WO2013105711A1

WO2013105711A1 - Device and method for identifying multi-touch points using internal scattering

Info

Publication number: WO2013105711A1
Application number: PCT/KR2012/006624
Authority: WO
Inventors: 이기혁; 최상원; 허성국
Original assignee: 한국과학기술원
Priority date: 2012-01-13
Filing date: 2012-08-21
Publication date: 2013-07-18
Also published as: KR20130083634A; KR101356835B1

Abstract

A device and a method for identifying multi-touch points are provided. When a light emitting unit emits light to the rear surface of an optical waveguide, the light emitted by a physical phenomena generated from the front surface of the optical waveguide is scattered to the inside of the optical waveguide. The optical waveguide receives the scattered light, and the received light is totally reflected in the optical waveguide. The received light escapes from the optical waveguide via the side surface of the optical waveguide and a light receiving part detects the escaping light.

Description

Apparatus and method for recognizing multi-touch using internal scattering

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for recognizing a multi-touch, and more particularly, to an optical multi-touch recognition apparatus and a method using an internal scattering generated when an object contacts an optical waveguide surface.

Multi touch recognition technology is technology that recognizes one or more contact locations. Various methods, such as capacitive, pressure sensitive, and optical methods, may be used to recognize the multi-touch.

As a conventional optical touch recognition technology utilizing total reflection, US Patent Publication No. 2008-0284925 (published November 20, 2008) discloses 1) a dense medium such as acrylic, and 2) a light emitting diode (LED). 3) recognizes the touch using only a light emitting unit such as 3) and a recognition unit such as a camera. Light emitted from the light emitting portion provided on the side of the acrylic is usually totally reflected in the acrylic and is not detected by the recognition portion. When the finger touches the front surface of the acrylic, the emitted light is scattered, and the scattered light is detected by the recognition unit to recognize the touch.

The method of installing the light emitting part on the side of the acrylic has an advantage of easily recognizing the multi-touch, but has a structural limitation that it is difficult to make thin because of the camera.

The following embodiments relate to optical multi-touch recognition using internal scattering generated when an object comes into contact with an optical waveguide surface.

An embodiment may provide a multi-touch detection display having a structure in which a light receiving unit is disposed at a side of an optical waveguide, and a light emitting unit is disposed at a rear side of the optical waveguide, and a multi-touch detection method using the multi-touch detection display.

One embodiment may provide a multi-touch detection display including a light receiving unit for receiving light reflected by an object proximate an optical waveguide and a method of using the multi-touch detection display.

According to one side, in a multi-touch detection display, an optical waveguide for receiving scattered light, the received light is totally reflected in the optical waveguide-at least one light emitting portion for emitting light to the rear of the optical waveguide and At least one first light receiver for detecting the received light exiting the optical waveguide through the side of the optical waveguide, wherein the emitted light is internal to the optical waveguide by a physical phenomenon occurring in front of the optical waveguide There is provided a multi-touch detection display, which is scattered with.

The optical waveguide may be an acrylic plate.

The light emitting unit may include a red cell emitting red light, a green cell emitting green light, and a blue cell emitting blue light.

The at least one light emitting unit may emit light sequentially.

Each time the at least one light emitter emits light sequentially, the at least one first light receiver may detect the received light exiting the optical waveguide.

The multi-touch detection display may further include a controller for identifying a location where the physical phenomenon occurs based on information detected by the at least one first light receiver whenever the at least one light emitter sequentially emits light.

The light may be infrared.

The light emitting unit may include an infrared light emitting diode (LED) emitting the infrared rays.

The physical phenomenon may be that the user's body is in contact with the front surface of the optical waveguide.

The front surface of the optical waveguide may be a surface exposed to the outside of the multi-touch detection display. The rear surface of the optical waveguide may be a surface opposite to the front surface. The side surface of the optical waveguide may be at least one surface between the front surface and the back surface.

The at least one light emitting unit may be disposed to cover the rear surface.

The at least one first light receiving unit may be disposed to surround the side surface.

The multi-touch detection display may further include at least one second light receiver configured to detect reflected light emitted from the rear surface.

The reflected light may be one in which the emitted light is reflected by an object proximate to the front surface.

The multi-touch detection display may further include a controller that identifies a position of an object that is in proximity to the at least one second light receiver based on the intensity of the reflected light detected by the at least one second light receiver.

Whenever the at least one light emitter sequentially emits light, the at least one second light receiver may detect the reflected light emitted from the rear surface.

There is provided a multi-touch detection display having a structure in which a light receiving portion is disposed on the side of the optical waveguide and the light emitting portion is disposed on the rear side of the optical waveguide. With the above structure, a multi-touch detection display panel capable of touch recognition while having a thin thickness can be manufactured.

There is provided a multi-touch detection display capable of detecting multi-touch by emitting light sequentially.

Provided is a multi-touch detection display that can detect a multi-touch and detect an adjacent object using the first light-receiving unit and the second light-receiving unit.

1 is a side view of a multi-touch detection display according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates a process in which light scattered by a physical phenomenon generated in front of an optical waveguide reaches a first light receiving unit according to an example.

3 illustrates a process in which light scattered by a physical phenomenon generated in front of an optical waveguide escapes through a side of the optical waveguide according to an example.

4 is a top-view of a multi-touch detection display according to one embodiment.

5 is a top-view of a multi-touch detection display that includes a color LCD according to an example.

6 is a top-view of the multi-touch detection display including the second light receiver according to one embodiment.

7 illustrates a touch image and a proximity image according to an example.

8 is a flowchart of a multi-touch detection method according to an exemplary embodiment.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

In the following description, the optical waveguide 110 is an object in which total internal reflection of light is formed, and may mean an object having a hexagonal plane shape, an object having a flat plate shape, an object having a specific curvature or thickness, and the like, and are not limited thereto. .

1 is a side view of a multi-touch detection display according to an embodiment.

The multi-touch detection display 100 may include an optical waveguide 110, at least one light emitting unit 120, at least one first light receiving unit 130, and a controller 140.

The optical waveguide 110 may be a dense medium. The optical waveguide 110 may be a plate or an acrylic plate through which light is totally reflected.

The light emitter 120 may emit light toward the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. There may be a plurality of light emitting units 120. The plurality of light emitting units may form an array of light emitting units. The light emitter 120 may be disposed on the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110.

The light emitted from the light emitter 120 may be infrared rays.

The front surface of the optical waveguide 110 may be a surface exposed to the outside of the multi-touch detection display 100 among the surfaces of the optical waveguide 110. The rear surface of the optical waveguide 110 may be a surface opposite to the front surface.

The first light receiver 130 may receive light. The first light receiver 130 may be a photo sensor. The first light receiver 130 may be disposed on the side of the optical waveguide 110. The side surface of the optical waveguide 110 may be at least one surface between the front side and the rear side. For example, the first light receiver 130 may detect only light having a predetermined wavelength emitted from the light emitter 120.

As shown in FIG. 1, when no physical phenomenon occurs in front of the optical waveguide, the light emitted by the light emitting unit 120 passes through the optical waveguide 110. Therefore, total reflection does not occur in the optical waveguide 110, and no light reaches the first light receiver 130.

The multi-touch detection display 100 may further include an upper partition 192 in close contact with the front surface of the optical waveguide 110 and a lower partition 194 in close contact with the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. The upper partition 192 and the lower partition 194 may fix the optical waveguide 110.

The controller 140 may be electrically connected to the light emitters 120 of the first light receiver 130, respectively.

Light emitted by the light emitter 120 may be scattered into the optical waveguide 110 by a physical phenomenon generated in front of the optical waveguide 110. Here, the light scattered into the optical waveguide 110 may be part of the emitted light. Physical phenomena may mean contact of an optical waveguide and an object. When a plurality of physical phenomena occur, the emitted light may enter through various positions of the optical waveguide 110 by scattering. The physical phenomenon may be that the user's body or passive stylus contacts the front surface of the optical waveguide 110. The body of the user may be a finger of the user.

The optical waveguide 110 may receive scattered light. The received light may be totally reflected within the optical waveguide 110.

The first light receiver 130 may detect the received light that escapes the optical waveguide 110 through the side of the optical waveguide 110.

The controller 140 may identify the location of the physical phenomenon based on the information detected by the at least one first light receiver 120 (eg, the intensity of the detected light). The position at which the physical phenomenon occurs may be a position relative to the optical waveguide 110, that is, a relative position with respect to the optical waveguide 110, and may be a coordinate at the front of the optical waveguide 110. In addition, the location where the physical phenomenon occurs may represent a certain range.

The light scattered by the phenomena may be scattered in various directions. Scattered light may escape the optical waveguide 110 through two or more sides of the optical waveguide 110. Some of the light that escapes the optical waveguide 110 may be detected by the first light receiver 130.

Light that escapes the optical waveguide 110 through a side that is not adjacent to the first light receiver 130 may not be detected by the first light receiver 130. In addition, the side surface where the first light receiving unit 130 is not adjacent may totally reflect or absorb scattered light.

The controller 140 may identify the position of the contact surface based on the information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130 (eg, the intensity of the detected light). The position of the contact surface may be a relative position with respect to the optical waveguide 110 and may be a coordinate at the front of the optical waveguide 110. In addition, the position of the contact surface may represent a certain range.

4 is a top-view of a multi-touch detection display according to one embodiment.

The optical waveguide 110 may be transparent or translucent. In FIG. 4, at least one light emitting portion 120 positioned below the optical waveguide 110 is shown projecting the front and rear surfaces of the optical waveguide 110. The light emitter 120 may form a planar array. The at least one light emitter 120 may be disposed to cover the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. That is, the plurality of light emitting parts may emit light evenly over the entire rear surface of the optical waveguide 110.

In FIG. 4, at least one first light receiver 130 is shown disposed to surround the side of the optical waveguide 110. The light emitter 120 may form an array. There may be a plurality of arrays. An array of light emitting units may be located along the side of the optical waveguide 110. For each of the one or more sides of the optical waveguide 110, an array of light emitters may be located. In addition, the entirety of the first light receiving portions disposed to surround the entire sides of the optical waveguide 110 may be regarded as an arrangement.

The multi-touch detection display 100 may further include at least one light emitting unit 510.

In FIG. 5, at least one light emitting portion 510 positioned below the optical waveguide 110 is shown projecting the front and rear surfaces of the optical waveguide 110. The light emitter 510 may form a planar array. At least one light emitting unit 510 may be disposed to cover the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. That is, the plurality of light emitting parts may emit light evenly over the entire rear surface of the optical waveguide 110.

The light emitter 510 may be the light emitter 120 described above with reference to FIG. 1. In addition, the light emitter 510 may include one pixel of a liquid crystal display (LCD) or an LCD. That is, the plurality of light emitting parts may correspond to one pixel of the LCD, respectively.

The light emitting unit may include a red, green, and blue (RGB) LCD. The light emitting unit 510 includes an infrared LED 512 emitting infrared light, a red cell 514 emitting red light, a green cell 516 emitting green light, and a blue cell 518 emitting blue light. can do. Here, the red light, the green light, and the blue light may each be visible light having a specific wavelength.

As described above, the infrared LED 512, the red cell 514, the green cell 516, and the blue cell 518 are disposed together to have a thin structure, display an image, and recognize a multi-touch. A touch detection display can be provided.

The multi-touch detection display 100 may further include at least one second light receiver 610 and at least one light emitter 620. The second light receiver 610 may be a phototransistor or a photodiode. For example, the second light receiver 610 may detect only light having a predetermined wavelength emitted from the light emitter 120.

The light emitter 620 may represent the light emitter 110 described above with reference to FIG. 1 or the infrared LED 512 described above with reference to FIG. 5.

In FIG. 6, the second light receiver 610 is shown in the form of a single plate located below the optical waveguide 110. The above form is exemplary, and one or more second light receiving units 610 may form a planar array. When there are a plurality of second light receivers 610 and light emitters ^ 20, the second light receivers 610 and the light emitters 620 may be alternately arranged.

The at least one second light receiver 610 may detect the reflected light emitted from the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. Here, the reflected light may be the light emitted by the light emitting unit 620 is reflected by an object close to the front of the optical waveguide 110. In addition, the second light receiver 610 may be configured to detect only the reflected light without directly detecting the light emitted from the light emitter 620.

The controller 140 may be electrically connected to the second light receiver 610.

The controller 140 may identify a position of an adjacent object based on the intensity of the reflected light detected by the at least one second light receiver 610, and generate a proximity image based on the identified position. Here, 'close' means an object approaching the optical waveguide 110 within a distance where the second light receiving unit 610 can detect the reflected light according to the characteristics of the light emitting unit 620, the second light receiving unit 610, and the object. It may mean that. Alternatively, 'close' may indicate that the object has approached the optical waveguide 110 at a distance less than or equal to a certain predefined value.

In order to detect the multi-touch, the at least one light emitter 120 may emit light sequentially. As the at least one light emitter 120 sequentially emits light, each time the light emitter 120 that emits light is changed, the at least one first light receiver 130 may detect the received light that escapes the optical waveguide 110. Can be. In addition, the controller 140 sequentially emits light by the at least one light emitter 120, so that whenever the light emitter 120 that emits light is changed, the controller 140 based on the information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130. Identify where the physical phenomenon occurred.

The information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130 may include an intensity of the received light that escapes the optical waveguide 110 detected by each of the first light receivers 130. The physical phenomenon and the location where the physical phenomenon occurs may be plural. The controller 140 may receive information indicating the intensity of the received received light detected from each of the plurality of first light receivers, and identify a location where each of the plurality of physical phenomena occurs based on the information. The plurality of first light receiving units may be connected in parallel, and the plurality of first light receiving units connected in parallel may operate as if they are a single sensor.

In addition, since the at least one light emitting unit 120 emits light sequentially, each time the light emitting unit 120 emitting light is changed, the at least one second light receiving unit 610 is reflected from the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110. Light can be detected. The controller 140 sequentially emits light by the at least one light emitter 120, and thus, whenever the light emitter 110 that emits light is changed, an object close to each other based on information detected by the at least one second light receiver 610. It can identify the position of.

The information detected by the at least one second light receiver 610 may include the intensity of reflected light detected by each second light receiver 710. The physical phenomenon and the location where the physical phenomenon occurs may be plural. The controller 140 may receive information indicating the intensity of the reflected light detected by the second light receiver 610 from each of the plurality of second light receivers, and based on the information, determine the position of each of the plurality of adjacent objects. Can be identified. The plurality of second light receivers may be connected in parallel, and the plurality of second light receivers connected in parallel may operate as if they are a single sensor.

Here, the position of the adjacent object may be a position relative to the optical waveguide 110, that is, a relative position with respect to the optical waveguide 110, and may be a coordinate at the front surface of the optical waveguide 110. One object may be detected at several locations at the same time according to characteristics such as the size of the object.

7 illustrates a touch image and a proximity image according to an example.

The touch image 710 represents an image generated by the controller 140 based on information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130. The controller 140 may identify a location where a physical phenomenon occurs based on the information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130, and generate a touch image 710 based on the location of the identified object. .

The proximity recognition image 720 indicates an image generated by the controller 140 based on information detected by the at least one second light receiver 610. The controller 140 may identify a location of a nearby object based on the information detected by the at least one second light receiver 610, and generate a proximity recognition image 720 based on the identified location of the adjacent object. have.

In operation 810, the at least one light emitter 120 may emit light toward the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110.

In operation 820, the emitted light may be scattered into the optical waveguide 110 by a physical phenomenon occurring in front of the optical waveguide 110.

In step 830, the optical waveguide 110 may receive scattered light. The received light may be totally reflected within the optical waveguide 110.

In step 840, the received light may escape the optical waveguide 110 through the side of the optical waveguide 110.

In operation 850, the at least one first light receiver 130 may detect the escaped light.

In operation 860, the controller 140 may identify a location where a physical phenomenon occurs based on information detected by the at least one first light receiver 130.

Steps

825, 855, and 865 represent steps for identifying the location of an object in close proximity.

In step 825, the light emitted by the at least one light emitter 120 is reflected by an object proximate to the front of the optical waveguide 110.

In operation 855, the at least one second light receiver 610 may detect the emission light emitted from the rear surface of the optical waveguide 110.

In operation 865, the controller 140 may identify a position of an adjacent object based on information detected by the at least one second light receiver 610.

Since the technical contents described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7 may be applied as it is, a more detailed description will be omitted below.

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

The technical content described through the embodiments as described above may be variously modified and modified. Therefore, the scope of the invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined not only by the claims below, but also by those equivalent to the claims.

Claims

In the multi-touch detection display,

An optical waveguide for receiving scattered light, the received light totally reflecting within the optical waveguide;

At least one light emitting part emitting light to a rear surface of the optical waveguide; And

At least one first light receiving portion for detecting the received light exiting the optical waveguide through the side of the optical waveguide

Including,

And the emitted light is scattered into the optical waveguide by a physical phenomenon occurring in front of the optical waveguide.
The method of claim 1,

And the optical waveguide is an acrylic plate.
The method of claim 1,

And the light emitting part comprises a red cell emitting red light, a green cell emitting green light, and a blue cell emitting blue light.
The method of claim 1,

The at least one light emitting part emits light sequentially;

And each time the at least one light emitter sequentially emits light, the at least one first light receiver detects the received light exiting the optical waveguide.
The method of claim 4, wherein

A controller for identifying a location where the physical phenomenon occurs based on information detected by the at least one first light receiver whenever the at least one light emitter sequentially emits light.

Further comprising, the multi-touch detection display.
The method of claim 1,

The light is infrared,

The light emitting unit includes an infrared light emitting diode (LED) emitting the infrared light.
The method of claim 1,

The physical phenomenon is that the user's body is in contact with the front surface of the optical waveguide.
The method of claim 1,

The front surface of the optical waveguide is a surface exposed to the outside of the multi-touch detection display, the rear surface of the optical waveguide is the opposite surface of the front surface, the side surface of the optical waveguide is at least one surface between the front and the rear surface ego,

The at least one light emitting portion is disposed to cover the back,

And the at least one first light receiving portion is arranged to surround the side surface.
The method of claim 1,

At least one second light receiver to detect reflected light emitted from the rear surface

More,

And the reflected light is that the emitted light is reflected by an object proximate to the front surface.
The method of claim 9,

A control unit for identifying a position of an adjacent object based on the intensity of the reflected light detected by the at least one second light receiving unit

Further comprising, the multi-touch detection display.
The method of claim 9,

The at least one second light receiving unit detects the reflected light emitted from the rear surface each time the at least one light emitting unit emits light sequentially.
At least one light emitting unit emitting light to the rear side of the optical waveguide;

The emitted light is scattered into the optical waveguide by a physical phenomenon occurring in front of the optical waveguide;

The optical waveguide receives the scattered light, the received light totally reflecting within the optical waveguide;

The received light exits the optical waveguide through the side of the optical waveguide; And

Detecting the escaped light by at least one first light receiving unit;

Comprising a, multi-touch detection method.