KR20110029246A - Complex-type input device with touch sensing features - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A complex input device having a touch function is provided to supply excellent touch sensitivity by locating a touch panel on an upper part of a dome switch substrate while using dome switch board performing a push button function as it is. CONSTITUTION: A button input unit(100) has a button and generates an electronic signal to output a key value by pressing it. A touch input unit(200) has an upper part of the button input unit. As a user performs operation, the touch input unit adds pressure into a button input unit. If a touch operation is added, the touch input unit generates the electronic signal. If the pressing and the touch operating is comprised in the button and touch input unit, a control unit(400) controls a function of a host system according to an operation.

Description

Complex-type input device with touch sensing features

The present invention relates to a complex input device having a touch function, and more particularly, to a complex button input device that simultaneously implements a touch function by a touch operation to a button by a conventional push operation.

Recently, due to the rapid development of high technology, various digital electronic products such as mobile phones, MP3, PMP, navigation, electronic dictionary, PDA, etc. are commercialized, and our life is provided with high convenience in various ways.

These digital devices are provided with a number button or a function button for the user to operate a variety of functions, to operate a variety of functions.

In general, terminals such as mobile phones are provided with a number button, a call button, a direction button (four directions), etc. The structure of the button corresponds to the key value by outputting the corresponding key value when the button contacts the PCB at the bottom of the button. The operation signal is applied.

As compared with the conventional button method, in recent years, as the development and commercialization of the touch sensor is activated, electronic devices to which the touch sensor is applied have been exhibited in order to provide more convenient operation.

In the mobile phone with touch sensor, a touch sensor product using ITO film is commercialized on the front of the display and controls the operation of the device by touching the front.

Here, in the case of such a touch sensor, as described above, a predetermined pattern is formed on an ITO film, and the like, and when the human body contacts, the capacitance is measured and an electrical signal is output according to the function of the device.

The capacitive touch sensor is excellent for motion detection by touch, which is very useful for movement and selection of cursors, scrolling, and manipulation of figures or characters.

However, when implementing a touch input method using a touch sensor in the display window as described above, a capacitive touch screen sensor and a controller must be separately provided, and must be combined with the transparent window portion of the display. It is a limited method used only for expensive information terminals, and thus has been a problem in that it cannot be used for general mid / low cost information terminals.

In order to solve this problem, the applicant has filed a Korean patent application "Application No .: 10-2009-0025027, Name of the invention: A composite input device with a touch function." Referring to FIG. 1, the button input unit 10 may include a keypad 11 having a plurality of buttons, and a dome sheet having a plurality of dome switches 15 positioned below the keypad 11. 13) and a contact terminal for generating an electrical signal by contact with the dome switch 15. In addition, the touch input unit may be disposed below the button input unit 10, and include a first electrode panel 21 including a conductive first electrode arranged in a gap in one direction, and the first electrode panel 21. A second electrode panel 23 including a conductive second electrode arranged to form a gap in an orthogonal direction, and between the first electrode and the second electrode and a specific part of the human body (generally a finger) by a touch operation; It is composed of a capacitive touch pad including a capacitance measuring unit 410 for measuring the generated capacitance change value to generate an electrical signal that can detect the amount of change in capacitance due to the user's touch operation.

The present invention has proposed an input device capable of simultaneously performing a push operation and a touch operation by forming an electrode pattern for sensing a touch input on a panel on which a contact terminal for the operation of a dome switch performing a button function operated by such a push operation is formed. However, this method has a problem in that touch sensitivity decreases as the touch pattern and the dome switch are formed on one substrate, and the existing dome switch substrate is not used as it is and must be manufactured separately.

The present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a complex input device having a touch function that can perform a touch panel function at the same time, while using the existing dome switch substrate as it is, and very excellent touch sensitivity. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide an input device capable of lowering manufacturing costs by deleting a keypad configuration provided with a manipulation force from a user when pressing.

The present invention for achieving the above object is provided in a variety of host system in the input device for receiving a manipulation force from the user to operate the function of the host system, the button is provided to output the key value according to the pressing operation A button input unit provided with a manipulation force from a user to generate an electric signal to operate the function of the host system, and provided at an upper side of the button input portion to apply pressure to the button input portion when receiving a manipulation force from the user, When applied, the touch input unit for generating an electrical signal according to the operation to provide the operation of the function of the host system and the control unit for controlling the function of the host system depending on whether the operation is pressed or pressed in the button input unit and the touch input unit To be configured to And a gong.

The button input unit may include a dome sheet in which a dome switch is formed, and a contact terminal for generating an electrical signal by contact with the dome switch.

In addition, the touch panel is formed of a first electrode pattern and a second electrode pattern formed to be orthogonal to the first electrode, and measure capacitance change values generated in the first electrode pattern and the second electrode pattern by a touch operation. It characterized in that it comprises a capacitance measuring unit for generating an electrical signal capable of detecting a touch operation.

The touch input unit may be configured to output an electrical signal of the button input unit by pressing the dome switch of the button input unit located below when the touch input unit receives a pressing operation from the user.

In addition, the control unit recognizes the change in the capacitance measured by the capacitance measuring unit, and any one or multiple motions of free cursor movement or selection, 4 to 8 directions, or circular wheel operation according to the touch operation. It is characterized in that it is implemented to recognize.

In addition, the touch input unit is further provided with an insulating film member on the surface, the film member surface is characterized in that a variety of printed layers including a phrase, shape, symbol for identifying the button operation is formed.

In addition, a pressing member is further provided between the button input unit and the touch input unit.

In addition, a light emitting device is further provided between the touch input unit and the film member to irradiate the light output from the light emitting device to the film member.

The dome switch may include one, two, four, six, and eight button input units, and in the case of a plurality of buttons, the dome switch may be arranged along an edge corresponding to the size of the touch input unit.

The present invention constructed and operated as described above has an advantage of having very high touch sensitivity by using a dome switch substrate performing a conventional push operation button function as it is and positioning the touch panel on the upper side of the dome switch substrate.

In addition, since the pressing operation is implemented by pressing the dome switch through the touch panel, a separate keypad is unnecessary.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention.

2 is a block diagram of a composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention, Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view showing a panel configuration of the composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention, Figure 4a is an embodiment of the present invention Fig. 4B is a plan view showing a dome switch structure in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, and Figs. 5A and 5B are cross-sectional views showing a panel configuration of a composite input device in another embodiment according to the present invention. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an operating state of a composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a touch input unit and a control unit of the composite input device having a touch function according to an embodiment of the present invention. 8 is a state diagram showing an application example of the composite input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The complex input device having a touch function according to the present invention is provided in various host systems 500 and is provided with a manipulation force from a user in an input device for operating a function of the host system. In order to generate an electric signal to output the corresponding key value by the operation to operate the function of the host system, the button input unit 100 receives an operation force from the user, provided on the upper side of the button input unit is provided with the operation force from the user When a pressure is applied to a button input unit and a touch operation is applied at the same time, an electric signal is generated according to the touch input unit 200 that provides an operation of the function of the host system, and when a press or a touch operation is performed on the button input unit and the touch input unit. To control the function of the host system according to the operation It is characterized in that comprises a fisherman 400.

The present invention is configured in various digital devices such as a mobile phone, MP3, PMP, navigation, electronic dictionary, PDA, etc. corresponding to various host systems 500, and corresponds to an input device for directly operating various functions by a user.

The button input unit 100 includes a dome sheet (not shown) in which a plurality of dome switches 111 are formed corresponding to a plurality of buttons, and includes a contact terminal 120 for generating an electrical signal by contact with the dome switches. It consists of a board | substrate containing.

In more detail, the dome switch 111 is formed of a conductive metal material on the dome sheet, and the contact terminal 120 has a conductive first contact member 120a formed on an outer circumference thereof. The conductive second contact member 120b is spaced apart from the inner center of the first contact member.

In addition, the first contact member is always in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the dome switch, the second contact member is located at the lower inner center of the dome switch.

In the present invention, the button input unit is preferably composed of one, two, four, six or eight dome switches as shown in FIG. This will be described later. Since the touch input unit (touch panel) positioned above the button input unit is formed of an insulated hard type, the number of the button input units is limited due to the structural characteristics of the touch panel directly applying the button input unit. In addition, when there are a plurality of button input units, the buttons are arranged along the edge corresponding to the size of the touch panel.

The touch input unit 200 is positioned on the upper side of the button input unit 100 to form a gap in one direction and form a conductive first electrode pattern 210, and a second array of conductive form and form a gap in a direction orthogonal thereto. The touch panel formed by the electrode pattern 220 and the touch operation to measure the change in capacitance generated between the first electrode pattern and the second electrode pattern and a specific part of the human body (generally the finger) by the user The capacitive method includes a capacitive measuring unit 410 that detects an amount of change in capacitance caused by a touch operation and generates an electrical signal.

The touch input unit 200 generates an electrical signal capable of recognizing the movement and motion of the cursor by the user's touch manipulation force to control the function of the host system 500. The touch input unit 200 is positioned above the button input unit, that is, directly above the dome sheet, and is provided to receive a touch operation distinguished from the pressing operation of the button input unit.

The touch input unit generates an electrode panel having a plurality of electrodes having a dielectric function generating capacitance, and an electric signal capable of detecting a touch operation by measuring a change value of the capacitance formed in the electrode panel when the user touches the touch panel. Capacitive measurement unit 410 is included. The touch panel includes a first electrode pattern 210 provided to detect a first direction coordinate (x coordinate) and a second electrode pattern 220 provided to detect a second direction coordinate (y coordinate). . When the first electrode pattern 210 is touched by a finger or another object in one direction, capacitance is induced between the first electrode pattern and a human hand.

Here, the capacitance measuring unit 410 measures the change in the induced capacitance to transmit an electrical signal to the control unit 400, the control unit is a first direction touched by the signal generated by the capacitance measuring unit Coordinates (x coordinates) are detected.

The second electrode pattern 220 is arranged in a direction orthogonal to the first electrode pattern, and when touched by a finger or another object, capacitance is induced between the human hand. Accordingly, the capacitance measuring unit 410 measures the change in the induced capacitance and transmits an electrical signal to the control unit 400, the control unit is a second touched by the signal generated by the capacitance measuring unit The direction coordinate (y coordinate) is detected.

Therefore, the intersection point between the first electrode pattern 210 and the second electrode pattern 220 substantially corresponds to one pixel in the touch input unit 200.

On the other hand, the base of the touch panel is used as a hard (hard) substrate having an insulation, which eliminates noise interference with the button input unit located on the lower side, because the user has a structure to press the dome switch by pressing the touch panel. to be. Therefore, only one, two, four, six or eight buttons can be operated as the number of dome switches of the button input unit that can be pressed through the touch panel. That is, the dome switch is arranged along the edge of the touch panel to correspond to the width of the touch panel, and according to the pressing operation, the touch panel is inclined along the edge with respect to the center point to press the correspondingly arranged dome switch.

The controller 400 detects a touched position by detecting a signal transmitted from the capacitance measuring unit. That is, when a touch operation is made by the user, the sensing circuit of the capacitance measuring unit is operated to measure the amount of change in capacitance induced to recognize whether the user touches or not, and thus the device operation is performed according to the touch operation. When the dome switch is pressed, the button input unit outputs an electrical signal to operate the device.

Such a touch input unit is generally configured with diamond-shaped transverse electrodes and longitudinal electrodes for recognizing X and Y-axis coordinates, and the manufacture of such touch panels may be readily prepared by those skilled in the art, and thus detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. .

Meanwhile, as a gist of the present invention, a keypad provided separately for a pressing operation of the button input unit 100 is required. However, in the present invention, the touch input unit 200 provided directly above the button input unit serves as a keypad to perform touch input. When the user presses the unit, the pressing operation is implemented by pressing the dome sheet of the button input unit.

For example, if it is configured as a button input unit for up / down, left / right four-way pressing operation operation, by pressing the up / down, left / right side of the touch input unit by pressing the dome switch 111 of the button input unit Implement button press operation.

In this case, a separate pressing member 130 may be provided between the button input unit and the touch input unit in order to achieve a reliable pressurization of the dome switch by a pressing operation through the touch input unit. The pressing member is generally formed between the touch input unit and the button input unit after forming an elastic material or a synthetic resin series material having a predetermined elastic force to correspond to the dome switch spacing.

In addition, the control unit 400 may configure the capacitive measuring unit 410 in various ways in applying an input action by the button input unit 100. Preferably, the control unit 400 By correspondingly outputting a key value, the same button input unit can be operated by two operation methods, a push operation and a touch operation.

Here, when the pressing or touch operation is performed, the control unit 400 outputs a key value for an electrical signal corresponding to the motion by pressing the corresponding button input unit 100 or touch operation on the touch input unit 200. The key value converter 420 may be further included.

For example, when the function of the button input unit 100 performs the up / down, left / right functions, the up / down / left / right buttons are similarly touched by the key value converting unit 420. Can be operated.

As another example, the key value converting unit may be configured to output a key value by a touch operation according to a preset value without corresponding to the key value by a pressing operation.

In addition, it may be configured in eight directions, implement a circular scroll wheel, or implement free cursor movement (mouse shape) through a touch operation.

On the other hand, the upper surface of the touch input unit 200 is provided with a film member 300. The film member is an insulating thin film, can be attached to the touch input unit, or can be manufactured integrally.

In addition, a print layer for various expressions, such as a phrase, a symbol, a picture, a company mark, a symbol for identifying a user's operability, is formed on the surface of the film member, thereby identifying a corresponding key.

Meanwhile, in another embodiment, the light emitting device 310 may be further provided to provide the beauty of the touch panel. The light emitting device 310 is preferably provided as a side view LED device, but is not limited thereto. The light emitting device may be provided between the touch panel and the film member to provide a beautiful design by emitting various colors. For example, the driving of the light emitting device may be performed in various ways such as light emission when a touch operation is performed, light emission when a button input unit is manipulated, and such a driving method may be easily performed by those skilled in the art.

The composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention is most preferably applied to the four direction keys of the mobile phone.

The present invention configured as described above does not require the operation of patterning a touch pattern on a push button panel in constructing a composite button, and requires a keypad by acting as a keypad through the touch panel, and the touch panel is a conventional composite button method. It is advantageous to have a very high touch sensitivity as it is located closer to the body (ex. Fingers).

While the invention has been described and illustrated in connection with a preferred embodiment for illustrating the principles of the invention, the invention is not limited to the construction and operation as shown and described.

Rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims. And all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of the present invention are therefore to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing the configuration of a complex input device having a touch function according to the prior art;

2 is a block diagram of a composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention;

3 is a cross-sectional view showing a panel configuration of a composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention;

4A is a cross-sectional view and a plan view of a dome switch according to an embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 4b is a plan view showing a dome switch structure in a preferred embodiment according to the present invention,

5A and 5B are cross-sectional views illustrating a panel configuration of a composite input device according to another embodiment of the present invention;

6 is a cross-sectional view showing an operating state of a composite input device having a touch function according to the present invention;

7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a touch input unit and a control unit according to the touch input unit having a touch function according to an embodiment of the present invention;

8 is a state diagram showing an application example of the composite input device in one embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: button input 111: dome switch

120: contact terminal 120a: first contact terminal

120b: second contact terminal 130: pressing member

200: touch input unit 210: first electrode pattern

220: second electrode pattern 300: film member

400: control unit 410: capacitance measurement unit

420: key value conversion unit 500: host system

Claims (9)

In the input device provided in various host systems to receive a manipulation force from the user to manipulate the functions of the host system, A button input unit provided with a button to generate an electric signal to output a key value according to a push operation, and to receive an operation force from a user to operate a function of the host system; A touch input unit provided at an upper side of the button input unit to apply pressure to the button input unit when a manipulation force is provided from a user, and generate an electrical signal according to the touch manipulation to provide operation of the function of the host system; And And a control unit for controlling a function of the host system according to whether the button is pressed or touched by the button input unit and the touch input unit. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the button input unit, A dome sheet in which a dome switch is formed; And And a contact terminal for generating an electrical signal by contact with the dome switch. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch panel, It is formed of a first electrode pattern and a second electrode pattern orthogonal to the first electrode pattern, And a capacitance measuring unit configured to generate an electrical signal capable of detecting a touch operation by measuring a change in capacitance generated in the first electrode pattern and the second electrode pattern by a touch operation. Composite input device with a touch function. The method of claim 1, wherein the touch input unit, When receiving a pressing operation from the user, the input device with a touch function, characterized in that by pressing the dome switch of the button input unit located in the lower portion to output the electrical signal of the button input unit by the pressing operation. The method of claim 3, wherein the control unit, Recognizing the capacitance change value measured by the capacitance measuring unit is implemented to recognize any one or a plurality of motions of the movement or selection of the free cursor, the operation of the four to eight directions or the circular wheel operation according to the touch operation Composite input device having a touch function, characterized in that. The method of claim 1, An insulating film member is further provided on the surface of the touch input unit, and a complex input device having a touch function is formed on the surface of the film member including various printed layers including a phrase, a shape, and a symbol for identifying a button operation. . The method of claim 1, And a pressing member is further provided between the button input unit and the touch input unit. The method of claim 6, And a light emitting device further provided between the touch input unit and the film member to irradiate light output from the light emitting device to the film member. The method of claim 4, wherein the dome switch, And one, two, four, six, and eight button input units, and in the case of a plurality of buttons, the touch input unit is arranged along an edge corresponding to a size.

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