KR20100041410A - Touch sensing appratus and touch sensing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A touch sensing device and a touch sensing method are provided to sense touch generated in the border between different touch sensing areas as a continuous pattern, thereby improving sensing accuracy of the touch generated in the border between touch sensing areas. CONSTITUTION: A first sensing area(110) includes at least one first sensing electrode. A second sensing area(120) is adjacent to the first sensing area. The second sensing area includes at least one second sensing electrode. Using the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode, a touch decision unit decides the touch of the first sensing area and the second sensing area. The first sensing electrode is arranged around to a first axis. The second sensing electrode is arranged around to a second axis.

Description

Touch sensing device and touch sensing method {TOUCH SENSING APPRATUS AND TOUCH SENSING METHOD}

A touch sensing device and a touch sensing method are disclosed. In particular, a touch sensing device and method are disclosed that can detect, in a continuous pattern, contacts that occur between different touch sensing regions where electrode structures are discontinuously arranged.

Recently, research on input devices that can be used in various electronic devices such as mobile phones has been actively conducted. In particular, many researches have been conducted on input devices based on touch input, such as touch screens and touch keys.

A touch sensing device such as a touch screen or a touch key may provide an intuitive interface to a user by identifying a location where the contact occurs and controlling an operation of an electronic device such as a mobile phone according to the contact when a contact occurs.

The touch sensing apparatus may sense various patterns of contact according to the electrode structure included therein. For example, a touch sensing device capable of sensing a touch of a circular scroll pattern has an electrode structure arranged in a circle along the θ axis of the polar coordinates, and thus detects the contact of the circular scroll pattern by identifying a position on the θ axis of the contact. Can be.

Since the touch sensing device senses a touch according to the electrode structure included therein, when the touch sensing area having different electrode structures is disposed adjacent to the touch sensing device, the touch sensing device may be disposed between the touch sensing areas of the different electrode structures. It is difficult to detect the continuous contact input applied. As a result, when the touch sensing apparatus includes a plurality of touch sensing regions having different electrode structures, there is a difficulty in providing a user with a more convenient input interface.

Therefore, when the touch sensing apparatus includes touch sensing regions having different electrode structures, a study on a technique for enabling continuous touch input between the touch sensing regions is needed.

In a touch sensing apparatus in which touch sensing regions having different electrode structures are disposed adjacent to each other, the touch sensing region may increase the accuracy of sensing of a contact occurring at a boundary portion adjacent to each other, and between the touch sensing regions. Disclosed is a touch sensing apparatus and method capable of sensing a generated contact in a continuous pattern to provide a user with a more convenient input interface.

The touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a first sensing region including at least one first sensing electrode, a second sensing region disposed adjacent to the first sensing region, and including at least one second sensing electrode. And a touch determining unit configured to determine contact between the first sensing region and the second sensing region by using a sensing region and sensing signals obtained from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode, wherein the touch determining unit When a contact occurs in the first sensing area adjacent to the boundary of the second sensing area, the contact of the first sensing area is determined by referring to a sensing signal obtained from at least a portion of the second sensing electrode.

In addition, the touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention, the first sensing region including at least one first sensing electrode disposed along the first axis, the at least one second sensing electrode disposed along the second axis A second sensing area disposed adjacent to the first sensing area, and a touch input applied to the first sensing area by using a sensing signal obtained from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode. And a contact determiner configured to generate first contact information associated with the first touch information and second contact information associated with a touch input applied to the second sensing area, wherein the touch determiner is configured to include a first axis of the first axis formed inside the second sensing area. The first contact information is generated for a contact input applied to an extension area defined by an extension line.

In addition, the touch sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a contact occurs in the first sensing region adjacent to the boundary with the second sensing region, the first sensing from the first sensing electrode included in the first sensing region Acquiring a signal, acquiring a second sensing signal from a second sensing electrode included in the second sensing region, and determining the contact with reference to the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal; .

Further, according to another embodiment of the present invention, a first sensing region including a first sensing electrode disposed along a first axis and a second sensing region including a second sensing electrode disposed along a second axis are provided. A method of sensing a touch using a touch sensing device, wherein when a touch is applied to an extended area defined by an extension line of the first axis formed inside the second sensing area, a sensing signal is obtained from the second sensing electrode. And generating location information along the first axis of contact using the obtained sense signal.

According to the disclosed touch sensing apparatus and the touch sensing method, when touch sensing regions having different electrode structures are disposed adjacent to each other, the accuracy of sensing of a touch occurring adjacent to a boundary between the touch sensing regions can be improved. In addition, since a contact occurring between the touch sensing areas can be continuously detected, a more convenient input interface can be provided to the user.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described an embodiment of the present invention;

1 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first sensing region 110 and a second sensing region 120, and further includes a window (not shown) for selectively receiving a contact. It may include.

The window may serve to maintain the appearance of the touch sensing device, and at least a portion of the area may be exposed to the outside to receive contact of a user's body or a conductive object such as a stylus pen. At this time, it is possible to selectively add a protective layer to prevent damage or destruction of the window due to contact. For reference, the term 'contact' as used throughout this specification should be interpreted broadly to mean that the conductive object is approached by a considerable distance from the contact receiving surface in addition to the direct contact with the contact receiving surface. That is, the touch sensing device according to the present invention should be interpreted as a panel or a device having a function of recognizing a contact of a conductive object or recognizing a proximity within a considerable distance.

The first sensing region 110 includes at least one first sensing electrode for sensing a contact occurring in the first sensing region 110, and the second sensing region 120 is formed in the second sensing region 120. At least one second sensing electrode for sensing a contact that occurs.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensing device senses the first sensing region 110 and the second sensing using sensing signals obtained from the at least one first sensing electrode and the at least one second sensing electrode. The apparatus may further include a contact determiner (not shown) for determining a contact with the region 120.

In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one first sensing electrode may be disposed along a first axis, and the at least one second sensing electrode may be disposed along a second axis.

In this case, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the contact determination unit may determine a position along the first axis of contact with the first sensing region 110.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first axis and the second axis may be coordinate axes along different coordinate systems.

Hereinafter, a process of determining the first contact 111 for the first sensing region 110 and the second contact 121 for the second sensing region 120 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Let's do it.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the at least one first sensing electrode may be disposed along the first axis, and the at least one second sensing electrode may be disposed along the second axis. The two axes can be coordinate axes that follow different coordinate systems.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first axis may be a coordinate axis along the polar coordinate system, and the second axis may be a coordinate axis along the rectangular coordinate system.

First, a process of determining the first contact 111 with respect to the first sensing region 110 by the touch determination unit will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, eight first sensing electrodes included in the first sensing region 110 are connected to sensing channels C1 to C8, respectively.

When a contact occurs in two or more sensing electrodes, the touch determining unit receives a sensing signal through a sensing channel connected to each of the two or more sensing electrodes, and determines the contact using the sensing signals received through the sensing channels. do.

For example, when the first contact 111 occurs in the at least one first sensing electrode, capacitance components corresponding to the contact areas A1 and A2 are generated at the sensing electrodes connected to the sensing channels C3 and C4, respectively. The touch determining unit receives a sensing signal indicating a capacitance component generated in proportion to the widths of the contact areas A1 and A2 through the sensing channels C3 and C4 and uses a ratio of the intensity, for example, the intensity of the first signal, to contact the first contact. The position of 111 can be determined.

Next, a process of determining the second contact 121 with respect to the second sensing region 120 by the touch determination unit will be described.

Referring to FIG. 1, fourteen second sensing electrodes included in the second sensing region are connected to sensing channels L1 to L7 and sensing channels R1 to R7, respectively. Here, the second sensing electrode included in the second sensing region may have various shapes such as rectangular, rhombus, and trapezoid in addition to the right triangle shape as shown in FIG. 1.

The touch determining unit determines the contact by receiving the detection signal through a sensing channel when a detection signal indicating a capacitance component formed by the contact is generated by the contact at two or more detection electrodes of the second detection electrode.

For example, when the second contact 121 is generated in the second sensing electrode, a sensing signal representing the capacitance component formed for each electrode is generated in the second sensing electrode in which the contact areas B1, B2, and B3 are formed. The touch determination unit receives the generated sensing signals through the sensing channels L2, R3, and L3, and determines the correct position where the second contact 121 is applied using the ratio of the intensity of the sensing signals, for example.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, when a contact occurs in the first sensing region 110 adjacent to the boundary of the second sensing region 120, the contact determining unit is obtained from at least a portion of the at least one second sensing electrode. The touch of the first sensing region 110 may be determined with reference to one sensing signal.

Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 1, when the contact 112 occurs in the first sensing region 110 adjacent to the boundary of the second sensing region 120, the contact determining unit may be configured to include at least some of the second sensing electrodes. Receive a sense signal generated by the contact 112. In the present embodiment, the contact 112 may be determined by referring to a sensing signal received from the sensing channel L7 and a sensing signal received from the first sensing electrode connected to the sensing channel C1.

Although the area of contact 112 is shown smaller than that of the first contact 111 in FIG. 1, this is to indicate to which sensing area the position to which contact 112 is applied belongs. In fact, when the contact region formed by the contact 112 is at the same level as that of the first contact 111, this region spans the sensing channels C1 and L7. Therefore, instead of using only the sensing signal acquired through the sensing channel C1, the first sensing region 110 may be used together by using the sensing signal acquired through the sensing channel L7 connected to the second sensing electrode of the adjacent second sensing region 120. The exact position of the contact input near the boundary of the second sensing region 120 can be determined.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a contact occurs in the second sensing region 120 adjacent to the boundary of the first sensing region 110, the contact determining unit may include at least a portion of the at least one first sensing electrode. The contact of the second sensing region 120 may be determined by referring to the sensing signal obtained from the sensor.

In this regard, referring to FIG. 1, when the contact 122 occurs in the second sensing region 120 adjacent to the boundary of the first sensing region 110, the contact determination is performed. The unit receives a sensing signal indicating a capacitance component formed for the second sensing electrode connected to the sensing channel L7 and a sensing signal representing the capacitance component formed for the first sensing electrode connected to the sensing channel C1 through the sensing channels L7 and C1, respectively. In addition, the exact position to which the contact 122 is applied may be determined by referring to the received detection signals. In this case, as described above, in FIG. 1, only the sensing area to which the center position to which the contact 122 is applied belongs is described, and the actual contact area formed by the contact 122 is necessarily illustrated in FIG. 1. It is not as small as it is.

However, even when the contact area formed directly by the contact 112 or the contact 122 has a small area as shown in Fig. 1, the contact area is directly affected by the edge effect due to the characteristic of the capacitance component. Some capacitance components may also be formed in adjacent sensing electrodes that are not formed. Therefore, when a contact occurs in any one of the first sensing area 110 and the second sensing area 120 adjacent to the boundary, the contact area due to the contact is obtained from another sensing area that does not directly occur. By determining the contact with reference to one sensing signal, it is possible to increase the detection rate for the contact occurring at the boundary between the two sensing regions and to determine the location of the contact more accurately.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a contact occurs at a boundary between the first sensing region 110 and the second sensing region 120, the contact determining unit may include the at least one first sensing electrode and the at least one. A contact applied to the boundary may be determined by referring to a sensing signal acquired from one second sensing electrode.

As a result, when a contact is applied to a boundary between the first sensing region 110 and the second sensing region 120, the contact determining unit acquires the at least one first sensing electrode and the at least one second sensing electrode. By referring to all of the sensing signals, it is possible to recognize that the contact has occurred at the boundary between the first sensing region 110 and the second sensing region 120, and the touch input in such a case can be processed as a separate input pattern. Can be. For example, when the second sensing area 120 constitutes a part of the touch screen, the second sensing area 120 corresponding to the lower left and right sides of the screen of the electronic device on which the present touch sensing device is mounted, that is, the sensing channels L7 and R7, is formed. The menu button can be displayed in a very small size at the position on the dot. In this case, when the corresponding menu button is touched, a contact area is also formed on the first sensing electrode connected to the sensing channels C1 or C8. Therefore, when a sensing signal of a predetermined intensity or more is simultaneously generated in the sensing channels C1 and L7, or the sensing channel. When a sensing signal of a predetermined intensity or more is generated at the same time in C8 and R7, it may be determined that the touch input for the corresponding menu button is normally applied.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the contact determination unit may generate 0-dimensional contact information or 1-dimensional contact information corresponding to the contact with the first sensing area 110. When the electrode structure illustrated in FIG. 1 is applied, the touch determination unit generates 0-dimensional contact information indicating whether a touch input is applied to the menu button described above, or contacts 111 and 112 applied to the first sensing region 110. 1D contact information indicating a position along the θ axis of the polar coordinate system in which the first sensing electrode is disposed.

Meanwhile, in the case of the touch sensing apparatus including the electrode structure of the other type shown in FIG. 2, if a touch input is individually applied to four first sensing electrodes included in the first sensing region 210, the touch determining unit may be configured to perform the touch sensing. A zero-dimensional contact indicating whether a touch input is applied using a sensing signal received from at least one of the first sensing electrodes and a second sensing electrode positioned at a lower end of the second sensing region 220 connected to the sensing channels L7 and R7. Information can be generated. However, in contrast, when a touch input is applied to move the four first sensing electrodes in a horizontal scroll form, the touch determination unit senses the four first sensing electrodes included in the first sensing region 210. One-dimensional contact information indicating a position on the horizontal axis of the contact input may be generated using a sensing signal received from a second sensing electrode connected to channels L7 and R7. As an example, the 0-dimensional contact information may be applied to an application in which each of the four first sensing electrodes included in the first sensing region 210 operates with four touch buttons, and the one-dimensional contact information includes four sensing. The present invention can be applied to an application of changing a screen, increasing or decreasing a level, a volume, a zoom factor, or the like, or moving a media playback position by receiving a horizontal scroll across an electrode.

For reference, the one-dimensional contact information may mean information indicating a position along one axis of the contact input as described above, but furthermore, when a touch input in the form of a button touch is applied, the application pressure of the corresponding contact input or the corresponding contact It may mean that one-dimensional information such as the area of the contact area formed by the input is represented by a scalar amount.

The touch determination unit detects the at least one portion of the at least one second sensing electrode when the above-described various types of touch inputs are applied to the first sensing region 210 adjacent to the boundary of the second sensing region 220. 0-dimensional contact information or 1 corresponding to the determined contact input type after determining whether a touch input in the form of a button touch or a horizontal scroll input is applied to the first sensing area 210 with reference to the signal. Dimensional contact information can be generated.

Similarly, when a touch input is applied to the second sensing areas 120 and 220 adjacent to the first sensing areas 110 and 210, the touch determining unit includes a second sensing electrode included in the second sensing areas 120 and 220. A two-dimensional contact corresponding to the contact with the second sensing areas 120 and 220 by referring to the sensing signals obtained from the first sensing electrodes included in the first sensing areas 110 and 210 as well as the sensing signals obtained from the Information can be generated. Here, the two-dimensional contact information may refer to coordinate information on the two-dimensional plane of the position where the contact input is applied. According to the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately determine the contact position near the boundary of the second sensing areas 120 and 220 adjacent to the first sensing areas 110 and 210.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensing regions 110 and 210 may form two or more boundary surfaces with the second sensing regions 120 and 220. That is, the first sensing regions 110 and 210 may be arranged to form a plurality of boundary surfaces with the second sensing regions 120 and 220, such as up, down, left, and right sides of the second sensing regions 120 and 220.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensing regions 110 and 210 may be disposed to be adjacent to different second sensing electrodes, respectively, and may include a plurality of first sensing electrodes electrically connected to each other.

In this regard, it will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a lower first sensing region 321, an upper first sensing region 322, and a second sensing region 310 are illustrated. The lower first sensing region 321 and the upper first sensing region 322 are disposed adjacent to different second sensing electrodes of the second sensing region 310 as shown in FIG. 2.

In addition, the lower first sensing region 321 and the upper first sensing region 322 may include a plurality of first sensing electrodes electrically connected to each other. That is, some or all of the plurality of first sensing electrodes included in the lower first sensing region 321 and the plurality of first sensing electrodes included in the upper first sensing region 322 may share the same sensing channel. have.

For example, the plurality of first sensing electrodes included in the lower first sensing region 321 and the plurality of first sensing electrodes included in the upper second sensing region 322 may be formed from C1 to C4 as illustrated in FIG. 3. The sensing channels can be shared with each other. In this case, if the contact determining unit receives the sensing signal for the contact from the sensing channels C1 and C2 at the same time, this means that a contact has occurred between two first sensing electrodes disposed adjacent in the lower first sensing region 321. At the same time, two contact inputs are simultaneously applied to two first sensing electrodes spaced apart from each other in the upper first sensing region 322, or the same touch input is applied to the lower first sensing region 321. The contact input may be applied to at least one of two first sensing electrodes spaced apart from each other on the upper first sensing region 322. In this case, if it is assumed that a single touch input is applied to only one of the upper first sensing region 322 and the lower first sensing region 321, the touch determining unit senses a sensing channel of the lower first sensing region 321. It may be determined that the contact has occurred at a position corresponding between two first sensing electrodes connected to C1 and C2, respectively.

Similarly, when the touch determination unit simultaneously receives a detection signal for a contact from sensing channels C2 and C4, if the above assumption is true, the touch determination unit is connected to the first sensing area 322 connected to the sensing channels C2 and C4. It may be determined that the contact has occurred at a position corresponding between the two first sensing electrodes.

That is, according to the present exemplary embodiment, a sensing channel is shared between a plurality of first sensing regions 321 and 322, which form two or more boundary surfaces with the second sensing region 310 and are disposed adjacent to different second sensing electrodes. By assigning the sensing channels to the first sensing electrodes included in the plurality of first sensing regions 321 and 322 so as not to overlap each other, the plurality of first sensing regions 321 and 322 using a small number of sensing channels. Can be determined individually.

4 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch sensing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a first sensing region 410 and a second sensing region 420. The first sensing region 410 includes at least one first sensing electrode disposed along the first axis, and the second sensing region 420 includes at least one second sensing electrode disposed along the second axis. The second sensing region 420 is disposed adjacent to the first sensing region 410.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the first axis and the second axis may be coordinate axes along different coordinate systems. As an example, the first axis may be a coordinate axis along a polar coordinate system, and the second axis may be a coordinate axis along a rectangular coordinate system. In FIG. 4, the first sensing region 410 includes a plurality of first sensing electrodes disposed in a semicircle along the θ axis of polar coordinates.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch sensing device is applied to the first sensing region 410 by using a sensing signal obtained from the at least one first sensing electrode and the at least one second sensing electrode. The apparatus may further include a contact determiner (not shown) that generates first contact information associated with the touch input, and second contact information associated with the touch input applied to the second sensing area 420.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, when the first contact 411 is applied to the first sensing region 410, the contact determining unit generates the capacitive component generated at the first sensing electrode by the contact regions A1 and A2. The first contact information may be generated by receiving a sensing signal including a sensing channel through sensing channels C3 and C4. In this case, the first contact information generated by the contact determination unit may indicate a contact position along the θ axis of the polar coordinate where the first sensing electrode is disposed.

In addition, when the second contact 421 is applied to the second sensing area 420, the contact determining unit may detect a sensing signal including the capacitance component generated at the second sensing electrode by the contact areas B1, B2, and B3. The second contact information may be generated by receiving through the sensing channels L2, R3, and L3.

In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the contact determination unit may be configured for the contact input applied to the extension area 430 defined by the extension line of the first axis formed inside the second sensing area 420. The first contact information may be generated.

In this regard, for example, in detail, first, when a contact is applied to the second sensing region 420, the touch determining unit receives a sensing signal from a second sensing electrode included in the second sensing region 420. The contact position on the second sensing region 420 is determined, and it is determined whether the contact is the contact applied to the expansion region 430 based on the determined contact position. For example, the contact determining unit compares the distance between the coordinate of the contact position and the coordinate corresponding to the origin of the polar coordinate on which the first sensing electrode is disposed with the length of the radius of the extended region 430, so that the contact is inside the extended region 430. It may be determined whether or not authorized.

As a result of the determination, as shown in FIG. 4, when the contact 431 is a contact applied to the expansion area 430, the contact determination unit generates the first contact information with respect to the contact 431. As described above, the first contact information generated for the contact applied to the extended area 430 may also indicate a position along the θ axis of the polar coordinate of the contact 431. Alternatively, when a contact input of a type that moves between the first sensing area 410 and the expansion area 430 is applied by a user in a circular scroll pattern, the first contact information may include a moving direction and a moving amount for a predetermined time, Alternatively, the relative movement amount with respect to the initial contact position may be expressed in an angle unit on the polar coordinate.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch determination unit detects a first case where a touch input applied to the first sensing area 410 enters the extended area 430 or a touch input applied to the extended area 430 is detected. When entering the area 410, the contact input may be continuously processed using first contact information generated for the contact input of the first sensing area 410 and the extended area 430.

For example, the contact 431 enters the circular scroll pattern from the first sensing area 410 to the extended area 430 or the contact 431 enters the circular scroll pattern from the extended area 430 to the first sensing area 410. When entering, the contact determination unit generates the first contact information with respect to the contact 431 of the extended area 430 so that the contact 431 is between the first sensing area 410 and the extended area 430. Can be treated as a continuous circular scroll pattern.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the second contact information may include two-dimensional coordinate information of the touch input applied to the second sensing area 420.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when a contact is applied to a boundary between the first sensing region 410 and the second sensing region 420, the contact determining unit includes at least one first disposed near the boundary. The contact may be determined by referring to a sensing signal acquired from the sensing electrode and the at least one second sensing electrode.

In this regard, a process of determining the contact applied to the boundary unit by the contact determination unit will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 5, a first sensing region 510 and a second sensing region 520 are shown.

When the contact 530 is applied to the boundary between the first sensing region 510 and the second sensing region 520, the contact determining unit obtains a first sensing signal from the first sensing electrode through the sensing channel C1, and senses the sensing. After acquiring the second sensing signal from the second sensing electrode through the channel L7, the contact 530 may be determined by referring to the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal.

As a result, the touch determination unit may refer to a touch signal 530 applied to a boundary between the first sensing area 510 and the second sensing area 520 with reference to a sensing signal obtained from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode. By determining, the continuous contact input generated between the first sensing region 510 and the second sensing region 520 may be accurately determined. In particular, according to the present embodiment, when a contact input of a scroll pattern moving across the boundary between the first sensing region 510 and the second sensing region 520 is applied, the contact position continuously changing at the boundary is extracted. can do.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a touch sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S610, when a contact occurs in the first sensing area adjacent to the boundary of the second sensing area, a first sensing signal for the contact is obtained through at least one first sensing electrode. In this case, the first sensing region is disposed adjacent to the second sensing region, and the at least one first sensing electrode is included in the first sensing region.

In operation S610, the first sensing signal acquired by the touch determination unit may indicate a capacitance component generated by the touch in the first sensing region. For example, when a contact is applied to the first sensing area to generate a contact area on the at least one first sensing electrode, a predetermined capacitance component is generated in proportion to the area of the contact area. The touch determination unit may acquire a first sensing signal representing the capacitance component through a sensing channel connected to each of the first sensing electrodes.

In operation S620, a second sensing signal for the contact is obtained from at least a portion of the at least one second sensing electrode. In this case, the at least one second sensing electrode is included in the second sensing region. In a similar manner to step S610, the contact determiner may acquire a second sensing signal representing the capacitance component generated by the second sensing electrode through the sensing channel connected to each of the second sensing electrodes.

In operation S630, the contact is determined by referring to the first detection signal and the second detection signal. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the at least one first sensing electrode may be disposed along a first axis, and the at least one second sensing electrode may be disposed along a second axis. In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first axis and the second axis may be coordinate axes along different coordinate systems.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S630, the position along the first axis of the contact may be determined. In this case, the position of the contact along the first axis may be a coordinate along the θ axis of the polar coordinate system as described above. In particular, when a contact occurs in the first sensing electrode adjacent to the boundary between the first sensing region and the second sensing region, the second sensing signal acquired from the second sensing electrode adjacent to the first sensing electrode where the contact occurs is referred to. The contact can be judged.

Due to the characteristics of the capacitance component, even if the contact region is formed only on the first sensing electrode adjacent to the boundary due to the edge effect, a predetermined capacitance component may also be formed on the second sensing electrode adjacent to the contact region. Therefore, when a contact occurs in one sensing area adjacent to the boundary, the touch determining unit determines the contact by referring to a sensing signal acquired in another sensing area in which the contact area is not directly generated, and thus occurs near the boundary. The resolution of touch sensing can be increased.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, in step S630, zero-dimensional contact information or one-dimensional contact information corresponding to the contact may be generated. For example, assuming that the first sensing region is disposed adjacent to the second sensing region in the form as shown in FIG. 2, the contact determining unit is disposed adjacent to the first sensing electrode and the first sensing region. When the sensing signals are simultaneously acquired by the second sensing electrode, the on signal corresponding to the operation of the touch button may be generated as the 0-dimensional contact information. Therefore, when the second sensing region forms a part of the touch screen, the application is configured such that a plurality of menus are displayed at the bottom of the touch screen according to the arrangement of the first sensing electrodes, and the touch input applied to the first sensing electrodes. By generating On / Off signal, 0-dimensional contact information can be used as input.

Meanwhile, the one-dimensional contact information may be generated when a continuous contact input is applied in the first sensing area. In one embodiment, a contact input of a circular scroll pattern is applied along the θ axis of the polar coordinate system in the first sensing region shown in FIG. 1, or a contact input is applied in a horizontal scroll form in the first sensing region illustrated in FIG. 2. In this case, the touch determination unit may generate one-dimensional contact information indicating the θ-axis coordinate information or the abscissa coordinate information using the sensing signal acquired from the first sensing electrode. The one-dimensional contact information may be applied to various user interfaces such as moving the display screen, scrolling, zooming in / out, or moving the playback time.

In addition, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensing region may form two or more boundary surfaces with the second sensing region. Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the first sensing region may be disposed adjacent to each other second sensing electrode among the at least one second sensing electrode, and may include a plurality of first sensing electrodes electrically connected to each other. It may include. As shown in FIG. 3, an upper first sensing region 322 and a lower first sensing region 321 are disposed above and below the second sensing region, and included in the first sensing regions 321 and 322, respectively. The number of channels can be saved by electrically connecting a portion of the first sensing electrodes to be connected to the same sensing channel.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a touch sensing method according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the first sensing region includes at least one first sensing electrode disposed along a first axis, and the second sensing region comprises the at least one second sensing electrode disposed along a second axis.

In operation S710, when a contact occurs in an extended area defined by an extension line of a first axis formed inside the second sensing area adjacent to the first sensing area, the sensing is performed through at least one second sensing electrode. Acquire the signal. The touch determination unit calculates the coordinates of the contact position occurring in the second sensing region, and compares the distance between the coordinates of the contact position and the coordinate corresponding to the origin on the polar coordinate where the first sensing electrode is disposed with the length of the radius of the extended region. Thus, it may be determined whether the contact is applied inside the extension area.

If it is determined that the contact generated in the second sensing area is applied to the inside of the extended area, in operation S720, contact information associated with the touch input applied to the first sensing area is generated using the sensing signal. In this case, the contact information associated with the touch input applied to the first sensing area may be contact information indicating a position along the θ axis of the polar coordinate. Alternatively, the information may be information expressed by an angle of polar coordinates, such as a movement direction and a movement amount of the contact for a predetermined time.

As described above, by varying the contact information generated for the contact according to whether or not the contact generated in the second sensing area is located inside the extension area, the contact determining unit may be configured to separate the first sensing area from the second sensing area. Moving contact inputs can be processed continuously. For example, when a contact input is applied in a circular scroll pattern along the first axis between the first sensing area and the second sensing area, the contact determining unit corresponds to the θ axis of the polar coordinates with respect to the coordinates occurring in the second sensing area. By generating contact information, the contact input can be treated as a continuous circular scroll pattern between the first and second sensing areas.

The touch sensing method according to the present invention may be embodied in the form of program instructions that can be executed by various computer means and recorded in a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium may include program instructions, data files, data structures, etc. alone or in combination. Program instructions recorded on the media may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well-known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable recording media include magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape, optical media such as CD-ROMs, DVDs, and magnetic disks, such as floppy disks. Magneto-optical media, and hardware devices specifically configured to store and execute program instructions, such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, and the like. Examples of program instructions include not only machine code generated by a compiler, but also high-level language code that can be executed by a computer using an interpreter or the like. The hardware device described above may be configured to operate as one or more software modules to perform the operations of the present invention, and vice versa.

As described above, the present invention has been described by way of limited embodiments and drawings, but the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and variations from such descriptions. This is possible.

Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

1 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of the touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a diagram illustrating a sensing area of a touch sensing apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a touch sensing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a touch sensing method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Claims (21)

A first sensing region comprising at least one first sensing electrode; A second sensing region disposed adjacent to the first sensing region and including at least one second sensing electrode; And A touch determination unit determining a contact between the first sensing region and the second sensing region by using sensing signals obtained from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode; Including; When a contact occurs in the first sensing area adjacent to the boundary with the second sensing area, the touch determining unit contacts the first sensing area with reference to a sensing signal obtained from at least a portion of the second sensing electrode. Judging Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact determining unit When a contact occurs in the second sensing area adjacent to the boundary with the first sensing area, the contact with the second sensing area is determined by referring to a sensing signal acquired from at least a portion of the first sensing electrode. By Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact determining unit The touch applied to the boundary is determined by referring to the sensing signals acquired from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode adjacent to the boundary. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, The first sensing electrode is disposed along a first axis, the second sensing electrode is disposed along a second axis, And the contact determining unit determines a position along the first axis of contact with the first sensing area. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 4, wherein Wherein the first axis and the second axis are coordinate axes along different coordinate systems. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact determining unit Generating at least one of 0-dimensional contact information and 1-dimensional contact information corresponding to the contact with the first sensing area. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the contact determining unit Generating two-dimensional contact information corresponding to the contact with the second sensing area. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensing area is At least two boundary surfaces with the second sensing region. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 1, wherein the first sensing area is And a plurality of first sensing electrodes disposed adjacent to the second sensing electrodes different from each other and electrically connected to each other. Touch sensing device. A first sensing region comprising at least one first sensing electrode disposed along a first axis; A second sensing region including at least one second sensing electrode disposed along a second axis, the second sensing region being adjacent to the first sensing region; And First contact information associated with a touch input applied to the first sensing region and a second input associated with the touch input applied to the second sensing region using sensing signals acquired from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode. A contact determination unit generating contact information; Including; The touch determination unit may generate the first contact information with respect to a contact input applied to an extension area defined by an extension line of the first axis formed inside the second detection area. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 10, The first axis and the second axis are coordinate axes along different coordinate systems. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 11, The first axis is a coordinate axis along the polar coordinate system, and the second axis is a coordinate axis along the rectangular coordinate system. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 10, wherein the contact determining unit, When a touch input applied to the first sensing area enters the extended area or a touch input applied to the extended area enters the first sensing area, a contact input generated in the extended area is generated. Characterized in that the contact input is continuously processed using the first contact information. Touch sensing device. The method of claim 10, wherein the contact determining unit, When a contact is applied to a boundary between the first sensing area and the second sensing area, the contact is applied to the boundary with reference to sensing signals obtained from the first sensing electrode and the second sensing electrode adjacent to the boundary. Judging Touch sensing device. In the method for detecting a contact using a touch sensing device comprising a first sensing region and a second sensing region adjacent to each other, forming a boundary, When a contact occurs near the boundary in the first sensing region, a first sensing signal is obtained from a first sensing electrode included in the first sensing region, and the second sensing electrode included in the second sensing region is obtained. Obtaining a second sensed signal; And Determining the contact with reference to the first sensing signal and the second sensing signal; Characterized in that it comprises Contact detection method. The method of claim 15, The first sensing electrode is disposed along a first axis, the second sensing electrode is disposed along a second axis, The determining of the contact may include determining a position along the first axis of the contact. Contact detection method. The method of claim 15, wherein determining the contact comprises: At least one of 0-dimensional contact information and 1-dimensional contact information corresponding to the contact is generated. Contact detection method. A method of sensing contact using a touch sensing device having a first sensing region including a first sensing electrode disposed along a first axis and a second sensing region comprising a second sensing electrode disposed along a second axis. In Acquiring a detection signal from the second sensing electrode when a contact is applied to an extension region defined by an extension line of the first axis formed inside the second sensing region; And Generating contact information relating to a position along the first axis of the contact using the obtained sense signal; Characterized in that it comprises Contact detection method. The method of claim 18, Obtaining a detection signal from the first sensing electrode when a contact is applied to the first sensing region; Generating contact information relating to a position along a first axis of contact applied to the first sensing region using the sensing signal obtained from the first sensing electrode; And Continuously processing the contact input using the contact information generated by the contact applied to the first sensing area and the extended area when the touch input moves between the first sensing area and the extended area. ; Characterized in that it comprises Contact detection method. The method of claim 18, When a contact is applied to a boundary between the first sensing region and the second sensing region, a sensing signal is obtained from at least one first sensing electrode and at least one second sensing electrode adjacent to the boundary and applied to the boundary. Determining a contact; Characterized in that it comprises Contact detection method. The method of claim 20, wherein generating the contact information comprises: Calculating a position along the first axis of contact applied to the boundary using sense signals obtained from at least one first sense electrode and at least one second sense electrode adjacent to the boundary; Characterized in that it comprises Contact detection method.

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