JPH08249977A - Information inputting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To keep an information inputting part always clean without periodic cleaning by a maintenance person or a checker by arranging a leaning means for cleaning the input-operating surface of the information inputting part to which information is inputted by contact operation. CONSTITUTION: The operating surface of a touch panel 17 of a display unit 11 also used for touch input of the front surface of an automatic reset machine, for example, is covered with a transparent film 19 having the width corresponding to the width of the operating surface. The film 19 is formed endlessly, stretched with rollers 20, 21, and movably driven with a panel motor 22. A pressing roller 23 and a cleaning body 24 are faced on the back surface side of the display unit 11 through the film 19. The cleaning body 24 comprising a spongy liquid impregnation body is impregnated with a required amount of disinfectant liquid from a tank 25 through a nozzle. The film 19 is moved by driving the motor 22 for a specified time every input operation of the panel 17 to sterilize and clean the operating surface.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information input device, such as a touch panel or a push button switch, having an input section for inputting predetermined information upon contact with a human finger.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there are many devices in public places equipped with an input means such as a touch panel or a push button switch for inputting information by touching with a human finger. For example, there are many automatic payment machines used in financial institutions, automatic settlement machines used in station services, and the like. When the input means of these devices is composed of, for example, a touch panel, the touch panel is arranged so as to be overlapped on the surface of the display, and is configured so that touch input can be performed in accordance with display items.

However, in the case of such an input means, since the installation place is a public place and is used by many people and the fingers of an unspecified number of users touch it, it is easy for bacteria to propagate on the operation surface, so There is a problem that it gives a person a discomfort.

Further, there is a problem that dirt such as oil and water drops is easily attached to the operation surface, and the display becomes dark or difficult to see after long-time use.

Furthermore, there is also a problem that maintenance personnel and staff must regularly clean the operation surface without a means for removing bacteria and dirt.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems and provide an information input device which can always keep the information input section in a clean state.

[0007]

The invention according to claim 1 of the present invention is an information input device for inputting information by touching and operating an information input portion, wherein an input operation surface of the information input portion is cleaned. It is an information input device provided with a cleaning means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, the information input device is formed by a touch panel.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, the cleaning means includes a film covering the information input section, and a film moving means for moving the film. And an information input device including a film cleaning means for cleaning the moved film.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the present invention, the cleaning means is an information input device comprising ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays. And

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect of the invention, the cleaning means is an information input device in which the input operation surface is formed of an antibacterial resin member. It is characterized by being.

[0012]

In the information input device of the present invention, the information input section, for example, the input operation surface of the touch panel is cleaned by the cleaning means.
When this cleaning means is composed of a film cleaning means, the film that has been input is cleaned by the film cleaning means. When the cleaning means is constituted by ultraviolet irradiation means, the input operation surface is cleaned by irradiation of ultraviolet rays. When the cleaning means is formed of an antibacterial resin member, the member is brought into a cleaning state.

[0013]

According to the present invention, since the cleaning means cleans the input operation surface, the growth of bacteria on the input operation surface is prevented, and the sterilization and deodorization can improve the user's feeling of use, and You can give satisfaction. The stains such as oil and water drops on the input operation surface can be removed to prevent stains, and the visibility of the operation surface can be improved. Regular maintenance by maintenance personnel and staff is unnecessary, improving maintainability.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The drawing shows an information input device for an automatic fare adjustment machine used for station affairs to perform transit and transfer adjustments. In FIG. 1, the automatic fare adjustment machine 10 has a display 11 that also serves as a touch input and a ticket Or a commuter pass, a bill insertion port 13, a coin insertion port 14, and a checkout ticket ejection port 15
, And the respective function keys 16 ... Are provided to allow the operation of adjusting the ticket.

FIG. 2 shows a cleaning device for cleaning the above-mentioned display unit 11. A touch panel 17 is mounted on the display surface side of the above-mentioned display unit 11, and a projector and a light receiver are provided above and below the display surface. A plurality of touch panel sensors 18 are arranged to form an information input section, and information is input by pressing the panel surface of the touch panel 17 (touch operation), so that the touch panel 17 and the touch panel sensors 18 detect their positions. Then, this is used as input of information.

The operation surface of the touch panel 17 is covered with a transparent film 19 having a width that covers the width of the touch panel 17. The film 19 and the rollers 20, 21 arranged at the upper and lower rear sides of the operation surface of the touch panel 17, respectively. It is stretched on the end to form an endless shape.
The film 19 is configured to be movable by being driven by 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, on the back side of the display 11 described above, the pressing roller 23 and the cleaning body 24 are provided opposite to each other with the film 19 sandwiched therebetween.
For example, a nozzle 25, which is formed of a liquid immersion body such as a sponge, is provided with a tank 25 filled with a disinfectant solution on the upper surface side of the cleaning body 24, and a plurality of tanks 26 are arranged in the width direction below the tank 25. From the above, the cleaning body 24 is configured to be impregnated with a necessary amount of the disinfecting liquid.

The above-mentioned input operation of the touch panel 17 is operated from above the film 19, and by the input operation,
When the surface of the film 19 becomes dirty, the pulse motor 22 is driven for a predetermined time to move the film 19 by a predetermined amount, and the moved surface sterilizes and cleans the operated surface of the film 19.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the control circuit of the automatic settlement machine 10 described above. The CPU 30 drives and controls each circuit device according to a program stored in the ROM 31, and RA
M32 stores data required for control.

The ticket reading device 33 executes a process of reading information of a ticket such as a boarding section from a boarding ticket or a commuter ticket inserted from the ticket insertion slot 12, and a money handling device 34 causes a bill insertion slot 13 to read.
And the counting process of the banknotes and coins inserted from the coin slot 14 is executed, and the settlement ticket issuing device 35 issues a settlement ticket when the shortage of the boarding fee is settled. The timer 36 measures time, and the motor driver 37 drives the pulse motor 22.

Next, the cleaning process of the touch panel 17 by the CPU 30 will be described with reference to FIG. The CPU 30 determines whether a boarding ticket or a commuter ticket has been inserted into the ticket insertion slot 12 (step n1). When it is determined that a ticket will be inserted,
A settlement process is executed (step n2).

That is, the ticket reading device 33 reads the information of the ticket, and the CPU 30 calculates the fare if there is a shortage charge up to this station based on the boarding section data of the ticket data, and calculates The shortage charge is displayed on the display unit 11, and further, the display unit 11 displays the designation of transfer routes, the designation of transit routes, and the designation of routes of other companies.

The touch panel 1 allows the customer to specify necessary items
When touch input from 7, the settlement fee is calculated based on the entered items and displayed on the display unit 11, and then the user inserts the bill or coin for the shortage charge into the bill insertion slot 13 or the coin insertion slot 14. When inserted, these coins are counted by the money handling device 34, and then the settlement ticket issuing device 35.
Issue a checkout ticket (including a transfer ticket) and release it to the checkout ticket outlet 15.

Next, when the withdrawal of the ticket is detected (step n3), the timer 36 measures, for example, 10 seconds (step n4). If the next passenger does not insert a ticket during this period, the cleaning process is executed. However, when it is determined that the ticket is inserted (step n5), the timer 36 stops counting the time (step n6). , And returns to step n2 to execute the settlement process for the customer.

However, when the time-up is detected (step n7) and the next ticket is not inserted, the settlement process is in a standby state. Therefore, the cleaning process is executed using this standby state. That is, the display unit 11 displays "sterilization in progress" (step n8), then the sterilization process described later on the operation surface of the touch panel 17 is executed (step n9), and when the sterilization process ends, the display unit 11 Indicates “in handling” of the settlement process (step n10), and step n1
Return to

FIG. 6 shows the sterilization process in step n9 described above. First, the motor driver 37 is driven to drive the pulse motor 22 to move the film 19 (step n11). Then, the timer 36 is started to measure a predetermined time required for the sterilization process (step n12),
When the predetermined time is measured, the pulse motor 22 is stopped (step n13).

When the film 19 is moved for a predetermined time in the above-mentioned processing, the portion soiled by the touch operation is sterilized and cleaned by wiping the cleaning body 24 impregnated with the disinfectant solution.

When the cleaning process is executed as described above, the growth of bacteria on the operation surface of the touch panel 17 is prevented, and the sterilization and deodorization can improve the usability of the user and give the user satisfaction. You can Further, stains such as oil and water drops can be removed to prevent stains, and the visibility of the operation surface can be improved. Furthermore, regular cleaning by maintenance personnel and staff is not required, and maintainability is improved.

FIG. 7 shows another example of the cleaning device. Elements having the same functions as those of the first embodiment described above are designated by the same reference numerals, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted. Ultraviolet lamps 41 and 42 for irradiating ultraviolet rays are provided at the upper and lower positions of the operation surface of 17, respectively.
The irradiation range of 42 is set so as to cover the entire operation surface of the touch panel 17.

The irradiation of the ultraviolet lamps 41 and 42 described above can be continuously performed in the standby state of the settlement process or during the handling of the settlement process, as in the first embodiment. In this way, the operation surface of the touch panel 17 can be sterilized and cleaned with ultraviolet rays.

Further, as another cleaning means, a heating element that generates heat when energized may be provided inside the surface resin of the touch panel 17 and sterilized and cleaned by the instantaneous high temperature of the heating element. A sterilizing gas may be sprayed onto the surface of the touch panel 17, and the surface of the touch panel 17 may be sterilized and cleaned by using an antibacterial resin containing antibacterial zeolite or the like.

In the correspondence between the configuration of the present invention and the embodiment, the information input device of the present invention corresponds to the touch panel 17 of the embodiment, and hereinafter, similarly, the film cleaning means corresponds to the cleaning body 24 and ultraviolet rays. The irradiation means is an ultraviolet lamp 4
1, 42, and the antibacterial resin member corresponds to an antibacterial resin containing antibacterial zeolite or the like on the surface, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration of the embodiment.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic settlement machine.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the cleaning device.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a main part of the cleaning device.

FIG. 4 is a control circuit block diagram of the automatic settlement machine.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of cleaning processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a cleaning subroutine.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing another example of the cleaning device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Display device 17 ... Touch panel 19 ... Film 24 ... Cleaning body 41, 42 ... UV lamp

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Hidehiko Nagase, Inventor Hidehiko Nagase 4-1-1-18 Shibaura, Minato-ku, Tokyo JAL East Japan Mechatronics Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Nobuo Ochi 10 Hanazono Dodo-cho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture Address Omron Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shigeru Mitamura 10 Hanazono Todocho, Ukyo-ku, Kyoto Prefecture Kyoto Prefecture Omron Co., Ltd.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. An information input device for inputting information by touching an information input part, the information input device comprising cleaning means for cleaning an input operation surface of the information input part. 2. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the information input unit is formed of a touch panel. 3. The information input according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means is composed of a film covering the information input section, a film moving means for moving the film, and a film cleaning means for cleaning the moved film. apparatus. 4. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein said cleaning means is constituted by an ultraviolet irradiation means for irradiating ultraviolet rays. 5. The information input device according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning means has an input operation surface formed of an antibacterial resin member.