JPH0250215A - Coordinate input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent damage in advance by arising warning when contact pressure which is based on coordinate input, is over a prescribed value. CONSTITUTION:A position detector 3 is provided to detect a coordinate position, which is touched by a touch panel 1, and a pressure intensity measuring device 4 is provided to measure touch pressure intensity. Then, when the measured pressure is judged to be >= a threshold by a comparator 5 which compares a pressure value to be measured by the pressure intensity measuring device 4 with the threshold to be set in advance, a buzzer 6 is driven. Accordingly, when a warning sound is heard, it is discriminated that pressure goes over necessary pressure. Thus, the touch panel is not damaged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a coordinate input device, and more particularly, to a coordinate input device that manually enters coordinates by detecting contact pressure.

[Prior Art] A typical example of this type of device is a touch panel.

Due to its nature, a touch panel is made up of two transparent electrodes pasted together, and is mainly provided on the front surface of a display device.

When the operator specifies, for example, one of the displayed menus, the operator touches (presses) a part of the touch panel located in front of the desired menu with a finger or the like.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the touch panel itself is originally a fairly precise device, and unnecessarily strong pressure may cause damage.

Therefore, it is necessary for the operator to make contact with an appropriate force, but at present this must depend on the sense of the person.

The present invention has been made in view of this problem, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a pressure-sensitive coordinate input device that is capable of notifying the outside when pressure more than necessary is detected.

[Means to solve the problem] The present invention for solving this problem includes the configuration shown below.

That is, in a coordinate input device that detects contact pressure and inputs coordinates, there is a detection means that detects contact pressure based on coordinate human power, and when the contact pressure detected by the detection means is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, a and notification means for notifying a warning.

[Operation] In the configuration of the present invention, when the detection means detects a contact pressure that is more than necessary, the notification means gives a warning to the outside.

[Embodiments] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block configuration diagram of a touch panel control device in an embodiment. Note that the object to which this touch panel control device is attached will be simply referred to as the electronic device main body hereinafter.

In the figure, 1 is a touch panel in the embodiment, and 2 is a power supply for applying voltage to the touch panel.

3 is a position detector that detects the touched coordinate position, and 4 is a pressure intensity measuring device that measures the touch pressure intensity. 5 is a comparator that compares the pressure value measured by the pressure intensity measuring device 4 with a preset threshold value, and 6 is a buzzer that is activated when the comparator 5 determines that the measured pressure has exceeded the threshold value. 100 is a C that controls the entire touch panel control device.
It is a PU and includes a ROM 100a that stores programs and a RAMI ob used as a work area.

Note that the ROM 100a stores a program related to a flowchart shown in FIG. 3, which will be described later.

<Description of Touch Panel (FIG. 2)> FIG. 2 shows the structure of the touch panel of the embodiment having the above-mentioned configuration.

As shown in the figure, the touch panel 1 has a transparent electrode 1a.

1b pairs are provided as many as the number of detected coordinates.

A predetermined voltage is applied to these electrodes 1a and lb by a power source 2, and each electrode is connected to a position detector 3 and a pressure intensity measuring device 4.

Now, when the surface of the touch panel 1 is touched with a finger or the like, the distance between the electrodes at the contact position becomes shorter due to the pressure. Then, the charge capacity of the capacitor formed by that electrode increases. Therefore, it is sufficient to detect the location where the capacitance becomes large as the touch position, and the position detector 3 performs exactly this process.

Note that the detected position information is output to the electronic device main body side.

Furthermore, at the contact position, the stronger the pressure from the finger, the shorter the distance between the electrode pairs at the contact position. In other words, by detecting the charge capacity, it is possible to measure the pressure exerted by the finger. That is, the pressure intensity measuring device 4 measures this charge capacity and outputs the result to the comparator 5.

Further, since the technique for measuring the charge capacity itself is already known, detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

Now, in the touch panel of this embodiment based on such a principle, when the measured pressure information is output to the comparator 5, it is compared with a preset threshold value that is at least lower than the pressure intensity that would destroy the touch panel 1. As a result, when the “measured pressure value > threshold value” is reached, a signal to that effect is sent to the buzzer 6.
This is intended to generate a warning sound by outputting the signal to

Therefore, for the operator, when he hears the warning sound,
The pressure turned out to be more than necessary, so
No more damage to the touch panel.

Description of Processing Contents (FIG. 3) Based on the above-described principle, an example of the operation processing of the touch panel in this embodiment is shown in FIG. 3 and will be described below.

First, in step S1, the process waits until the touch panel 1 is touched by the operator. When this contact is detected,
In the next step S2, the contact position is determined and the position data is output to the electronic device main body. Then, in the next step s4, touch pressure is detected, and it is determined whether the pressure value is stronger than a predetermined threshold value. With this judgment, “No”
If this is the case, it is assumed that the input is normal and the process returns to step sl, but if not, the buzzer 6 generates a warning sound in step s6.

As described above, according to this embodiment, when the pressure on the touch panel becomes more than necessary, a warning sound is generated to that effect, so it is possible to prevent damage to the touch panel.

In the embodiment, a case where the present invention is applied to a touch panel has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, as it can be applied to any pressure-sensitive coordinate input device.

Further, in the embodiment, the notification is given to the outside by generating a warning sound, but it goes without saying that the notification may be made to the outside by optical means such as an LED.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, according to the present invention, when excessive pressure is detected, this is notified to the outside, so that damage can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block configuration diagram of a touch panel control device in the embodiment, FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the structure of the touch panel in the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the touch panel control device in the embodiment. This is a flowchart. In the figure, 1... touch panel, 2... power supply, 3...
Position detector, 4... Pressure measuring device, 5... Comparator, 6
...Buzzer 100-CPU, 100a-"ROM,
'100b...RAM. Figure 2 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] A coordinate input device that detects contact pressure and inputs coordinates, comprising: a detection means for detecting contact pressure based on coordinate input; and when the contact pressure detected by the detection means is equal to or higher than a predetermined value,
1. A coordinate input device comprising: notification means for notifying an external person of a warning.