TWI650697B - Active ultrasonic input device - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention is an active ultrasonic input device, which includes an operation interface and an ultrasonic manipulation pen, wherein the operation interface includes a plurality of arrayed ultrasonic transducer arrays, and each ultrasonic transducer array is The ultrasonic transducers of different oscillation frequencies are composed, and the ultrasonic control pen also includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers of different oscillation frequencies; when the ultrasonic control pen is close to the operation interface, the ultrasonic waves on the operation interface The transducer array can detect the signal output from the ultrasonic control pen, so as to recognize the coordinates pointed by the ultrasonic control pen, and execute the corresponding input function to achieve the effect of floating remote touch.

Description

Active ultrasonic input device

The invention relates to an input device, in particular to an input device composed of an ultrasonic transducer.

Existing touch-sensitive electronic products have been quite popular, including smart phones, tablets, and smart watches. The touch-sensitive electronic products usually have a touch interface. The user actually touches the touch of the product with his finger. Interface operation, or using a stylus to click on the touch interface to achieve the purpose of writing input. However, the current touch interface requires direct contact with a conductive object to produce a sensing effect.

However, for some special electronic products, such as a small-sized wrist-type wear-type device, the touch operation area is smaller than that of a mobile phone or tablet computer. If the user wants to perform other detailed controls such as a specific key on the touch panel It will still be difficult to touch with your finger, and the problem of touching the area around the key by mistake may occur. Furthermore, if the user directly touches the touch interface with a finger, it may not be suitable for application places with hygienic considerations or industrial safety.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide an active ultrasonic input device which can achieve non-contact input operation.

The active ultrasonic input device of the present invention includes: an operation interface including: a transparent substrate; A plurality of ultrasonic transducer arrays are arranged on the transparent substrate, wherein each ultrasonic transducer array includes a plurality of input elements, and the plurality of input elements transmit and receive ultrasonic signals of different oscillation frequencies; The ultrasonic control pen includes: a pen body, a signal transmitting and receiving terminal is provided at one end of the pen body; a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged on the signal transmitting and receiving terminal to transmit and receive ultrasonic signals consistent with the oscillation frequency of the input element; The sonic signal is used by the ultrasonic transducer array of the operation interface to detect the sonic signal.

The operation interface can be combined with a display screen of an electronic product as an input interface. When the ultrasonic control pen is used to emit ultrasonic signals with different oscillation frequencies and is close to the operation interface, the ultrasonic conversion of the operation interface is performed. The device array detects the signal output from the ultrasonic control pen, so as to identify the coordinates pointed by the ultrasonic control pen. The electronic product can perform the corresponding input function according to the position of the coordinate. When the pen does not actually touch the operation interface, non-contact hovering input operation can be performed on the operation interface according to the principle of transmitting and receiving of ultrasonic signals.

10‧‧‧ operation interface

1‧‧‧ transparent substrate

11‧‧‧ Ultrasonic transducer array

12a ~ 12d‧‧‧Input components

13a ~ 13d‧‧‧ Ultrasonic transducer

130‧‧‧ transparent lower electrode layer

131‧‧‧ transparent side wall

132‧‧‧ transparent upper electrode layer

133‧‧‧Transparent oscillating film

134‧‧‧space

20‧‧‧ Ultrasonic pen

21‧‧‧Body

22‧‧‧Signal transceiver

23a ~ 23d‧‧‧ Ultrasonic transducer

24‧‧‧laser light source

240‧‧‧laser beam

30‧‧‧ Ultrasonic Source

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of an active ultrasonic input device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer array according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the distribution of the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasonic control pen in the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the operation interface controlled by the ultrasonic control pen according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a position where a circular ultrasonic source with a diameter of 3.6 mm according to the present invention is detected by rotating at a distance r from the center point in the ultrasonic transducer array.

7A ~ 7C: The center of the ultrasonic source is tested after a circular ultrasonic source with a diameter of 3.6 mm is tested in the ultrasonic transducer array at a distance r from the center point of 0.3, 0.6, and 0.9 mm. Location map of points.

Please refer to FIG. 1, the active ultrasonic input device of the present invention includes an operation interface 10 and an ultrasonic control pen 20.

For the specific structure and operating principle of the input interface 10, please refer to the invention patent No. I616793 "Transparent Ultrasonic Transducer Input Device" patent, which is only briefly introduced here. The input interface 10 is formed on a transparent substrate 1. Ultrasound transducer array 11, in this embodiment, each ultrasonic transducer array 11 includes a plurality of input elements 12a-12d, and each input element 12a-12d corresponds to transmitting and receiving an ultrasonic wave with an oscillation frequency f1 to f4 signal. Here, four input elements 12a to 12d are taken as an example for illustration. The four input elements 12a to 12d have different oscillation frequencies, which are sequentially 0.87MHz, 1.09MHz, 0.94MHz, and 1.30MHz. The bandwidths of any one input element and its adjacent input elements 12a ~ 12d do not overlap each other to ensure that the ultrasonic transmission and reception of any input element do not interfere with each other, reducing the chance of misjudgment of the control, and the four input elements 12a ~ 12d can send or receive waves at the same time, increasing scanning or reading speed. In FIG. 1, in order to indicate the oscillation frequencies of the input elements 12 a to 12 d, the numbers “1” to “4” marked in the squares represent the input elements 12 a to 12 d of four oscillation frequencies, respectively.

Please refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic structural diagram of an ultrasonic transducer array 11 according to the present invention. The four input elements 12 a to 12 d are spaced apart from each other and do not overlap each other. Each input element 12 a to 12 d is represented by multiple The ultrasonic transducers 13a to 13d are arranged in an array, and the size of each input element 12a to 12d is 3mm × 3mm. The ultrasonic transducers 13a to 13d of the four input elements 12a to 12d can generate the four different oscillation frequencies f1 to f4 correspondingly.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the ultrasonic transducers 13a to 13d includes a transparent lower electrode layer 130, a transparent side wall 131, a transparent upper electrode layer 132, and a transparent oscillating film 133. The transparent power-down The electrode layer 211 is disposed on the surface of the transparent substrate 1, the transparent side wall 131 is disposed on the transparent substrate 1 and around the surface of the transparent lower electrode layer 130, and the transparent oscillating film 133 is disposed on the transparent side wall 131. A space 134 is formed between the transparent lower electrode layer 130, the transparent side wall 131 and the transparent oscillating film 133, and the space 134 is used for the transparent oscillating film 133 to oscillate. The transparent upper electrode layer 132 is disposed on the top surface of the transparent oscillating film 133 (that is, the other surface opposite to the space 134).

The complex ultrasonic transducers 13a to 13d included in the same input element 12a to 12d have transparent oscillating membranes 133 of the same size; but the transparent transducers 13a to 13d of the ultrasonic transducers of different input elements 12a to 12d The sizes of 133 are different from each other, so the oscillation frequencies of the ultrasonic transducers 13a to 13d of the different input elements 12a to 12d are different from each other. In this embodiment, four types of transparent oscillating film 133 with different diameters of 103 μm, 106 μm, 124 μm, and 137 μm are used to generate the aforementioned four different oscillating frequencies of 1.31 MHz, 1.09 MHz, 0.94 MHz, and 0.85 MHz respectively.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4 at the same time. The ultrasonic control pen 20 of the present invention has a pen body 21, and the front end of the pen body 21 serves as a signal transmitting and receiving terminal 22, and a plurality of different signals are scattered and arranged on the signal transmitting and receiving terminal 22. The ultrasonic transducers 23a to 23d of an oscillating frequency, wherein, in a preferred embodiment, the ultrasonic transducers 23a to 23d are arranged in a circular area at the signal transmitting and receiving end 22, and the outer diameter of the circular area is R is between 3.0mm ~ 3.6mm; the oscillating frequencies of these ultrasonic transducers 23a ~ 23d should correspond to the oscillating frequencies of the ultrasonic transducers 13a ~ 13d on the operation interface 10 0.87MHz, 1.09MHz, 0.94MHz , 1.30MHz. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic transducers 23a to 23d of different frequencies are arranged in a circle in a concentric circle manner, so as to achieve the effect of being axially symmetrical and uniformly distributing signals.

As shown in FIG. 5, the ultrasonic control pen 20 is further provided with a laser light source 24 for emitting a laser beam 240, and the direction of the laser beam and the ultrasonic transducer The signal transmission directions of 23a to 23d are coaxial.

In practical applications, the operation interface 10 of the present invention can be used as a non-contact input device when combined with a display screen of an electronic product, for example, based on an ultrasonic transducer array 11 as an input. Keys, input menus, etc., the ultrasound transducer array 11 at different locations can represent keys with different functions. The user can use the ultrasonic control pen 20 to approach the operation interface 10 and send out an ultrasonic signal to realize an input action. The laser light beam 240 from the laser light source 24 provides an auxiliary indicator light point for the user to clearly see the ultrasonic wave. The position pointed by the control pen 20 can be determined when the ultrasonic transducer array 11 on the operation interface 10 senses the ultrasonic signal emitted by the ultrasonic control pen 20 and is connected to an ultrasonic control circuit of the operation interface 10 The operation interface 10 has an input signal and coordinates to which the ultrasonic control pen 20 points, wherein the ultrasonic control circuit may be a circuit integrated in the electronic product; signal transmission and sensing of the ultrasonic transducer The principle is a known technology, so it will not be repeated here.

Please refer to FIG. 6. According to the present invention, a circular ultrasonic source 30 with a diameter of 3.6 mm is set at a distance of 10 mm from an ultrasonic transducer array 11 for experimental testing. The ultrasonic source 30 is simulated as the ultrasonic wave. Control pen 20. As shown in FIG. 2, the ultrasonic transducer array 11 has four input elements 12 a to 12 d to represent the first quadrant to the fourth quadrant, respectively, and the center point of the ultrasonic transducer array 11 is used as a reference origin. (0,0). The center point of the ultrasonic source 30 is deviated from the reference origin (0,0), and the length of the straight line distance from the reference origin (0,0) is r. It is assumed that the ultrasonic source 30 is in a counterclockwise direction Rotational movement. The position of the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 is calculated based on the signals Q1 ~ Q4 of the input elements 12a ~ 12d every 15 degrees of rotation. Therefore, 24 measurements can be obtained after the ultrasonic source 30 rotates once. The coordinates of the center point.

Each time the coordinates of the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 are measured, the following calculation method is adopted: First, the signal strengths measured by the four input elements 12a to 12d are expressed as Q1 to Q4, respectively. Initial coordinates (X _Q , Y _Q ) out of the center point:

If the ideal coordinates at the rotation angle θ in the XY axis plane are X _ideal and Y _ideal , they can be expressed as: X _ideal = r * cosθ Y _ideal = r * sinθ

Considering the possible measurement error, define the correction parameter as k:

Therefore, the actual coordinates (X _D , Y _D ) after correction by the above-mentioned correction parameter k are: X _D = kX _Q Y _D = kY _Q

Among them, after the experiment, the better correction parameter k shown in the following table can be obtained:

Please refer to FIG. 7A. When the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 deviates from the reference origin (0,0) and the linear distance length is r = 0.3mm, the measurement is performed once every 15 degrees of rotation. The actual coordinates (X _D , Y _D ) of the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 are represented by a triangle symbol “▲”. It can be seen that the actual coordinates (X _D , Y _D ) quite agrees with the ideal position (shown by the circular trajectory). 7B shows the distribution of the calculated actual coordinates (X _D , Y _D ) when the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 deviates from the reference origin (0,0) and the linear distance length is r = 0.6mm; 7C indicates that the center point of the ultrasonic source 30 is deviated from the reference origin (0,0) and the straight-line distance length is r = 0.9mm, and the calculated actual coordinates (X _D , Y _D ) are distributed.

In summary, the present invention uses the ultrasonic control pen to output ultrasonic signals, or further adds a laser beam that assists the guidance, and performs non-contact suspension control input on the operation interface. When the operation interface receives and processes ultrasonic waves, After the sonic signal, the corresponding input function can be performed. Therefore, the present invention can be widely used in many applications such as non-contact control screens, flat screens, curved screens, advertising panels, proximity switches / controls, industrial control, teaching, navigation, public information display, video games and entertainment. It replaces the existing touch screen and provides floating control and non-contact control functions, which is especially suitable for public places such as hospitals and exhibition halls where health and safety are considered.

Claims (5)

An active ultrasonic input device includes: an operation interface including: a transparent substrate; a plurality of ultrasonic transducer arrays are arranged on the transparent substrate, wherein each ultrasonic transducer array includes There are a plurality of input elements, and the plurality of input elements transmit and receive ultrasonic signals with different oscillation frequencies. Each input element includes a plurality of ultrasonic transducers arranged in an array, and the plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a 3mm array. × 3mm array; an ultrasonic control pen, including: a pen body, a signal transmitting and receiving end is provided at one end of the pen body; a plurality of ultrasonic transducers are arranged at the signal transmitting and receiving end to transmit and receive with the input element The ultrasonic signals with the same oscillation frequency are used by the ultrasonic transducer array of the operation interface to detect the ultrasonic signals, wherein the ultrasonic transducers of the ultrasonic control pen are scattered and arranged in a circular area. The outer diameter of the circular area is between 3.0mm and 3.6mm. The active ultrasonic input device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of ultrasonic transducers located on the ultrasonic control pen, the ultrasonic transducers having the same oscillation frequency are arranged in a ring shape; and different oscillation frequencies The ultrasonic transducers are arranged in a concentric circle. The active ultrasonic input device according to claim 2, wherein the pen body includes a laser light source to output a laser beam, a direction of the laser beam and an ultrasonic transducer on the signal transceiver The transmission direction of the generated ultrasonic signal is coaxial. The active ultrasonic input device according to claim 3, wherein each of the ultrasonic transducer arrays includes 4 input elements to send and receive ultrasonic signals of 4 different oscillation frequencies; and a plurality of ultrasonic control pens The ultrasonic transducer is used to generate the ultrasonic signals of the four different oscillation frequencies. According to the active ultrasonic input device described in claim 4, the oscillation frequencies of the four input elements of each of the ultrasonic transducer arrays are 1.31 MHz, 1.09 MHz, 0.94 MHz, and 0.85 MHz, respectively.