JPS61143832A - Touch input device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce a touch input device in size and cost by varying the resolution of the touch input device and using only the storage capacity corresponding to the resolution. CONSTITUTION:A touch panel 120 is constituted by opposing two electrode plates 120X, 120Y obtained by forming a conductive surface on one side of each non-conductive plate such as a transparent plastic with a prescribed gap. Keying is executed by depressing a part corresponding to a switch picture 111 such as SW1, SW2, SW3 displayed on a display screen 110 of a CRT display unit 100 with a finger. If a certain position is depressed when a constant voltage is impressed on one electrode plate 120X e.g., the other electrode plate 120Y is acted as a detector and the potential corresponding to the depressed position is generated, so that the Y coordinate can be detected by detecting the potential. In the reverse case, the X coordinate can be detected.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to an input device, and particularly to a touch input device that outputs output information corresponding to the coordinate position when a desired position on a touch panel is pressed. It is.

[Prior Art] Various input devices are used to control assembly processing lines and other equipment in shops in various manufacturing fields, and keyboards, operation panels, etc. are generally well known.

However, in recent years, in response to the increasing complexity of input information and the frequent reshuffling of processing steps in various production lines,
There is a problem in that regular fixed keyboards or control panels cannot accommodate such a wide variety of functions and quick rearrangement of the switches themselves, and new touch input devices are being put into practical use as an alternative. It's here.

As shown in FIG. 2, the touch input device is composed of a touch panel 10, a display panel 12, and a control circuit block 14 that are stacked together. A desired electrical signal is output by touching and pressing the arranged switches.

Usually, the touch panel 10 is a film-like switch panel in which a conductive surface is provided on one side of a non-conductive material made of transparent plastic or the like, and the conductive surface is placed in a pair facing each other with a predetermined gap. Split into columns (m x n
), it can be used as a switch assigned to a predetermined position, and a desired signal can be output from any position, and is usually used as a voltage-sensing touch panel.

In order to indicate the positions of the switches assigned to the surface of the touch panel 10, the display panel 12 is connected to the touch panel 1.
The display panel 12 is made of a liquid crystal or electroluminescent panel, and displays any switch image (SW 1.0) as shown in FIG.
5W2) is displayed and the set switch is displayed through the transparent touch panel 10, and the desired output is made from the touch panel 10 by touching and pressing the switch with a finger or the like from the touch panel 10.

By the touch operation on the touch panel 10 described above,
When an operation signal corresponding to the coordinate position divided along the Y-axis is output, this signal is divided into two parts within the control circuit block.
It is converted into coordinates as a value signal, converted into an address signal, and outputs the content stored at the address of a storage device that stores output information, thereby being used as a desired control signal output device.

Therefore, according to such a touch input device, the switch assignment on the touch panel 10 can be arbitrarily selected and changed, so it is useful as a multi-functional input switch, and it is also useful as a multi-function input switch. This has the advantage that the switch assignments can be quickly rearranged in response to changes.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, the touch input device described above is still not satisfactory and includes the following problems.

The touch panel 10 is divided into (llxn) matrices along the X and Y axes due to its hardware configuration, and normally In = 256, n - 256, a total of 256 matrices.
It is provided as a group of switches with a huge capacity corresponding to x256=64 bytes. Therefore, the area occupied by one switch on a normal CRT display screen is about 11 squares, which has a resolution higher than that of a fingertip pressing operation.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, all elements of a matrix that perform multiple switch operations are normally operated as one switch. That is, if the solid circle in FIG. 3 is one switch, all matrix elements within it are processed within the control circuit block 14 to produce the same output. This is achieved by making all the stored contents the same even when the control circuit block 14 reads out the storage device that stores the output information in response to the operation signal output from the switch group that is an element of the matrix. I was worried.

Since the resolution of the touch input device is changed by the method described above, in conventional devices, the storage device that stores the above output information only stores the same type of information redundantly, and the memory The capacity has always been enormous, corresponding to the hardware resolution of the touch panel 10. Moreover, if you try to change the resolution, it is necessary to change all the stored contents of the huge storage capacity, which causes problems in the operability of the touch input device, which has the advantage of being able to be used as various switches. be.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and allows the resolution of a touch input device to be easily varied.
The purpose of the present invention is to provide an excellent touch input device that is low-cost, has a high degree of applicability, and can achieve miniaturization of the storage capacity by using only the storage capacity that corresponds to the resolution.

[Means for solving the problems] The means configured by the present invention to solve the above problems are as follows:
As shown in the basic configuration diagram of Fig. M1, when a pressing operation is performed, a touch panel M1 generates an operation output according to the coordinate position of the pressing operation, an output information storage means M2 that stores output information, and the operation output. In the touch input device, the control means M3 selects and outputs the output information of the output information storage means according to the input when the input is input, the control means M3 controls the resolution of the coordinate position of the touch panel M1. The gist thereof is a touch input device characterized by comprising a resolution input section MA for inputting information, and a resolution conversion section MB for converting the operation output according to input information to the resolution input section MA.

The control means M3 in the present invention basically selectively outputs the output information stored in the output information storage means M2 based on the operation output of the touch panel M1, for example, as the output information storage means M2. It is configured by a system centered on a microcomputer that stores output information in RAM, and when the address number of the RAM is synthesized based on the operation output of the touch panel M1, outputs the contents of that address in the RAM. Ru.

Furthermore, in the present invention, the control means M3 is newly equipped with a resolution input section MA and a resolution conversion section MB.

First, the resolution input section MA is used to select and input how much (resolution) to use the function of the touch panel M1 that produces an operation output according to the coordinate position. As mentioned above, the touch panel M1 has mx due to its hardware configuration.
It forms n matrices, and generates operational outputs according to the elements of the matrices. Therefore, the touch panel M1 has the ability (resolution) to generate m×n types of operation outputs, and this means that it can be used in place of a maximum of m×n switches. However, when using a touch input device, it is not always necessary to set alternatives to mxn switches in this device, and as described above (Figure 4), it is as if the resolution is low and multiple matrix elements are used as one switch. For many S lives, it is sufficient to be able to express information. In such a case, information on the desired resolution is input using the resolution input section MA.

Next, the resolution conversion section MB has a function of converting the operation output from the touch panel M1 according to the information input to the resolution input section MA. The input from the resolution input unit MA determines how many types of operation outputs are required to be generated as operation outputs of the touch panel M1 in order to be able to sufficiently operate as a substitute for the desired switch or the like. Therefore, this resolution converter MB converts m from the touch panel M1.
The x0 type of operation signal is converted into a type of signal according to the information input to the resolution input section MA, and is used for various subsequent controls.

For example, if a certain input is given to the resolution input section MA, the resolution will be multiplied by 1/2 each time that input is given ((II
I Xn )/conversion into two types of signals), etc., to divide the operation signal into appropriate sets.

[Operation 1] In the touch input device of the present invention configured as described above, when an input is made to the resolution input section MA, the resolution conversion section MB of the control means M3 automatically converts the operation output into a type of signal according to the resolution. converted to a set. Therefore, the touch input device operates by only reading out the output information from the output information storage means M2 in accordance with the converted signal.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, in order to explain the present invention more specifically, the present invention will be described in detail by giving examples.

[Embodiment 1] FIG. 5 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention, in which a voltage-sensing touch panel 120 is disposed on a display screen 110 of a CR7 display 100 incorporating a control circuit to be described later. There is. This touch panel 120 is composed of two electrode plates 120X and 120Y, each of which is a non-conductive plate made of transparent plastic or the like, with a conductive surface formed on one side, with the conductive surfaces facing each other with a predetermined gap. By pressing with a finger a portion corresponding to a switch image 111 such as SW 1, SW 2, or SW 3 displayed on a display screen 110 of 100, key power can be obtained. That is, for example, when a constant voltage is applied to one electrode plate 120X and a certain position is pressed, the other electrode plate 120Y acts as a detector and generates a potential according to the pressed position. The Y coordinate can be detected by detecting the
The Y coordinate can be obtained as a voltage value. When the voltage value representing this XY coordinate is converted into an XY coordinate by A/D conversion,
The result is as shown in FIG. This case shows the case where both the X and Y axes are binarized with a resolution of 2 (displayed in hexadecimal).

FIG. 7 shows an electrical circuit diagram of the touch input device according to the embodiment. In the figure, 120 indicates a touch panel, 1
20X and 120Y represent the electrodes. These 2
Each of the two electrodes 120X1120Y has a decoder 1
Constant voltage sources 140X and 140Y that alternately apply constant voltages based on signals from 30 are connected. Furthermore, when the constant voltage sources 140X and 140Y are not operating as constant voltage sources themselves, they output the detected voltage of the electrode connected to their terminals to the next stage voltage amplifier 150X1150Y to amplify the detected voltage of the touch panel 120. I'm letting you do it. And this voltage amplifier 150X.

The voltage amplified by 150Y is transferred to the decoder 130 described above.
The signal is input to the A10 converter 170 via the switch 160X1160Y, which is operated by the switch 160X1160Y.

This switching of the switch 160X1160Y is executed in synchronization with the operation of the constant voltage sources 140X and 140Y, and the switch 160X is closed only when the voltage amplifier 150X is amplifying the detected voltage of the touch panel 120, and In this case, only switch 160Y is closed. The A/D converter 170 inputting such a signal generates a 16-bit parallel signal as follows. First, when the switch 160X is closed and the A/D conversion signal of only the X-axis direction of the touch panel 120 is input, the upper 8
Then, the switch 160Y is closed and the input A/D conversion signal is assigned to the lower 8 bits. Therefore, the output of this A/D converter 170 makes it possible to obtain a signal of the coordinate position of the cutting tool with a maximum resolution of 64 on the X-axis 2 and Y-axis 2, as shown in FIG. 6.

In this way, the operation signal outputted from the touch panel 120 according to the coordinate position is processed by the control circuit 2OO as follows. First, of the 16 bits, the upper and lower 8
The information is decomposed bit by bit, that is, into position information in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction, and the information is input into the resolution selection circuit 210, where the resolution is changed. A detailed electrical circuit diagram of resolution selection circuit 210 is shown in FIG. In the figure, 21
A/D with the chip selector where 1 is the resolution selection switch.
It is determined which chip output of the path transceivers 212 to 219, each of which receives the 8-pit output from the converter 170 in parallel, is outputted to the buffer 220 with priority. As shown, the path transceiver 212 is
The 8-bit output of the /D converter 170 is sent directly to the buffer 2.
20, but other path transceivers 213~
219 shifts to the right one bit at a time, converting 8-bit information to 7-bit, 6-bit, . . . 1-bit information. By this shift operation, the A/D converter 17
0 of 2 information is selected chip clock.
According to 6, it is possible to obtain arbitrary information up to 2.2.2...2°, and to lower the resolution. FIG. 9 shows the correspondence between path transceivers and resolution conversion. As a result, the resolution of the touch panel 120 in the X-axis direction is 256 (when path transceiver 212 is selected), 128 (when path transceiver 213 is selected),
..., it is possible to change to 2 (when the path transceiver selects 219). Similarly, resolution can be determined by selecting any path transceiver 212 to 219 when the A/D conversion output in the Y-axis direction is output from the A/D converter 170. In this way, the X axis,
The data whose Y-axis resolution has been changed is input to the central control bag M240 via the buffer 230. Similarly, the data on the resolution change bond is simultaneously input to the address controller 250, where the information in the X-axis direction and the information in the Y-axis direction are combined, and the storage circuit 26 stores the output information.
An address of 0 is created. For example, resolution selection circuit 2
10, the resolution is set to "2" in the X1 and Y-axis directions (when path transceiver 219 is selected), 2-bit address information (00 to 11), and the memory circuit 260 outputs the information stored at that address to the buffer 270. In this way, the central control device 240 can read out the information on the coordinate position of the touch panel 120 input into the buffers 230 and 270 and the output information at that time as appropriate. In addition, the central control device 240 provides a control output to the decoder 130 described above, and the constant voltage sources 140X, 140Y and the switch 160.
It controls the switching operation of X and 160Y.

According to the touch input device as described above, the touch panel 1
The resolution of 20 is a high resolution of 256 x 256 due to its structure, and therefore the memory circuit 260 also requires a memory area of 64 bytes for output information, but the resolution is changed according to the actually required resolution of the touch panel. Selection circuit 2
10 is operated, the A/D conversion signal from the touch panel 120 is converted into an address signal according to its resolution, so that the storage capacity of the storage circuit 260 can be reduced to an amount according to its resolution. It will become.

This means that when using the touch input device as another switch, all you have to do is rewrite the required memory capacity, making the application of the touch input device simple and quick. It can be done in time. Furthermore, by storing output information when used as another switch in an unused address of the memory circuit 260, the touch input device can be used to switch to various switches simply by operating the switch. etc., extremely effective utilization can be achieved.

Moreover, in this embodiment, since the above-mentioned change in resolution is achieved by a simple method of arbitrarily switching eight chips, low-cost and high-speed processing is possible.

In this embodiment, the resolution is changed using a hardware configuration, but the change may also be performed using software in the central control unit M240. In this way, the cost can be further reduced without increasing the number of chips.

Furthermore, the resolution is not limited to 1/2 (n is 0.2,...8) by bit shift, but can be changed arbitrarily by a program if it is done by software, for example. It becomes possible.

[Effects of the Invention] As described above in detail with reference to the embodiments, the touch input device of the present invention includes a touch panel that generates an operation output according to the coordinate position of the pressing operation when a suppression operation is performed, and a touch panel that outputs output information. A touch input device having an output information storage means for storing, and a control means for selecting and outputting output information of the output information storage means according to the input when the operation output is input, the control means comprising: The present invention is characterized by comprising: a resolution input section for inputting the resolution of the coordinate position of the touch panel; and a resolution conversion section for converting the operation output according to information input to the resolution input section.

Therefore, the resolution can be arbitrarily selected, and the touch input device can be used with the optimal resolution depending on the application. Therefore, the capacity for storing output information can be significantly reduced to a capacity corresponding to its resolution, and cost reduction can be achieved. Further, since the memory capacity used is small, it is possible to change the memory contents in a short time because a touch input device is used as another switch, and work efficiency is improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the configuration of the present invention, Figures 2, 3, and 4.
The figure is an explanatory diagram of a conventional touch input device, FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of its touch panel, FIG. 7 is its electric circuit diagram, and FIG. 8 is its A detailed circuit diagram of the resolution selection circuit, FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the resolution selection circuit. Ml...Touch panel M2...Output information storage means MB...Control means MA...Resolution input section MB...Resolution conversion section 170...A/D converter 210...Resolution selection circuit 211 ...Chip selector

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A touch panel that, when a pressing operation is performed, generates an operation output according to the coordinate position of the pressing operation; an output information storage means that stores output information; A touch input device comprising: a control means for selecting and outputting output information of the output information storage means according to a resolution input unit, wherein the control means inputs a resolution of a coordinate position of the touch panel; A touch input device comprising: a resolution conversion section that converts the operation output according to input information to the touch input device.