JPH0451405Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a touch panel for various control devices.

[Conventional technology and problems]

Conventionally, in order to improve the operability of various AV equipment such as televisions, video decks, VD (video disc) players, CD (compact disc) players, tuners, and cassette decks, wireless remote control devices have generally been adopted. This allows you to perform various operations such as turning the power on and off, increasing and decreasing the volume, changing channels, and fast forwarding and rewinding the tape, without affecting other devices. In addition, infrared type devices are often used because the device configuration is relatively simple.

However, in order to enable a variety of operations, this type of infrared remote control device has a large number of switches corresponding to each function arranged on its panel surface. In some cases, it becomes difficult to determine which switch to operate, and even though these infrared remote control devices were adopted to improve the operability of various AV devices, they actually make operation more cumbersome. There was a problem with this.

For this reason, a display section displaying each operation function is provided on the panel surface, and the desired operation can be performed by operating a switch provided on or adjacent to the display section while looking at the display on the display section. An operation panel is known that allows the user to perform the following operations, but in such an operation panel, the operating status of each switch is generally checked using, for example, an indicator lamp provided for each switch. It is not easy to immediately recognize the operating state of the switch by the lighting or extinguishing of the indicator lamp, and also to confirm the operating state to be performed by the switch. Therefore, when it is desired to operate the above-mentioned various AV devices as one system, it has not been possible to realize a suitable remote control device.

[Purpose of invention]

In view of the above points, the present invention is designed so that the panel surface is formed by a liquid crystal display element having at least one display section, and operations displayed on the display section can be performed simply by touching the display section. west,
A further object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel in which the display section displays the operating state by switching the driving state.

[Means and actions for solving problems]

According to the present invention, the present invention provides a liquid crystal display element, preferably a two-layer GH type liquid crystal display element, which has a display panel part and an optical touch switch part, and the display panel has at least one display part. and a reflector disposed below the liquid crystal display element, and an optical touch switch section,
an infrared filter disposed below the reflector;
This is achieved by an optical touch panel characterized in that it is comprised of infrared light receiving and emitting elements, each of which is disposed opposite a hole formed in the display portion of the liquid crystal display element.

According to this invention, various displays on the touch panel are performed by the display part of the liquid crystal display element according to its driving state, so a larger display can be obtained compared to conventional ones, and the GH type, which has high contrast as a liquid crystal display element. It uses a liquid crystal display element,
Furthermore, since an infrared filter is arranged below the reflector, the infrared receiving/emitting element, printed circuit board, etc. provided below the hole can be passed through the hole drilled in the reflector from above the liquid crystal display. Since there is no visible distortion, the display panel section provides display with extremely good visibility. In addition, by simply touching each display part of the liquid crystal display element with your finger, the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element passes through the liquid crystal display element, is reflected on the surface of your finger, and reaches the infrared light receiving element. In particular, since the infrared light-receiving element can detect the touch of a finger, a switch operation can be easily performed using the optical touch switch section of the touch panel, and furthermore, the driving state of the display section can be changed according to this detection operation. By switching,
Displays can be made according to switch operations.

Furthermore, if a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal display element, the display using the dye in the first layer of the liquid crystal display element and the display using the dye in the second layer of the liquid crystal display element can be switched depending on the operating state. Therefore, visibility is further improved.

[Example] The present invention will be described below based on the example shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which a touch panel according to the present invention is applied to an infrared remote control device for an AV system, and this infrared remote control device 1 is equipped with a touch panel 2 according to the present invention on its panel surface 1a. , and further includes various switches 3 such as a power switch.

As shown in FIG. 2, the touch panel 2 includes a display panel section A consisting of a liquid crystal display element 4 and a reflector 5 disposed below it, and an optical touch switch section B disposed as described below. The liquid crystal display element 4 is illuminated from the side of the upper surface by an illumination light source 6.

The liquid crystal display element 4 has a two-layer structure that has high transmittance for infrared light because it does not use a polarizing plate.
The GH type liquid crystal display element uses a negative display type that blocks light when turned off and transmits light when turned on. Further, this GH liquid crystal display element 4 is formed with at least one display section 4a, and in this example, for example, five display sections 4a are formed.
It has a configuration of five rectangular segments, and each segment serves as a display section 4a that indicates the input area of the touch switch, and on the top surface there are characters and symbols (ON, OFF, 〓, ■, etc.) indicating various operation functions. )
is attached.

The touch panel 2 incorporates an optical touch switch section B, and the optical touch switch section B is constructed as follows. That is, since the infrared filter 7 is disposed below the reflector 5 of the display panel section A, and the reflector 5 has extremely low transmittance for infrared light, the display panel section A
A plurality of holes 5a penetrating the reflecting plate 5 are provided for each display section 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4, and a pair of infrared holes 5a are provided respectively facing the back surface of the infrared filter 7 with respect to these holes 5a. Receiving and emitting elements 8 are arranged (only one set is shown in FIG. 2, but
In this example, a total of 25 sets are arranged). The infrared receiving/emitting element 8 is composed of an infrared emitting element 8a and an infrared receiving element 8b, but it is of course possible to use an infrared photointerrupter in which these elements are integrally formed.

Furthermore, each infrared receiving/emitting element 8
A guide 9 made of black acrylic resin, for example, which is slightly higher than the infrared emitting/receiving element 8 is provided, and this guide 9 is arranged so that its upper edge is in contact with the infrared filter 7 and its lower edge is in contact with a substrate (not shown) on which the infrared receiving and emitting elements 8 are attached, thereby reducing the distance between each infrared receiving and emitting element 8. In addition to eliminating the influence of infrared light, the stability of the liquid crystal display element 4 mounted via the infrared filter 7 and the reflection plate 5 is ensured.

The infrared remote control device equipped with a touch panel according to the present invention is constructed as described above, and an appropriate display is performed on the display panel section A by driving the liquid crystal display element 4 by a drive device (not shown). At this time, since the liquid crystal display element 4 is illuminated by the illumination light source 6, a high-contrast GH type liquid crystal display element is sometimes used, and an infrared filter 7 is provided below the reflector plate 5. This prevents the infrared receiving/emitting element 8, printed circuit board, etc. disposed below from being seen through the hole 5a of the reflecting plate 5.
A very easy-to-read display can be obtained. When a desired display section 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4 where the display is displayed is touched with a finger, the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element 8a of the infrared light emitting element 8 is directed to the guide 9. The light passes through the infrared filter 7 without leaking to the side, and passes through the hole 5a of the reflection plate 5.
Furthermore, even when the liquid crystal display element 4 is off, the transmittance for infrared rays is as high as when it is on, so it is transmitted through the display part 4a of the liquid crystal display element 4, diffusely reflected on the surface of the finger, and transmitted through the display part 4a again. The light then reaches the infrared light receiving element 8b. Then, the infrared light receiving element 8b detects the touch of a finger on the display section 4a by detecting the incident infrared light, and causes a control circuit (not shown) to perform an appropriate switching operation. Perform the desired operation.

[Effect of idea]

As described above, according to the present invention, the display panel section is arranged below a liquid crystal display element having at least one display section, preferably a two-layer GH type liquid crystal display element, and the liquid crystal display element. an infrared filter disposed below the reflector and a hole formed in the reflector for the display section of the liquid crystal display element, respectively. Since the optical touch panel is configured to include an infrared receiving and emitting element, various displays on the touch panel are displayed by at least one liquid crystal display element, and usually by a plurality of display elements, depending on the driving state of the touch panel. Therefore, a larger display can be obtained compared to conventional ones, and by preferably using a high-contrast GH type liquid crystal display element as the liquid crystal display element, an infrared filter is further arranged below the reflector. Since it has been
There is no possibility that an infrared receiving/emitting element, a printed circuit board, etc. provided below the hole are seen from above the liquid crystal display element through the hole formed in the reflecting plate. Therefore, the display panel section provides a highly visible display, and by simply touching each display section of the liquid crystal display element with your finger, the infrared light emitted from the infrared light emitting element is transmitted to the liquid crystal display element. The infrared light-receiving element is able to detect the touch of the hand by being reflected by the surface of the finger and reaching the infrared light-receiving element. In this way, a switch operation can be easily performed using the optical touch switch section of the touch panel, and furthermore, by switching the driving state of the display section in accordance with this detection operation, a display corresponding to the switch operation can be performed.

In addition, when a two-layer structure GH type liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal display element, the second layer of the display by the dye of the first layer of the liquid crystal display element may change depending on the operating conditions.
By switching between the display using the pigment in the layer, it becomes possible to perform a variety of displays, and visibility is further improved.

Although the present invention has been explained by taking a guest-host type liquid crystal display element as an example, it is obvious that similar effects can be obtained not only in this but also in other types of liquid crystal display elements.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of an infrared remote control device equipped with a touch panel according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the touch panel. 1...Infrared remote control device, 2...
...Touch panel, 3...Power switch, 4...Liquid crystal display element, 5...Reflector, 6...Illumination light source, 7
...Infrared filter, 8...Infrared receiving/emitting element, 9...
...Guide, 5a, 9a...hole, A...display panel section, B...optical touch switch section.

Claims (1)

[Claims for Utility Model Registration] A display panel section consisting of a liquid crystal display element having at least one display section and a reflector disposed below the liquid crystal display element; an optical touch switch section comprising an infrared filter and an infrared receiving/emitting element each disposed facing a hole formed in the reflecting plate with respect to a display section of the liquid crystal display element; An optical touch panel comprising: