JPH1195927A - Touch panel input circuit, touch panel input method, and recording medium recording control program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch panel input circuit capable of improving the feeling of operation by giving the feeling of stroke at a certain level to an operator. SOLUTION: A main control part 6 displays a key input screen for calling a key input to the operator through a display control part 5 onto a display part 4, monitors an analog/digital(A/D) converter 3 and detects whether the touch panel 1 is pressed or not. When a voltage is inputted to the A/D converter 3, the main control part 6 stores digital data from the A/D converter 3 into a random access memory(RAM) 7 as a coordinate value. Based on these coordinate data, the main control part 6 judges the display size of a key displayed at that coordinate position and judges whether the key display size is larger or smaller than a prescribed size. When the key display size is larger than the prescribed size, after the lapse of fixed pressing time measured by a timer part 8, the main control part 6 judges the touch panel 1 is pressed.

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 circuit, a touch panel input method, and a recording medium storing a control program therefor, and more particularly, to a method of detecting a finger input on a touch panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a touch panel, desired symbols, numerals, and the like are input to the information processing device by pressing a touch panel layer formed on a display screen of the information processing device with a finger.

[0003] As an input method of the touch panel as described above, the touch panel has a two-layer structure, and the hardness of the first touch panel and the hardness of the second touch panel are changed. There is a method of detecting two different types of pressing force by detecting a pressing force that generates an output signal and a pressing force that generates an output signal from the second touch panel.

In the case of this method, the movement of the cursor or pointer on the display screen using a mouse or the like and the confirmation using the enter key can be realized by the operator moving the fingertip on the touch panel and pressing strongly. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the size and thickness of the device for inputting the positions of the cursor and the pointer. This input method is disclosed in JP-A-6-67787.

As another input method, there is a method of determining a pressing force by detecting an area of a pressed portion of a finger pressing the touch panel. In other words, the contact area of the fingertip on the touch panel is small when pressed weakly and becomes large when pressed strongly, so by detecting the area of the pressed part of the finger, two areas of strong and weak for one area are detected. Input is possible. This input method is disclosed in JP-A-4-278627.

Further, as another input method, there is a method of correcting coordinate data of a pressed portion by separately detecting a slow press and a quick press on the touch panel. That is, in the case of this method, correction of the pressed coordinates is performed in consideration of the change due to the manner of pressing on the touch panel, thereby preventing erroneous input of a small input image.
This input method is disclosed in JP-A-8-249109.

[0007]

In the conventional touch panel input method described above, a stroke cannot be given to the operator when a key is detected by finger input, so that a difference in pressing cannot be made. . That is, it is impossible to give the operator a feeling of operation at the time of input using a keyboard or the like.

Further, in the case of a method in which the touch panel has a two-layer structure, it is necessary to detect different pressing forces on the upper layer and the lower layer of the two-layer structure. Peripheral circuits for detecting signals output from the upper and lower layers are more complicated than those having a single-layer structure.

Further, in the method of detecting the area of the pressed portion of the finger, the number of contact dots at the fingertip is detected by the reflected wave from the touch panel, so that the contact area of the fingertip cannot be detected. It cannot be applied to a method of detecting pressing force such as a pressure type analog touch panel.

Furthermore, in the method of detecting a slow press and a quick press on the touch panel separately, the press coordinates are corrected in consideration of a change due to the manner of pressing on the touch panel. It is not possible to make a determination of whether or not a key is pressed by a simple method, that is, even if any of the above methods is used, it is possible to give a stroke feeling to the operator when a key is detected by finger input. And no difference in pressure can be made.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a touch panel input circuit, a touch panel input method, and a touch panel input method capable of giving the operator a certain stroke feeling and improving the operation feeling. An object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium on which a control program is recorded.

[0012]

A touch panel input circuit according to the present invention corresponds to a key display when a transparent touch panel mounted on a display is pressed based on the key display displayed on the display. A touch panel input circuit that outputs a signal, wherein a determination unit that determines whether a size of a key display corresponding to when the transparent touch panel is pressed is equal to or larger than a predetermined size, and the determination unit includes: Measuring means for measuring the pressing time of the transparent touch panel when it is determined that the size is equal to or more than the predetermined size, and determining means for determining whether or not the pressing time measured by the measuring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. And a means for outputting a signal corresponding to the key display when the determination means determines that the time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time.

[0013] A touch panel input method according to the present invention provides a touch panel input for outputting a signal corresponding to a key display when a transparent touch panel mounted on the display is pressed based on a key display displayed on the display. A method of determining whether a size of a key display corresponding to the pressing of the transparent touch panel is equal to or greater than a predetermined size, and determining that the size is equal to or greater than the predetermined size. Measuring the pressing time of the transparent touch panel when it is performed, and determining whether or not the measured pressing time is equal to or longer than a predetermined period of time. Occasionally outputting a signal corresponding to the key display.

According to the present invention, there is provided a recording medium storing an input control program for a touch panel, wherein a transparent touch panel mounted on a display is adapted to correspond to the key display when the key is displayed based on the key display displayed on the display. The input control program for controlling the input of the touch panel, the input control program controls the control means for controlling the input of the touch panel, the size of the key display corresponding to when the transparent touch panel is pressed Is determined to be greater than or equal to a predetermined size set in advance, and when it is determined in the determination that the size is greater than or equal to the predetermined size, the pressing time of the transparent touch panel is measured, and the measured pressing time is set in advance. The key display is performed when it is determined that the predetermined time or more has been reached. And to output a signal that.

That is, the touch panel input method according to the present invention includes a timer unit for counting the time during which the touch panel is pressed, and when a key input occurs, if the size of the key display is equal to or larger than a predetermined size, the timer unit It is determined that the key is depressed when the key depressing time counted by the key exceeds a predetermined value.

[0016] Therefore, by judging whether or not the touch panel is pressed with a finger, whether the finger is pressed or not is determined by using the pressing duration, and the pressing determination time is set according to the size of the key display.
When the key display is large, the operator can feel that a longer press is necessary, and when the key display is small, the operator can feel that a short press is sufficient.

That is, the operational feeling of the touch panel can be made closer to the actual key having a keystroke.
It is possible to give the operator a feeling of operation as when inputting from a keyboard or the like, and it is possible to make a difference in pressing.

In this case, in an input device having a touch panel mounted on a display, there is a tendency as described below according to a key display size on the display. That is, when there is a key display on the display that is equal to or smaller than the fingertip, the operator tends to lightly touch the fingertip with the touch panel for a short time in order to prevent erroneous input.

When the display is larger than the fingertips on the display and the keys are spaced apart from each other, the operator tends to strongly touch the fingertips on the touch panel for a long time.

Therefore, if the fingertip is not kept depressed for a predetermined time or more when the key display is large, it is determined that the fingertip is not depressed, so that the operator feels that the larger the key display is, the longer the depressing time becomes. It is felt that the smaller the key display, the lighter the pressing is. Therefore, it is possible to give the operator a feeling of operation as when inputting from a keyboard or the like, and it is possible to make a difference in pressing.

[0021]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, a touch panel input circuit according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a touch panel 1 and
Touch panel switch circuit 2, A / D (analog / digital) converter 3, display unit 4, display control circuit 5, main control unit 6, RAM (random access memory) 7, timer unit 8, control unit And a memory 9.

The touch panel 1 is an analog-type transparent touch panel constituted by overlapping an x-direction member and a y-direction member, and is mounted on a display screen (not shown) of the display unit 4. The touch panel switch circuit 2 is a circuit for applying a voltage to each electrode of the touch panel 1 or opening the same to detect whether the touch panel 1 is pressed or not pressed and to detect the xy coordinate data as a voltage value. is there.

The A / D converter 3 is a circuit for converting a voltage value generated when the touch panel 1 is switched by the touch panel switch circuit 2 from an analog value to a digital value. The display unit 4 is a circuit for displaying various output results and keys of various sizes for input according to the operation state of the own device (not shown). The display control circuit 5 is a circuit that generates data to be output to the display unit 4.

The main control section 6 is a circuit that performs various judgments in the touch panel input circuit and controls each circuit. The RAM 7 is a circuit for temporarily storing data for the main control unit 6 to make determination and control. The timer unit 8 is a timer count unit for the main control unit 6 to detect time. The control memory 9 is composed of a recording medium such as a floppy disk or a ROM (Read Only Memory), and records a program for performing input control of the touch panel 1 in the touch panel input circuit.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the relationship between the key display size and the fingertip strength and pressing time. FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a small key display size, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fingertip strength and a pressing time when the key display size is small. 2) is a diagram showing an example of a large key display size, and FIG. 2D is a diagram showing the relationship between the strength of the fingertip and the pressing time when the key display size is large.
Note that the relationship between the key display size and the pressing time is as described above.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an input control operation of the touch panel 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The input control operation of the touch panel 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The main control unit 6 controls the display control unit 5 in accordance with the state of the own device, and displays a key input screen for urging the operator to input a key on the display unit 4 (step S1 in FIG. 3). ), Controlling the touch panel switch circuit 2 so that an output is sent to the A / D converter 3 when the operator presses the touch panel 1 (waiting for key input)
(Step S2 in FIG. 3).

The main control unit 6 monitors the A / D converter 3 and detects whether the touch panel 1 is pressed and a voltage is input to the A / D converter 3 (key input detection) (step S3 in FIG. 3). . If no voltage is input to the A / D converter 3, the main controller 6 determines that a key input is not detected and returns to step S2.

When a voltage is input to the A / D converter 3, the main controller 6 controls the touch panel switch circuit 2 to convert the x-coordinate voltage value and the y-coordinate voltage value output from the touch panel 1 into an A / D converter. 3 as digital data, and stores the digital data as coordinate values in the RAM 7 (coordinate detection) (step S3 in FIG. 3).
4).

The main controller 6 determines the size of the key display size displayed at the coordinate position based on the coordinate data obtained from the touch panel 1 (step S5 in FIG. 3), and determines the size of the key display size. It is determined whether A is larger or smaller than a predetermined size A0 (step S6 in FIG. 3).

When the size A of the key display size is smaller than the predetermined size A0 (A <A0), the main controller 6 immediately determines that a key input has been made, and outputs the coordinate data stored in the RAM 7. Or processing (FIG. 3, step S
10).

When the size A of the key display size is equal to or larger than a predetermined size A0 (A ≧ A0), the main control unit 6 sets the timer unit 8
Is started (step S7 in FIG. 3), and measurement of the pressing time is started. Subsequently, the main controller 6 monitors the A / D converter 3 and detects whether the touch panel 1 is continuously depressed and voltage input to the A / D converter 3 is continued (key input detection) (FIG. 3 steps S8).

When the pressing of the touch panel 1 (key input) is completed before the predetermined time t0 elapses in the measurement of the pressing time, the main control section 6 detects the pressing of the touch panel 1 and stores it in the RAM 7 without determining that the touch panel 1 is pressed. The pressed information (coordinate data) is cleared (step S11 in FIG. 3), and the process returns to step S2.

When the touch panel 1 is continuously depressed (key input), the main control section 6 determines whether or not a predetermined time t0 has elapsed in the measurement of the depressed time (t ≧ t0).
(Step S9 in FIG. 3). The main controller 6 continues to monitor the A / D converter 3 if the pressing of the touch panel 1 (key input) continues and the predetermined time t0 has not elapsed (steps S8 and S9 in FIG. 3).

When a predetermined time t0 has elapsed in the measurement of the pressing time, the main control unit 6 determines that the touch panel 1 has been pressed, and outputs or processes the coordinate data stored in the RAM 7 (step S10 in FIG. 3). .

As described above, when digital data is input from the A / D converter 3, the size of the key display size displayed at the coordinate position is determined based on the coordinate data, and the key display size is set to a predetermined value. The main controller 6 determines that the touch panel 1 has been pressed when the pressing time measured by the timer unit 8 is larger than the size of the key and the pressing time measured by the timer unit 8 is longer. It can be felt that pressing for a long time is necessary, and the smaller the key display is, the more it is felt that a shorter pressing is sufficient.

That is, since the operation feeling of the touch panel 1 can be made closer to the actual key having a keystroke, it is possible to give the operator a feeling of operation as when inputting from a keyboard or the like. Can be served.

[0038]

As described above, according to the present invention, a signal corresponding to a key display is output when the transparent touch panel mounted on the display is pressed based on the key display displayed on the display. Touch panel input circuit
It is determined that the size of the corresponding key display when the transparent touch panel is pressed is equal to or larger than a predetermined size, and corresponds to the key display when the pressing time of the transparent touch panel is equal to or longer than a predetermined time. By outputting such a signal, a certain stroke feeling can be given to the operator, and there is an effect that the operation feeling can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a small key display size, FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a fingertip strength and a pressing time when the key display size is small, and FIG. 2C is a diagram illustrating a large key display size; FIG. 4D is a diagram showing a relationship between the strength of the fingertip and the pressing time when the key display size is large.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an input control operation of the touch panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 touch panel 2 touch panel switch circuit 3 A / D converter 4 display unit 5 display control circuit 6 main control unit 7 RAM 8 timer unit 9 control memory

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A touch panel input circuit for outputting a signal corresponding to a key display when a transparent touch panel mounted on a display is pressed based on a key display displayed on the display, Determining means for determining whether the size of a corresponding key display when the transparent touch panel is pressed is equal to or greater than a predetermined size; and determining whether the size of the key display is greater than or equal to the predetermined size. Measuring means for measuring the pressing time of the touch panel, determining means for determining whether or not the pressing time measured by the measuring means is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and determining means for determining that the pressing time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time And a means for outputting a signal corresponding to the key display when the operation is performed. 2. The touch panel input circuit according to claim 1, further comprising a unit that outputs a signal corresponding to the key display when the determination unit determines that the size is smaller than the predetermined size. 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: holding means for holding a coordinate value when the transparent touch panel is pressed, and detecting means for detecting a size of a key display displayed at a position corresponding to the coordinate value. The touch panel input circuit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the means is configured to compare the size detected by the detection means with the predetermined size. 4. A touch panel input method for outputting a signal corresponding to a key display when a transparent touch panel mounted on a display is pressed based on a key display displayed on the display, Determining whether the size of the corresponding key display when the transparent touch panel is pressed is equal to or larger than a predetermined size, and when determining that the size is equal to or larger than the predetermined size, the transparent touch panel Measuring the pressing time, determining whether the measured pressing time is equal to or longer than a predetermined time, and responding to the key display when it is determined that the predetermined time is equal to or longer than the predetermined time. And outputting a signal to the touch panel. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of outputting a signal corresponding to the key display when it is determined that the size is smaller than the predetermined size. 4. The touch panel input method according to 4. 6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: holding a coordinate value when the transparent touch panel is pressed; and detecting a size of a key display displayed at a position corresponding to the coordinate value, wherein the predetermined size is 6. The touch panel input method according to claim 4, wherein the detected size is compared with the predetermined size in the step of determining whether or not the size is equal to or larger than the predetermined value. 7. An input control program for a touch panel for outputting a signal corresponding to a key display when a transparent touch panel mounted on the display is pressed based on a key display displayed on the display. In the recording medium, the input control program controls the input means of the touch panel to determine whether or not a size of a key display corresponding to when the transparent touch panel is pressed is equal to or larger than a predetermined size. Is determined, the pressing time of the transparent touch panel is measured when it is determined to be equal to or more than the predetermined size in the determination, it is determined whether the measured pressing time is equal to or more than a predetermined time, An input control program for a touch panel, wherein a signal corresponding to the key display is output when it is determined that the predetermined time or more is obtained. A recording medium on which a system is recorded. 8. The input control of a touch panel according to claim 7, wherein the input control program causes the control means to output a signal corresponding to the key display when it is determined that the size is smaller than the predetermined size. A recording medium on which a program is recorded. 9. The input control program causes the control means to hold a coordinate value when the transparent touch panel is pressed, and detect a size of a key display displayed at a position corresponding to the coordinate value, 9. The touch panel input control program according to claim 7, wherein when determining whether or not the size is equal to or larger than the predetermined size, the detected size is compared with the predetermined size. Recording medium.