection operation, for example, if a single element pair is continuously shielded from light for a predetermined period of time or more, that element pair is determined to be abnormal. can be mentioned. Alternatively, whether or not each element pair is abnormally blocked is detected for each of the above-mentioned scans, and an element pair that is determined to be abnormally shaded continuously for a predetermined number of scans or more is determined to be abnormal. This abnormal light shielding can be determined by the light shielding state that cannot occur in normal coordinate detection operations.

Preferably, if a single element pair is determined to be abnormal, a first alarm is issued continuously or periodically, and if two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal, a second alarm is issued. Emit continuously or periodically.

Regarding two or more element pairs when two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal at the same time, or from the second element pair when two or more element pairs are sequentially determined to be abnormal, Preferably, the determination as to whether or not the light is blocked is continued, and when it is later determined that "the light is not blocked", the second alarm is stopped.

Regarding the single element pair determined to be abnormal, the light emission is controlled periodically during the normal coordinate detection operation, and when the light is received normally, it is determined that the element pair is no longer abnormal, and the light is blocked for the element pair. The determination as to whether or not the target is present is resumed, and the coordinate determination process is performed.

Further, desirably, the light emission control is performed periodically during the normal coordinate detection operation for the single element pair determined to be abnormal, and the first alarm is stopped when the light is normally received.

A touch panel device according to the present invention includes a plurality of pairs of a light emitting element and a light receiving element arranged to face each other, a driving scanning means for sequentially driving and scanning the plurality of pairs in a periodic manner, and determining and outputting coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pairs. In the touch panel device, the touch panel device includes: a shading determining means for determining whether or not there is a shading for each element pair for each scan; and an abnormal shading detecting means for detecting abnormal shading from the determination result of the shading determining means. and all 1,000 means for counting the number of scans for a pair of elements in which abnormal light shielding has been detected by the abnormal light shielding detection means over a plurality of consecutive scans, and the count value of the counting means exceeds a predetermined value. Abnormal element registration means for registering an element pair as an abnormal element pair, and the coordinate determination means refers to the abnormal element registration contents and selects element pairs registered as abnormal from being subjected to coordinate determination processing. It is characterized by exclusion.

According to another aspect, the touch panel device according to the present invention includes a plurality of pairs of a light emitting element and a light receiving element arranged opposite to each other, a driving scanning means for sequentially and periodically driving and scanning the plurality of pairs, and a light-shielded A touch panel device having a coordinate determination means for determining and outputting coordinates corresponding to an element pair, a light shielding determination means for determining whether or not there is light shielding for each element pair for each scan, and a light shielding determination means for determining whether or not there is light shielding for each element pair, based on the determination result of the light shielding determining means. an abnormal light shielding detection means for detecting abnormal light shielding; a counting means for counting the number of scans by 31 for a pair of elements in which abnormal light shielding has been detected by the abnormal light shielding detecting means in a plurality of consecutive scans; abnormal element registration means for registering an element pair whose i-digit value of the counting means exceeds a predetermined value as an abnormal element pair; This feature is characterized in that the element pairs listed in the table are regarded as "no light shielding" or "same light shielding determination result as the adjacent element pair."

The abnormal element registration means may register a single element pair as an abnormal element pair only when the counted value exceeds a predetermined value.

In addition, when the plurality of pairs of the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, the abnormal element registration means may be arranged such that the above-mentioned count value is predetermined for a single element pair for each axis. The element pair may be registered as abnormal only when the value exceeds the value.

Preferably, the abnormal element registration means registers only a single abnormal element pair as an abnormal element pair. Alternatively, when the plurality of pairs of the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, the abnormal 'J'+f element registration means registers only a single abnormal element pair for each axis. It may also be registered as an abnormal element pair.

When the plurality of pairs of the light-emitting elements and the light-receiving elements are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, the counting means may have one counter provided in each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. good. The counting means may include counters provided as many as the number of element pairs.

Furthermore, an alarm means may be provided to notify the operator of the occurrence of an abnormal element pair. Preferably, a first alarm means for notifying the occurrence of a single abnormal element pair and a second alarm means for notifying the occurrence of a plurality of abnormal element pairs are provided.

In the case where the first alarm means notifies the occurrence of +l, - abnormal element pairs and the second alarm means notifies the occurrence of Pi number of abnormal element pairs, an abnormal element not registered in the above abnormal element registration means Regarding the pair, the above-mentioned shading determination means
When it is determined that there is no light shielding, the second alarm means preferably stops issuing an alarm.

Restoration detection means may be provided which periodically performs light emission control for the element pair registered in the abnormal light shielding detection means and cancels the registration of the abnormal element registration means when light is normally received.

(Hereinafter, blank space) [Operation] The present invention focuses on the fact that during the normal Pi mark detection operation of the touch panel device, the operator does not keep pressing the same coordinate for a long time, and the As a method for detecting an abnormality such as a failure or defect, it is detected that the output of a specific light-receiving element does not occur for a certain period of time or more. Alternatively, in an abnormal light shielding state that cannot occur in normal coordinate detection operations, for example, in a device that detects two-dimensional coordinates of the X axis and YIllI, it is detected that the light receiving element output does not occur in only one axis direction. In this case, in order to ensure abnormality detection, it is preferable that the abnormal light shielding state is -.
The condition for abnormality determination is that the condition continues for ft1 or more. Other abnormal light blocking states include blocking of light by a plurality of discontinuous light receiving elements or blocking of light by a certain number of light receiving elements or more.

In this way, for element pairs determined to be abnormal,
Register it as an abnormal element pair and use it from now on.

Exclude from coordinate determination. That is, even if it is determined that the light is shielded, the coordinates of the registered abnormal element pair are not determined when determining the coordinates. or,
At the time of light shielding determination after subsequent driving scans, the normal light shielding determination is omitted for the abnormal element pair, or it is forcibly determined to be "no light shielding" regardless of the result of the light shielding determination. This results in
Erroneous coordinates will no longer be reported from the touch panel device.

In addition, even if one abnormal element pair is excluded from the coordinate determination processing or the light shielding determination is considered as "no light shielding", in normal coordinate indication, multiple element pairs can be simultaneously detected with a finger or an equivalent pointing member. Since the light is blocked, it can be used continuously without any problems.

That is, even if the coordinates of the abnormal element pair are specified by chance, the coordinates of the other element pairs will be detected because the other element pairs are also shielded from light at the same time.

Although there is a possibility that an error of about one coordinate value may occur, there is no problem at all since the area to be specified is usually wide.

Instead of regarding the abnormal element pair as "no light shielding", the light shielding state of the abnormal element may be determined to be "same as the light shielding determination result of the adjacent element pair".

This determination method is particularly suitable for determining abnormal light shielding when a plurality of consecutive light receiving elements are not shielded. For example, when three consecutive element pairs are blocked with an abnormal element pair in between, if only the abnormal element pair is considered as "no light shielding", it will be an abnormal light shielding state, but the adjacent element pair and the light shielding determination result If we consider them to be the same, this inconvenience will disappear.

If a failure occurs in an element while using the touch panel, the operator can continue to use the touch panel in this way, and the occurrence of an abnormal element pair can be recognized by an alarm. All you have to do is replace the parts (if any). This alarm may be anything that the operator can recognize, such as an alarm display or an alarm sound.

For an element pair registered as an abnormal element pair, preferably, during normal coordinate detection operation, light emission control is performed instead of drive scanning, and light is normally received.

It is determined that there is no longer any abnormality, the element pair is deleted from the registration, the determination of whether or not the element pair is shielded from light is restarted, and the element pair is made a target of coordinate determination processing. As a result, if a specific element becomes temporarily defective for some reason and then recovers, or if the touch panel, parts, etc. are replaced,
It is possible to return to normal condition.

In addition, when two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal at the same time, for the two or more element pairs, or,
When two or more element pairs are sequentially determined to be abnormal, it is preferable to continue normal light shielding determination without registering them as abnormal element pairs, and to A second alarm different from the first alarm may be generated. If two or more elements are judged to be abnormal, it is often due to an operational error, such as a piece of paper or cloth accidentally covering an element on the touch panel. This has the meaning of prompting the operator to confirm the existence of obstacles that may occur. Since the normal light shielding determination is continued, if the obstacle is removed and the light shielding determination is confirmed to be "no light shielding", the second alarm is stopped and normal operation can be resumed.

[Example] Hereinafter, a preferred example of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of an embodiment of a touch panel device according to the present invention. In this figure, elements similar to those of the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. 2 are given the same reference numerals.

The device configuration differs from conventional devices in that an abnormal light shading detection section 94 and a recovery detection section 95 are added to the processing device 90, and a light shading determination result table 72 and an abnormal element table 73 are stored in the memory 70. and that an alarm means 75 and a counting means 80 are provided.

In this embodiment, the δ counting means 80 has one abnormal element counter on each of the X axis and the Y axis. Each part in the counting means 80 and the processing device 90 can be configured by software (program processing) instead of hardware.

The light shielding determination result table 72 stores the determination results of the light shielding determination unit 91, that is, the presence or absence of light shielding, for the light reception data of each light receiving element for each round of drive scanning.

The abnormal light shielding detection unit 94 determines whether or not there is abnormal light shielding based on the contents of the light shielding determination result table 72. A counter in the counting means 80 counts, for each axis, the number of times the element pair is successively scanned for abnormal light shielding. If there are two or more element pairs determined to be abnormally shielded on each axis, in this embodiment, the leftmost element pair is counted. many counters,
For example, if one element is provided for each element pair, such measures are not necessary. If the count value of the counter exceeds a certain value, the element pair (coordinates) is determined to be an abnormal element pair and is registered in the abnormal element pair table 73 as shown in FIG. The alarm means 75 refers to this registered content, and
If there is an element pair registered as abnormal, LED #1 is turned on as a first alarm. In this embodiment, only one abnormal element pair, 3, is recorded. In this sense, the abnormal element table 73 may be different from the one shown in FIG. 7 and may store numbers for identifying abnormal element pairs.

Regarding the element pairs registered in the abnormal element table 73,
Thereafter, the coordinate determination unit 93 excludes the target from coordinate determination processing. Alternatively, the light shielding determination unit 91 determines that the element pair is "no light shielding" regardless of whether or not there is actual light shielding, or determines that the element pair is "no light shielding". It may be determined that the result is the same as the determination result.

The 1M reporting means 75 also includes the contents of the abnormal element table 73, the output of the counting means 80, and the light shielding determination result table 72.
If two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal, either simultaneously or sequentially, LED #2 is turned on. In this case, the light shielding determining unit 91 determines that element pairs that are not registered in the abnormal element table 73 are marked as "no light shielding" or "no light shielding".
It is assumed that the light shielding judgment result is the same as that of the adjacent element pair.
Continue normal shading judgment. Therefore, if it is determined that no light is blocked again, the alarm means 75 turns off the LED #2.

The recovery detection unit 95 periodically controls the lighting of the LEDs of the abnormal element pairs registered in the abnormal element table, and when it is confirmed that normal light reception by the corresponding light receiving element is performed, the recovery detecting unit 95 selects that element from the abnormal element table 73. Delete the registration of the pair.

Next, a specific example of the coordinate detection processing of the touch panel device of FIG. 1 will be explained with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 6.

The normal operation is almost the same as that of the device shown in FIG. First, the drive scanning unit 91 checks one data item in the abnormal element table 73 (Sll), and in this case, since it is normal, one LED is turned on, that is, one element is scanned.
2) Repeat these steps until scanning of all elements is completed (S13).

Each result of the one-element scan is stored in the light reception data table 71. The light shielding determining unit 91 compares each piece of data in this table 71 with a threshold value, and determines the presence or absence of light shielding for each element pair (S14).

At this time, the determination is omitted for those registered as abnormal element pairs in the abnormal element table 73. The determination result is stored in the light shielding determination result table 72. Now, if there is a light blockage, the abnormal light blockage detection section 94 detects that the table 7
Based on the contents of 2, it is determined whether abnormal light blocking has occurred (S15). In this example, one point pointing (
Only one set of coordinates that are continuous on both the X and Y axes is considered normal shading, and shading only on one of the other axes or discontinuous coordinates is determined to be abnormal shading. If the light is normally blocked, the coordinates are determined by the coordinate determination unit 93 and reported (
516). At this time, those registered as abnormal element pairs in the abnormal element table 73 are excluded from the coordinate determination process.

If abnormal light blocking occurs due to the occurrence of a defective element or the like while the touch panel is in use, it is detected in step 515.

Then, it is determined whether the coordinates are the same as the coordinates that were previously shaded (S31). If there are multiple coordinates that are abnormally shaded,
In this embodiment, only the leftmost coordinates of each axis are determined. If the coordinates are the same, the abnormal element counter is updated (S32), and it is determined whether this value exceeds a certain value (S33).

Until the constant value is exceeded, the process returns to the first step Sll.

If an element failure occurs, the counter will continue to be updated unless it recovers naturally, and the counter will continue to be updated for a predetermined period of time (for example, 10
seconds), the counter value exceeds a certain value. If the light is blocked only in one axis direction by a finger or the like, and it is not a defective element, the next time abnormal light blocking occurs, if the coordinates are different from the coordinates of the previous abnormal light blocking, the abnormal element counter will be set. Cleared (33g).

If the counter value exceeds a certain value in step S33, 1. In this embodiment, the light shielding state of the adjacent element pair at that time is checked by referring to the light shielding determination result table 72, and if there are other light shielded elements on the same axis. If so, it is determined that the number of abnormal elements is multiple,
If there is no one, it is determined that there is one (S34). In the case of a defective element, it is usually determined that there is only one defective element, and it is determined whether another element pair is already registered in the abnormal element table 73 (S: 35).
, if not registered, the device pair is newly registered (536) and LED #1 is turned on (S37).

If it is determined in step 34 that there are two or more, the LEI
] Light up $2. ■, while ED#2 is lit,
In this embodiment, it is determined that it cannot be used, and coordinate reporting is not performed.

If the cause of LED02 lighting is an obstacle, if the obstacle is removed, it is determined in step 514 that no light is blocked, LED #2 is turned off (S17), and can be used. If LED #2 does not turn off even after removing the obstruction, contact maintenance personnel and replace the touch panel to recover.

When the process returns to step SL+ after LED $$1 is lit, it is checked by referring to the abnormal element table whether the registered abnormal element pairs are controlled to light up and are normally received (513), and the light is received normally. If so, it is determined that the device has recovered, and the registration of that device pair is removed from the abnormal device table (519), and L E I) #l is turned off. If the recovery has not been completed, the process proceeds directly to scanning the next element.

When one abnormal element pair is registered in the abnormal element table, it is excluded from the coordinate determination process as described above, so that the touch panel can be continued to be used without any trouble.

According to this embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

(1) Automatically detects abnormal elements while using the touch panel, and if an abnormality in a single element is detected, that abnormal element is excluded from the coordinate determination process, and incorrect coordinates are reported. It is possible to avoid a situation where the situation continues to occur. The operator can recognize this state by lighting the LED #1.

(2) Since a plurality of coordinates are shaded at the same time according to the normal coordinate indicating method, if one element fails, the touch panel can be continued to be used even if it is assumed that "light is not shaded".

(3) If the touch panel is accidentally covered with an obstruction such as paper or cloth, the operator should recognize this condition by lighting LED #2 and remove the obstruction. This allows normal operation to be restored. Even with the removal of obstacles, or even in the absence of obstacles,
If LED #2 is lit, it can be determined that multiple elements have failed.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it is possible to make various changes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, from a reliability standpoint, continued use is possible only if a single element fails, but if one or 512 elements fail on each axis, or if a certain distance on the same axis It is also an nf feature to enable continued use even if two or more elements separated by more than 100% fail.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, an abnormality in a light emitting element or a light receiving element of a touch panel can be automatically detected while the touch panel is in use;
This not only makes it possible to issue an alarm and notify the operator, but also prevents the use of a touch panel by preventing the normal light shielding judgment from being performed for that element, while avoiding the situation where incorrect coordinates are reported. It is now possible to continue.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a touch panel device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a conventional touch panel device, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory diagrams of the principle of coordinate detection in an optical touch panel device. FIG. 5 is a flowchart h of coordinate detection processing in a conventional touch panel device, FIG. 6 is a flowchart 1 of coordinate detection processing in a touch panel device of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the abnormal element table of FIG. 1. , FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of erroneous coordinate detection due to the occurrence of an abnormal element. 10... LED array, 20... Light receiving element array, 30... Selector, 35... LED driver. 40...Multiplexer, 45...Timing generation circuit, 50...Analog-digital converter, 60...Register, 70...Memory, 71...Light reception data table. 72...Shading determination result table. 73... Abnormal element table, 75... Alarm means, 8
0... Counting means, 90... Processing device, 91... Call scanning unit. 92... Light shielding determination section, 93... Coordinate determination section, 94.
...Abnormal light shielding detection section, 95...Recovery detection section Fig. ED Fig. Fig. 1 Cause

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements are arranged facing each other,
A touch panel control method that sequentially and periodically drives and scans the plurality of pairs to detect coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pair, the method comprising: performing abnormal element detection processing during normal coordinate detection operation;
A touch panel control method characterized in that when an abnormal element is detected by the detection process, the abnormal element pair is subsequently excluded from coordinate detection processing. 2. A plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements are arranged facing each other,
A touch panel control method that sequentially and periodically drives and scans the plurality of pairs to detect coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pair, the method comprising: performing abnormal element detection processing during normal coordinate detection operation;
A touch panel control method characterized in that when an abnormal element is detected by the detection process, the abnormal element pair is thereafter regarded as "no light shielding" and the coordinate detection operation is continued. 3. A plurality of pairs of light emitting elements and light receiving elements are arranged facing each other,
A touch panel control method that sequentially and periodically drives and scans the plurality of pairs to detect coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pairs, the method comprising: performing abnormal cord detection processing during normal coordinate detection operation;
When an abnormal element is detected based on the detection processing ratio, the touch panel continues the coordinate detection operation by regarding the abnormal element pair as "the same as the light shielding determination result of the adjacent element pair". control method. 4. Claim 1, wherein the light shielding during the normal coordinate detection operation is performed for a plurality of consecutive element pairs.
3. The touch panel control method according to 2 or 3. 5. The touch panel control method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein if a single element pair is continuously shielded from light for a predetermined period of time or more, the element pair is determined to be abnormal. 6. The method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein whether or not each element pair is abnormally shaded is detected for each of the above-mentioned scans, and an element pair that is determined to be abnormally shaded continuously for a predetermined number of scans or more is judged to be abnormal. How to control the touch panel. 7. The touch panel control method according to claim 6, wherein a light shielding state that cannot occur in a normal coordinate detection operation is determined to be the abnormal light shielding. 8. The touch panel control method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the first alarm is issued continuously or periodically when a single element pair is determined to be abnormal. 9. The touch panel control method according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 8, characterized in that when two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal, a second alarm is issued continuously or periodically. . 10. Regarding two or more element pairs when two or more element pairs are determined to be abnormal at the same time, or from the second element pair when two or more element pairs are sequentially determined to be abnormal. 10. The touch panel control method according to claim 9, further comprising the step of continuing to determine whether or not light is shielded, and stopping the second alarm when it is later determined that there is no light shielding. 11. For the single element pair determined to be abnormal, perform periodic light emission control during the normal coordinate detection operation, and when light is received normally, it is determined that there is no longer an abnormality, and the light is blocked for the element pair. restart the judgment as to whether or not
Claim 1, characterized in that the coordinate detection process is performed on the coordinate detection process.
3. The touch panel control method according to 2 or 3. 12. For the single element pair determined to be abnormal, the light emission control is periodically performed during the normal coordinate detection operation, and when the light is received normally, the first alarm is stopped. The touch panel control method according to claim 8 or 11. 13. A plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements arranged to face each other, a driving scanning means for sequentially and periodically driving and scanning the plurality of pairs, and a coordinate determining means for determining and outputting coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pairs. A touch panel device comprising: a light shielding determining means for determining whether or not light shielding occurs for each element pair for each scan; abnormal light shielding detecting means detecting abnormal light shielding from the determination result of the light shielding determining means; and the abnormal light shielding. For element pairs in which abnormal light shielding has been detected by the detection means over a plurality of consecutive scans, a counting means is provided for counting the number of scans, and an element pair for which the count value of the counting means exceeds a predetermined value is designated as an abnormal element. and abnormal element registration means for registering as a pair, the coordinate determining means refers to the abnormal element registration contents and determines that element pairs registered as abnormal are excluded from coordinate determination processing. Features a touch panel device. 14. A plurality of pairs of light-emitting elements and light-receiving elements arranged to face each other, a driving scanning means for sequentially and periodically driving and scanning the plurality of pairs, and a coordinate determining means for determining and outputting coordinates corresponding to the light-shielded element pairs. A touch panel device comprising: a light shielding determining means for determining whether or not light shielding occurs for each element pair for each scan; abnormal light shielding detecting means detecting abnormal light shielding from the determination result of the light shielding determining means; and the abnormal light shielding. For element pairs in which abnormal light shielding has been detected by the detection means over a plurality of consecutive scans, a counting means is provided for counting the number of scans, and an element pair for which the count value of the counting means exceeds a predetermined value is designated as an abnormal element. and abnormal element registration means for registering as a pair, the light shielding determination means refers to the abnormal element registration contents and determines "no light shielding" for the element pair registered as abnormal.
Or, a touch panel device characterized in that the light shielding determination result is considered to be "the same as the light shielding determination result of an adjacent pair of elements." 15. Claim 13 or 14, wherein the abnormal element registration means registers the element pair as an abnormal element pair only when the count value for a single element pair exceeds a predetermined value. The touch panel device described. 16. The plurality of pairs of the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the abnormal element registration means sets the count value to a predetermined value for a single element pair for each axis. 15. The touch panel device according to claim 13, wherein the device pair is registered as abnormal only when the value exceeds . 17. The touch panel device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the abnormal element registration means registers only a single element pair as an abnormal element pair. 18. The plurality of pairs of the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the abnormal element registration means registers only a single element pair for each axis as an abnormal element. The touch panel device according to claim 13 or 14. 19. The plurality of pairs of the light emitting element and the light receiving element are arranged in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the counting means has a counter provided in each of the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction. 15. The touch panel device according to item 13 or 14. 20. The touch panel device according to claim 13 or 14, wherein the counting means includes counters provided as many as the number of the element pairs. 21. The touch panel device according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising an alarm means for notifying an operator of the occurrence of an abnormal element pair. 22. The touch panel according to claim 13 or 14, further comprising a first alarm means for notifying the occurrence of a single abnormal element pair and a second alarm means for notifying the occurrence of a plurality of abnormal element pairs. Device. 23. An abnormal element that has a first alarm means that notifies the occurrence of a single abnormal element pair and a second alarm means that notifies the occurrence of a plurality of abnormal element pairs, and that is not registered in the abnormal element registration means. Regarding the pair, "no shading" is determined by the above shading determination means.
15. The touch panel device according to claim 13, wherein when it is determined that the second alarm means stops the alarm. 24. Periodically perform light emission control on the element pair registered in the abnormal element registration means, and when light is normally received;
15. The touch panel device according to claim 13, further comprising recovery detection means for canceling registration of said abnormal element registration means.