JPH04323716A - Input device for optical touch panel system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To recognize the position of each operational switch by informing a user of the presence of a light shielding material at the time when this material is present thereon and the light shielding position is within the range of a preliminarily determined reference position. CONSTITUTION:Signals from phototransistors TRs 200 arranged in an X direction and those from photo TRs 220 arranged in a Y direction are analyzed to monitor the presence or the absence of a light shielding material; and if the presence of a light shielding material is detected by at least one of them and is detected in both of X and Y directions, the depressed switch is recognized in accordance with the intersection between positions of the light shielding material in respective directions, and corresponding processing is performed. If the presence of the light shielding material is detected by one of them, it is decided whether the detection position is the center or not, and a TR 302 is controlled to sound a speaker 308 when it is in the center. Consequently, the user recognizes the reference position of the screen, without seeing the screen.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical touch panel type input device. In recent years, electronic devices such as radio receivers and audio playback devices have become increasingly multifunctional.
As many functions are being integrated into one system, the number of switches operated by the user has increased and become more complex. To deal with this,
Optical touch panel type input devices using CRT have come to be adopted. This device achieves the functions of a wide variety of input devices by displaying operation switches in various formats on the CRT screen according to the user's selection, and optically detecting the position of the finger that presses the switch. It is.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an optical touch panel system. Light emitting diodes 160 and 180 are arranged along the X and Y axes on the sides of the CRT screen 120.
are arranged respectively, and a light emitting diode 160
A phototransistor 200 is placed at a position to receive light emitted directly above the CRT screen 120 in the Y-axis direction from the light emitting diode 180, and a phototransistor 200 is placed directly above the CRT screen 120 in the
A phototransistor 220 is placed at a position that receives light radiated in the axial direction. When you press one of the switches (not shown) displayed on the CRT screen 120 with your finger,
The irradiated light is blocked by the finger. The X-direction position of the pressing finger is recognized by the light-receiving state of the photodiode 200 arranged in the X-axis direction, and the Y-direction position is recognized by the light-receiving state of the photodiode 220 arranged in the Y-axis direction. It is recognized that the switch assigned to the position of their intersection has been pressed.

By the way, the operating switches of electronic devices such as radio receivers and audio playback devices are often used when the driver operates the switch without looking at it while driving, for example in a car-mounted electronic device. There are cases where it is desirable to be able to operate the device without looking. In conventional pushbutton switches, the surface of a specific switch is provided with unevenness, so that the reference position can be determined by the feel of the touch with the finger, and the target switch position can be determined using that position as a reference. I can deal with smoking.

0004

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] However, with optical touch panels, when a finger touches the surface of a switch, the light is blocked and the switch is recognized as being pressed.
It is not possible to introduce the method described above. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an optical touch panel type input device that allows an operator to recognize the reference position of the screen without looking at the screen, and to know the position of each operation switch based on that reference position. It's about doing.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the basic configuration of the present invention. In the figure, the optical touch panel type input device of the present invention includes a display means 14 for displaying an image representing a switch 10 on a display screen 12, and a plurality of X Directional light emitting means 1
6, and a plurality of Y arranged in the Y direction intersecting the X direction.
A direction light emitting means 18, a plurality of X direction light receiving means 20 each receiving light emitted from the plurality of X direction light emitting means 16 and passing directly above the display screen 12, and a plurality of Y direction light emitting means 18 emitting light. The presence or absence of a light shielding object and its light shielding position in the X direction are determined based on the light receiving state of the plurality of Y direction light receiving means 22 that respectively receive light passing directly above the display screen 12 and the X direction light receiving means 20. X
directional light-blocking object determining means 24; and Y-direction light-blocking object determining means 26 for determining the presence or absence of a light-blocking object and its light-blocking position in the Y direction based on the light receiving state of the Y-direction light receiving means 22;
When it is determined that there is a light shielding object in both the X direction light shielding object determining means 24 and the Y direction light shielding object determining means 26,
Press-down determination means 28 that determines that a switch assigned to the intersection of the light-shielding position in the direction and the Y-direction has been pressed.
In an optical touch panel type input device, it is determined that there is a light shielding object in only one of the X direction light shielding object determining means 24 and the Y direction light shielding object determining means 26, and the light shielding position is the reference position. The present invention is characterized by comprising a reference position determining means 30 which outputs a signal indicating that the light shielding object is at the reference position when the light shielding object is within the range of .

[0006]

[Operation] In this type of input device, the area near the edge of the CRT screen is not used as a switch because accurate operation cannot be expected due to the influence of reflection on the side wall. However, since irradiation light in one direction exists in the shaded area in the figure, the position in that direction can be recognized. Therefore, when the reference position determining means 30 determines that there is a light shielding object in only one of the positions,
If the light-shielding position is within the range of a predetermined reference position, the user may be notified by emitting a sound, for example, so that the user can indicate the reference position by touching the shaded area in the diagram. You can know. This reference position is, for example, the center position of the CRT screen in that direction.

[0007]

Embodiment FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of an electronic device equipped with an optical touch panel type input device as an embodiment of the present invention. Light emitting diode 1 along the side of the CRT screen
60, 180 and phototransistors 200, 220
The arrangement is similar to the conventional example shown in FIG.

[0008] The microcomputer 300 analyzes the signals from the phototransistors 200 and 220, recognizes the position of the light shielding object, determines whether or not a switch has been pressed, and performs corresponding processing, such as controlling the electronic device 400. At the same time, processing for notifying the user of the reference position is performed as will be described in detail later. The oscillator 306 is the speaker 308
The sound emitted from the speaker 308 is turned on and off by a transistor 302 that operates based on a control signal from a microcomputer 300 and a relay 304 driven by the transistor 302.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing in the microcomputer 300. In step a, phototransistors 200 arranged in the X direction
The presence or absence of a light shielding object is monitored by analyzing the signals from the phototransistors 220 arranged in the Y direction and the signals from the phototransistors 220 arranged in the Y direction. If detected in both directions (step b), the pressed switch is recognized from the intersection of the positions of the light shielding objects in each direction (step c), and processing is performed accordingly (step d).

In step b, if only one of them detects the presence of a light shielding object, it is further determined whether the detected position is in the center (step e), and if it is in the center, the transistor 302 is controlled. to make the speaker 308 sound (step f).

[0011]

As described above, according to the present invention, in an optical touch panel type input device, the user can know the reference position of the screen without looking at the screen.
This provides an input device that can recognize the position of each operating switch.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram representing an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a flowchart of processing in the microcomputer 300 of FIG. 2. FIG.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an optical touch panel type input device.

[Explanation of symbols]

160, 180...Light emitting diode 200, 220...phototransistor 302...Transistor 304...Relay 306...Oscillator 308...Speaker

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Display means (14) for displaying an image in which the switch (10) is displayed on a display screen (12), and a plurality of X-direction light emitting devices arranged in the X direction of the display screen (12). means (16), a plurality of Y-direction light-emitting means (18) arranged in the Y-direction intersecting the X-direction, and light emitted from the plurality of X-direction light-emitting means (16) directly above the display screen (12). a plurality of X-direction light receiving means (20) each receiving light passing through the display screen (12); Y-direction light receiving means (22); Y-direction light blocking object determining means (26) for determining the presence or absence of a light blocking object and its light blocking position in the Y direction based on the light receiving state in the direction light receiving means (22);
) and a switch assigned to the intersection of the light blocking positions in the X and Y directions when it is determined that there is a light blocking object in both the In an optical touch panel type input device, the optical touch panel type input device includes a push-down determining means (28) for determining that the
) and the Y-direction shade determination means (26), when it is determined that there is a shade object, and the shade position is within the range of the reference position, this indicates that the shade object is at the reference position. Reference position determination means (3) that outputs a signal
0) An optical touch panel type input device comprising: