WO2012117437A1

WO2012117437A1 - Touch panel device

Info

Publication number: WO2012117437A1
Application number: PCT/JP2011/001153
Authority: WO
Inventors: 景泰宮原; 昇吾米山; 祐一岡野
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2011-02-28
Filing date: 2011-02-28
Publication date: 2012-09-07

Abstract

Provided is a touch panel device whereby it is possible to rapidly carry out coordinate detection of a touch location, as well as avoid detection errors even in a multi-touch state involving a plurality of touch points, and avoid prediction errors even when a finger moves rapidly. A touch panel device comprises: a touch panel unit whereupon a plurality of electrodes are positioned; a scan electrode determination means for determining scan electrodes from among the plurality of electrodes; a touch detection means for scanning the determined scan electrodes, acquiring measurement values whereby a change in the static electric capacity of each electrode is reflected, and detecting whether a touch has occurred on the basis of the acquired measurement values; and a multi-touch assessment means for assessing whether a multi-touch state of a plurality of touch points is present. The scan electrode determination means determines the touch panel unit scan electrodes on the basis of the detection result of the touch detection means and the assessment result of the multi-touch assessment means.

Description

Touch panel device

The present invention relates to a touch panel device that obtains a position where an object such as a finger or a pen approaches or comes into contact.

By limiting the electrodes to be scanned when determining the position where an object such as a finger or pen touches (approaching or touching) in a touch panel device (herein referred to as a touch panel device including a tablet) in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-228707 discloses a technique for speeding up the calculation of position coordinates. In this patent document 1, when detecting the contact of a pen, first, a full scan is performed with a part of the electrode thinned out to predict the approximate position of the electrode line where the pen exists (the electrode line with the highest signal level). Next, the entire touch position detection time is shortened by performing detailed scanning (partial scanning) only in the vicinity of the predicted position.

JP 7-129308 A

However, in the conventional touch panel device as shown in Patent Document 1, a touch state (whether there are a plurality of touch locations or a moving speed of a touched pen or the like) is taken into consideration at the time of position prediction or partial scanning. Therefore, in the multi-touch state where there are a plurality of touch locations, there is a problem that a position that is not actually touched is erroneously detected as a touch position. In addition, when the moving speed of the touch pen or the like becomes very fast, there is a problem that the predicted position jumps out and leads to a prediction error.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and does not cause false detection even in a multi-touch state, and does not cause a prediction error even when a finger moves at high speed. An object of the present invention is to obtain a touch panel device capable of obtaining position coordinates at high speed and with high accuracy.

In order to achieve the above object, a touch panel device according to the present invention includes a touch panel unit in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged, a scan electrode determining unit that determines a scan electrode from the plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit, and the scan electrode The touch panel unit is scanned with respect to the scanning electrode determined by the determining unit to acquire a measurement value reflecting a change in capacitance of each electrode, and the touch panel unit is touched based on the acquired measurement value. Touch detection means for detecting the presence or absence of touch, and multi-touch for determining whether or not there are a plurality of touch points detected by the touch detection means as being touched to the touch panel unit, that is, whether or not there is a multi-touch state. Determining means, wherein the scanning electrode determining means is based on the detection result of the touch detecting means and the determination result of the multi-touch determining means. And determining the scanning electrodes of the touch panel portion.

The touch panel device according to the present invention is determined by a touch panel unit in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged, a scan electrode determining unit that determines a scan electrode from the plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit, and the scan electrode determining unit. The touch panel unit is scanned with respect to the scan electrode to obtain a measurement value reflecting the change in capacitance of each electrode, and the presence or absence of touch on the touch panel unit is detected based on the obtained measurement value. Touch detecting means; and tracking means for tracking the moving speed and moving direction of the touch point detected as having touched the touch panel by the touch detecting means, and the scan electrode determining means tracking the tracking means. The scanning electrode of the touch panel unit is determined based on the result.

According to the touch panel device according to the present invention, the scan electrode determining unit is configured to detect the scan electrode of the touch panel unit based on the detection result of the touch detection unit and the determination result of the multi-touch determination unit or based on the tracking result of the tracking unit. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the touch position coordinates quickly and accurately without causing misdetection due to multi-touch state or misprediction due to high-speed movement of the touch point, while speeding up position coordinate detection by partial scanning. be able to.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing about the output value from each electrode with the presence or absence of the touch to a touchscreen apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the multitouch determination method at the time of scanning the whole surface of the touch panel part. It is explanatory drawing which shows the multi-touch determination method at the time of partially scanning the touch panel part. It is a figure which shows another example of the multi-touch determination method at the time of partially scanning the touch panel part. It is a figure explaining the ghost problem in a multi-touch state. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure explaining the scan for multi-touch determination after a partial scan, and multi-touch re-determination. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the determination method of the electrode for partial scanning. It is a figure which shows the processing flow of the touchscreen apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention.

Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention in more detail, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a touch panel device 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The touch panel device 100 includes a touch panel unit 1 in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged, a scan electrode determination unit 2 that determines a scan electrode from the plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit 1, and a scan electrode that is determined by the scan electrode determination unit 2. The touch panel unit 1 is scanned to obtain a measurement value (output value from each electrode) reflecting the change in capacitance of each electrode, and the touch panel unit 1 is touched based on the acquired measurement value. Touch detection means 3 for detecting the presence or absence of touch, and a multi-function for determining whether or not there are a plurality of touch points detected by the touch detection means 3 as having touch on the touch panel unit 1, that is, whether or not a multi-touch state is present. Touch determination means 4.

Further, the scanning electrodes determined by the scanning electrode determination means 2 are set on the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 in the initial stage, but thereafter, based on the detection result of the touch detection means 3 and the determination result of the multi-touch determination means 4. It is determined. When the touch panel unit 1 “entire surface” is set as a scan electrode (in the case of full scan), the touch panel is scanned once every several electrodes or every several electrodes at once. By scanning a part of the electrode on the entire surface of the part 1 while thinning it, a rough touch position is detected while shortening the time. In addition, when the scanning range is “limited” (in the case of partial scanning), a more detailed touch position is detected by scanning in detail with a predetermined number of electrodes centered on a certain electrode.

Next, the operation of the touch panel device 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of touch panel device 100 according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a measurement value (output value from each electrode) in which a change in capacitance of each electrode with or without touching the touch panel device 100 is reflected. An object such as a finger that touches the touch panel unit 1, 7 is a plurality of X electrodes for obtaining detection positions in the horizontal (X) direction, 8 is a plurality of Y electrodes for obtaining detection positions in the vertical (Y) direction, 9 Is the measured value of the X electrode, and 10 is the measured value of the Y electrode. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a multi-touch determination method when the entire touch panel unit 1 is scanned. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 11 denotes a threshold level applied to the measurement value of each electrode for multi-touch determination. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a multi-touch determination method in a case where partial scanning is performed with a part of the electrodes of the touch panel unit 1 being limited. In the figure, reference numeral 12 denotes a scanning range corresponding to partial scanning. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating another example of multi-touch determination, in which 13 and 14 are touch positions on the touch panel unit 1, 15 is a scan range of the X electrode, 16 is a scan range of the Y electrode, and 17 is a scan range. The measured value of the X electrode, 18 is the width of the measured value 17 at the

threshold

11, 19 is the measured value of the Y electrode, and 20 is the width of the measured value 19 at the threshold 11.

Here, one measurement value is obtained from each electrode, but since there are a plurality of X electrodes and Y electrodes, a plurality of measurement values are obtained for each of the X electrode and the Y electrode. The measured value 10 of the Y electrode is a line graph representing the plurality of values. In this graph, the vertical axis corresponds to the magnitude of the measured value, and the horizontal axis corresponds to each electrode. The measured value means a value obtained by scanning individual electrodes. In addition, although an example in which the measurement value is used as it is is described here, another method may be used such that a value obtained by performing some calculation or conversion on the measurement value is used as an output value from each electrode. In this case, it goes without saying that the threshold value also becomes a value corresponding thereto.

A processing flow of the touch panel device 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. First, the scan electrode determining means 2 sets an electrode scan range over the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 as an initial stage (step ST1). Next, the touch detection means 3 scans the scan electrodes set by the scan electrode determination means 2 (in the initial stage, the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1) (step ST2), and the measurement values of the respective electrodes are acquired (step ST2). Step ST3). Then, touch detection is performed by determining that the measured value is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value (not shown) and that the touch value is less than the predetermined threshold value (step ST4). ). Regarding the threshold for touch detection, for example, the measurement value of the electrode at the position when an object such as a finger touches the touch panel unit 1 and the measurement value when the object is not touched are measured in advance. An appropriate value that can detect the presence or absence of a touch may be set. If it is determined in step ST4 that there is no touch (NO in step ST5), the scanning electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scanning range over the entire touch panel unit 1 (step ST6), and the scanning operation in step ST2 Return to.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step ST4 that there is a touch (YES in step ST5), the multi-touch determination unit 4 further performs multi-touch determination (step ST7).
Here, a method of multi-touch determination will be described. When there are a plurality of touch locations, that is, in a multi-touch state, as shown in the example of FIG. 3, according to the positions of the fingers 5 and 6, the X electrode measurement value 9 or the Y electrode measurement value 10 There are several mountains. Therefore, when there are a plurality of peaks having a peak equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold in the measured values of X or Y, it can be determined that the state is a multi-touch state. For example, in the example of full scan in FIG. 4, since there are two peaks that exceed the threshold level 11 for multi-touch determination, the multi-touch state is determined. In the example of partial scanning in FIG. 5, since there are two peaks in the scanning range 12 exceeding the threshold level 11, it is determined that the multi-touch state is set.

Alternatively, another multi-touch determination method may be implemented, and FIG. 6 shows an example in which the number of peaks and the width of the peaks are used as determination conditions. For example, it is initially assumed that only the touch position 13 is in a one-point touch state, and the partial scans for the scan ranges 15 and 16 are repeated based on that position. When a new touch occurs at a position 14 at a certain point in time, the horizontal position of the touch position 14 is close to the touch position 13, so the X electrode measurement value 17 can have only one wide mountain, while the vertical position is vertical. Since the direction position is outside the scanning range of the Y electrode, the measured value of the Y electrode can have only one peak, and it cannot be determined correctly only by the number of peaks. However, if it is added to the condition for determining that it is in the multi-touch state that the width of the mountain is a predetermined value or more, it can be determined whether or not the multi-touch state is correct. In the example of FIG. 6, it can be seen that the width 18 of the threshold 11 of the peak of the X electrode is longer than the one-point touch state (for example, the width 20 of the peak corresponding to one point of the Y electrode). It is possible to determine whether or not the multi-touch state is correct by setting an appropriate determination threshold for the width of the mountain in advance and comparing it.
Further, another multi-touch determination method may be used, and the determination method and the threshold value may be switched between full scan and partial scan.

If it is determined that the multi-touch state is not set as a result of the multi-touch determination in step ST7 (NO in step ST8), it is determined that there is only one touch point, and the scanning range must be the entire surface. If it is a detailed partial scan, the touch detection means 3 obtains the final position coordinates of the touch point (steps ST9 and ST10). This final position coordinate is determined as touch point information, and is information to be output to the outside as necessary. Further, for the next partial scan, a range limited to a predetermined number of electrodes centered on the electrode at the touch point is set as an electrode scan range (step ST11), and the processing from step ST2 is repeated.

On the other hand, when it is determined that the touch panel is in the multi-touch state (YES in step ST8), the scanning electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scanning range over the entire touch panel unit 1 (step ST6), and the scanning operation in step ST2 Return to. Thereby, the problem that the partial scanning is continued while erroneously detecting the touch position in the multi-touch state and the correct touch position cannot be obtained is solved.

Here, the effect of the multi-touch determination means 4 will be described. FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining the ghost problem in the multi-touch state. As described above, when it is not determined whether or not the touch state is the multi-touch state, when there are two touch positions as shown in FIG. 7, for example, the true touch position is (X, Y) = (A, In spite of B) and (C, D), the measured value of the X electrode is larger than the predetermined threshold value because X = A, C, Y electrode is Y = B, D. When partial scanning is performed with the scanning range limited, a position that is not actually touched, such as position (X, Y) = (A, D) or (C, B), is erroneously detected as a touch position. There is a risk of malfunctions not intended by the user. That is, by performing multi-touch determination, there is an effect that such erroneous detection can be suppressed.

As described above, according to the first embodiment, high-speed partial scanning is used, while erroneous detection that is likely to occur in a multi-touch state during partial scanning can be suppressed.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The schematic configuration diagram of the touch panel device is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1). FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the touch panel device 100 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining multi-touch determination scanning and multi-touch re-determination after partial scanning, in which 21 and 22 are touch positions on the touch panel unit 1, 23 is an X electrode scanning range, and 24 is a Y electrode. , 25 is a measured value of the X electrode corresponding to the

scanning range

23, 26 is a width of the measured value 25 at the

threshold

11, 27 is a measured value of the Y electrode corresponding to the

scanning range

24, and 28 is a measured value at the threshold 11. The

width

27 and 29 are measured values of the Y electrode with the entire touch panel 1 obtained by scanning for multi-touch determination as a scanning target.

Steps ST21 to ST26 in the processing flow (FIG. 8) in the second embodiment are the same as steps ST1 to ST6 in the processing flow (FIG. 2) in the first embodiment, and the same procedure as in the first embodiment is performed. The entire surface of the electrode scanning range is set by the scanning electrode determining means 2 (step ST21), the electrode scanning by the touch detecting means 3 (step ST22), the measurement value acquisition of each electrode (step ST23), and touch detection (step ST24) are performed. If it is determined in ST24 that there is no touch (NO in step ST25), the scanning electrode determining unit 2 sets the electrode scanning range on the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 (step ST26), and returns to the scanning operation in step ST22.

When it is determined that there is a touch by touch detection in step ST24 (in the case of YES in step ST25), the multi-touch determination unit 4 further performs multi-touch determination (step ST27). As a result of the multi-touch determination in step ST27, “determined with multi-touch”, “determined without multi-touch”, “undetermined (a state that cannot be determined from the measurement value obtained by scanning in step ST22, ie, It is assumed that any one of the three types of “a state in which it is not possible to determine whether or not it is a multi-touch state” is output. For example, two threshold values (THW1 and THW2; THW1 <THW2) to be applied to the width of the measured value are prepared, and if the width of the peak is less than THW1, “determined without multi-touch”, THW1˜ If it is THW2 (THW1 or more, THW2 or less), “unconfirmed”, and if it exceeds THW2, “confirmed with multi-touch”. As for the number of peaks, if it is 2 or more, “determined with multi-touch” is set, and if not, it follows the determination result of the peak width. In the state of FIG. 9 in which the horizontal distance between the two touch points is shorter than in the state of FIG. 6, there is only one mountain in the partial scanning range in the measured value 25 of the X electrode and the measured value 27 of the Y electrode. , And the width 26 of the X electrode is slightly longer than the normal one-point touch state, and the width 26 of the peak is a value between THW1 and THW2 (the peak of the Y electrode The width 28 is less than THW1). In this case, the multi-touch determination unit 4 determines that “unconfirmed”.

If it is determined in step ST27 that “determined with multi-touch” (in the case of YES in step ST28), the scanning electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scanning range on the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 (step ST26). Return to scanning operation. In addition, when it is determined that “determined without multi-touch” (NO in step ST28 and YES in step ST29), the position of the touch point is obtained unless the scanning range is the entire surface (steps ST34 and ST35). ), Scanning electrode determining means 2 limits the electrode scanning range to a part of touch panel unit 1 for partial scanning (step ST36), and returns to the scanning operation of step ST22.

Further, in the case as shown in FIG. 9, that is, in the case where it is determined in step ST27 that it is “indeterminate (a state in which it is not possible to determine whether it is a multi-touch state)” (NO in step ST28 and NO in step ST29) For this, the scanning electrode determining means 2 sets electrodes for multi-touch determination (step ST30), and the touch detection means 3 performs multi-touch determination scanning for the set electrodes (step ST31). Here, in step ST30, for example, all electrodes having a shorter peak width of the X electrode and the Y electrode as the electrodes having a high possibility that the touch point is located outside the partial scanning range, that is, in the case of FIG. If so, since the width of the peak of the Y electrode is short, all the electrodes of the Y electrode are set as the electrodes for multi-touch determination. At this time, the X electrode is not scanned. In step ST31, all the electrodes of the Y electrode set as the electrodes for multi-touch determination in step ST30 are scanned to obtain a measurement value 29. In the second embodiment, the multi-touch determination scan is performed by scanning all the electrodes having the shorter peak width among the X electrode and the Y electrode. Another scanning method may be used, such as due to the gentleness of the image.

The multi-touch determination means 4 performs multi-touch re-determination from the measurement value obtained by the multi-touch determination scanning in step ST31 (step ST32). In this multi-touch re-determination in step ST32, it is determined whether or not it is in a multi-touch state as in the multi-touch determination (step ST7) in the first embodiment. In the case of FIG. 9, since there are two peaks in the measurement value 29 obtained by the scan for multi-touch determination in step ST31, it can be correctly determined that the state is the multi-touch state. With this operation, it is possible to determine whether or not the multi-touch state is achieved with a smaller processing amount than the entire scanning of both the X electrodes and the Y electrodes performed in steps ST21 and ST22.

After that, as in the first embodiment, when it is determined that the multi-touch state is obtained as a result of the multi-touch re-determination in step ST32 (in the case of YES in step ST33), the scan electrode determining unit 2 sets the electrode. The scanning range is set on the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 (step ST26), and the process returns to the scanning operation of step ST22. If it is determined that the multi-touch state is not established (NO in step ST33), the position of the touch point is obtained if the scanning range is not the entire surface (steps ST34 and ST35). The electrode scanning range is limited and set (step ST36), and the processing from step ST22 is repeated.

As described above, according to the second embodiment, even when it is difficult to determine whether or not a multi-touch state is being performed during partial scanning, it is possible to efficiently determine whether or not a multi-touch state is present.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
Embodiment 3 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The schematic configuration diagram of the touch panel device is the same as that of the first embodiment (FIG. 1). FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the touch panel device 100 according to the third embodiment.

Steps ST41 to ST46 in the processing flow (FIG. 10) in the third embodiment are the same as steps ST1 to ST6 in the processing flow (FIG. 2) in the first embodiment, and the same procedure as in the first embodiment is performed. The entire surface of the electrode scanning range is set by the scanning electrode determining means 2 (step ST41), the electrode scanning by the touch detecting means 3 (step ST42), the measurement value acquisition of each electrode (step ST43), and touch detection (step ST44) are performed. If it is determined in ST24 that there is no touch (NO in step ST45), the scan electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scan range over the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1 (step ST46), and returns to the scan operation in step ST42.

If it is determined that there is a touch by the touch detection in step ST44 (YES in step ST45), the scan electrode determining means 2 sets an electrode dedicated for multi-touch determination (step ST47). Specifically, for example, when there are 20 X electrodes X0 to X19, and electrodes X4 to 11 are set as electrodes for touch detection to be scanned in step ST42, they are not included in the scanning range. One electrode is skipped, that is, the electrodes X0, X2, X13, X15, X17, and X19 are set as scanning electrodes dedicated to multi-touch determination. Then, the touch detection means 3 performs multi-touch determination scanning for the set electrodes (step ST48), and the multi-touch determination means 4 is based on the scanning results of both the scanning of step ST42 and the scanning of step ST48. Then, it is determined whether or not the multi-touch state is set (step ST49). Here, in the multi-touch determination in step ST49, the multi-touch determination (determination 1) is performed on the scanning result in step ST42 in the same procedure as in the first embodiment, and the result of the multi-touch determination scanning in step ST48 is included. It is determined (determination 2) whether there is a measurement value that can be regarded as a touch (whether there is a touch outside the partial scanning area), and it is determined that the multi-touch state is determined in determination 1, or that there is a touch outside the partial scanning area in determination 2. If it is determined, the multi-touch state is assumed. As a result, it is possible to obtain a multi-touch determination accuracy close to that of the full scan with a smaller processing amount than the full scan. In addition, for example, in the methods of the first and second embodiments, it may not be determined that the multi-touch state is present depending on the positional relationship between the two touch points (for example, when they are completely aligned horizontally and vertically). In the method shown in the third embodiment, multi-touch determination can be performed regardless of the positional relationship between two touch points.

Note that another method may be used for the scan for multi-touch determination in step ST48. For example, electrodes that are not included in the partial scanning range in step ST42 may be combined and scanned, and in the determination 2 of the multi-touch determination, the presence / absence of touch may be determined based on this one value. In this way, since a plurality of electrodes can be combined and handled as one large electrode, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a touch outside the partial scan range with only one scan, and whether or not the touch is in a multi-touch state with a smaller amount of processing. Can be determined.

Thereafter, similarly to the first embodiment, when it is determined that the touch panel is in the multi-touch state (in the case of YES in step ST50), the scan electrode determining unit 2 sets the electrode scan range over the entire touch panel unit 1 (step ST46), the process returns to the scanning operation of step ST42. On the other hand, if it is determined that the touch state is not the multi-touch state (NO in step ST50), the position of the touch point is obtained if the scanning range is not the entire surface (steps ST51 and ST52). The scanning range is limited and set (step ST53), and the processing from step ST42 is repeated.

As described above, according to the third embodiment, highly accurate multi-touch determination can be performed with a relatively small amount of processing and not depending on the touch position.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
A fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a touch panel device 200 according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. The touch panel device 200 includes a touch panel unit 1 in which a plurality of electrodes are arranged, a scan electrode determination unit 2 that determines a scan electrode from the plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit 1, and a scan electrode that is determined by the scan electrode determination unit 2. The touch panel unit 1 is scanned to obtain a measurement value (output value from each electrode) reflecting the change in capacitance of each electrode, and the touch panel unit 1 is touched based on the acquired measurement value. Touch detection means 3 for detecting the presence or absence of touch, and tracking means 30 for tracking the touch points detected by the touch detection means 3 as having touched the touch panel unit 1 in association with past touch detection results. .

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the touch panel device 200. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the partial scanning electrode, in which 31 is a touch point on the touch panel unit 1, 32 is a horizontal position of the touch point 31, 33 is a vertical position of the

touch point

31, and 34 is A movement vector obtained from the position of the past touch point and the position of the current touch point (the direction of the arrow indicates the movement direction and the length indicates the movement speed), 35 is a horizontal component of the

movement vector

34, and 36 is the movement vector 34. The vertical component, 37 is an X electrode range to be partially scanned, and 38 is a Y electrode range to be partially scanned.

Steps ST61 to ST66 in the processing flow (FIG. 12) in the fourth embodiment are the same as steps ST1 to ST6 in the processing flow (FIG. 2) in the first embodiment, and the same procedure as in the first embodiment is performed. The entire surface of the electrode scanning range is set by the scanning electrode determining means 2 (step ST61), the electrode scanning is performed by the touch detecting means 3 (step ST62), the measured value of each electrode is obtained (step ST63), and touch detection (step ST64) is performed. If it is determined in ST64 that there is no touch (NO in step ST65), scanning electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scanning range over the entire surface of touch panel unit 1 (step ST66), and returns to the scanning operation in step ST62.

If it is determined that the touch is detected by the touch detection in step ST64 (YES in step ST65), the position of the touch point is obtained if the scanning range is not the entire surface (steps ST67 and ST68), and the tracking unit 30 detects the touch point. Is tracked (step ST69). In this step ST69, the moving speed and moving direction of the touch point are obtained from the latest touch point coordinates obtained in step ST64 and the past touch point coordinates obtained in the previous touch detection. Thereafter, the scan electrode determining means 2 sets an electrode scan range using the moving speed and moving direction of the touch point (step ST70). Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, the processing from step ST62 is repeated. Here, the operation of step ST70 will be described with reference to FIG. 13. The horizontal component 35 and the vertical component 36 are obtained from the movement vector 34 corresponding to the movement speed and movement direction obtained in step ST69, and the direction of the horizontal component 35 is determined. The X-direction electrode scanning range 37 is determined from the size and the size, and the Y-direction electrode scanning range 38 is determined from the direction and size of the vertical component 36. At this time, by setting a wider side to which each component is directed and a larger size as each component is larger, the touch point does not go out of range even when the touch point 31 is moving at high speed. Therefore, it is possible to set a scanning range and prevent a prediction error.

As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, it is possible to efficiently process touch scanning without causing a prediction error even during partial scanning.

Embodiment 5. FIG.
Embodiment 5 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The schematic configuration diagram of the touch panel device is the same as that of the fourth embodiment (FIG. 11). FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a processing flow of the touch panel device 200 according to the fifth embodiment. In the fifth embodiment, instead of the full-surface scanning described in the first to fourth embodiments (thinning-out scanning such as scanning every few electrodes on the entire surface of the touch panel unit 1), all the electrodes on the entire surface are scanned. An example of performing scanning will be described.

First, the scan electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scan range to all the electrodes of the touch panel unit 1 as an initial stage (step ST81). Subsequent steps ST82 to ST84 in the processing flow (FIG. 14) in the fifth embodiment are the same as steps ST2 to ST4 in the processing flow (FIG. 2) in the first embodiment, and the electrodes by the touch detection means 3 are used. Scanning (step ST82), measurement value acquisition of each electrode (step ST83), and touch detection (step ST84) are performed. If it is determined in step ST84 that there is no touch (NO in step ST85), the scanning electrode determining means 2 sets the electrode scanning range to all the electrodes of the touch panel unit 1 (step ST86), and in step ST82. Return to scanning operation.

When it is determined that there is a touch by the touch detection in step ST84 (YES in step ST85), the touch detection means 3 obtains the position of the touch point as in step ST10 of the first embodiment (step ST87), and thereafter The tracking unit 30 tracks the touch point in the same procedure as in the fourth embodiment (step ST88). Further, it is confirmed whether or not the moving speed is equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value. When the moving speed is equal to or higher than the threshold value (in the case of YES in step ST89), the scan electrode determining means 2 determines the limited scanning range for partial scanning. Is set (step ST90). Thereafter, as in the first embodiment, the processing from step ST82 is repeated. On the other hand, when the moving speed is slow (NO in step ST89), a scanning range for all electrode scanning is set (step ST86). Due to this processing operation, only when the touch point is moving at high speed, the shift to the partial scan is performed. Although partial scanning is performed at high speed, only partial electrode information is acquired, and thus erroneous detection tends to occur when multi-touch occurs. On the other hand, when the touch point has not moved or moved slowly, high-speed scanning is not necessary, and all-electrode scanning is often sufficient. For this reason, the operation of shifting to partial scanning only when truly high-speed scanning is required is effective in preventing erroneous detection.

As described above, according to the fifth embodiment, it is possible to reduce the frequency of occurrence of erroneous operations that increase the possibility of occurrence in partial scanning.

In the first to third embodiments, the multi-touch determination threshold value 11 is a single value for X and Y. However, this may be a different value, or a separate threshold value may be set for each electrode. May be. In addition, although the operation to be detected is expressed by the expression touch, there is a touch panel that can detect a nearby finger (not physically touching the touch panel) by increasing sensitivity. The term means proximity and contact.

In the present invention, within the scope of the invention, any combination of the embodiments, any modification of any component in each embodiment, or omission of any component in each embodiment is possible. .

As described above, the touch panel device according to the present invention is also suitable for use when there is a multi-touch state that is difficult to detect by the conventional method.

1 Touch panel unit, 2 Scan electrode determination means, 3 Touch detection means, 4 Multi-touch determination means, 5 and 6 objects such as fingers, 7 X electrodes, 8 Y electrodes, 9, 17, 25 X electrode 7 measurement values, 10 , 19, 27, 29 Measured value of

Y electrode

8, 11 Threshold value for multi-touch judgment, 12 Scanning range corresponding to partial scan, 13, 14, 21, 22 Touch position on touch panel unit 1, 15, 23

X electrode

7, 24, Y electrode 8 scanning range, 18, 26 Width of measured

values

17, 25 at threshold 11, Width of measured

values

19, 27 at 20, 28

threshold

11, 30 tracking means, 31 touch panel 1 touch point, 32 horizontal position of touch point 31, 33 vertical position of

touch point

31, 34 movement vector of touch point, 35 movement vector The horizontal component of the 34, 36 the vertical component of the

motion vector

34, 37 partial scanning X electrodes range of interest, 38 parts scanned Y electrodes ranges, 100, 200 touch panel device.

Claims

A touch panel portion on which a plurality of electrodes are disposed;
Scan electrode determining means for determining a scan electrode from a plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit;
The touch panel unit is scanned with respect to the scan electrode determined by the scan electrode determining unit to acquire a measurement value reflecting a change in capacitance of each electrode, and the touch panel unit is based on the acquired measurement value Touch detection means for detecting presence or absence of touch to
A multi-touch determination unit that determines whether or not there are a plurality of touch points detected by the touch detection unit as being touched to the touch panel unit, that is, whether or not the touch panel unit is in a multi-touch state.
The touch panel device, wherein the scan electrode determining unit determines the scan electrode of the touch panel unit based on a detection result of the touch detection unit and a determination result of the multi-touch determination unit.
The touch panel device according to claim 1, wherein the scan electrode determining means determines the entire touch panel portion as a scan electrode when the multi-touch determining means determines that the touch panel is in a multi-touch state.
The multi-touch determination unit determines that the touch state is in a multi-touch state when a plurality of electrodes separated by a predetermined distance or more are detected as having a touch, or when the number of electrodes detected as having a touch is greater than or equal to a predetermined number. The touch panel device according to claim 1.
The scanning electrode determining means determines an electrode for multi-touch determination as a scanning electrode when the multi-touch determining means cannot determine whether the multi-touch state is in a multi-touch state. The touch panel device described.
The touch panel device according to claim 1, wherein the scanning electrode determining means determines, as a scanning electrode, an electrode dedicated for multi-touch determination separately from an electrode for touch detection.
The touch panel device according to claim 5, wherein the touch detection unit performs scanning by combining the electrodes dedicated for multi-touch determination into one.
A touch panel portion on which a plurality of electrodes are disposed;
Scan electrode determining means for determining a scan electrode from a plurality of electrodes of the touch panel unit;
The touch panel unit is scanned with respect to the scan electrode determined by the scan electrode determining unit to acquire a measurement value reflecting a change in capacitance of each electrode, and the touch panel unit is based on the acquired measurement value Touch detection means for detecting presence or absence of touch to
Tracking means for tracking the moving speed and moving direction of the touch point detected as having touched the touch panel by the touch detecting means,
The touch panel device, wherein the scan electrode determining means determines a scan electrode of the touch panel unit based on a tracking result of the tracking means.
The scanning electrode determining unit limits the scanning electrode of the touch panel unit to a part around the touch point when the moving speed of the touch point obtained by the tracking unit is equal to or higher than a predetermined speed. The touch panel device according to claim 7.