JPH05108266A - Touch panel input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To increase the number of selectable menus and items with a small number of keys by detecting coordinates of plural input points and determining the centroid of input points as a designated point to discriminate the designated point in the case of multipoint designation and performing the processing corresponding to each designated point. CONSTITUTION:A designated point discriminating means 22 discriminates an input point as the designated point in the case of one-point designation but discriminates the centroid of inputted points as the designated point in the case of multipoint designation. A processing selecting means 26 reads out the processing corresponding to the designated point from memory means 24 and sends the result to a processor 28. The processor 28 executes the corresponding processing. Since processings corresponding to the designated points on a touch panel 10 are preliminarily stored in the memory means 24 in this manner, the number of steps for discrimination is reduced to simplify a program, and the number of input items is increased.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch panel input device for selecting a predetermined process from a touch panel provided on a display or the like of a computer and designating the content to be processed by the processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, CR
2. Description of the Related Art An input device, that is, a pointing device is known in which a transparent touch panel overlaid on a screen of T is touched with a finger to select a plurality of menus and items displayed on the screen. For example, this type of device is widely used in bank cash dispensers and the like.

However, since the number of operation keys increases as the number of required menus and processing items increases, there is a problem in that the screen becomes complicated and an operation error easily occurs. With a general keyboard, keys that have an important role in operation and keys that are infrequently used are covered so that they cannot be inadvertently operated. Cannot be adopted. Therefore, it is considered that a predetermined process can be designated by simultaneously operating a plurality of keys.

FIG. 6 is a key layout diagram of the touch panel in this case, and FIG. 7 is an operation flow chart thereof. Set the operation keys -2 (2A-2F) in a predetermined position of the touch panel 1, the respectively _{X 1, X 2, X 3} , Y 1, Y 2, Y 3. First, it is determined whether one-point input or multi-point input (step 10 in FIG. 7).
0) If one-point input is selected, a predetermined process corresponding to each key-2 is selected. In the case of multi-point input, a predetermined process is selected based on the key-2 operated at that time. Here, the case of 2-point input will be described.

It is assumed that the two points are input by two key operations of any one of X _{1 to} X ₃ and any one of Y _{1 to} Y ₃ . First, it is determined which of X _{1 to} X ₃ , and for example, if the key-2C of X ₃ is in operation (step 102 in FIG. 7), then it is determined which of Y _{1 to} Y ₃ is in operation. (Steps 104, 106, 10
8). The key -2D is if during the operation process 1 of Y _1, Y ₂ of key -2E take if during operation processing 2, Y ₃ of key -2F to elect a process 3, if during the operation. X _1, X ₂ of the key -2A, The same applies to the case in 2B operation.

As described above, when a predetermined process is selected by simultaneously operating a plurality of keys-2, a predetermined number of keys-2 are selected.
If the presence / absence of the operations A to F is separately determined as in steps 102 to 108 of FIG.
The number of judgment steps such as ~ 108 is extremely large. Therefore, the program for selecting the processing item becomes complicated.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is possible to increase the number of selectable processing items without increasing the number of keys, and to simplify a program for selecting processing items. An object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel input device that can be used.

[0008]

According to the present invention, an object of the present invention is, in a touch panel input device for selecting a predetermined process using a touch panel, an input point discriminating means for discriminating the number of input points and coordinates of a plurality of input points input to the touch panel. And a designated point discriminating means which designates the barycentric positions of these input points as designated points when a plurality of input points are inputted, and a memory means which stores separately allocated processes corresponding to the respective barycentric positions. And a process selection unit that selects a process corresponding to the designated point from the memory unit.

As the touch panel, for example, a resistance film type can be used, and in this case, multipoint input such as two-point input can be discriminated from the input time difference at the time of input. When a method other than the resistive film method that can separately identify a plurality of input points is used, the number and coordinates of these input points are obtained.

[0010]

1 is a diagram showing an example of a touch panel, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of the operation thereof, FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of detecting the center of gravity, and FIG. 5 is a resistive film type touch panel. It is an explanatory view of the principle of the input point determination means used.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is a resistive film type touch panel. This touch panel 10 is transparent and has a CR
It is designed to be touched with a finger by overlapping it on the display screen such as T. In the state of FIG. 1 in which the menu screen and item input screen are displayed on this display screen, images of a plurality of (four in this embodiment) keys 12 (12A to F) corresponding to selectable menus or items are displayed. Is displayed.

[0012] The key 12A~C here is X _1, X _2, X ₃
Keys 12D to F correspond to Y ₁ , Y ₂ and Y ₃ . In this embodiment, it is possible to specify one point and two points,
To specify two points, select any one of X ₁ , X ₂ and X ₃ , and Y ₁ ,
It is specified by one of Y ₂ and Y ₃ . The menu / item processing is made to correspond to the intermediate positions Z ₃₁ , Z ₂₂ , Z _13, etc. of the two keys. The configuration will be described below.

The resistance film type touch panel 10 has a transparent resistance film deposited on the facing surfaces of two films facing each other with a predetermined space. By pressing this film with a fingertip, the coordinates of the contact point, that is, the coordinates of the input point are detected from the current flowing when the resistance films contact each other.

When two input points P and Q are input with a time difference as shown in FIG. 4, the coordinates (x ₁ , y ₁ ) for the first point P are _first obtained. Then, the coordinates (x ₁ ′, y ₁ ′) of the point Q are obtained based on the resistance value changed by the input of the next point Q, that is, the amount of change in the current value. The barycentric position R of the coordinates of the points P and Q thus obtained is obtained by calculation.

Thus, the keys X ₃ and Y in FIG.
The midpoint of ₁ or the center of gravity Z ₃₁ is determined. Similarly, key
The center of gravity Z ₂₂ of Y ₂ and Y _{2 and} the center of gravity Z _{13 of} keys X ₁ and Y ₃ are obtained. In this figure, three centers of gravity Z ₃₁ , Z ₂₂ , Z ₁₃
However, it is needless to say that the center of gravity of another combination, for example, Z ₃₂ , Z _33, ... May be set. If three or more points are input, these inputs can be sequentially performed with a time difference, and the coordinates of these three or more points can be sequentially obtained and then the barycentric positions of these can be obtained.

[0016]

[Input Point Discrimination] Next, the input point discrimination means 20 (FIG. 3) will be described. When two points are input using the resistive film type touch panel 10, it is not possible to determine whether one point is input or two points are input when the first point is input. Therefore, in the case of one-point input, as shown in FIG. 5A, it is determined that the key (k ₁ ) has been turned off, and the processing for this key (k ₁ ) is performed from this time t _1. ..

Further, in the case of two-point input, as shown in FIG. 5B, it is confirmed that the next key (k ₂ ) is turned on while the _first input key (k ₁ ) is on. From this time point t ₂ , the intermediate position of both keys (k ₁ and k ₂ ), that is, the center of gravity Z is determined.

The center of gravity Z is, for example, the center of gravity Z ₃₁ is X
₃ input points (x ₃ , y ₃ ) and Y ₁ input points (x ₁ , y 3
₁ ) and the average of two coordinates ((x ₃ + x ₁ ) / 2,
It can be obtained as (y ₃ + y ₁ ) / 2). However, in this case, keys 12C and 12 corresponding to X ₃ and Y ₁
Since the area of D is wide, it is necessary to set the coordinates obtained as Z ₃₁ as a constant area. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent the Z areas from overlapping each other, and the number of Zs that can be set is limited. Then key-12
When C and 12D are input, one of the points, for example, the coordinate of the center point is used as the coordinate of the input point, and the center of gravity Z of the center points can be determined to set the center of gravity Z at one point. Therefore, in this case, the centers of gravity Z almost never overlap each other, and the number of settable Zs can be increased.

For input of 3 or more n points,
Up to (n-1) points may be detected based on the key being turned off as in the case of FIG. 5A, and the nth point may be detected based on the key being turned on.

[0020]

[Designated Point Discrimination] When one point or multiple points are input in this way, the designated point discrimination means 22 (FIG. 3) discriminates which position on the touch panel 10 (FIG. 1) is designated by this input. .. That is, when inputting one point, key 12A
Since only one of the keys 12A to 12F is turned on, the positions corresponding to the keys 12A to 12F on the display screen are designated points. In the case of two-point input, the midpoint between the two input points, that is, the position of the center of gravity is obtained, and this position is made the designated point.

[0021]

[Memory Means] The memory means 24 stores each of the keys 12A to 12F on the touch panel 10 and the processes 1, 2 to assigned to each of the centers Z of gravity. That is, 6 processes for each of the keys 12A to 12F and a number of processes equal to the set number of the center of gravity Z are stored.

[0022]

[Processing selection] The processing selecting means 26 executes the processing corresponding to the designated point determined by the designated point determining means 22 in the memory means 24.
And outputs the result to the processing device 28. That is, the designated points X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , Y ₁ , and Y ₂ are designated by one point.
, Y ₃ is operated, the corresponding process is read from the memory means 24, and when the barycenter Z is designated by two-point designation, the process corresponding to the barycenter Z is read from the memory means 24. It The processing device 28 calculates the read processing.

[0023]

[Operation] The above operation will be described below with reference to FIG. First, the input point discriminating means 2 is used to determine whether to specify one point or multiple points
It is determined by 0 (step 200). If one point is designated, the designated point discriminating means 22 regards this point as the designated point. In the case of 2-point designation or multi-point designation, the center of gravity of the input point is obtained and this center of gravity is set as the designated point (step 202). When the designated point is determined, the process selection means 26 then reads the processing corresponding to the designated point from the memory means 24 and sends the result to the processing device 28. For example, if the designated points are multipoint designations, it is first determined whether or not the designated points are Z ₃₁ (step 204) and Z
_{If 31} then process 1, if Z ₃₂ then process 2 (step 2
06), if Z _33, process 3 is performed (step 208), and the corresponding processes are sequentially selected.

The processing device 28 is thus the processing selection means 2
The process selected by 6 is performed. Thus, the designated points X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , Y ₁ , Y ₂ , Y on the touch panel 10
₃ , and the respective processes corresponding to Z (Z ₃₁ , Z _32, ...) Are stored in the memory means 24, the number of determination steps 204, 206, 208, etc. is reduced. This simplifies the program for selecting processing items.

Of course, the processing corresponding to the center of gravity Z does not normally appear on the display screen, but it is also possible to display it on the display screen in order to appropriately confirm it. When three or more points are input, the barycentric positions of these input points are designated as designated points, and the processing for each designated point is stored in the memory means 24. is there.

[0026]

Other Embodiments Although the resistive film type touch panel 10 is used in the above embodiments, the present invention can be applied to a touch panel 10A other than this type which detects each input point separately. For example, with a light pen having a built-in optical sensor, a light pen method can be used in which the coordinates of the input point are obtained from the timing when the light at the scanning point on the display screen is input to the light pen. Further, in the above embodiment, one-point input and two-point (multi-point) input are used together, but the present invention may omit one-point input.

[0027]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the coordinates of a plurality of input points on the touch panel are detected, and in the case of multipoint designation, the designated points are discriminated so that the barycenter of the input points becomes the designated point. Since the processing corresponding to each of the designated points is read from the memory means which is stored in advance and the corresponding processing is performed, the number of selectable menus / items can be increased with a small number of keys. Further, since the processing is associated with each designated point, the program for selecting the processing item becomes simple.

When the resistive film type touch panel is used here, the number of input points and the coordinates of each point can be detected from the input time difference at the time of multipoint input (claim 2). Further, according to the invention of claim 3, the number and coordinates of a plurality of input points are separately identified, and the barycentric position of these input points is designated as a designated point. Is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a touch panel.

[Fig. 2] Operation flow chart

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for detecting the position of the center of gravity.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the principle of the input discrimination means.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a key arrangement of a conventional touch panel.

[Fig. 7] Flow chart of the operation

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Resistive film type touch panel 12 Keys 20 Input point determination means 22 Designated point determination means 24 Memory means 26 Processing selection means 28 Processing device

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A touch panel input device for selecting a predetermined process using a touch panel, wherein an input point determination means for determining the number of input points and coordinates of a plurality of input points input to the touch panel and a plurality of input points are input. And a designated point discriminating means which designates the barycentric position of these input points as designated points, a memory means which stores separately allocated processes corresponding to the respective barycentric positions, and a process corresponding to the specified point. A touch panel input device comprising: a processing selection unit that selects from the memory unit. 2. The touch panel input device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is of a resistive film type, and the input determining means determines the number of input points from a time difference at the time of input. 3. The touch panel input device according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is capable of separately identifying coordinates of a plurality of input points.