JPH0415813A - Information input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable an operator to simultaneously depress a display item part corresponding to a normal key and that corresponding to a codepression key by forming at least one of a normal key area part and a codepression key area part, which are electrically insulated from each other, with an analog type touch panel. CONSTITUTION:A touch panel 2 consists of a normal key area part 3 which is independently depressed normally and a codepression key area part which is depressed simultaneously with depression of the normal key area part 3. The normal key area part and the codepression key area part 4 have analog type touch panel structures and are formed in one sheet while being electrically insulated from each other, and they are arranged on the display face of an information input device 1 in this sheet state. Thus, the display item part corresponding o the normal key and that corresponding to the codepression key can be simultaneously depressed to improve the operability.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an information input device equipped with a touch panel for inputting information by directly touching a display surface.

<Prior Art> Conventionally, keyboards have often been used as information input devices for computers and the like. However, in recent years, instead of a keyboard, a transmissive touch panel (hereinafter simply referred to as a "touch panel") has been placed on the display surface of a display device that uses a liquid crystal display (LCD) to display predetermined items. Information input devices that allow information on a displayed item to be input by pressing a portion of a touch panel that corresponds to that item are also in widespread use.

These touch panels include transparent electrode contact types, infrared matrix types, and capacitance types, depending on the detection method and circuit type. Among these, the transparent electrode contact type is made by overlapping two transparent polyester sheets each with conductive wires etched on top of each other, with electrodes running in the X direction on one sheet and X on the other sheet. Attached is an electrode that runs in the direction. The electrodes on each sheet are connected by a resistive film, and these two sheets are stacked facing each other with the resistive films separated! be done. Also, when you press the front sheet toward the back sheet with your finger or pen, the two sheets come into contact through the resistive film, and the X-Y coordinates of this contact point are transmitted to the host processor. It is now processed.

The transparent electrode contact type touch panels can be roughly divided into analog type touch panels as shown in FIG. 7 and digital type touch panels as shown in FIG. 8.

That is, the analog type touch panel 101 shown in FIG. 7 has electrodes 104a running in the X direction on both ends of a resistive film 103 formed on one sheet 102,
104b, and electrodes 107a and 107b running in the Y direction are formed at both ends of the resistive film 106 formed on the other sheet 105, and both sheets 102, 1
05 resistive films 103 and 106 are stacked facing each other and separated from each other. When the upper part of one sheet 102 is pushed down toward the other sheet 105 and the resistive films 103 and 106 come into contact, the resistance at the point of contact increases with the lead wires 108, 109, 110.1.
11 to determine the X-Y coordinates.

With this analog type, the pressed position is not specified, so it can be placed anywhere on the display surface of the display device.
It is often used when you want to set the size freely.

On the other hand, the digital type touch panel 201 shown in FIG. 8 has a plurality of resistive film lines 203 on one sheet 202 (in this embodiment 13 pieces) are formed in parallel,
A plurality of resistive film lines 206 (six in this embodiment) having an electrode 207 on one end and running in the X direction are formed in parallel on the other sheet 205, and both sheets 202, 205
The resistive film wires 203 and 206 of the resistive film wires 203 and 206 are arranged in a matrix shape and stacked one on top of the other, with the resistive film wires 203 and 206 facing each other and separated from each other. Further, in this digital type touch panel 201, the analog type touch panel 101 shown in FIG. 7 has four lead wires (108 to 108).
111) was fine, whereas each electrode 204.207
Since lead wires 208 and 209 are provided for each, the same number of lead wires 208 and 209 as the number of resistive film wires 203 and 206 are required. When the portion on one sheet 202 is pushed toward the other sheet 205, the resistive film line 203 and the resistive film line 20 intersect at the corresponding portion.
6 is in contact with the electrode 20 of the resistive film wire 203 in contact with the resistive film wire 203.
4 and the electrode 207 of the resistive film line 206, a signal is extracted and the X-Y coordinates are determined. In this digital type, resistive film &1203 and resistive film wire 2
06 intersects and is electrically conductive, the pressed portion is identified.

Therefore, it is used when the position on the display surface of a display device can be fixed.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> However, among the touch panels described above, the analog type touch panel 101 does not have the "shift cokey" or "expansion" key that is frequently used in keyboard switches, for example.
It cannot be used with a key that has a simultaneous press function, such as pressing two parts of a key at the same time as another key. That is, in the analog type touch panel 101, when three display item portions are pressed at the same time, three points on the same resistive film 103 and 106 come into contact at the same time. This is because a parallel circuit of resistors is then formed on the same touch panel 101, and this combined resistance is recognized as the resistance of one display item. Therefore, in order to achieve a function similar to the double-press function of keyboard switches, for example, if you want to input the uppercase letter "A" of the five alphabets, you must first press the display corresponding to the "shift" key or "expansion" key. If you first press the item part once to instruct the input of a capital letter, and then press the displayed item part for the lowercase letter "a" to modify it, you can input the capital letter 'A'. Also,
On the other hand, in order to return to the original state of inputting lowercase letters, it is necessary to press again the display item portion for canceling the press-on function to return to the lowercase input state. For this reason, there have been problems such as poor operability and complicated software processing for implementation.

On the other hand, the digital type touch panel 201 is formed by assembling a plurality of independent resistive film lines 203 and 206 in a matrix, and the resistance at the pressed position can be taken out individually, so it has a simultaneous pressing function. It is relatively easy to do so.

However, it is necessary to draw out the lead wires 208 and 209 by the number of resistive film wires 203 and 206, which causes the problem that the external size becomes large. Furthermore, since the number of drive lines and reading lines that match the matrix shape increases, the touch panel control circuit becomes complicated, and the positions of the keys are also fixed, resulting in a lack of versatility.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to provide operability by providing a double-press function without increasing the external size of the touch panel or complicating the configuration of the control circuit. An object of the present invention is to provide an information input device equipped with an excellent touch panel.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the information input device according to the present invention has a touch panel for input including a normal key area that is normally pressed alone, and a normal key area. and a jointly pressed key region that is pressed at the same time as the key region, and the two key regions are electrically insulated from each other, and at least one of the normal key region and the jointly pressed key region. is formed using an analog type touch panel.

According to this configuration, it is divided into a normal key area that is normally pressed alone and a jointly pressed key area that is pressed at the same time as this normal key area. Since they are electrically insulated from each other, even if the display item portion corresponding to a normal key and the display item portion corresponding to a double-press key are pressed at the same time, the signals from the two display item portions will be transmitted from each key area. They are taken separately and can be processed separately. Therefore, it is possible to simultaneously press a display item portion corresponding to a normal key and a display item portion corresponding to a combined press key.

In addition, at least one of the normal key area and the pressed key area is formed of an analog type touch panel, so even if the touch panel is divided into two key areas, the analog type key area side Only two lead wires are required, and even if the key area is divided into two, the number of lead wires will not increase significantly and the size will not increase.

<Example> Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail using the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of an information input device according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control circuit configuration within the information input device shown in FIG.

In the figure, an information input device 1 is a transparent touch panel arranged for input on a display surface that is configured to display predetermined items using a liquid crystal display (LCD) (not shown). 2, a keyboard section 5 consisting of a numeric keypad or the like arranged side by side with the touch panel 2, an external memory section 7 for recording information on a floppy disk 6, an interface cable 8 and a control circuit section 30.
A part of the outer surface is covered with a cover 1a. In this information input device 1, when a portion of the touch panel 2 corresponding to an item displayed on the display screen is pressed with a finger or a pen, data is transmitted in the control circuit section 30 shown in FIG. The information is transmitted to a host device (host processor) through an interface cable 8 for processing.

Furthermore, to explain the detailed structure, the touch panel 2 here is an example of a transparent electrode contact type, and has a normal key area 3 that is normally pressed alone, and a normal key area 3 that is pressed simultaneously. It is composed of a double-press key area section 4. The normal key area 3 and the double press key area 4 are both made as an analog type touch panel structure and are integrally formed.

FIG. 3 shows a partially exploded internal structure of the touch panel 2, which is formed based on two insulating sheets 9 and 10 made of transparent polyester sheets or the like. A pair of electrodes 11a and llb for the normal key area 3 and a pair of electrodes 12a and 12b for the jointly pressed key area 4 are provided on the lower surface of the - sheets 9, respectively, running in the X direction. It is printed and wired and installed independently. Further, a resistive film 1 is provided between the pair of electrodes 11a and llb and between the pair of electrodes 12a and 12b, respectively.
3.14 is provided, and with this resistive film 1314, the electrode 11
a and llb and between electrodes 12a and 12b are electrically connected, and each electrode 11
Lead wires 15 from a, 11b 12a, 12b respectively
a to 15d are derived. On the other hand, on the upper surface of the other sheet 10, a pair of electrodes 16a, 16b for the normal key area 3 and a pair of electrodes 17a, 17b for the pressed key area 4 run in the X direction. They are printed and wired and each is provided independently. In addition, a pair of electrodes 16
Resistive films 18 and 19 are provided between the electrodes 16a and 16b and between the pair of electrodes 17a and 17b, respectively. The electrodes 16a, 16b and 17a are electrically connected to each other.
Lead wires 20a to 20d are led out from 17b, respectively. These two sheets (9.10) are stacked face-to-face to form a single sheet, with the resistive films 13,14 and 18,19 facing each other and separated from each other. Then, the normal key area 3 and the pressed key area 4, which are electrically insulated from each other, are formed in the same sheet, and this sheet-like state is placed on the display surface (not shown) of the information input device W1. Ru.

In addition, on the display screen, for example, as shown in FIG.
FT, A, B, C, D) 24.25 26 27.28
Display items 25 to 28 indicated by symbols A, B, C, and D, which can be viewed through the touch panel 2 and are normally operated independently, correspond to the normal key area 3, and are normally operated independently.
.

A display item 24 indicated by the symbol SHIFT, which is pressed simultaneously with display items 25 to 28 indicated by C and D, corresponds to the jointly pressed key area portion 4.

In this touch panel 2, as shown in FIG. 5, one location (in the case of FIG. When a portion indicated by the display item 25) is selected and pressed with the finger 21 or the like, the portion on one sheet 9 corresponding to the portion of the pressed display item 25 is transferred to the portion on the other sheet 10 of the resistive film 13. The lead wires 15a and 15b are in contact with each other through the lead wires 15a and 15b.

The signals are input to the control circuit section 30 shown in FIG. 2 through 20a and 20'b and processed. Furthermore, if the part of the display item 24 indicated by the symbol 5HIFT displayed in the pressed key area 4 is pressed with another finger 22 or the like at the same time, the part of the display item 24 that corresponds to the part of the pressed display item 24 will be pressed. The portion on the sheet 9 contacts the portion on the other sheet 10 via the resistive film 14.19, and the X-Y coordinate signal of this contact point is transmitted through the lead wires 15c, 15d, 20c, and 20d as shown in FIG. The signal is input and processed into the control circuit section 30 shown in FIG.

Note that the control circuit section 30 shown in FIG. 2 includes a sense section 31 . A/D converter 32. Detection unit 33 control unit 34. The sensor includes a drive section 35, and the sense section 31 and drive section 35 form an analog constant current circuit.

Next, the overall operation of the information input device 1 refined in this way will be explained with reference to FIGS. 2, 3, 4, 2, and 5.

Now, as shown in FIG.
Suppose that you press the 4 part at the same time. In this case, the control section 34 in the control circuit section 30 constantly monitors the sense section 31, and as a result, the control section 34 starts the operation for detecting the indicated coordinates from the time when the display item 24.25 is pressed. Then, first, the control section 34 starts the drive section 35.
A command is issued to drive the pressed key area section 4, and the drive section 35 drives according to this command.
The control unit 34 issues a command to the sense unit 31 to read the signal from the pressed key area 4, and the sense unit 31 reads the signal according to the command and sends the signal to the A/D conversion unit 32 at the next stage. . The A/D conversion section 32 converts this signal into a digital value according to the command from the control section 34 and sends it to the detection section 33.6 Then, the detection section 33 converts the signal from the digital value according to the command from the control section 34. Press-down key area 4
The designated coordinate values are calculated and sent to the control unit 34.

Then, the control unit 34 checks again whether or not this coordinate value still exists in the double-pressed key area 4.
If the display item 24 is being pressed and still exists, this data is stored in the memory (not shown) in the control unit 34.
Store in. On the other hand, if the display item 24 has already been released and the coordinate value is not within the double-press key area 4,
It is assumed that there is no instruction by pressing the display item 24.

Next, the control section 34 controls the drive section 35 and the sense section 3.
1, commands are issued to drive each of the normal key area portions 3 of the touch panel 2 and to read signals. This operation is performed in the same way as when the display item 24 and the display item 25 are pressed at the same time, and the control unit 34 receives the designated coordinate value of the normal key area 3 from the detection unit 33, and then the coordinate value It is checked again whether or not it still exists in the normal key area section 4. After that, if there is data indicating that the part corresponding to the display item 24 is being pressed, the display item 25 (or 26, 27, etc.) is checked again.
28) is modified by the part corresponding to the display item 24 (symbol A in the normal key area section 3)
, B, and C are uppercase letters, the displayed items to be modified are lowercase letters a, b, and c.

d) and sends the data to the host device. After this,
As shown by diagonal lines in FIG. 5, the display order 2425 is displayed in reverse, making the operator aware that the double press function has been executed. In addition, in this case, if the original display is restored when the fingers 21 and 22 are released, the operator can easily confirm that it is possible to input the next instruction, and the operator can smoothly proceed to the next operation. I can move.

Therefore, according to this information input device, the lead wire 15
Even if an analog type touch panel 2 is used, which has a small number of a to 15d and 20a to 20d and can be downsized, a device with good operability can be obtained without complicating the control circuit section 30. .

Although the present invention has been explained using the above embodiment, it is of course not limited to the structure of this embodiment, and various changes in design may be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. . For example, in the above embodiment, a structure using a transparent electrode contact type touch panel was explained.
Other capacitance types may also be used.

Further, in the above embodiment, a structure in which both the normal key area 3 and the double-press key area 4 are configured as an analog type touch panel is disclosed, but as in the modified example shown in FIG. The area section 4 may be configured as a digital type touch panel, and the normal key area section 3
It may be configured as a digital type touch panel.

To explain further, in FIG. 6, the same reference numerals as in FIG. 3 indicate the same components as in FIG. 3. In this touch panel 2, the structure of the pressed key area 4 or the resistor W! formed on the sheet 9 side! In the part on the sheet 10 side corresponding to A14, there are a plurality of resistive film lines 29 having ti28 on one end side and running in the X direction (6 in this embodiment).
The resistive film wires 29 and the resistive film 14 are arranged in parallel and stacked facing each other, separated from each other.

In addition, in this structure, the lead wires of the four examples of the jointly pressed key area are the lead wires 15c and 15d on the sheet 9 side and the lead wires 15c and 15d on the sheet 10 side.
Six lead wires 20e on the side are provided. When a part of the joint press key area 4 on one sheet 9 is pressed, the resistive film wire 29 on the sheet 10 side corresponding to that part is pressed.
and the resistor 11114 on the sheet 9 side to determine the X-Y coordinates. Even in this case, the normal key area 3 formed of the analog type and the double press key area 4 formed of the digital type are They are electrically insulated from each other and provided independently, and the signal in the normal key area 3 and the signal in the jointly pressed key area 4 can be taken out separately, so when both key areas 34 are pressed at the same time. can be given instructions.

Note that the same effect can be obtained even if the normal key area section 3 is of a digital type and the double-press key area section 4 is of an analog type.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the information input device according to the present invention, there are a normal key area that is normally pressed alone, and a simultaneous key area that is pressed at the same time as the normal key area. and both key areas are electrically insulated from each other, so even if the display item part corresponding to a normal key and the display item part corresponding to a double-press key are pressed at the same time, two key areas will not be displayed. Signals from the display item portion are extracted separately from each key area portion and can be processed separately. Therefore, it becomes possible to simultaneously press the display item portion corresponding to a normal key and the display item portion corresponding to a combined press key, improving operability.

In addition, at least one of the normal key area and the pressed key area is formed of an analog type touch panel, so even if the touch panel is divided into two key areas, the analog type key area side To improve operability by requiring only two lead wires and without increasing the number of lead wires, increasing the size, or complicating the circuit configuration even if divided into two key areas. I can do it.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of the information input device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the control circuit configuration of the information input device shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is the same as that shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a single touch panel applied to the information input device shown in the above, which is shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagonal diagram explaining the operating state of the touch panel shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 6 is a modified example of the touch panel used in the information input device shown in FIG. 1. 7 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a conventional analog type touch panel. FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a conventional digital type touch panel. 1... Information input device, 2... Touch panel, 3...
・Normal key area, 4. Concurrently pressed key area. ＄RBAl') Force and power and one evening F oath〃fzu 1st
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Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An information input device equipped with a touch panel for input, wherein the touch panel includes a normal key area that is normally pressed alone, and a joint press key area that is pressed simultaneously with the normal key area. and the two key areas are electrically insulated from each other, and at least one of the normal key area and the double-press key area is formed of an analog type touch panel. Information input device.