WO2021044533A1

WO2021044533A1 - Touch panel device, touch operation determination method, and touch operation determination program

Info

Publication number: WO2021044533A1
Application number: PCT/JP2019/034684
Authority: WO
Inventors: 佐々木　雄一; 岳大野
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2019-09-04
Filing date: 2019-09-04
Publication date: 2021-03-11
Also published as: JPWO2021044533A1; TW202111501A

Abstract

A touch panel device (1) includes: a touch panel unit (10) that has an operation surface (11) on which a touch operation is performed and that outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation; a plurality of pressing force sensors (60) that respectively output a plurality of pressing force sensor signals corresponding to the pressing force imparted to the operation surface (11); a touch coordinates detection unit (101) that detects, on the basis of the touch sensor signals, touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation; a pressing force detection unit (102) that outputs, on the basis of the plurality of pressing force sensor signals, a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force; and an operation determination unit (103) that performs operation determination processing for determining, on the basis of the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, whether the touch operation is a valid touch operation satisfying a predetermined pushing condition or is an invalid touch operation that does not satisfy the pushing condition.

Description

Touch panel device, touch operation judgment method, and touch operation judgment program

The present invention relates to a touch panel device, a touch operation determination method, and a touch operation determination program.

A contact detection unit that outputs a contact detection signal indicating the contact coordinates corresponding to the position of the touch operation on the operation surface of the touch panel, a load detection unit that detects a load on the operation surface, and a load detection result are the conditions for acquiring the pressing coordinates. An information processing device including a coordinate estimation unit that estimates the coordinates of the pressed portion on the operation surface based on the contact detection signal when the above conditions are satisfied has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This device estimates the contact coordinates corresponding to the contact detection signal having the highest correlation between the time change of the contact detection signal and the time change of the load detection value among the plurality of contact detection signals as the position of the pushing operation. ing.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-258043

However, the above device may erroneously determine that an invalid touch operation without pushing is an effective touch operation with pushing. For example, after a certain period of time has passed since the finger of the right hand was touched on the button displayed as GUI (Graphical User Interface) on the display panel of the touch panel device without pressing, the outside of the operation surface was mistakenly touched with the left hand. When pressed, a contact that does not involve pushing with the fingers of the right hand may be erroneously determined to be an effective touch operation that involves pushing.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and is a touch panel device capable of determining with high accuracy whether or not a touch operation is an effective touch operation satisfying a pressing condition. , A touch operation determination method, and a touch operation determination program.

The touch panel device according to one aspect of the present invention has an operation surface on which a touch operation is performed, and corresponds to a touch panel unit that outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation and a pressing force applied to the operation surface. A plurality of pressing force sensors that output a plurality of pressing force sensor signals, a touch coordinate detection unit that detects touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal, and the plurality of pressing force sensor signals. Based on the pressing force detection unit that outputs a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force, and the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, the touch operation is performed under predetermined pressing conditions. It is characterized by having an operation determination unit that performs an operation determination process that determines whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies the above condition or an invalid touch operation that does not satisfy the pressing condition.

The touch operation determination method according to another aspect of the present invention has a touch panel unit that has an operation surface on which the touch operation is performed and outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation, and a pressing force applied to the operation surface. It is a touch operation determination method in a touch panel device having a plurality of pressing force sensors each outputting a plurality of pressing force sensor signals corresponding to the above, and touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal. The step to detect, the step to output a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force based on the plurality of pressing force sensor signals, and the step based on the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values. It is characterized by having a step of performing an operation determination process for determining whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation satisfying a predetermined pressing condition or an invalid touch operation not satisfying the pressing condition. And.

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the touch operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies the pressing condition.

It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the vicinity of the center of the operation surface of the touch panel unit of the touch panel device according to the first embodiment is pushed in. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the vicinity of an end portion of an operation surface of the touch panel unit of the touch panel device according to the first embodiment is pushed in. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the hardware composition of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiments 1 to 5. FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing a touch panel unit and a pressing force sensor of the touch panel device according to the first embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the main part of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the operation surface of the touch panel device according to the first embodiment is pushed in. (A) to (c) are diagrams showing an example of the position of the touch operation on the operation surface of the touch panel device, the time change of the total of the pressing force detection values, and the pressing force detection values output from the plurality of pressing force sensors. is there. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation determination process performed by an operation determination unit of the control unit of the touch panel device according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the calculation method of the pushing coordinate by the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the relationship between a plurality of pressing force detection values, and the range where the pushing coordinates can exist, in tabular form. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. (A) and (b) are the position of the touch operation on the operation surface of the touch panel device according to the third embodiment, and the touch sensor detection value output from the plurality of touch sensor electrodes at the position of the touch operation and its vicinity. It is a figure which shows an example. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4 of this invention. (A) and (b) are diagrams showing an example of touch sensor detection values output from a plurality of touch sensor electrodes when a touch operation is performed on the operation surface of the touch panel device according to the fourth embodiment. It is sectional drawing which shows schematic structure of the main part of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a functional block diagram which shows schematic structure of the touch panel apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the touch panel apparatus of the modification of Embodiments 1-5. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the structure of the touch panel apparatus of another modification of Embodiments 1-5.

Hereinafter, the touch panel device, the touch operation determination method, and the touch operation determination program according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the touch panel device according to the embodiment, the touch operation performed on the operation surface of the touch panel unit is an effective touch operation that satisfies a predetermined pressing condition, or an invalid touch operation that does not satisfy the pressing condition. It is a device that can determine whether or not it is highly accurate. The following embodiments are merely examples, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention.

<< 1 >> Embodiment 1.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the touch panel device 1 according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the vicinity of the center of the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 of the touch panel device 1 is pushed in. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the vicinity of the end portion of the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 of the touch panel device 1 is pushed in.

As shown in FIG. 1, the touch panel device 1 has a plurality of first displacement detections for detecting the touch panel unit 10, the elastic member 50 that supports the touch panel unit 10, and the pressing force applied to the operation surface 11. It has

electrodes

61a, 61b, 61c, 61d, a second displacement detection electrode 70 connected to the frame GND, a display panel 80 for displaying an image such as a GUI, and a housing 90. The first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement detection electrodes 70 constitute a plurality of pressing force sensors 60. That is, one of the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement detection electrode 70 constitute one pressing force sensor 60. The touch panel unit 10 has a cover panel 20 such as protective glass, a touch sensor 40, and an adhesive 30 for adhering the cover panel 20 and the touch sensor 40.

The cover panel 20 is, for example, a hard glass panel. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the entire cover panel 20 of the cover panel 20 is curved by applying a pressing force. The cover panel 20 may be made of a transparent material other than glass.

The adhesive 30 is formed by a sheet-shaped adhesive, a liquid adhesive, or a combination thereof. It is desirable that the adhesive 30 has a property of being deformable after being cured.

The touch sensor 40 is, for example, a capacitance type touch sensor having a plurality of touch sensor electrodes. When the operation surface 11 which is the surface of the cover panel 20 is touch-operated by an indicator body (for example, a finger 700) which is a conductor, the capacitance between the touch sensor electrodes at the touch-operated touch position among the plurality of touch sensor electrodes Capacity changes.

The pressing force sensor 60 is a pressure sensor for detecting the pressing force applied to the operation surface 11. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, when a pressing force is applied to the operation surface 11 of the cover panel 20, the pushing portion of the cover panel 20 is lowered toward the adhesive 30, and the entire touch panel portion 10 is formed. Curve. At this time, each distance between the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement detection electrode 70 changes (for example, decreases), and the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement Each capacitance between the detection electrode 70 and the detection electrode 70 changes (for example, increases). For example, when each distance between the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement detection electrode 70 decreases, the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the second displacement detection electrode 70 Each capacitance between increases.

The display panel unit 80 displays an image that can be visually recognized through the touch panel unit 10. The display panel unit 80 is, for example, a liquid crystal panel unit including a liquid crystal display and a backlight unit.

FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the control unit 100 of the touch panel device 1 according to the first embodiment. The control unit 100 of the touch panel device 1 is a control device capable of implementing the touch operation determination method according to the first embodiment. The control unit 100 may be an information processing device such as a computer.

As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 100 includes a touch coordinate detection unit 101, a pressing force detection unit 102, and an operation determination unit 103. The touch coordinate detection unit 101 detects the touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal output from the touch panel unit 10. The pressing force detection unit 102 outputs a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force based on the plurality of pressing force sensor signals output from the plurality of pressing force sensors 60. Based on the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, the operation determination unit 103 determines that the touch operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies a predetermined pressing condition, or an invalid touch operation that does not satisfy the pressing condition. Performs an operation determination process for determining whether or not. An example of a predetermined pushing condition is shown in FIG. 10 described later.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the touch panel device 1. The touch panel device 1 has a memory 602 capable of storing a program and a processor 601 as an information processing unit that executes this program. The program includes a touch operation determination program according to the first embodiment. Further, as described above, the touch panel device 1 includes a touch sensor 40 having a plurality of touch sensor electrodes, a plurality of pressing force sensors 60, and a display panel unit 80. The control unit 100 shown in FIG. 4 uses a memory 602 as a storage device for storing a program as software and a processor 610 as an information processing unit for executing a program stored in the memory 602 (for example,). It can be realized (by an information processing device such as a computer). A part of the control unit 100 shown in FIG. 4 may be configured by an electric circuit, and the remaining part may be realized by the memory 602 shown in FIG. 5 and the processor 601 that executes the program. The hardware configuration of FIG. 5 can also be applied to the touch panel devices 2 to 5 of the second to fifth embodiments described later.

The touch sensor 40 has a plurality of touch sensor electrodes that detect a touch operation that is a contact of the conductor with the operation surface 11. The touch sensor electrodes are shown, for example, in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b) described later. Further, the touch sensor 40 may be capable of detecting the strength of contact of the conductor with the operation surface 11, that is, the distribution of deformation of the touch sensor 40 due to pushing. The distribution of this deformation is shown, for example, in FIG. 15 (a) described later. The details of the embodiment using the deformation distribution of the touch sensor 40 will be described in the second embodiment. The touch sensor 40 transmits, for example, a touch sensor signal indicating a touch position, which is a touch-operated position, to the processor 601. The touch sensor signal is, for example, a signal based on the capacitance between the touch sensor electrodes.

The plurality of pressing force sensors 60 detect the pressing force applied to the operation surface 11 and transmit the pressing force sensor signal to the processor 601. The pressing force sensor signal is a signal based on each capacitance between the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61h and the second displacement detection electrode 70. The processor 601 calculates the pressing force based on, for example, the characteristics of the bending of the touch panel unit 10 and the sinking of the elastic member 50 that occur when the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 is pressed. The processor 601 stores the pressing force detection value, which is the result of calculating the pressing force, in the memory 602. Further, one of a plurality of pressing force calculation methods stored in the memory 602 is read out based on the touch coordinates detected by the touch sensor 40, and the read calculation method and the pressing force sensor value detected by the pressing force sensor 60 are read. The pressing force detection value may be calculated using and.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing the touch panel unit 10 and the pressing force sensor of the touch panel device 1. FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of a main part of the touch panel device 1. FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing a state when the operation surface 11 of the touch panel device 1 is pushed in.

As shown in FIGS. 6 to 8, the touch panel unit 10 includes a cover panel 20, an adhesive 30, a touch sensor 40, an elastic member 50, a plurality of first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d, and a frame GND, which are protective glasses. It has a second displacement detection electrode 70, which is a part of the frame or is electrically connected to the frame GND, and a display panel unit 80. The cover panel 20 and the touch sensor 40 are bonded to each other by an adhesive 30.

The first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d, which are a part of the pressing force sensor 60, are attached to the lower side of the touch sensor 40. An elastic member 50 is provided on the outside of the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d. The touch sensor 40 and the frame GND are bonded to each other by an elastic member 50. A display panel unit 80 is attached under the frame GND. The elastic member 50 has elasticity. As shown in FIG. 8, when the cover panel 20 is pushed in, the elastic member 50 is compressed and the touch panel portion 10 sinks. At this time, for example, the distance between the first displacement detection electrode 61a and the second displacement detection electrode 70 becomes shorter, and the capacitance between the first displacement detection electrode 61a and the second displacement detection electrode 70 becomes shorter. The capacity increases. The pressing force sensor 60 is not limited to the capacitance type. The pressing force sensor 60 may be a strain sensor that senses minute strain due to the application of the pressing force, or a piezoelectric sensor that generates a voltage according to the pressing force.

9 (a) to 9 (c) are examples of the time change of the total of the touch operation position and the pressing force detection value on the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 and the pressing force detection value output from the plurality of pressing force sensors. It is a figure which shows. In FIGS. 9A to 9C, the pressing force detection values based on the capacitance detected by the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d are expressed as the pressing force detection values of channels ch1 to ch4, respectively.

FIG. 9A shows a case where the pushing operation is performed immediately after the finger 700 is brought into contact with the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10. FIG. 9B shows a case where the pushing operation is performed after a while has passed since the finger 700 was brought into contact with the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10. As can be seen from the comparison of the pressing force detection values of ch1 to ch4 in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the time difference between the start time of the touch operation and the start time of the pressing on the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 Does not affect the pressing force detection values of ch1 to ch4, which are the pressing force detection values output from the plurality of pressing force sensors. 9 (a) and 9 (b) show a touch operation in which the finger 700 performing the touch operation and the finger 700 performing the pushing operation are the same and should be determined to be valid.

However, as can be seen from the comparison of the pressing force detection values of ch1 to ch4 in FIGS. 9B and 9C, when the pressing is performed at the touch operation position on the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10, the pressing force is pushed. The pressing force detection values of ch1 to ch4, which are the pressing force detection values output from the plurality of pressing force sensors, are different from the case where the pressing is performed at a position different from the touch operation position on the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10. Occurs. Therefore, the operation determination unit 103 of the control unit 100 determines that the normal touch operation shown in FIGS. 9A and 9B is an effective touch operation based on the pressing force detection values of ch1 to ch4. , The abnormal touch operation shown in FIG. 9C (that is, the touch operation by the finger 700 and the pushing operation by the other finger 701) can be determined to be invalid touch operations.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation determination process performed by the operation determination unit 103 of the control unit 100 of the touch panel device 1. In step ST11, the operation determination unit 103 calculates the pushing coordinates indicating the position where the pushing force is applied (that is, the position where the pushing force is performed) based on the plurality of pressing force detection values.

In step ST11, the operation determination unit 103 determines whether or not the total of the pressing force detection values exceeds a predetermined pressing threshold value. When the total of the pressing force detection values is equal to or less than the pressing threshold value, the touch operation is not a valid touch operation, and the operation determination process is terminated. If the total of the pressing force detection values exceeds the pushing threshold, the process proceeds to step ST13.

In step ST13, the operation determination unit 103 determines whether or not the calculated push-in coordinates are within the region based on the touch coordinates based on the touch sensor signal from the touch sensor 40. For example, when the distance from the touch coordinate of the calculated push coordinate is within a predetermined distance threshold value, the operation determination unit 103 determines that the calculated push coordinate is within the region based on the touch coordinate.

If it is determined in step ST13 that the calculated push-in coordinates are within the area based on the touch coordinates, the process proceeds to step ST14, and the operation determination unit 103 determines that the touch operation is an effective touch that satisfies the push-in condition. Judge that it is an operation.

If it is determined in step ST13 that the calculated push-in coordinates are outside the area based on the touch coordinates, the process proceeds to step ST15, and the operation determination unit 103 is invalid that the touch operation does not satisfy the push-in condition. Judge that it is a touch operation. Therefore, the touch operation accompanied by the abnormal pushing as shown in FIG. 9C is not erroneously determined as the effective touch operation accompanied by the normal pushing.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a method of calculating the indentation coordinates by the touch panel device 1. The indentation coordinates can be calculated based on the equilibrium equation of a rigid body, for example, as shown in FIG. In FIG. 11, a case where a concentrated load P is applied to the pushing coordinates (X, Y) in the touch panel unit 10 is examined. At this time, the reaction forces obtained at the four corners of the touch panel unit 10, that is, the coordinates (W, H), (0, H), (W, 0), and (0, 0) are R1, R2, R3, and R4. To do. Assuming that the touch panel unit 10 is a rigid body, the following

equations

1 and 2 are established from the balance of forces in each of the X-axis and the Y-axis.

By modifying

Equations

1 and 2, the following

Equations

3 and 4 are obtained.

As can be seen from

Equations

3 and 4, the X and Y coordinates of the coordinates (X, Y) are expressed by an equation whose denominator is the total value (R1 + R2 + R3 + R4) of the reaction forces R1 to R4. That is, when the pressing force detection value obtained by the pressing force sensor 60 is a sufficiently small value (for example, equal to or less than the pushing threshold value shown in FIG. 10), the error between the X and Y values is large, and the calculated pushing coordinates Positional deviation is likely to occur between (X, Y) and the actual pushing position. For this reason, the operation determination unit 103 performs determination processing based on the pressing force based on the pressing force only when the total of the pressing force detection values exceeds the pressing threshold value in step ST12 in FIG. 10 (for example, FIG. Step ST13) in step 10 is performed.

Further, at this time, the operation determination unit 103 measures and stores the fluctuation of the detection value of the pressing force sensor 60 in advance when the touch operation is performed or when the touch operation is not performed. May be good. Assuming that the fluctuation amount of the pressing force detection value based on the pressing force sensor value of each pressing force sensor is N1, N2, N3, N4, R1, R2, R3, and R4 of each term of Equation 1 are ± N1, ± N2, ±. N3 and ± N4 are added to obtain the fluctuation amount of the coordinate position, and the push threshold value in step ST12 and the distance threshold value used in step ST13 may be set so as to be within this fluctuation amount.

Further, as the first touch operation, when the first finger is touching the operation surface 11 and the second finger pushes the vicinity of the end portion of the operation surface 11, the pressing force detection value is obtained. The touch coordinates calculated based on this move to the end side. Utilizing such a feature, in step ST13, when the push-in coordinate is closer to the end than the coordinate obtained by the touch coordinate detection unit 101, the touch operation is an invalid touch operation. It may be determined that.

Further, when the first finger is in contact with the operation surface 11 and the first finger is hardly pushed in, and there is an abnormal push in the vicinity of the end portion, the operation determination unit 103 causes the end portion. The pushing coordinates are calculated only for the pushing force applied in the vicinity. In this case, since the touch coordinates by the first finger and the push coordinates are different, the operation determination unit 103 can determine that the touch operation is an invalid touch operation.

Further, the operation determination unit 103 may determine that the touch operation is an invalid touch operation when the push-in coordinate indicates outside the reference area based on the touch coordinate. For example, when the touch operation by the first finger is accompanied by a constant pressing force, the pressing coordinates are directed to the outside of the operating surface of the touch panel unit 10 due to the abnormal pressing near the end of the operating surface 11. May move. The operation determination unit 103 can determine that the touch operation is an invalid touch operation when there is such a movement of the pushing coordinates.

For example, the operation determination unit 103 assumes that the touch panel unit 10 is a rigid body, and calculates the indentation coordinates using the

equations

1 and 2 based on the pressing force detection value. However, the operation determination unit 103 may calculate the indentation coordinates in consideration of the bending rigidity of the touch panel unit 10 assuming that the bending rigidity of the touch panel unit 10 is D. However, when the flexural rigidity D is used, the amount w of the sinking of the touch panel portion 10 is as shown in the following equation 5. In Equation 5, (x, y) is the position of the pressing force sensor.

In Equation 5, the amount of deflection is known when the pushing coordinates are known, and as shown in FIG. 8, the pressing force detection value is obtained from the displacement accompanying the amount of deflection. That is, in step ST13, since the operation determination unit 103 cannot obtain the pushing coordinates based on the pressing force, the operation determination unit 103 is provided at the four corners from the equation 5 based on the touch coordinates obtained by the touch coordinate detecting unit 101. The pressing force applied to the pressing force sensor 60 is calculated. Then, the operation determination unit 103 compares the distribution of the pressing force detection value obtained by the pressing force detecting unit 102 with the distribution of the pressing force calculated based on the equation 5, and when a certain degree or more correlation is found. In addition, the touch operation may be determined to be an effective touch operation accompanied by a normal pushing operation.

The above correlation may be obtained by the ratio of w (that is, the cosine similarity), or may be obtained based on the Euclidean distance for the pressing force detection value of each pressing force sensor 60. Further, the above correlation may be obtained based on the degree of agreement of the magnitude relation of the pressing force detection values. Further, the operation determination unit 103 may determine whether or not the touch operation is effective based on the determination result of whether or not the largest pressing force detection value and the smallest pressing force detection value match.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the relationship between the pressing force detection value and the coordinates (X, Y) in a tabular format. Equations 1 to 5 are relational expressions in a physical model for determining whether or not the pressing force associated with the touch operation is correctly obtained. However, since the elastic member 50 of FIG. 8 sinks, there is a possibility that the pressing force cannot be obtained only by the equations 1 to 5. As a countermeasure, the operation determination unit 103 performs a simulation in advance to determine in advance the relationship between the reaction value of the pressing force detection value for the pressing force sensor (for example, ch1 to ch4) and the range in which the pressing coordinates can exist. It may be acquired and stored. In this case, the operation determination unit 103 determines whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation based on the actually obtained pressing force detection value and the range of the pushing coordinates obtained based on the data of FIG. It may be determined whether or not.

For example, the area of the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 is divided into a plurality of small areas, and the pressing force for each small area is held as shown in FIG. It is possible to obtain the degree of coincidence of. When a plurality of pressing forces are obtained in the same region, the average value of a plurality of data may be used, or all the plurality of pressing forces are stored in memory, and any one of them has a high degree of coincidence. You may search for.

As described above, if the touch panel device, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program according to the first embodiment is used, the touch operation can set the pressing condition by taking into consideration the distribution of the pressing force detection value. It is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the touch operation is an effective touch operation to be satisfied.

<< 2 >> Embodiment 2.
In the first embodiment, the operation determination unit 103 calculates the push-in coordinates (X, Y) based on the

formulas

1 and 2, or the

formulas

1, 2 and 5, and uses the calculated push-in coordinates to operate the operation surface. It is determined whether the touch operation performed in 11 is an effective touch operation satisfying a predetermined pushing condition or an invalid touch operation not satisfying the pushing condition. However, the actually manufactured touch panel device may behave differently from that of the designed physical model. Therefore, the touch panel device 2 according to the second embodiment stores the touch coordinates obtained by the touch coordinate detection unit 101 and the distribution of the pressing force detection value based on the pressing force sensor value output from the pressing force sensor 60. A physical model (that is, a dynamic model) used for abnormality determination is dynamically created by regressing from the log information of the pressing force detection value and obtaining the touch position. In other words, in the second embodiment, the operation determination unit 103 constructs a dynamic model in advance by learning the correspondence between the plurality of pressing force detection values and the touch coordinates, and uses this dynamic model. Performs operation judgment processing.

FIG. 13 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the touch panel device 2 according to the second embodiment. In FIG. 13, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 2 according to the second embodiment is different from the touch panel device 1 according to the first embodiment in that the control unit 200 has the dynamic model construction unit 104. The pressing force detection unit 102 receives the pressing force sensor values from the plurality of pressing force sensors 60, and performs a regression process to output the touch position detected by the touch coordinate detection unit 101. For example, when there is a linear relationship between the pressing force sensor value output from the pressing force sensor 60 and the touch position as shown in

Equations

6 and 7, each weight of

Equations

6 and 7 is subjected to linear regression. Optimize the values W _x and W _y of.

Indentation coordinates estimated from the pressure value P in order to optimize the weight values W _x and W _y.

_{The weight value W x} , _{so as to minimize the loss functions L x} , _Ly (indicated by Eqs. 8 and 9) with the touch coordinates (X, Y) obtained by the touch coordinate detection unit 101. By obtaining W _y , the pushing coordinates can be obtained from the pushing force sensor value. Note that E in Equations 8 and 9 is a coefficient for adjusting the weight of the error.

The minimization of Equations 8 and 9 may be performed by an optimization algorithm such as SVR (Support Vector Regression).

In this example, as shown in Equations 8 and 9, the description is made on the premise that the pressing force sensor value output from the pressing force sensor 60 and the touch coordinates have a linear relationship, but these relationships are described. Even if it is non-linear, regression processing can be performed by redefining the metric space such as kernel tricks.

As described above, if the touch panel device 2 according to the second embodiment, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program is used, even if the model does not apply to the models such as the equations 1 to 5, the touch is touched. It is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies the pushing condition.

Regarding points other than the above, the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.

<< 3 >> Embodiment 3.
In the first and second embodiments, it is described that the detection value of the pressing force sensor 60 provided near the end or the corner of the touch panel portion 10 is used to determine whether the pressing is abnormal or normal. It was. However, when the size of the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 is large, it may be difficult to detect the pressing force near the end portion or the corner portion, and in this case, the accuracy of pressing abnormality determination is lowered. In the third embodiment, a method of determining a pressing abnormality with a sensor other than the vicinity of the end portion or the corner portion of the touch panel will be described.

FIG. 14 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the touch panel device 3 according to the third embodiment. In FIG. 14, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 3 according to the third embodiment is different from the touch panel device 1 according to the first embodiment in that the control unit 300 has the touch sensor detection unit 105. The touch sensor detection unit 105 acquires a touch sensor detection value for the touch coordinate detection unit 101 to detect the touch coordinates by sensing. The operation determination unit 103 is based on the touch coordinates obtained by the touch coordinate detection unit 101, the detection value of the pressing force sensor 60 obtained by the pressing force detection unit 102, and the touch detection value obtained by the touch sensor detection unit 105. Judge an abnormality in pushing.

15 (a) and 15 (b) are diagrams showing an example of a touch operation position on the operation surface 11 and a touch sensor detection value output from a touch sensor electrode in the vicinity thereof. The touch sensor 40 of the touch panel device 3 has a plurality of touch sensor electrodes # 1 to # 6 whose capacitance changes in response to a touch operation. Although 6 touch sensor electrodes are shown in FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b) for simplification, the number of touch sensor electrodes is not limited to six. Further, the touch coordinate detection unit 101 detects the touch coordinates based on the capacitances of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes # 1 to # 6.

Further, the touch panel device 3 further has a touch sensor detection unit 105 that detects the distribution of the capacitances of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes # 1 to # 6 as the distribution of the touch sensor detection values. The operation determination unit 103 performs the operation determination process based on the touch coordinates, the plurality of pressing force detection values, and the distribution of the capacitance. In FIGS. 15A and 15B, the touch coordinates correspond to the touch sensor electrode numbers # 1 to # 6. The pressing force detection value is provided by the pressing force detection unit 102. In FIGS. 15 (a) and 15 (b), the capacitance distribution is shown by a bar graph showing the touch sensor detection value. The operation determination unit 103 determines that the touch operation is an effective touch operation when the distribution of the capacitance around the touch coordinates satisfies a predetermined distribution condition.

For example, as the touch panel unit 10 becomes larger, as shown in FIG. 15A, when the central portion is pressed, the amount of deflection of the touch sensor electrodes near the indentation coordinates increases, and the adjacent touch sensor electrodes interfere with each other. , The distribution of touch sensor detection values spreads horizontally. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 15B, when the finger 700 is not actually pushing but the other finger 701 is pushing near the end, the touch sensor 40 does not bend, so that the touch sensor 40 does not bend. Only a part of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes (for example, number # 4) is detected to be high. As shown in FIG. 15A, the operation determination unit 103 performs normal pushing depending on whether or not the increment of the touch sensor detection value near the pushing coordinates is large as shown in FIG. 15B. It is possible to determine whether or not it has been damaged.

In the third embodiment, in step ST13 of FIG. 10, the operation determination unit 103 confirms whether or not the touch sensor detection value detected by the touch sensor detection unit 105 has a spread, and is shown in FIG. 15 (b). As described above, when there is no spread compared to before pushing, it is determined that the pushing is abnormal.

As described above, if the touch panel device 3, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program according to the third embodiment is used, not only the distribution of the pressing force detection value but also the distribution of the touch sensor detection value is taken into consideration. As a result, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the touch operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies the pushing condition.

Further, by using the touch panel device 3, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program according to the third embodiment, it is possible to make an appropriate push determination even in a situation where it is difficult to obtain the sensitivity value of the outer peripheral sensor, such as when the touch panel unit 10 is large. Will be.

With respect to points other than the above, the third embodiment is the same as the first or second embodiment.

<< 4 >> Embodiment 4.
The touch panel device 3 according to the third embodiment uses the distribution of the touch sensor detection values of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes in the touch sensor 40, but when the touch panel unit 10 is pushed near the end portion, the touch panel unit is used. 10 tends to be hard to bend. In the touch panel device 4 according to the fourth embodiment, whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation or an invalid touch operation by utilizing the characteristic that the contact area of the finger 700 increases as the pressing force increases. Make a judgment.

FIG. 16 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the touch panel device 4 according to the fourth embodiment. In FIG. 16, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 14 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 4 according to the fourth embodiment is different from the touch panel device 3 according to the third embodiment in that the control unit 400 has the touch movement detection unit 106. The touch movement detection unit 106 detects finger misalignment depending on whether the coordinate position detected by the touch coordinate detection unit 101 moves as the detection value of the pressing force sensor 60 detected by the pressing force detecting unit 102 increases.

17 (a) and 17 (b) are diagrams showing an example of a touch sensor detection value output from the touch sensor 40 when a touch operation is performed. FIG. 17A shows an example of touch sensor detection values output from a plurality of touch sensor electrodes (for example, touch sensor electrode numbers # 1 to # 5) of the touch sensor 40 when a touch operation is performed. .. FIG. 17B shows the case where the touch sensor detection value near the touch position increases and the detection value of the pressing force detection unit 102 increases after FIG. 17A, or the finger shift occurs due to the touch movement detection unit 106. The touch sensor detection value of is shown. As shown in FIG. 17B, the operation determination unit 103 increases the touch sensor detection value near the touch position by the touch sensor detection unit 105 and increases the detection value of the pressing force detection unit 102, or touch movement detection. It is determined that the touch operation is effective when the finger is displaced by the unit 106.

As described above, if the touch panel device 4, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program according to the fourth embodiment is used, not only the distribution of the pressing force detection value but also the distribution of the touch sensor detection value is taken into consideration. As a result, it is possible to determine with high accuracy whether or not the touch operation is an effective touch operation that satisfies the pushing condition.

Further, if the touch panel device 4 according to the fourth embodiment, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program is used, the touch panel unit 10 is hard to bend by using the change in the contact area or the change in the coordinate position accompanied by pushing. It is possible to determine with high accuracy whether the touch operation when there is contact with the finger 700 in the above is a valid touch operation or an invalid touch operation.

With respect to points other than the above, the fourth embodiment is the same as any one of the first to third embodiments.

<< 5 >> Embodiment 5.
In the touch panel devices 1 to 4 according to the first to fourth embodiments, when a conductor such as a finger comes into contact with the pressing force sensor 60 on the operation surface 11, the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d. There is a possibility that the capacitance C between the displacement detection electrode 70 and the displacement detection electrode 70 of 2 is changed. That is, the pressing force sensor 60 in the touch panel devices 1 to 4 according to the first to fourth embodiments is susceptible to the influence of disturbance noise and the touch operation. For example, when the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60 is touched, the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d are subjected to the first displacement detection electrode 61a in addition to the capacitance C between the first displacement detection electrodes 61a and the second displacement detection electrode 70. Capacitance is also generated between ~ 61d and the finger. As a result, there is a possibility that the pressing force is sensed even though the pressing force is not applied to the operation surface 11. Therefore, the touch panel device 5 according to the fifth embodiment is provided with a shield electrode 63 in order to make it less susceptible to the influence of disturbance noise and the touch operation.

FIG. 18 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of a main part of the touch panel device 5 according to the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 5, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 7 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 5 differs from the touch panel device 1 shown in FIG. 7 in that the shield electrodes 63 are arranged so as to cover the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d. Further, by passing a signal similar to the drive signal applied to the pressing force sensor 60 to the shield electrode 63, the influence of the touch operation on the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60 can be suppressed.

In other words, the touch panel device 5 detects the capacitance of the shield electrode 63 and the shield electrode 63 that covers the first displacement detection electrodes 60a to 60d of the pressing force sensor 60 between the pressing force sensor 60 and the operation surface 11. A first drive signal, which is the same as the drive signal applied to the pressing force sensor 60, or a second drive signal, which is a predetermined drive signal, is applied to the shield electrode touch detection unit 107 and the shield electrode 63. It further has a drive signal switching unit 108. The second drive signal is, for example, a signal having a frequency different from the drive signal applied to the touch sensor electrode of the touch sensor 40. However, the second drive signal can be set to a signal having the same frequency as the drive signal applied to the touch sensor electrode of the touch sensor 40. The operation determination unit 103 determines that the touch operation on the shield electrode 63 is an effective touch operation or an invalid touch operation based on the change in capacitance when the second drive signal is applied to the shield electrode 63. The operation determination process of whether or not is performed.

Further, when the second drive signal is applied to the shield electrode 63, it is possible to sense the presence or absence of a touch operation on the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60. That is, by providing the shield electrode 63, the shield electrode 63 can have a function of determining the presence or absence of a touch operation while having a function as a shield of the pressing force sensor 60.

FIG. 19 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the configuration of the touch panel device 5 according to the fifth embodiment. In FIG. 19, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 4 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 19, the control unit 500 of the touch panel device 5 includes a shield electrode touch detection unit 107 and a drive signal switching unit 108.

The drive signal switching unit 108 applies the same drive signal as the drive signal applied to the pressing force sensor 60 to the shield electrode 63 covering the pressing force sensor 60 near the end of the touch panel unit 10, and presses the pressing force by touch operation. False detection of is suppressed. Alternatively, the drive signal switching unit 108 applies a second drive signal, which is a predetermined drive signal, in order to detect a touch on the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60. The second drive signal is a signal having a predetermined frequency different from that of the first drive signal. The shield electrode touch detection unit 107 can detect a touch on the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60 by changing the capacitance when the second drive signal is applied to the shield electrode 63. The operation determination unit 103 can determine that the touch operation accompanied by pushing is an invalid touch operation when the conductor is in contact with the upper part of the shield electrode 63.

As described above, if the touch panel device 5, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program according to the fifth embodiment is used, it is effective to satisfy the pressing condition by taking into consideration the distribution of the pressing force detection value. Whether or not it is a touch operation can be determined with high accuracy.

Further, if the touch panel device 5 according to the fifth embodiment, the touch operation determination method, or the touch operation determination program is used, the touch operation when the conductor is in contact with the upper part of the pressing force sensor 60 is determined to be an invalid touch operation. can do.

With respect to points other than the above, the fifth embodiment is the same as any one of the first to fourth embodiments.

<< 6 >> Modification example.
FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the touch panel device 6 of the modified examples of the first to fifth embodiments. In FIG. 20, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 6 shown in FIG. 20 is composed of first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and second displacement detection electrodes 70 on the outside of the elastic member 50 (that is, on the end side of the touch panel portion 10). It differs from the touch panel device 1 shown in FIG. 1 in that the pressing force sensor 60 is arranged. In the touch panel device 6, when the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 is pushed in, the touch panel unit 10 bends and the vicinity of the end portion of the touch panel unit 10 warps, so that the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d. The distance between the displacement detection electrode 70 and the displacement detection electrode 70 of 2 becomes long. Therefore, by pushing the operation surface 11, the capacitance of the pushing force sensor 60 becomes smaller. Except for this point, the touch panel device 6 is the same as any of the touch panel devices 1 to 5 according to the first to fifth embodiments.

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the touch panel device 7 of the modified examples of the first to fifth embodiments. In FIG. 21, components that are the same as or correspond to the components shown in FIG. 20 are designated by the same reference numerals as those shown in FIG. The touch panel device 7 shown in FIG. 21 differs from the touch panel device 6 of FIG. 20 in that the housing 91 supports the end portion of the cover panel 20. In the touch panel device 7, when the operation surface 11 of the touch panel unit 10 is pushed in, the touch panel unit 10 bends and the vicinity of the end portion of the touch panel unit 10 warps, so that the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d and the first displacement detection electrodes 61a to 61d. The distance between the displacement detection electrode 70 and the displacement detection electrode 70 of 2 becomes long. Therefore, the capacitance of the pressing force sensor 60 due to the pressing of the operation surface 11 becomes smaller. Further, since the end portion of the cover panel 20 is supported by the housing 91, the amount of bending of the touch panel portion 10 due to the pushing of the operation surface 11 is large. Therefore, the capacitance of the pressing force sensor 60 is greatly reduced by pushing the operation surface 11. Except for this point, the touch panel device 7 is the same as any of the touch panel devices 1 to 5 according to the first to fifth embodiments.

1 to 7 touch panel device, 10 touch panel part, 11 operation surface, 20 cover panel, 30 adhesive, 40 touch sensor, 50 elastic member, 60 pressing force sensor, 61a to 61d, 61e to 61h first displacement detection electrode, 63 Shield electrode, 70 second displacement detection electrode, 80 display panel unit, 90, 91 housing, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 control unit, 101 touch coordinate detection unit, 102 pressing force detection unit, 103 operation judgment unit , 104 dynamic model construction unit, 105 touch sensor detection unit, 106 touch movement detection unit, 107 shield electrode touch detection unit, 108 drive signal switching unit, 700 fingers, 701 other fingers.

Claims

A touch panel unit that has an operation surface on which a touch operation is performed and outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation, and a touch panel unit.
A plurality of pressing force sensors that output a plurality of pressing force sensor signals corresponding to the pressing force applied to the operation surface, and a plurality of pressing force sensors.
A touch coordinate detection unit that detects touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal, and a touch coordinate detection unit.
A pressing force detection unit that outputs a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force based on the plurality of pressing force sensor signals, and a pressing force detecting unit.
Based on the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation satisfying a predetermined pressing condition or an invalid touch operation not satisfying the pressing condition. The operation judgment unit that performs the operation judgment processing, which is the judgment of
A touch panel device characterized by having.
The touch panel device according to claim 1, wherein the operation determination unit performs the operation determination process when the total of the plurality of pressing force detection values exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
The operation determination unit calculates the indentation coordinates indicating the position where the pressing force is applied based on the plurality of pressing force detection values, and performs the operation determination process based on the difference between the touch coordinates and the indentation coordinates. The touch panel device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the touch panel device is performed.
When the touch coordinate detecting unit detects a plurality of the touch coordinates, the operation determining unit calculates the pushing coordinate indicating the position where the pressing force is applied based on the plurality of pressing force detection values, and the operation determination unit calculates the pushing coordinate indicating the position where the pressing force is applied. The first or second claim is characterized in that the difference between a plurality of touch coordinates and the pushing coordinate is calculated, and the touch operation of the touch coordinate having the smallest difference among the differences is determined to be an effective touch operation. The described touch panel device.
The operation determination unit constructs a dynamic model in advance by learning the correspondence between the plurality of pressing force detection values and the touch coordinates, and performs the operation determination process using the dynamic model. The touch panel device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.
The touch panel unit has a touch sensor.
The touch sensor has a plurality of touch sensor electrodes whose capacitance changes in response to the touch operation.
The touch panel device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the touch coordinate detection unit detects the touch coordinates based on the capacitances of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes.
It further has a touch sensor detection unit that detects the distribution of capacitance of the plurality of touch sensor electrodes.
The touch panel device according to claim 6, wherein the operation determination unit performs the operation determination process based on the touch coordinates, the plurality of pressing force detection values, and the distribution of the capacitance.
7. The operation determination unit is characterized in that the operation determination unit determines that the touch operation is an effective touch operation when the distribution of the capacitance around the touch coordinates satisfies a predetermined distribution condition. The touch panel device described.
It further has a touch movement detection unit that detects the movement of the touch coordinates.
Any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the operation determination unit determines that the touch operation when there is no movement of the touch coordinates detected by the touch movement detection unit is an invalid touch operation. The touch panel device described in the section.
A shield electrode that covers the pressing force sensor between the pressing force sensor and the operation surface, and
A shield electrode touch detection unit that detects the capacitance of the shield electrode,
A drive signal switching unit that applies either a first drive signal, which is the same as the drive signal applied to the pressing force sensor, or a second drive signal, which is a predetermined drive signal, to the shield electrode.
Have more
In the operation determination unit, the touch operation on the shield electrode is an effective touch operation or an invalid touch based on the change in capacitance when the second drive signal is applied to the shield electrode. The touch panel device according to any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein an operation determination process of whether or not the operation is performed is performed.
The touch panel device according to claim 10, wherein the second drive signal is a signal having a frequency different from that of the drive signal applied to the touch sensor.
The touch panel device according to claim 10, wherein the second drive signal is a signal having the same frequency as the drive signal applied to the touch sensor.
A touch panel unit that has an operation surface on which a touch operation is performed and outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation, and a plurality of touch panel units that output a plurality of pressing force sensor signals corresponding to the pressing force applied to the operation surface. It is a touch operation determination method executed in a touch panel device having a pressing force sensor of.
A step of detecting touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal, and
A step of outputting a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force based on the plurality of pressing force sensor signals, and a step of outputting the plurality of pressing force detection values.
Based on the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation satisfying a predetermined pressing condition or an invalid touch operation not satisfying the pressing condition. The step of performing the operation judgment process, which is the judgment of
A touch operation determination method characterized by having.
A touch panel unit that has an operation surface on which a touch operation is performed and outputs a touch sensor signal corresponding to the touch operation, and a plurality of touch panel units that output a plurality of pressing force sensor signals corresponding to the pressing force applied to the operation surface. It is a touch operation determination program that causes an information processing device to execute a touch operation determination process in a touch panel device having a pressing force sensor of.
The touch operation determination process is
A process of detecting touch coordinates indicating the position of the touch operation based on the touch sensor signal, and
A process of outputting a plurality of pressing force detection values corresponding to the pressing force based on the plurality of pressing force sensor signals, and a process of outputting a plurality of pressing force detection values.
Based on the touch coordinates and the plurality of pressing force detection values, whether the touch operation is an effective touch operation satisfying a predetermined pressing condition or an invalid touch operation not satisfying the pressing condition. A touch operation determination program characterized by having a process of performing an operation determination process which is the determination of.