JPH08221205A - Touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To easily operate a touch panel by also a blind person by providing a means which is composed of braille and other ruggedness and displays the kind of a key through the sense of touch of an operator on the surface of the touch panel. CONSTITUTION: On the surface of a touch panel 2, a braille forming part 1 which notifies the kinds and the locations of keys corresponding to the patterns to be preliminarily displayed on a screen to a blind person and is composed of braille is provided. By a controller, a selection key 3 and ten keys 4 are displayed on a cathode-ray tube. A blind operator touches the surface of the touch panel 2 and reads the locations and kinds of the keys, etc., by the braille forming part 1. The operator reads the kind of the key and inputs the key by the operation touching the key twice or more and keeping apart from the key for preliminarily fixed short time or for one second, for instance, after a key to be inputted is determined. The controller judges that the key at the location is operated by the signal transmitted twice within one second.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an input device such as an ATM (Automated Teller Machine (Au) of a bank).
tomated Teller Machine): Automatic cash withdrawal / depositing device) and various touch panels for operating various machines / equipment, and in particular, to touch panels that can be easily operated even by blind people.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Among various types of touch panels having touch-sensitive keys (switches), a touch panel composed of a transparent panel is mounted on the display screen of an image display device so that the most natural place where a finger touches a necessary portion. You can input by simple operation. The touch panel has a large degree of freedom in design, allows a wide variety of key layouts on the screen whose display contents can be changed, and is advantageous in saving space. It is used in various fields such as electronic notebooks that are devices. For example, in ATM, CRT (cathode ray tube (Cat
(hode Ray Tube): a cathode ray tube), and in an electronic notebook, a transparent and elastic electrode is provided on the front surface of an image display device such as a liquid crystal display element (that is, a liquid crystal display panel, LCD: Liquid Crystal Display). Two formed transparent sheets are provided. This transparent electrode is formed in a matrix so that the position touched by the operator's fingertip or the pen held by the operator can be identified, and by combining it with the display content of the screen of the image display device, the operation can be performed. When a person touches the displayed predetermined key, the change in conduction (or resistance) between the transparent electrodes formed on the two sheets corresponding to the key causes
You can input numbers and letters and perform various operations. Other detection methods include a resistance film, an optical sensor, a surface wave, and an electrostatic capacitance.

[0003]

When the operator touches a key, the contents of the display, for example, the color of the screen is changed to confirm that the key is touched.
They make a beeping sound.

However, in the conventional touch panel, unless the operator sees it with his / her eyes, the position and type of the key cannot be known, and the input is made just by touching the key. Was difficult.

An object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel that can be easily operated by a visually handicapped person.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, the surface of a touch panel having a key is
Means for displaying the type of key, that is, the result of the operation, the input content, the operation information such as the position, etc. is provided through the tactile sense of the operator, which is composed of Braille or other irregularities.

[0007] Further, the operation of touching the surface of the key of the touch panel twice or more within a fixed time allows the key to be input. By this operation, the act of touching the surface of the touch panel to read information such as the position and contents of the key displayed from Braille and the like and the act of inputting the key are distinguished.

[0008]

In the present invention, first, by touching the surface of the touch panel, the operation information such as the position and contents of the key can be read, so that even a visually impaired person can operate the touch panel. In addition, thereafter, the operator can input data by, for example, touching twice or more within a specific time.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 3 is an ATM of a bank according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a touch panel of the (automatic cash withdrawal / depositing device), FIG. 2 is a plan view of the surface of the touch panel before the screen is displayed, and FIG. 1 is a plan view of the surface of the touch panel on which the screen is displayed.

Reference numeral 2 is a touch panel provided on the display screen of a CRT (cathode ray tube), 1 is a Braille forming portion in which Braille is formed to inform the type and position of the key, and 5 is a control device.
Further, in FIG. 1, 3 is a selection key displayed on the display screen of the touch panel 2, and 4 is a ten-key.

One of the features of the touch panel provided on the display screen of an image display device such as a CRT (or a liquid crystal display device) is that the display of keys and the like can be easily changed by software. Therefore, in this embodiment, only a typical example as shown in FIG. 1 will be described. That is, the display key of the display screen illustrated in FIG.
The selection contents 3 of “Payout”, “Passbook entry”, “Voice guidance on screen”, and the numeric keypad 4 change the display contents.

As shown in FIG. 2, on the surface of the touch panel 2, corresponding to a pattern to be displayed on the screen in advance,
A Braille forming unit 1 including Braille that informs a blind person of the type and position of a key is provided.

The control device 5 shown in FIG. 3 displays a selection key 3, a numeric keypad 4, etc. on a cathode ray tube equipped with the touch panel 2 by a preset program, as shown in FIG. As a result, the display pattern, that is,
The selection key 3, the numeric keypad 4, and the Braille forming unit 1 are in agreement as seen from the operator. In addition, the control device 5 uses the touch panel 2
The content displayed on the screen is controlled, and the operation content of the operator of the touch panel 2 is determined / determined.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below.
The operation / response of the touch panel 2 is agreed in advance and a program is created. Control device 5
As a result, the cathode ray tube has a selection key 3 as shown in FIG.
And ten key 4 are displayed. The visually impaired operator touches the surface of the touch panel 2 and reads the position, type, etc. of the key by the Braille forming unit 1. The operator performs this operation with one touch. As will be described later, after the contact, the reading is performed twice or more within a fixed time without releasing the hand.

The operator deciphers the type of the key, decides the key to be input, and then, presses the key for a predetermined short time.
For example, by touching and releasing more than once per second,
Enter the key. This operation is similar to the operation of double-clicking the mouse of a personal computer.
The distinction between the operation of reading the key by the operator and the operation of inputting is
The control device 5 determines. That is, unless a signal is sent from the touch panel 2 more than once per second, the control device 5 interprets the input as the operator reading the Braille of the Braille forming unit 1 on the display screen. And discard the signal. When the operator touches a specific key on the touch panel 2 that he / she wants to input twice or more in one second, the control device 5 determines that the key at that position is operated by the signal sent twice within one second. In addition, when such an input operation is performed, in order to inform the operator that the operation is surely performed and the input is received, the operator is provided with a voice, a side surface of the CRT, or the like. Also, a shock from a hammer powered by electromagnetic waves or compressed air, a vibration from a vibrator, or the like may be applied. Further, since the touch panel is not only an input device but also an output device, by touching the selection key 3 of “voice guidance of screen” shown in FIG. 1 at the request of the operator, the contents of the screen currently displayed. And input instructions are given by voice.

As described above, in the conventional touch panel, touching the surface of the touch panel means input operation.
In this embodiment, since the Braille forming unit 1 made of Braille indicating the position and type of the key is provided at a position corresponding to the display key on the surface of the touch panel 2, the operator's first contact causes a visual disability. The position and type of the key can be read by a simple operator, and since the input is performed by touching the key to be input twice or more in a specific short time, the information can be distinguished from the input. You can input the target key accurately while preventing erroneous input. Therefore, it is possible to realize a touch panel that can be easily operated by a blind person. Furthermore, in realizing such a device, a particularly complicated mechanism or the like is not required.

Although the present invention has been specifically described with reference to the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and it is needless to say that various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. . In the above embodiment, of course, the condition of touching twice or more in a specific short time is one operation example, and another method may be used as long as it is possible to distinguish between reading and input of a key on the touch panel. For example, when reading, the key may be touched with a weak force for reading, and when inputting, the key may be pressed with a strong force.
Further, in the above embodiment, Braille is used to display the input information, but other recesses or protrusions may be formed at the locations corresponding to the keys. For example, the numeric keypad 4 shown in FIG.
When there are a plurality of keys on the concentric circle from the reference point, the center key, the key “5” in FIG. 1 and the other keys can be distinguished by their relative positions. You may provide a predetermined convex part only in a key. Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a touch panel having touch-sensitive keys is provided on the display screen of a CRT has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other image display devices such as flat type liquid crystal display elements. The display screen may be provided on the display screen, and further, it may be applied to various touch panels such as a fixed display type touch panel on which keys are printed and displayed.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to provide a touch panel with a simple structure that can be easily operated even by a visually handicapped person.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a touch panel that is an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the touch panel of FIG. 1 in a state where no display is performed.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of the touch panel of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Braille forming part, 2 ... Touch panel, 3 ... Selection key, 4
… Numpad.

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A touch panel comprising means for providing operation information through the sense of touch of an operator on the surface of the touch panel. 2. The surface of the touch panel is provided with means for giving operation information through the sense of touch of the operator, and means for distinguishing between reading and inputting information by the touch of the operator on the touch panel. Touch panel. 3. The touch panel key surface is provided with means for giving the information.
The touch panel described. 4. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the means for giving the information is Braille, a concave portion or a convex portion. 5. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein when a key on the surface of the touch panel is touched twice or more within a specific time, the input of the key is validated. 6. The touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the touch panel is provided on a display screen of an image display device.