JPH05298027A - Touch input type data processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To evade malfunction while working a system when an element for coordinate detection on a touch panel is troubled and coordinate value data are inputted to a host device. CONSTITUTION:The coordinate value data inputted from a touch input device 1 are fetched by an element fault diagnostic processing part 17 and when the same coordinate value is inputted succeedingly for prescribed time, it is stored in a touch input state storage part 18 that the element corresponding to the coordinate value is troubled. Then, data to inhibit the operation of an operating switch displayed on the screen of a CRT display device are written in a switch display position storage part 19. An operation decision processing part 16 recognizes the operating switch which operation inhibit data are written in the storage part 19 and when the coordinate value data corresponding to the operating switch are inputted from the touch input device 1, a command corresponding to the operating switch is made invalid.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a touch input type data processing device, and more particularly, it is suitable for avoiding a malfunction due to an erroneous input when a defective element occurs in an element group for detecting a touch position. The present invention relates to a touch input type data processing device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A touch input type data processing device has become popular in order to simplify an instruction input operation to a computer or the like by an operator. This touch input data processing device displays a symbol corresponding to various processes on a display screen such as a CRT, and when an operator selects the symbol by touching the symbol on the screen with a fingertip, the process corresponding to the symbol Is instructed to a computer which is a higher-level device. In this touch input type data processing device, in order to determine which symbol is touched, it is necessary to obtain the X and Y coordinate values of the touch position on the screen.

For example, in a touch input type data processing device of a light blocking detection type, a light emitting element array composed of a large number of light emitting elements arranged in a line and a similar light receiving element group are provided on the screen outer frame of a CRT. The upper and lower sides are arranged facing each other. Each light emitting element is sequentially driven to emit light,
Each light receiving element receives the light from the opposing light emitting element. When the screen is touched with a fingertip, the light at the coordinate position is blocked, and the X and Y coordinate values can be known from the pair of light receiving elements (X position, Y position) that have not received light.

For the moment, the symbol display on the display screen is shown in FIG.
It is supposed to be as shown in. When the "student 2" symbol is touched, the light to be received by the light receiving elements at the X2 position and the Y3 position is blocked by the fingertip, so that the coordinate position can be known. In such a touch input type data processing device, for example, Xi-
If either the light receiving element at the 2 position or the light emitting element fails,
No signal indicating that light has been received is output from the light receiving element. Therefore, when the "all" symbol is touched with the fingertips in this state, the originally designated coordinate position (X2, Yj
In addition to -1), the coordinate position (Xi-2, Yj-1), that is, the symbol "reset" is also determined to be selected. In this case, the touch input principle of "one operation, one selection" results in "one operation, two selections", so it is determined to be an erroneous operation, a message indicating the erroneous operation is displayed, and no processing is performed. It is like this.

Note that, for example, JP-A-62-17826 is related to the prior art.

[0006]

As described above, when an element fails and the principle of "one operation, one selection" is violated, an erroneous instruction is not output to the computer side. Since only a message indicating "erroneous operation" is displayed, the operator cannot determine that it is due to an element failure, and the same operation is repeated many times. Further, for example, in FIG. 8, when a failure occurs in any of the light receiving and emitting elements at the Xi-2 position and the Yj-1 position during use of the touch input data processing device due to deterioration over time,
"Reset" is selected and the "Reset" selection signal is output to the computer.

Touch input type data processing devices are widely used in various fields. For example, when a touch input type data processing device used in a plant control panel or the like has a failure as described above, it corresponds to "reset". The action taken may have serious consequences. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent an erroneous operation instruction from being output to the computer when a defective element occurs. Further, at this time, if no touch input is accepted while the faulty element is present, the operation of the entire system using this input device will be seriously hindered, and it is necessary to avoid this.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a touch input type data processing device which prohibits the input of an erroneous operation instruction signal due to an element failure.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a touch input type data processing device which can easily recognize that it is an erroneous operation due to an element failure.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a touch input type data processing device for eliminating the inhibition of touch input acceptance due to element failure and improving the system operating rate.

[0011]

A first object of the present invention is to drive a light emitting element array and a light receiving element array, which are arranged to face each other vertically and horizontally to the screen, and to sequentially drive each element of the light emitting element array. In the touch-input type data processing device for taking in and emitting the detection signal of each element of the light receiving element array and the touch input type data processing device for taking in the X and Y coordinate values of the position where the screen is touched and the light is blocked. A counter for counting the number of times coordinate values have been taken in, and means for invalidating the input of the X, Y coordinate values when there is an X, Y coordinate value for which the count value of the counter within the required time width exceeds the set number of times. It is achieved by providing and.

The second purpose is to have a counter for counting the number of times each X, Y coordinate value is taken in, and an X, Y coordinate value for which the count value of the counter within the required time width is equal to or greater than the set number. At this time, it is achieved by providing means for indicating that a failure has occurred in at least one of the light receiving element and the light emitting element corresponding to the X and Y coordinate values.

The third object is to have a counter for counting the number of times each X, Y coordinate value is taken in and an X, Y coordinate value for which the count value of the counter within the required time width is equal to or greater than the set number. At this time, it is achieved by providing means for stopping the sensing function of only the receiving and light emitting elements corresponding to the X and Y coordinate values and continuing the determination of the coordinate input by the other receiving and light emitting elements.

[0014]

When a failure element occurs, the failure is usually continuous. For this reason, when the state where the light is blocked (when viewed as the output of the light receiving element, it is the same state as when it failed) continues for a predetermined time, it can be determined that it is due to the element failure. When the element on the X coordinate side and the element on the Y coordinate side have failed, the coordinate position of the touch input is detected even when the screen is not touched with the fingertip. Since the light-receiving and light-emitting elements are driven periodically, the continuation of the above-mentioned predetermined time can be counted as a count value for each scan, and when the count value reaches a predetermined number of times or more within a certain time width, X By prohibiting the output of the Y coordinate values to the host device, erroneous operation of the system can be avoided. Further, by displaying a display based on the occurrence of a defective element on the screen, the operator can easily recognize this. Further, since the failed element can be identified, by invalidating the input of this element, the touch input by the remaining normal elements can be continued, and the operating rate of the system can be improved.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of the touch input type data processing device. The touch input type data processing device includes a touch input device 1 and a computer 8 which is a higher-level device. The touch input device 1 includes a light emitting element array 2 made of an infrared light emitting diode, which is arranged on the lower side and the right side of the CRT screen.
3, a light receiving element array 4 and 5 made of infrared light receiving transistors arranged on the upper side and the left side of the CRT screen, a scan circuit 6 for sequentially driving these, and a scan circuit 6 for controlling the scan circuit 6 and passing it from the scan circuit 6. The controller 7 that outputs the generated signal to the computer 8 that is a higher-level device is provided. The computer 8 includes a touch input processing unit 9 that processes a coordinate value signal input from the touch input device 1, and an application program processing unit 10.

The controller 7 sequentially drives each light emitting element (array 2) in the X-axis direction via the scan circuit 6 and sequentially receives the detection signals of the light receiving elements of the array 4. Also, Y
The light emitting elements (array 3) in the axial direction are sequentially driven, and the detection signals of the light receiving elements of the array 5 are sequentially fetched. The captured signal is converted into a digital value and temporarily stored in the built-in memory. The controller 7 searches the data in the built-in memory, and when there is a (X, Y) coordinate value where the light is blocked, when the scanning of one screen (entire area of the screen) is completed, the interrupt signal At the same time, the digital signal of the detected coordinate position is encoded and transmitted to the computer 8. If there are multiple coordinate positions that detected light blocking, these (X,
Y) All the coordinate values are sequentially transmitted to the computer 8. The above operation is executed when the request command C periodically issued from the computer 8 is received as shown in FIG.

When the response signal from the touch input device 1 is input to the computer 8, the touch input processing section 9 captures the signal and reports the (X, Y) coordinate value data to the application program 10. As a result, the application program collates the screen currently displayed on the CRT with the (X, Y) coordinate value data, determines what the operation instructed by the touch input is, and performs the operation. The processing program corresponding to is executed.

FIG. 1 is a detailed block diagram of the computer 8 shown in FIG. Application program processing unit 10
Is the touch input device 1 captured by the touch input processing unit 9.
When the touch coordinate input data is passed from the signal from, the operation determination processing unit 16 that determines what operation the operator has instructed from this coordinate value data, and the determination result of the operation determination processing unit 16 A control command creation processing unit 20 that creates a control command for a lower-level device, and a control command transmission unit 21 that outputs this control command to a network line.
And a CRT screen edit processing unit 22 for converting the corresponding symbol on the CRT screen to a "selected (in operation)" display state according to the determination result of the operation determination processing unit 16, and this screen data to a CRT display device. And a CRT display output unit 23 for outputting.

The application program processing unit 10 according to the present embodiment further includes an element failure diagnosis processing unit 17 for taking in coordinate value data passed from the touch input processing unit 9 and diagnosing the presence or absence of a defective element, and a touch input. State storage unit 1
8 and a switch display position storage unit 19.

A table A shown in FIG. 4 is set in the touch input state storage section 18. In this table A,
The "diagnosis counter value" and the "element failure flag value", which will be described later, are stored in correspondence with all the coordinate points on the CRT screen, and the element failure diagnosis processing unit 18 executes the processing of FIG. Then, the contents of this table A are updated. The CRT screen edit processing unit 22 also refers to the contents of the table A to instruct a screen display as described later.

Table B shown in FIG. 5 is set in the switch display position storage section 19. This table B stores each (X, Y) coordinate value of the operation device symbol (operation switch) displayed on the CRT screen and the “operation prohibition flag value”. This "operation prohibition flag value" is updated. The operation determination processing unit 16 refers to this “operation prohibition flag value” to determine whether to prohibit the operation of the corresponding operation switch, that is, invalidate the operation corresponding to the coordinate value received from the touch input processing unit 9. Determine whether to do.

The operation of this embodiment of the education support system to which the above-mentioned embodiment is applied will be described below. FIG. 7 is a block diagram of the education support system. A personal computer for teacher (hereinafter abbreviated as personal computer) 11 and personal computers 12A to 12N for students are connected by a network line 13, and a control personal computer 8 is provided for controlling personal computer communication between the teacher and the students. Is prepared.

On the CRT display device of the control personal computer 8,
By attaching the touch input device 1 shown in FIG. 2 and directly touching the operation screen displayed on the CRT screen with a finger, the form of the lesson or teaching method can be arbitrarily selected. FIG. 8 shows an example of the operation screen displayed on the CRT display screen of the control personal computer 8.

On the screen of FIG. 8, operation switches for controlling personal computer communication between the teacher and the student are displayed.
The operation switches described as "student 1" to "student n" are for connecting the line between the teacher and any student. The operation switch "all" is a switch for connecting the lines between the teacher and all the students. The operation switch "scan" is a switch for the teacher to sequentially view the screens of the student personal computer. "Data", "CRT", "K
/ B "and" voice "operation switches are data line, C
A switch that opens and closes the RT line, keyboard line, and voice line. The operation switch “reset” is a switch that clears all lines and returns to the initial state.

For example, when the data displayed on the CRT screen of the teacher personal computer 11 is to be transmitted to the students of the group B, the teacher uses the "group" switch displayed on the CRT screen of the control personal computer 8. Touch, then "Group B" to select Group B, and then touch switch "CRT". As described above, the selected operation switch has a display form that indicates that it has been selected as shown in FIG. 9 (a display form of the operation switch “student 2” in FIG. 9 will be described later). Thereby, the display data of the personal computer 11 is sent to the student personal computer 12 of the group B.

Now, it is assumed that no failure has occurred in the light receiving and light emitting elements of the touch input device. When the control personal computer 8 issues the command C shown in FIG. 3 to the touch input device 1, unless the teacher touches the screen, the coordinate value data is not transmitted to the control personal computer 8 and only the scanning completion signal is sent. Is transmitted to the control personal computer 8. Therefore, the operation determination processing unit 16 does nothing. 6 in the element failure diagnosis processing unit 17 (this processing program is started every predetermined time, for example, every 15 seconds, and is input from the touch input device 1 during this 15 seconds to perform this processing for each signal. When it is determined that there is no touch input, and all counter values are "0", the processing is terminated and "0" is performed.
If there is a non-counter, the counter is cleared to 0 and the processing is terminated.

It is assumed that the teacher touches the operation switch "student 1" for transmitting data to the student 1. Control personal computer 8
Issues a command C to the touch input device 1 periodically (for example, every 100 ms), the light emitting element array is driven each time the command C is received, and the (X2, Y2) coordinate value data is sent from the touch input device 1 to the personal computer. 8 is input. For example, 0.5
When the screen is touched for a second, five (X2, Y2) coordinate value data are input to the personal computer 8.

The element failure diagnosis processing section 17 executes the processing shown in FIG. Since the coordinate value has been input, the presence / absence of touch input is determined to be "Yes", and the coordinate value (X2,
The value of the counter C22 corresponding to Y2) is incremented by the value 1. Then, the value of the counter C22 is compared with the set value N, and when C22 ≧ N is not satisfied, the processing is ended and nothing is done. As described above, when the screen is touched for 0.5 seconds, five coordinate value data are input, so the value of the counter C22 is "5", but if the set value N is "100", It is diagnosed that there is no abnormality, and the element failure diagnosis processing unit 1
7 does not update Table A (FIG. 4).

The operation determination processing section 16 receives the (X2, Y2) coordinate value data, and the CRT screen editing processing section 22 correspondingly displays the operation switch "student 1" during selection.
The CRT display output unit 23 outputs a display change command to the CRT display device.

Now, suppose that only the element of X coordinate X3 fails. In this case, when the operation switch “student 1” is touched, in addition to the original (X2, Y2) coordinate value data,
3, Y2) coordinate value data is also taken into the control personal computer 8. However, the operation determination processing unit 16 that has received this coordinate value data is "one operation one selection" which is the principle of touch input.
It is determined that the CRT screen is to be violated, and a command is issued to the CRT screen edit processing unit 22 to display the message of "misoperation" as in the conventional case, and the subsequent processing is not performed. As a result, an erroneous operation will not be executed.

It is assumed that the element of the X coordinate X2 and the element of the Y coordinate Y3 have failed due to deterioration over time while the education support system is operating. In this case, every time the command C is issued from the control personal computer 8, the (X2, Y3) coordinate value data is loaded into the control personal computer 8. Failures are rarely transient and are usually permanent. Therefore, 100 (X2, Y3) in 10 seconds
The coordinate value data is input, and the value of the counter C23 in FIG. 6 reaches the set value N. In this case, "1" is written as the value of the element failure flag F23 in the table A of FIG.
Then, "1" is written as the value of the operation prohibition flag P3 of the operation switch number S3 related to the (X2, Y3) coordinate value in the table B of FIG.

The CRT screen edit processing unit 22 uses the table A
Referring to (FIG. 4), the display of the operation switch “student 2” corresponding to the coordinates where the element failure flag value is “1” is set as a failure display, and the operator is notified that the operation switch cannot be used (FIG. 4). 9). In addition, the operation determination processing unit 16
Then, the input (X2, Y3) coordinate value data is determined, and a command is output to the control command creation processing unit 20 and the CRT screen edit processing unit 22 in the subsequent stage to issue a control command corresponding to the operation switch. However, before that, the table B of FIG. 5 is searched to determine whether the operation prohibition flag value is "1". In the present example, the corresponding flag P of “student 2”
Since 3 is "1", this (X2, Y3) coordinate value data is invalidated.

In FIG. 9, the element of X coordinate X2 and Y
If the element at the coordinate Y3 fails, (X2, Yi (i: 1 ~
N)), (Xi (i: 1 to N), Y3) all input is disabled in an optical system such as the present embodiment, only the operation switch "student 2" may be displayed as a failure. No, the failure is displayed for all unusable switches. When the element array density is high and a plurality of elements correspond to one operation switch, it is not necessary to prohibit operation of the operation switch due to failure of one element.

[0034]

According to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the system from stopping without receiving all touch inputs when an element failure occurs, and it is possible to improve the reliability and operating rate of the system.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a detailed configuration diagram of a touch input type data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an overall configuration diagram of a touch input type data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a time chart of signal transmission / reception between a finger touch input device and a control computer.

FIG. 4 is a configuration table configuration diagram of a touch input state storage unit shown in FIG.

5 is a configuration table configuration diagram of a switch display position storage unit shown in FIG.

6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of an element failure diagnosis processing unit shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an education support system.

8 is a display screen diagram of the control personal computer shown in FIG. 7. FIG.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a failure display and a selection display.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Touch input device, 2, 3 ... Light emitting element array, 4, 5
... light receiving element array, 6 ... scan circuit, 7 ... controller, 8 ... control personal computer, 9 ... touch input processing unit, 10
... application program processing unit, 11 ... teacher personal computer, 12 ... student personal computer, 13 ... network line, 16 ... operation determination processing unit, 17 ... element failure diagnosis processing unit, 18 ... touch input state storage unit, 19 ... switch display Position storage unit, 20 ... Control command creation processing unit, 21 ... Control command transmission unit, 22 ... CRT screen editing processing unit.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A touch input type data processing device which, when the screen is touched, takes in the X and Y coordinate values of the touched position as an input value and executes the process displayed at the X and Y coordinate position of the screen. 2. The touch input data processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for invalidating the input of the coordinate value when the input of the certain coordinate value is continuously input for a predetermined time. 2. A touch input for periodically scanning the screen and taking in the X and Y coordinate values when the screen is touched as an input value and executing the process displayed at the X and Y coordinate position on the screen. The touch input type data processing device, wherein the formula data processing device comprises means for invalidating the input of the coordinate value when the number of times of inputting a certain coordinate value exceeds a predetermined number. 3. The touch input type data processing device according to claim 1, further comprising means for displaying invalidity at a screen position where the input is invalidated. 4. A light-emitting element array and a light-receiving element array, which are arranged to face each other vertically and horizontally on the screen, and each element of the light-emitting element array is driven to emit light cyclically and sequentially to emit light. In a scanning circuit that takes in a detection signal and an optical touch input type data processing device that takes in X and Y coordinate values of a position where the screen is touched and light is blocked, a counter that counts the number of times of taking in each X and Y coordinate value. And means for invalidating the input of the X and Y coordinate values when there is an X and Y coordinate value in which the count value of the counter within the required time width is equal to or greater than the set number of times. Touch input data processing device. 5. A light-emitting element array and a light-receiving element array, which are arranged so as to face each other vertically and horizontally on the screen, and each element of the light-emitting element array is driven to emit light cyclically and sequentially to emit light. In a scanning circuit that takes in a detection signal and an optical touch input type data processing device that takes in X and Y coordinate values of a position where the screen is touched and light is blocked, a counter that counts the number of times of taking in each X and Y coordinate value. When there is an X, Y coordinate value in which the count value of the counter is equal to or greater than the set number of times within the required time width, a failure occurs in at least one of the light receiving element and the light receiving element corresponding to the X, Y coordinate value. An optical touch input type data processing device, characterized in that it is provided with means for displaying that. 6. A light-emitting element array and a light-receiving element array, which are arranged to face each other vertically and horizontally on the screen, and each element of the light-emitting element array is driven to emit light cyclically and sequentially to emit light. In a scanning circuit that takes in a detection signal and an optical touch input type data processing device that takes in X and Y coordinate values of a position where the screen is touched and light is blocked, a counter that counts the number of times of taking in each X and Y coordinate value. When there is an X, Y coordinate value in which the count value of the counter within the required time width is equal to or greater than the set number of times, the light receiving element corresponding to the X, Y coordinate value is stopped, and the sensing function is stopped. An optical touch input type data processing device, characterized by further comprising means for continuing the determination of coordinate input by the light receiving and light emitting elements.