KR20130030171A - Device for sensing user input and electronic device including the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A user input sensing device and an electronic device thereof are provided to supply a new touch input method by raising the accuracy and resolution of touch and calculating and using a touch area. CONSTITUTION: A touch panel(150) is touched by a user and generates an output signal of different sizes according to a touch area. An input sensing unit(250) calculates the touch area by using the output signal and touch coordinates by using the touch area. An application processing unit(310) compares the touch area for the same graphic interface with a reference area and performs different operations according to the comparison result. The application processing unit compares a touch time of a user for the same graphic interface with a reference time and performs different operations according to the comparison result. The reference area and/or the reference time are set by the user. [Reference numerals] (250) Input sensing unit; (310) Application processing unit; (330) Memory

Description

DEVICE FOR SENSING USER INPUT AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE INCLUDING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to a user input sensing device and an electronic device including the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch sensing device and an electronic device including the same.

The touch panel is an input device that allows a user's command to be input by touching with a human hand or other contact means based on the content displayed by the image display device.

To this end, the touch panel is provided on the front face of the image display device to convert a contact position directly contacted by a human hand or other contact means into an electrical signal. Accordingly, the instruction selected at the contact position is received as an input signal.

Since such a touch panel can replace an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, its use range is gradually expanding.

As a method of implementing a touch panel, a resistive film type, a light sensing type, and a capacitive type are known. Among them, the capacitive touch panel converts the contact position into an electrical signal by sensing a change in the capacitance that the conductive sensing pattern forms with other peripheral sensing patterns or the ground electrode when a human hand or an object touches.

Here, in order to determine the contact position on the contact surface, the sensing pattern includes a first sensing pattern (X pattern) formed to be connected along the first direction and a second sensing pattern (Y pattern) formed to be connected along the second direction .

1 is an exploded plan view of a conventional touch panel.

The conventional touch panel 10 includes a transparent substrate 11, a first sensing pattern 12 formed in sequence on the transparent substrate 11, a first insulating layer 13, a second sensing pattern 14, a metal pattern 15, And a second insulating film 16.

The first sensing patterns 12 are formed to be connected to one surface of the transparent substrate 11 along a first direction. For example, the first sensing patterns 12 may be formed on the transparent substrate 11 in a regular pattern in which a plurality of diamond shapes are connected in a line.

The first sensing patterns 12 may be formed of a plurality of X patterns formed so that the first sensing patterns 12 located in one row having the same X coordinate are connected to each other.

The first sensing pattern 12 includes a pad 12a so as to be electrically connected to the metal pattern 15 on a row basis. The pads 12a of the first sensing patterns 12 may be formed in a row unit.

The second sensing patterns 14 are formed to be connected to the first insulating layer 13 along the second direction and alternately arranged with the first sensing patterns 12 so as not to overlap with the first sensing patterns 12. For example, the second sensing patterns 14 may be formed in the same diamond pattern as the first sensing patterns 12, and the second sensing patterns 14 located on one row having the same Y coordinate are connected to each other .

The second sensing pattern 14 includes a pad 14a so as to be electrically connected to the metal pattern 15 on a row-by-row basis. The pads 14a of the second sensing patterns 14 may be formed in units of rows.

The first and second sensing patterns 12 and 14 are made of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), and the first insulating layer 13 is made of a transparent insulating material.

Unit sensing patterns 12 and 14 are electrically connected to position detection lines (not shown), respectively, and supply contact position signals to a driving circuit (not shown) or the like.

When a hand or an object touches the touch panel 10 shown in Fig. 1, the first and second sensing patterns 12 and 14, the metal pattern 15, and the position detection line are connected to the driving circuit side, A change in capacity is delivered. And the contact position is grasped | ascertained as the change of capacitance is converted into an electrical signal by X and Y input processing circuits (not shown) etc.

However, in the conventional touch panel 10, each layer for X and Y must have an ITO pattern, and an insulating layer must be provided between the X layer and the Y layer, thereby increasing the thickness. In addition, since capacitive changes generated by touch are accumulated several times, touch detection is required to detect capacitive changes at a high frequency. This requires complex computational and statistical processing.

In addition, the difference in electrical signals before and after the touch is extremely small, so that it is influenced by wiring resistance. Therefore, a metal wiring such as the metal pattern 15 is required to maintain a low resistance. An additional mask process is required to form such a metal pattern 15. [

In addition, since touch detection of the conventional touch panel 10 is highly dependent on the resistance value and sensitive to noise, there are many difficulties in increasing the touch detection sensitivity.

Moreover, the conventional touch panel 10 can not calculate an accurate touch area because a touch is detected using a minute change of capacitance accumulated several times by complicated calculation. Therefore, it is practically impossible for the user to use the touch area as one means of user input.

An electronic device using a touch panel as an input device has a touch panel attached to a display device (for example, a liquid crystal panel or an organic light emitting diode (OLED) panel) and uses a graphic user interface (GUI). Command from the user. The user may select an icon on the display screen or execute a command corresponding to the icon by touching an icon displayed on the display screen with a finger or other contact means, and also scroll the display screen using a movement of the touched finger or the like. can do.

In general, an electronic device performs one operation on one touch input, but receives a touch input from a user through several steps in order to perform a specific operation. In addition, in order to perform a specific operation, a complicated touch input such as touching two or more fingers simultaneously is required. Therefore, it may cause inconvenience to a user to perform a specific operation, and a new touch input method is requested.

An object of the present invention is to calculate an accurate touch area and touch coordinates of a touch sensing device, and to provide a new touch input method.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic device including: a touch panel that may be touched by a user and generates an output signal having a different size according to a touch area; An input sensing unit calculating a touch area using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area; And an application processor configured to compare the touch area and the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and perform different operations according to the comparison result.

The application processor may compare the touch time and the reference time of the user with respect to the same graphic interface and perform different operations according to the comparison result.

The reference area and / or the reference time may be provided to be set by the user.

A touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area may be provided.

The touch panel may include a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

The input sensing unit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, and a difference in voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. The touch area can be calculated based on.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating an electronic device, the method including generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And comparing the touch area with the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to the comparison result.

The performing of the operation may include comparing a touch time and a reference time of the user with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to a comparison result.

The reference area and / or the reference time may be further provided to be set by the user.

The method may further include providing a user with a touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating an electronic device, the method including generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And comparing the touch area with the reference area in a predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to the comparison result.

The performing of the operation may include comparing a touch time and a reference time of the user with respect to the predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to a comparison result.

The reference area and / or the reference time may be further provided to be set by the user.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the resolution and accuracy of the touch can be increased, and the touch area can be calculated. In addition, a new touch input method may be provided using a touch area.

1 is an exploded plan view of a conventional touch panel.
2 is a block diagram of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a waveform diagram of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a schematic block diagram of a touch cell and a detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a graph for explaining an operation of a detector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a graph showing a voltage difference between a touch cell and a reference cell as a function of touch capacitance according to an embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a touch cell and a memory in a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.
10 to 13 are diagrams illustrating in detail a method of calculating a touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.
14 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch operation of a user.
16 and 17 illustrate exemplary screens in which different operations are performed according to a touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
18 to 20 are schematic diagrams illustrating a touch operation of a user.
21 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to a touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.
22 is a flowchart of an operation performed according to a change in touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, except to exclude other components unless otherwise stated.

Also, the terms " part, "" module," and " module ", etc. in the specification mean a unit for processing at least one function or operation and may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software have.

Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only a case where the part is directly connected, but also a case where another system is connected in the middle.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, a touch sensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the touch sensing device according to the present embodiment includes a touch panel and a driving device.

The touch panel includes a plurality of electrode pads 110 formed on a substrate 100 such as glass or plastic film made of transparent material and a plurality of signal wires 120 connected thereto.

The plurality of electrode pads 110 may be, for example, rectangular or rhombic, but is not limited thereto. The electrode pads 110 may be formed in a polygonal shape having a uniform shape. The electrode pads 110 may be arranged in the form of a matrix of substantially adjacent polygons.

Each signal line 120 has one end connected to the electrode pad 110 and the other end extending to the bottom edge of the substrate 100. The line width of the signal wire 120 may be designed to be quite narrow, on the order of several tens to several tens of micrometers.

The electrode pad 110 and the signal line 120 may be made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide), IZO (indium-zinc-oxide), CNT (carbon nanotube), or graphene .

The electrode pad 110 and the signal wiring 120 can be formed at the same time by, for example, laminating an ITO film on the substrate 100 by sputtering or the like and then patterning the same using an etching method such as photolithography.

The electrode pad 110 and the signal wiring 120 may be covered with a transparent insulating film (not shown).

The driving device for driving the touch panel may be directly mounted on a part of the substrate 100 or may be formed on a circuit board 200 such as a printed circuit board or a flexible circuit film. The driving device may include a driver 210, a detector 220, a signal processor 230, a memory 240, and the like, and may be implemented as one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips.

The driving unit 210 is connected to the signal line 120 and receives signals from the signal processing unit 230 to drive circuits for touch detection and outputs a voltage corresponding to a result of the touch detection determination. The driving unit 210 may include a plurality of switches and a capacitor connected to the electrode pad 110.

The detector 220 is connected to the driver 210 and converts, amplifies, or digitizes the difference in the voltage change of the electrode pad 110 received from the driver 210 to be stored in the memory 240. The detection unit 220 may include an amplifier and an analog-to-digital converter.

The signal processing unit 230 applies a signal for controlling the driving unit 210 or processes the digital voltage stored in the memory 240 to generate necessary information. The signal processing unit 230 may be implemented as an analog signal processing unit and a digital signal processing unit. The analog signal processor may control the driver 210, and the digital signal processor may calculate the touch area and the touch coordinates based on the difference in the voltage change detected by the detector 220. The signal processing unit 230 may include a microcontroller unit (MCU) and may perform predetermined signal processing through the firmware.

The memory 240 stores predetermined data used for touch detection, area calculation, touch calculation, or data received in real time according to a command of the signal processing unit 230. [

As described above, the driver 210, the detector 220, the signal processor 230, and the memory 240 may be separated from each other, or two or more components may be integrated and implemented.

A detailed embodiment of the touch panel and the driver shown in FIG. 2 and its operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a waveform diagram of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, the driving unit 210 may include a plurality of transistors Q and a plurality of first capacitors C1 that perform a switching operation, and may further include a plurality of pad capacitors Cp. The transistor Q, the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp may be grouped one by one for the electrode pad 110 and the signal wire 120, and in the future, the electrode pad 110, the signal wire 120, The transistor Q, the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp are collectively referred to as a "touch cell". The touch cell is a concept including a case where each component is electrically connected by a multiplexer.

The transistor Q may be a field effect transistor, for example, a control voltage Vc applied to its gate, a data voltage Vd applied to its source (or drain), and a drain (or source) 120, respectively. The control voltage Vc and the data voltage Vd may be applied under the control of the signal processing unit 230. [ Here, other elements capable of switching in place of the transistor Q may be used.

The first capacitor C1 may be formed between the gate and the drain of the transistor Q, and may be formed separately from the transistor Q by a designer to secure a necessary capacity. The voltage signal applied to the first capacitor C1 may be the same signal as the voltage signal applied to the gate of the transistor Q, but a separate voltage signal if the first capacitor C1 is formed separately from the transistor Q May be applied. The voltage signal applied to the first capacitor C1 is preferably a square wave signal.

The pad capacitor Cp is a kind of parasitic capacitance formed by the electrode pad 110 or the signal wiring 120 or the like. The pad capacitor Cp may include any parasitic capacitance generated by the driver 210, the touch panel, and the image display device. In FIG. 3, reference numeral Ct denotes a capacitance formed between the electrode pad 110 and the user's finger when the user touches the electrode pad 110.

On the other hand, the cell can be arranged in a position that the user can not touch, or a cell having an electrical characteristic that is not always touched, which will be referred to as a "reference cell". The "reference cell" may exist physically, but may be a virtual cell having only data values.

Referring to FIG. 4, the signal processor 230 may apply the data voltage Vd and the control voltage Vc to the source and gate of the transistor Q, respectively.

After the data voltage Vd rises, the transistor Q is turned on when the control voltage Vc applied to the gate rises from the low voltage VL to the high voltage VH. Accordingly, the electrode pad is charged with the data voltage Vd, and the output voltage Vo will be the data voltage Vd.

Next, when the control voltage Vc falls from the high voltage VH to the low voltage VL, the transistor Q is turned off, and the electrode pad 110 is in a floating state. At this time, the voltage level of the output voltage Vo of the electrode pad 110 may drop instantaneously due to the level drop of the square wave applied to the first capacitor C1. This voltage drop is sometimes called "kick-back."

In the case where there is no touch on the touch cell or the reference cell (Case 1), that is, when the capacitors connected to the electrode pad 110 are only the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp, these capacitors C1, The voltage drop (V1) of the output voltage (Vo)

. For convenience, the reference numerals of the capacitor and its capacity are used the same.

Equation (1) is easily derived from the equations for obtaining the total amount of charge before and after the voltage drop.

However, as shown in FIG. 3, when the user is touching the electrode pad 110 (Case 2), a capacitor Ct is formed between the electrode pad 110 and the user's finger or the contact means, thereby forming an electrode. In the capacitor connected to the pad 110, a touch capacitor Ct is added in addition to the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp. The voltage drop V2 of the electrode pad 110 by these three capacitors C1, Cp, and Ct becomes equal to the following formula (2).

As a result, the voltage drop (V2) in the case of the touch (Case 2) becomes smaller than the voltage drop (V1) of the case without the touch (Case 1). The difference between the voltage drop (V2) and the voltage drop (V1) depends on the touch capacitance (Ct).

In general, the capacitance C of the capacitor is proportional to the area A of the electrode and proportional to the distance d between the electrodes, that is, C = εA / d (ε is the dielectric constant). Accordingly, the larger the touch area, the larger the touch capacitance Ct. Using this relationship, the touch area can be calculated using the difference in voltage drop between the electrode pads 110 before and after the touch. A detailed description of the touch area calculation will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a variation of the control voltage Vc applied to the first capacitor C1 occurs when the transistor Q is turned off, a voltage change of the output voltage Vo occurs. In the embodiment of the present invention, the touch can be detected from the difference of the variation value of the output voltage Vo before and after the touch (that is, the difference between the voltage drop V2 and the voltage drop V1).

On the other hand, when the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 rises from the low voltage (VL) to the high voltage (VH) when the transistor Q is turned off and becomes a floating state, although not shown, A phenomenon occurs. In this case, since the total capacitance when there is a touch (Case 2) is larger than the total capacitance when there is no touch (Case 1), a small increase in voltage will occur (see Equations 1 and 2). Therefore, even when the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 in the floating state increases, the touch can be detected on the same principle as in the above-described embodiment. The designer can select which of the voltage rising / falling points is used for touch detection.

Hereinafter, for convenience, a description will be mainly given of a configuration for detecting a touch at the moment when the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 falls from VH to VL in a floating state.

Next, a detailed example and operation of the detector shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

5 is a schematic block diagram of a touch cell and a detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the detector according to the present embodiment may include an amplifier 222 and an analog-digital converter (ADC) 224.

The two inputs of the amplifier 222 may be an output voltage Vo of the touch cell 250 and an output voltage Vr of the reference cell 260, and the amplifier 222 may have a difference between the two output voltages Vo and Vr. It may be a differential amplifier for amplifying and outputting. In FIG. 5, Va represents the output voltage of the amplifier 222, and VaD represents the digitization of the output voltage of the amplifier 222.

In this case, the touch cell 250 includes the electrode pad 110, the signal wire 120, the transistor Q, the first capacitor C1, and the pad capacitor Cp shown in FIG. 3, and there is a touch. Refers to a typical touch cell further including a touch capacitor Ct, and the reference cell 260 refers to a touch cell that does not include a touch capacitor Ct because a user's touch does not occur as mentioned above.

The voltage difference (? V = Vo - Vr) between the output voltage Vo of the touch cell 250 and the output voltage Vr of the reference cell 260 is such that the control voltage Vc changes from the high voltage VH to the low voltage VL The voltage difference when it falls.

The voltage difference? V between the touch cell Vo and the reference cell Vr at the time when the control voltage Vc falls from the high voltage VH to the low voltage VL is expressed by the following equation (3).

6 is a graph illustrating the output of an amplifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

When the amplifier 222 is a differential amplifier, the difference voltage ΔV is linearly amplified, but is saturated and outputs a constant value above a specific value.

Referring to FIG. 6, the output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 may be Vas when the difference voltage ΔV is greater than or equal to the saturation voltage ΔVs, and when it is smaller than this, the output voltage Va may have a magnitude proportional to the difference voltage ΔV. have. For example, if the difference voltage ΔV is 0, the output voltage Va is also 0, if the difference voltage ΔV is ΔV1, the output voltage Va is Va1, and if the difference voltage ΔV is ΔV2, the output voltage Va is When Va2 and the difference voltage ΔV are ΔV3, the output voltage Va may be Va3.

Meanwhile, when the electrode pad 110 according to an embodiment of the present invention is sufficiently small and the electrode pad 110 is completely covered by a finger when a touch is generated, the difference voltage? V has a maximum value, Or more.

Thus, by designing the amplifier 222 such that the saturation voltage ΔVs is greater than or equal to the maximum value of the difference voltage ΔV, linearity may be imparted to the amplifier. The linearity can be used to calculate an accurate touch area.

The output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 is input to the ADC 224 and the ADC 224 can output the converted analog voltage Va to the digital signal VaD.

For example, the ADC 224 may divide the output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 into four sections and give a two-bit digital value in order of magnitude to each section. Referring to FIG. 7, the output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 is about 0 to Va1, 00 for Va1 to Va2, 01 for Va2 to Va3, 10 for Va2 to Va3, and 11 for Va3 or more. Can be given.

However, setting the digital value to 2 bits is just one example. Other examples are 4 bits, 8 bits, and 10 bits.

7 is a graph illustrating a relationship between a difference voltage and a touch capacitance in an embodiment of the present invention.

The touch capacitance Ct of Equation 3 is rearranged as a function of the difference voltage ΔV as follows.

(Where K1 = C1 (VH-VL), K2 = C1 + Cp,

Thus, K1 and K2 are constants, and are greater than zero)

As shown in FIG. 7, when the difference voltage ΔV is zero, the touch capacitance Ct is zero, and as the difference voltage ΔV increases, the touch capacitance Ct increases.

Here, since the touch capacitance Ct is proportional to the touch area A and inversely proportional to the distance d between the touch means and the electrode pad 110, that is, since Ct = εA / d (ε is a dielectric constant), the distance ( When d) is constant, the touch area A and the touch capacitance Ct are linearly proportional.

As a result, it can be understood that the larger the difference voltage? V, the larger the touch area A is.

Since the touch area A cannot be larger than the area of the electrode pad 110, as described above, when the entire area of the electrode pad 110 is completely covered by a touch such as a finger, the difference voltage ΔV is a maximum value. The touch area A also becomes the maximum value.

As a result, the graph of FIG. 7 shows that the difference voltage ΔV is effective in a range between 0 and the maximum value ΔV_max, and the linearity between the difference voltage ΔV and the touch area A may be given using this characteristic. have.

For example, a linear function may be generated in the valid period and the output value of the generated linear function may be matched for each difference voltage ΔV.

Alternatively, linearity can be given between the differential voltage? V and the touch area A by applying a predetermined weight to the output of each differential voltage? V and correcting it.

Or linearity can be imparted by using the inverse function of the differential voltage? V and the touch area A, such as gamma correction.

This correction for linearity can reduce the amount of computation since the number of samples to be processed is limited if processed after or simultaneously with the analog-to-digital conversion.

Alternatively, even if the relationship between the touch area A and the difference voltage ΔV is not a perfect linear proportion, if the slope is sufficiently gentle to provide sufficient accuracy for calculating the area, it is treated as being substantially linear proportional, and special correction processing The difference voltage [Delta] V can be used to calculate the touch area A without any change.

As described in the embodiment related to FIG. 6, since the difference voltage ΔV and the amplification value Va are also linear by the amplifier 222, the amplification value Va of the difference voltage ΔV is also the touch area A. ) And linearity. Naturally, the digitized value VaD of the amplification value Va also has a linearity with the touch area A.

The relationship between the difference voltage ΔV defined by the various embodiments described above, its amplification value Va or VaD, and the touch area A is referred to as "substantially linear proportionality". Using this "substantially linear proportional" relationship, the touch sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention can detect a very accurate touch area and coordinates.

8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a touch cell and a memory in a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The memory 240 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be, for example, a plurality of memories having addresses corresponding to the touch cells 250 (strictly speaking, the electrode pads 110 should be used as the touch cells 250 for convenience of description). Cells, each memory cell may store amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD through the amplifier 222 and the ADC 224.

As described above, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is substantially linearly proportional to the touch area with respect to the electrode pad 110. Therefore, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is treated to be equal to the touched digital area value.

In the present specification, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is a value related to touch detection and is referred to as " touch detection value VaD " for convenience. When the touch detection value VaD is digitized to 2 bits, the touch detection value VaD may have four values of 00, 01, 10, and 11. Here, 00 means no touch, and 11 means that the entire electrode pad is touched and covered. As described above, the size of the touch detection value VaD corresponds to the size of the touch area for one electrode pad.

8 illustrates a touch cell of C1 to C16 and a memory cell of M1 to M16, and M1 to M16 correspond to C1 to C16, respectively. Touch occurs in touch cells C6, C7, C10, C11, C14, and C15, C6 is about 2/5 of the total area, C7 is about 3/5, C10 and C11 are all, C14 and C15 are about 1 Suppose that / 10 or less touched your finger.

Then, 00 is stored in the memory cells (C1 to C5, C8, C9, and C12 to C16) corresponding to touch cells with little or no touch (C1 to C5, C8, C9, and C12 to C16), and 01 and M7 to M6. 11 may be stored in 10, M10, and M11.

The signal processor 230 may read the digital area values of the touch cells C1 to C16 from the memory 240 to determine the touch area and the touch position. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the touch sensing apparatus according to the present embodiment first measures the touch detection value VaD of each touch cell (S10). In order to measure the touch detection value VaD, each electrode pad 110 is scanned in a predetermined frequency and order. A touch cell in which the touch detection value VaD is not 0 is determined to have a touch, and the touch detection value VaD is recorded in the memory 240 corresponding to each touch cell.

Next, a touch cell group consisting of adjacent touch cells whose touch detection value VaD is not 0 is extracted (S20). According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the electrode pads 110 are each implemented in an isolated matrix form, the multi-touch sensing function is provided. Therefore, when multi-touch occurs, it is necessary to group touch cells in which touch occurs in order to calculate respective touch areas and coordinates.

Next, the area of the touch area is calculated based on the touch detection value VaD of the touch cell group (S30). As described above, since the touch detection value VaD and the touch area are proportional to each other, the touch area may be calculated by summing the touch detection values VaD in the touch cell group.

Next, the coordinates of the touch area are calculated from the calculated area of the touch area (S40). In the touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electrode pad 110 has a polygonal shape having a uniform size, and is densely arranged in a matrix form. Thus, the image display device is covered with the predetermined area and address of each of the electrode pads 110. Accordingly, the occupied area of the electrode pad 110 can be matched with the coordinates of the image display device.

If information on the touch occupancy area is calculated for each electrode pad from the touch area calculated in step S30, the touch area distribution of the X-axis and Y-axis of the electrode pad matrix can be obtained. By calculating the area center points of the X and Y axes based on the area distribution, it is possible to calculate the touch coordinates corresponding to the center points of the entire touch areas.

The touch coordinates can be calculated very accurately using the structure of the touch panel and the calculated touch area.

The process illustrated in FIG. 9 may be performed by a signal processor disposed inside and outside the touch sensing apparatus.

10 to 13 are diagrams illustrating a process of calculating a touch area and a touch position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the touch position of FIG. 8 is displayed as an area, it becomes a hatched area of FIG. 10. At this time, for example, a group consisting of four adjacent touch cells having a digital area value other than 00, for example, 2 × 2 cells, and the sum of the digital area values of the touch cells belonging to this group, ie, 01, 10, 11, It can be regarded as a touch area.

The area value can be calculated because the touch detection value VaD and the touch area have a substantially linear proportional relationship.

Although a 2x2 cell group has been described as an example, a group consisting of more or fewer cells may be selected depending on the size of the electrode pad and the size of the touch area. In the case where the value of the touch cell is displayed as 2 bits of the digitized touch detection value VaD, a total of four area values may be obtained for one cell, and 16 area values may be obtained in a 2 × 2 cell group.

By digitizing the difference of the digitized voltage change value into a higher bit, the calculated area value can be more accurate, and the size of the adjacent touch cell group having a non-zero digital area value can be larger.

11 illustrates a method of calculating touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the center position of the touch area illustrated in FIG. 10 may be a point indicated by X. FIG. For the 2x2 touch cell group, the digital area value of the touch cells at the top left, top right, bottom left, and bottom right, that is, 01101111, which is a value of 01, 10, 11, and 11 in succession, is defined as a value representing a touch position. The coordinates of the corresponding center position X can be shaped into a lookup table and stored in internal or external memory.

Alternatively, when the touch cell group in which the touch is generated is determined, the touch coordinates may be calculated in real time based on a mutual relationship between the coordinates of the touch cell and the digital area value of the touch cell.

12 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating touch coordinates according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the digital area values of the touch cells are summed and graphed for each row X axis and each column Y axis of the touch cell group in the form of a 2 × 2 matrix. For example, FIG. 12 shows graphs at the bottom and the right, respectively.

In the lower graph, the sum of the digital area values corresponding to the first column is 01 + 11 and the sum of the digital area values corresponding to the second column is 10 + 11. The graph then finds the X coordinate that bisects the value integrated on the X axis (that is, the area of the area between the horizontal axes).

For example, if the width of the touch cell is 1 and the block's left border is 0, then in the range 0 to 1, the height will be in decimal (4 (= 01 + 11)) and a straight line parallel to the horizontal axis will be drawn. In this 1 to 2 range, a straight line parallel to the abscissa will be drawn with a height of 5 (= 10 + 11) in decimal. The area between the horizontal axis and these straight lines will be a stepped figure as in Fig. 12, and the area of this figure is 9 (= 4 + 5). If the abscissa of the vertical line dividing the area of the figure is (1 + x), then (4 + 5x) = 5 (1-x), so x = 0.1. Therefore, the horizontal coordinate of the vertical line becomes 1.1.

Similarly, in the graph on the right, the digital area value for the first row is 01 + 10 and 11 + 11, the sum of the digital area values for the second row. Again in this case, the Y coordinate is found to be bisected by the value integrated on the Y axis (that is, the area of the area lying between the vertical axes).

For example, if the height of the touch cell is 1 and the upper boundary of the block is 0, and the coordinate value increases as the number goes down, the height is 3 (= 01 + 10) in decimal format and the vertical axis and Parallel straight lines will be drawn, and in the range of 1 to 2 vertical axes, a straight line parallel to the vertical axis will be drawn with a height of 6 (= 11 + 11) in decimal. The area between the vertical axis and these straight lines will be a stepped figure, as in FIG. 12, with an area of 9 (= 3 + 6). (3 + 6x) = 6 (1-x) when the ordinate of the horizontal line bisecting the area of the figure is set to (1 + x). Therefore, the ordinate of the horizontal line is 1.25.

In this way, the touch coordinates can be calculated by obtaining the x coordinates and the y coordinates as the centers of the touch areas.

Since the electrode pads are arranged on the image display device in the form of a matrix, the coordinates in the electrode pad matrix can be matched with the coordinates of the image display device. Therefore, by using the coordinates of the center position of the area distribution of the X axis and the Y axis in the touch cell group in which the touch occurs, the center position of the entire touch area can be calculated in the image display apparatus.

The signal processor 230 may determine the touch position by using the touch area occupying each cell in this manner. Even when the value of the touch cell is displayed as 2 bits, a total of 256 positions can be obtained for one block, and thus a touch coordinate resolution higher than the number of touch cells can be obtained.

If the digitized area value is provided with higher bits, the resolution of the touch coordinates will be much higher. That is, if the digitized area value is provided with a higher bit, it is possible to detect a change in the fine touch area distribution and use it to detect a change in the fine touch coordinates.

12 has been described with a fairly simple example, further statistical processing may be further performed to yield a more accurate area distribution within the touch cell group.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating touch coordinates and a touch area together based on an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, when a touch occurs in a predetermined area, an accurate touch area is calculated by adding digital area values of touch cells belonging to a touch cell group, which is a set of touch cells having a non-00 digital area value. By properly processing the distribution of area values, the exact center position of the contact can be found.

In addition, shape information of a region in which a touch occurs may be provided using coordinate information of a touch cell in which a touch occurs. For example, in FIG. 13, since a touch occurs in a 2 × 2 touch cell group, a circular touch area having a detected area may be calculated. However, if a touch occurs in a 2 × 3 touch cell group, an elliptical touch area having a long vertical axis may be calculated. Therefore, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the touch region may be used as one of the user inputs.

In addition, if the touch area value in the touch cell of the touch cell group is considered, a more precise shape of the touch area may be calculated.

The touch area and the touch position thus obtained are determined by an electronic device including a display device associated with the touch sensing device, for example, a smart phone, a tablet PC, a mobile phone, an electronic notebook, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a web. It may be used as an input gesture for driving a pad, a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, or the like.

Next, the electronic device will be described with reference to FIG. 14.

14 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 14, an electronic device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a touch panel 150, an input detector 270, an application processor 310, a display 320, and a memory 330. Include.

The touch panel 150 includes the substrate 100 shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of electrode pads 110, and a plurality of signal wires 120, and is combined with the display unit 320 to be integrated with the display unit 320. It may be, but is not limited to such. Since the touch panel 150 is the same as described in the above embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The input detector 270 includes the driver 210, the detector 220, the signal processor 230, and the memory 240 illustrated in FIG. 2, and touches a touch area and touch coordinates with respect to a user's touch input. The information is calculated and transmitted to the application processor 310. Since the input detector 270 is the same as described in the foregoing embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The application processor 310 executes an instruction and generates or uses data. For example, the application processor 310 may process input and output data between the components of the electronic device 300, and interpret the touch information received from the input detector 270 to display the image accordingly. ) Can be displayed. The application processor 310 may be implemented on a single chip, a plurality of chips, or a plurality of electrical components, and may include, for example, a dedicated or embedded processor, a single purpose processor, a controller, or an application specific semiconductor (ASIC). .

The display unit 320 outputs various types of information to a screen and provides the information to a user. For example, the display unit 320 may include a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, and the like. The display unit 320 may display a graphical user interface (GUI). The graphical user interface provides an interface that allows a user to easily use an application running on the electronic device 300. The graphical user interface may, for example, represent a program, function, file, and operation options in a graphical image. Graphical images may include, for example, windows, dialogs, menus, icons, buttons, cursors, scroll bars, and the like. These images can be arranged in a predefined layout or dynamically generated to help the user do what they want. The user can select and activate an image or perform a preset action on the image to initiate functions and tasks associated with the various graphical images.

The memory 330 provides a place for storing executable code and data used by the electronic device 300. The memory 330 stores data according to a request from the application processor 310, and provides instructions and / or data to the application processor 310. For example, the memory 330 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or the like.

Next, an operation of the electronic device 300 according to the user touch input will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 15 to 22.

15 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch operation of a user, and FIGS. 16 and 17 are diagrams illustrating example screens in which different operations are performed according to a touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a touch operation of a user, FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to a touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, and FIG. 22 is an electronic diagram according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. A flowchart of an operation performed according to a change in touch area in the device.

Referring to FIG. 15, a user may lightly tap a specific graphic interface displayed on the touch panel 150 (hereinafter, a touch operation may be referred to as a “tap”), or press firmly to press a touch (hereinafter, press firmly). The touch operation may be referred to as a "press". In the case of the tap operation, the touch area of the touch panel 150 and the finger may be smaller than the reference area, and in the case of the press operation, the touch area may be larger than the reference area, and thus the user's touch intention may be different. In this case, even when the same graphic interface is touched, when the touch area is small, the electronic device 300 performs an operation A, but when the touch area is large, an operation B may be performed instead of A.

As an example, referring to FIG. 16, various application program icons are displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. FIG. 16 illustrates that a user touches a specific icon 322 by changing a touch area. The electronic device 300 on the left side has a smaller touch area RA1 than the reference area RA. The device 300 is a case where the touch area RA2 is larger than the reference area RA. In the former case, for example, the electronic device 300 may perform an operation in which a specific icon 322 is selected and executed. In the latter case, the electronic device 300 may pop up a menu related to the specific icon 322. You can perform the floating operation.

Operations performed in each case are not limited thereto, and may include various operations such as moving, deleting, and copying icons. In addition, the user may predetermine an operation to be performed differently according to the touch area by setting options.

As another example, referring to FIG. 17, an application program such as a map is executed and displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. When the user's touch area RA1 is smaller than the reference area RA when the user touches an arbitrary point on the map, the electronic device 300 may display, for example, information about the touched location. ), And when the user's touch area RA2 is larger than the reference area RA, the electronic device 300 may move the touched position to the center of the screen and change the position. An operation of enlarging the map may be performed as a reference. Although FIG. 17 illustrates that two different points are touched, different operations may be performed according to the touch area even if the same points are touched.

Meanwhile, the electronic device 300 may use, as user input information, the touch time when the finger touches the touch panel 150 together with the touch area. This allows more user input to be accepted for the same graphical interface. That is, when the touch area is compared with the reference area and the touch time is compared with the reference time, the touch area is smaller than the reference area and the touch time is shorter than the reference time, and the touch area is smaller than the reference area and the touch time is longer than the reference time. For example, if the touch area is larger than the reference area and the touch time is shorter than the reference time, four different user inputs may be applied to a specific graphic interface or one touch position, such as the touch area is larger than the reference area and the touch time is longer than the reference time. The electronic device 300 may perform different operations in each case.

The electronic device 300 may provide a general touch input mode for receiving a touch input regardless of the touch area of the user and a special touch input mode for performing different operations according to the touch area or the touch time of the user. In the menu, it is possible to set which touch input mode a specific application or graphic interface operates in. By allowing the user to select the touch input mode as described above, the user touch input according to the touch area or the touch time and the general touch input may not be confused. In addition, the reference area and the reference time may be set by the user. For example, a user with a small hand may set a small reference area, and a user with a large hand may set a large reference area.

As such, the user may input various touch commands to the electronic device 300 by touching the same graphic interface with different touch area or touch time, and accordingly, the electronic device 300 may perform different operations on the same graphic interface. Can be performed.

In addition, even if a touch is not made on a specific graphic interface, the input may be controlled to perform different operations by comparing the absolute value of the touch area with a reference value.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 18, a user may scroll left and right or up and down while being in contact with the touch panel, and the electronic device 300 may perform an operation different from that of FIG. 15. In this case, different operations may be performed according to the touch area. For example, when the area of the touch panel is large, the scroll speed may be slowed or touch-slided with a stronger force.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19, when the touch area is greater than or equal to the threshold, a new operation may be performed. For example, if a touch area is greater than a certain area on the document or picture and the contact surface moves, the operation of deleting a part of the document or picture may be performed.

Referring to FIG. 20, a user may drive the electronic device 300 by using a change in touch angle.

In general, when the user changes the touch area, the angle of the touched finger that is touching changes. This tendency is stronger because most handheld electronic devices are touch driven with the electronic device held.

For example, in order to reduce the touch area, the angular change of the finger joint occurs while raising the finger tip. On the contrary, in order to increase the touch area, the angle of the finger joint is changed while lying on the tip of the finger.

In this case, a change in touch coordinates and a change in area are accompanied. Accordingly, when the touch coordinate is moved upward while the touch area is reduced while the touch is maintained, it may be recognized that the finger is bent up. Conversely, if the touch area increases while the touch coordinate moves downward, it is possible to recognize that the finger is extended.

By using this, various user interfaces (eg, change of viewpoint of a 3D object) such that a user can intuitively recognize an angle of a finger may be provided.

Here, the user intention may be more accurately determined by using the direction information in which the touch area is increased / decreased in addition to the change in the touch coordinates and the touch area.

As shown in FIGS. 15, 18, and 19, when other operations are to be performed according to the touch area, the operations may be performed in the same order as shown in FIG. 21. The operation illustrated in FIG. 21 is an example in which the touch area is divided into three types of large, medium, and small, and accordingly, three different operations are performed. The operation shown in FIG. 21 illustrates an operation occurring in an electronic device including a touch sensing device and a display device.

First, the touch is detected according to the above-described process (S210), the touch area is calculated (S220), and it is determined whether the touch area is larger than the set value A1 (S230). If the touch area is larger than the set value A1, it is determined whether the touch area is larger than the set value A2 (S230). If not, the command corresponding to the small area contact is executed (S250). If the touch area is larger than the set value A2 in step S230, a command corresponding to the large area contact is executed (S270). Otherwise, a command corresponding to the medium area contact is executed (S260).

Among the operations, steps S210 and S220 may be performed by the input detector 270, and the remaining operations may be performed by the application processor 310.

As shown in FIG. 20, when other operations need to be performed according to a change in the touch area, the operations may be performed in the same order as shown in FIG. 22.

First, the touch is detected according to the above-described process (S310), the touch area is calculated (S320), and it is determined whether the touch area is changed (S330).

If the touch area changes, it is determined whether the contact is maintained (S340), otherwise, another predetermined operation is performed.

If the touch area is maintained in step S340, a command corresponding to the change of the touch area may be executed (S350), otherwise, another operation may be performed.

Meanwhile, a virtual image corresponding to the touch area may be generated at a touch position, and a corresponding operation may be performed or displayed on the display device. The virtual image may also be operated depending on whether the virtual image is stationary or moved. This may vary.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the touch area can be accurately calculated and various operations can be performed accordingly.

It is to be understood that the foregoing description of the disclosure is for the purpose of illustration and that those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that other embodiments may be readily devised without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the disclosure will be. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single entity may be distributed and implemented, and components described as being distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

It is to be understood that the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description and that all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalents thereof are included in the scope of the present invention .

100: substrate, 110: electrode pad,
120: signal wiring, 150: touch panel,
200: a circuit board, 210: a driving unit,
220: detector, 222: amplifier,
224: analog-to-digital converter,
230: signal processing unit, 240: memory,
250: touch cell, 260: reference cell,
270: input detection unit, 300: electronic device,
310: application processing unit 320: display unit,
330: Memory

Claims (19)

A touch panel which can be touched by a user and generates an output signal having a different size according to the touch area;
An input sensing unit calculating a touch area using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area; And
An application processor for comparing the touch area and the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to the comparison result.
Electronic device comprising a. The method of claim 1,
The application processor is configured to compare a touch time and a reference time of a user with respect to the same graphic interface and perform different operations according to a comparison result. The method of claim 2,
The reference area and / or the reference time is provided to be set by the user. The method of claim 1,
An electronic device providing a touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area. The method of claim 1,
The touch panel includes a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form. The method of claim 5,
The input sensing unit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, and a difference in voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. The electronic device calculates the touch area based on the calculated values. A method of operating an electronic device,
Generating an output signal having a different size according to the touch area of the user;
Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And
Comparing the touch area and the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to the comparison result
Method of operation of the electronic device comprising a. The method of claim 7, wherein
The performing of the operation may include comparing a touch time and a reference time of a user with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to a comparison result. 9. The method of claim 8,
And providing the reference area and / or the reference time to be set by the user. The method of claim 7, wherein
And providing the user with a touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area. 8. The method of claim 7,
The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix. 12. The method of claim 11,
The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch. The method of claim 11,
The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. Method of operation of the electronic device comprising a. A method of operating an electronic device,
Generating an output signal having a different size according to the touch area of the user;
Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And
Comparing the touch area with the reference area in a predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to a comparison result
Method of operation of the electronic device comprising a. 15. The method of claim 14,
The performing of the operation may include comparing a user's touch time with a reference time in the predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to a comparison result. 16. The method of claim 15,
And providing the reference area and / or the reference time to be set by the user. The method of claim 14,
The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix. 18. The method of claim 17,
The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch. The method of claim 17,
The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. Method of operation of the electronic device comprising a.

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