JPH10133818A - Input method and device for touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the efficiency of operation even for inputs from many expansion pictures by attaining plural kinds of input control in accordance with resolution levels in Z axis direction of a pointing device capable of executing three-dimensional input. SOLUTION: The level of touch pressure in Z axis direction is identified and utilized as input information. For instance, a sensor touch part 17A is fitted to a body part to be monitored, and when the area of the sensor touch part 17A is touched in the case of monitoring the body part, measurement data 17B to be a monitored result are displayed. In addition, many monitoring pictures are displayed on a display screen 3 by a format intensively collecting relative information. When one of control tools 16A to 16D e.g. is touched, the monitoring screen is moved in the touched arrow direction so as to sequentially move the display on the screen 14. In addition, window pictures 15A to 15C are displayed on the upper part of the screen 13, and when one of the windows 15A to 15C is touched, data related to the window display are displayed on the screen 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a touch panel input method and apparatus for directly inputting from a display screen having a window function used in various industrial monitoring and control devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a keyboard and a mouse are often used as input devices for various monitoring and control devices.

[0003] Recently, touch panels are often used in particular because of the advantage that they can be operated directly from the screen. Therefore, it is necessary to basically wear these three types of pointing devices at present.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a general input system equipped with these three types of pointing devices.
The touch panel 1 is attached in close contact with the front of the display screen 2 of the CRT so as to be easily operated, and its output is connected to the control device 4 via the touch panel controller 2.

The control device 4 further includes a touch panel 1
An input system to which a mouse 5 and a keyboard 6 are connected as other input devices.

[0006]

However, in a monitor and control device in which the screen display mode displays the screen in a two-dimensional display as in the related art and the current state, an input device having these three types of pointing devices is provided. The system can be operated, but when a large number of screens are efficiently expanded and displayed, it is necessary to selectively display each of the screens with these pointing devices, resulting in a problem that the operation is troublesome.

Therefore, a method of adding another pointing device for the purpose of only improving the operation efficiency has been considered. However, in this method, a plurality of types of pointing devices must be used properly. Is complicated, and the operation efficiency is rather reduced.

[0008] Therefore, if possible, it is desired to enable input necessary for the monitoring and control apparatus with only a minimum of pointing devices without adding a new pointing device.

On the other hand, as a recent trend, with the increase in the definition of a CRT display, many screens such as windows, characters, graphic symbols, etc. are often displayed at one time.
As a result, the amount of display data per screen has been increasing.

Therefore, as the amount of data per screen increases, the area to be touched becomes smaller, and it is difficult to perform sensing when actually touching with a finger. As a result, operability is deteriorated and erroneous operation is likely to occur. Is newly occurring.

In this case, if the apparatus is mainly a mouse with a high resolution, it is possible to relatively easily point the relevant screen. However, the monitoring control using the direct input from the screen using the touch panel as the main input means is also possible. In the case of the device, it is necessary to carry out the input again by holding the mouse, or retry the input from the touch panel 1 (FIG. 8) several times. I can't say.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch panel input method with high operation efficiency even with inputs from a large number of development screens using only touch panel input means.

[0013]

According to the present invention, in a touch panel input method having a graphic function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of monitor screens, a pointing device capable of three-dimensional input is provided, and the Z-axis of the pointing device is provided. A touch panel input method characterized in that a plurality of types of input control can be performed according to the direction resolution level.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a touch panel input method characterized in that a screen of a monitoring item is displayed according to the resolution level of the pointing device in the Z-axis direction.

Further, according to the present invention, in a touch panel input device having a graphic function of simultaneously displaying a plurality of monitor screens, a pointing device provided on the front of the display screen and capable of three-dimensional input, and the pointing device A touch panel input device, comprising: a control device for instructing a monitoring device to monitor contents in accordance with a decomposition level in the Z-axis direction; and a terminal device for visualizing the monitoring contents in response to an instruction from the control device. Is obtained.

Further, according to the present invention, there is provided a touch panel input device wherein the terminal device is a monitoring camera.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing the operation principle of a touch panel adopted in the present invention. The touch panel shown as an embodiment of the present invention is called "IntelliTouch" under the trade name and employs an ultrasonic surface acoustic wave system. The detection method is adopted.

In FIG. 1, an ultrasonic oscillator (hereinafter, referred to as Y oscillator) 8 is provided in the upper left corner of the touch panel 7 ("Intelli Touch") in the vertical (Y) axis direction, and a horizontal (X) is provided in the lower right corner. In the axial direction, each ultrasonic oscillator (hereinafter referred to as X oscillator)
9 are provided. The Y oscillator 8 and the X oscillator 9
The ultrasonic wave emitted from the reflection array 8 is converted into a surface acoustic wave.
a, 9a, respectively, during which each reflective array 8
The light is reflected by slits (not shown) provided in the a and 9a, propagates in the plane of the touch panel 7 in the X direction and the Y direction, and reaches every corner of the panel.

The surface acoustic waves propagated on the surface of the touch panel 7 are collected by the reflection arrays 10b and 11b on the opposite sides, and return to the Y receiver 10 and the X receiver 11 provided at the upper right corner of the touch panel 7.

At that time, the X oscillator 9 emits the X receiver 1
There is a time difference in arrival time between the surface acoustic wave traveling the shortest distance a toward 1 and the surface acoustic wave traveling the longest distance c.

When the operator touches the center (B) point of the touch panel 7 with the finger during the time difference, the surface acoustic wave indicated by the arrow b passing through this portion is absorbed by the finger, and becomes a weakened waveform as the X resonator. Return to 11. FIG. 2 is a graph showing the time change of the intensity of the oscillation signal of the surface acoustic wave and the intensity of the received signal. The point b where the intensity of the received signal decreases corresponds to the position of the point (B) on the touch panel 7 in the Y-axis direction. , Y receiver 1
The outputs of the 0 and X receivers 11 are recognized as position detection data. Further, the amount of the surface acoustic wave absorbed at that time, that is, the dent amount 12 of the received signal b in FIG. 2 can be recognized as data in the Z-axis direction.

According to the present invention, the magnitude of the touch pressure in the depth direction of the touch panel, that is, the Z-axis direction is identified, and this is used as input information. That is, in general, the resolution of the touch panel 7 in the Z-axis direction depends on the type, but there are 256 or more steps, and among them, it is sufficient to assign 10 to 20 steps for data determination.
At present, the remaining 200 or more stages are not used effectively.

The present invention is based on the idea that this 20
It is characterized in that the zero-step Z-axis resolution is used for touch input from a touch panel.

Next, a method of directly inputting from the display screen using the touch panel "Intellitouch" 7 having such a characteristic will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an embodiment of a CRT display screen to which the touch panel 7 of FIG. 1 is attached. Many monitor screens 14 and 15A to 15C are displayed on the display screen 13.
And the control tools 16A to 16D are displayed in a window shape.

In FIG. 3, as one embodiment of the monitoring target,
The aircraft 17 is displayed on the monitoring screen 14, and a section to be monitored is set in advance in the aircraft 17 as an area that can be operated on the touch panel 7.

For example, in FIG. 3, a body part is shown as a part to be monitored, and the body part has a sensor touch part 17A. When monitoring the body part, an area of the sensor touch part 17A is defined. By touching, the observation data 17B of the monitoring result is displayed.

Further, many monitoring screens are displayed on the display screen 13 in a form in which related information is collected.

For example, the control tools 16A to 16D of the monitoring screen 14 are indicated by arrows in the right and bottom columns of the display screen 13, and the control tools 16A to 16D.
By touching, the monitoring screen 14 moves in the direction of the touched arrow, and the display on the screen 14 sequentially moves.

Further, window screens 15A to 15C in the form of small icons are shown at the top of the screen 13. It is a reference display. Therefore, if this window display is touched, data related to this window display is displayed on the display screen 13.

In this case, different monitoring items are designated by the sensor touch unit 12A in accordance with the level of the touch pressure there.

Therefore, several types of monitoring items can be designated only by the sensor touch unit 17A.

Next, a series of operation procedures will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure in which the resolution in the Z-axis direction of 200 stages of the ineffective use is effectively used as input means based on the embodiment of FIG.

In FIG. 4, in step 4A, a coordinate detection and identification process at a two-dimensional level is performed as a normal touch panel.

Steps 4B and 4C are normal processes performed in connection with step 4A. When it is determined that the operation is suitable for the sensor touch unit 17A (FIG. 3), the related measurement data 17B and the like (FIG. 3) ) Is displayed.

In step 4D, it is determined whether or not the pressing force on the screen detected by the touch panel 7, that is, the pressure pressed by the operator with a finger or the like is equal to or higher than a threshold (specified value) set for two-dimensional coordinate identification. It is a routine.

If the value is equal to or higher than the threshold, it can be determined that the operator is requesting further information from the touch section area. In step 4D, this determination is made, and if it is equal to or higher than the threshold, the process proceeds to step 4E.

Step 4E is a routine for analyzing which of the 200 stages of the ineffective use the touch pressure in the Z-axis direction of the operator corresponds to, and converting the data into data which can be developed into information required by the operator. is there.

After obtaining the result of step 4E, step 4
The screen shifts to F, 4G, and related screens, information, and the like are displayed on the display screen 13 of the CRT every moment.

If there is a screen having a partition area where a touch operation is possible among the related screens, information, etc. displayed every moment as described above, in step 4H, a touch operation on a deeper hierarchical screen is performed. To do.

Next, the details of step 4E will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on FIG.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the details of the routine of step 4E (FIG. 4).

In FIG. 4, in step 5A, a numerical value equal to or larger than a threshold value in the Z-axis direction is obtained, and normalized in the Z-axis direction (depth direction). In step 5B,
In step 4F (FIG. 4), original data (corresponding to the Z-axis: 1 unit) of the data to be delivered is created.

In step 5C, based on the data for one unit of the Z axis processed in steps 5A and 5B, a data format of a format linkable to actual screen data and display data, ie, in step 4F (FIG. 4) Process to an acceptable format.

Step 5D is a routine for detecting a deeper Z-axis coordinate. If a deeper Z-coordinate (one unit) is detected than in step 5A, the process returns to step 5A to display a related screen, calculate information, and instantaneously. When the pressing force in the Z-axis direction is equal to or less than the threshold, the Z-axis information is unnecessary, and the process is terminated.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the monitoring system using the above touch panel.
The same parts as those described above are given the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 6, a camera control signal is output from the monitoring control device 4 to the monitoring camera controller 18, and the monitoring camera controller 18 controls the monitoring camera 19 in accordance with the content of the instruction by the camera control signal. I do.

The control contents of the surveillance camera 19 include, for example, zoom pan, tilt, change of angle, focus, and the like. The output form of the surveillance control device 4 to the surveillance camera controller 18 is both in the increasing direction and in the decreasing direction. It is often continuous.

As a method of outputting the continuous value, at the PI0 level, the touch continuation time of the touch panel 1 is increased, and
The contact is output in the time width during which the contact is made or in the form of analog data or the like.

In any case, the output from the monitoring and control device 4 must be an output compatible with inching. Therefore, the control result in the present embodiment is in the form of a video image from the monitoring camera 19, 4 and CR
It can be displayed on the screen of T2 and can be visually checked, or the feedback value of the surveillance camera controller 18 or the output value of the surveillance controller 4 is displayed on the screen of the CRT 2 in a window format, and the operator monitors it. You can do it.

Next, a control procedure for displaying the output value of the monitoring control device 4 in a window format will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart when the surveillance camera control signal in the embodiment of FIG. 6 is output from the touch panel 7 (FIG. 1) having Z-axis data.
Steps 7E to 7E are the same as steps 5A to 5D in FIG. In step 7F, of the Z-axis data on the touch panel 7 (FIG. 1), the data is converted to a level corresponding to the control signal, and the converted data is output to the monitoring camera controller 18.

In step 7G, the data amount calculated in step 7F, that is, the output signal to the surveillance camera controller 18 is automatically displayed on the screen of the CRT 2 in a window format.

From the automatically displayed screen, the situation before and immediately before the change of the monitoring camera control can be monitored.

In the present invention, the touch operation according to the pressing force in the Z-axis direction has been described. However, instead of the touch pressing force, the input operation based on the touch duration can be performed. It goes without saying that the present invention is also applied to the input operation in combination.

[0058]

As described above, according to the present invention, related screens and information are instantaneously displayed as a plurality of types of monitoring screens according to the pressing force on the touch section area on the display screen.
Since it can be displayed on the RT screen, there is no need to select a plurality of types of pointing devices as in the past, and related operations can be performed continuously in one operation even when many window screens are expanded on one screen. Input is possible, and the screen display requires only the minimum screen required for data control.As a result, the touch partition area becomes large, sensing becomes easy, erroneous operation can be eliminated, and the improvement of operation efficiency is extremely large. Become.

In the present invention, the touch operation according to the pressing force in the Z-axis direction has been described. However, instead of the touch pressing force, the input operation based on the touch continuation time can be performed. It goes without saying that the present invention is also applied to the input operation in combination.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation principle of a touch panel used in an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing a change over time of a received signal strength of a surface acoustic wave for explaining an operation of the touch panel shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a CRT display screen of one embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an input operation procedure according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart showing a part of the flowchart shown in FIG. 4 in detail.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a touch panel input device showing another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the touch panel input device shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a conventional input system.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... touch panel 2 ... CRT display screen 3 ... touch panel controller 4 ... control device 5 ... …………… Mouse 6 ………………… Keyboard 7 ………………… Touch panel 8 ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… and, and with respect to the ultrasonic oscillator 9 ............ Ultrasonic X oscillator 10 ...... Ultrasonic Y receiver 11 ...... Ultrasonic X receiver 12 ...... Reception signal Depression amount of b 13 Display screen 14, 15A to 15C Monitor screen 16A to 16D Control tool 17 Control tool 17 "Aircraft" display 17A ... Sensor touch part 17B ... "Related measurement data" display

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A touch panel input method having a graphic function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of monitoring screens,
A touch panel input method comprising: a pointing device capable of inputting a dimension; and allowing a plurality of types of input control according to a resolution level of the pointing device in a Z-axis direction. 2. The touch panel input method according to claim 1, wherein a monitor item screen is displayed according to a resolution level of the pointing device in the Z-axis direction. 3. A touch panel input device having a graphic function for simultaneously displaying a plurality of monitoring screens, wherein a pointing device provided on the front of the display screen and capable of three-dimensional input and a resolution level in the Z-axis direction of the pointing device are provided. A touch panel input device, comprising: a control device that instructs a monitoring device to instruct monitoring content in response thereto; and a terminal device that visualizes the monitoring content in accordance with an instruction from the control device. 4. The touch panel input device according to claim 3, wherein said terminal device is a surveillance camera.