Abstract:
A touch control device includes a plurality of superimposed touch pads and a logic unit. Each of the touch pads includes a substrate, a plurality of detecting wires disposed on the substrate, and a detecting unit for detecting variations of electric characteristics of the plurality of detecting wires to output a detection result. The logic unit is coupled to the plurality of touch pads, for determining contents of at least a touch event according to the detection result generated by each of the touch pads. Arrangements of arranging the plurality of detecting wires included in each of the touch pads on the substrate are different.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The present invention relates to a touch control device, and more particularly, to a touch control device having a number of superimposed touch pads. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    A touch control device benefits from ease of operation, fast reaction and space efficiency, and enables users to perform operations more intuitively and conveniently, and has become an important input interface, widely utilized in various consumer electronic products. Specifically, a touch control device utilizes a detection circuit to detect electrical signals of a matrix composed of a plurality of wires, and convert the electrical signals into digital detection data values to determine a touch event. However, such a conventional touch control device is only suited for two-dimensional applications, and does not allow different variations of operations. 
         [0005]    Furthermore, the conventional touch control device is primarily suited for single point touch operations, and faulty determination may arise for multi-touch applications. 
         [0006]    For example, please refer to  FIG. 5 , which is a schematic diagram of a projected capacitive touch sensing device  50  of the prior art. The projected capacitive touch sensing device  50  includes sensing capacitor strings X 1 -X m  and Y 1 -Y n . Each sensing capacitor string is a one-dimensional structure formed by connecting a plurality of sensing capacitors in series. The conventional touch sensing method resorts to detecting the capacitance in each sensing capacitor string to determine whether a touch event occurs. The sensing capacitor strings X 1 -X m  and Y 1 -Y n  are utilized to determine vertical and horizontal touch events, respectively. In the case of horizontal operations, assume the sensing capacitor string X 1  has Q sensing capacitors, each sensing capacitor with a capacitance of C, then under normal circumstances, the sensing capacitor string X 1  has a capacitance of QC. If a difference in capacitance caused by a human body (e.g. a finger) touching a sensing capacitor of the sensing capacitor string X 1  is ΔC, it can be inferred that the finger is touching a certain point on the sensing capacitor string X 1  when the capacitance of the sensing capacitor string X 1  is detected to be greater than or equal to “QC+ΔC”. However, for multi-touch operations, as shown in  FIG. 5 , two fingers concurrently touch the projected capacitive touch sensing device  50 , and the sensing capacitor strings X 3 , X m-1 , Y 3  and Y n-1  concurrently sense capacitance variations; thus, it is determined touch events occur at all of points (X 3 , Y 3 ), (X 3 , Y n-1 ), (X m-1 , Y 3 ) and (X m-1 , Y n-1 ). In fact, only (X 3 , Y 3 ) and (X m-1 , Y n-1 ) are real touch points, whereas (X 3 , Y n-1 ) and (X m-1 , Y 3 ) are not. As a result, a faulty determination of the projected capacitive touch sensing device  50  leads to a detection error, in that two nonexistent touch points are registered, and causing what is know as the “ghost key” phenomenon. Therefore, for multi-touch operations, it is only possible to determine which intersections of the sensing capacitor strings the touch event may have occurred at, instead of a precise and definite touch point. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Therefore, the present invention primarily provides a touch control device. 
         [0008]    The present invention discloses a touch control device, including a plurality of superimposed touch pads, each of the touch pads including a substrate; a plurality of detecting wires, disposed on the substrate; and a detecting unit coupled to the plurality of detecting wires, for detecting variations of electric characteristics of the detecting wires to output a detection result; and a logic unit coupled to the touch pads, for determining contents of at least a touch event according to the detection result generated by each of the touch pads; wherein arrangements of arranging the detecting wires included in each of the touch pads on the substrate are different. 
         [0009]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram of a touch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an arbitrary touch pad of the touch control device shown in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a bird&#39;s eye view perspective diagram of the touch pad shown in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a schematic diagram of the arbitrary touch pad shown in  FIG. 2  detecting a touch event. 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram of a conventional projected capacitive touch sensing device. 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a schematic diagram of the touch control device shown in  FIG. 6  applied to multi-touch operations. 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]    Please refer to  FIG. 1 , which is a schematic diagram of a touch control device  10  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control device  10  not only detects two-dimensional characteristics of a touch, but also concurrently detects the touch in vertical directions. The touch control device  10  mainly includes touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n and a logic unit  100 . The touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n are superimposed on each other through adhesive means, and each of the touch pads is capable of sensing touch status and generating a corresponding touch result. The logic unit  100  determines a content of a touch event according to the touch result generated by the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n. More specifically, the content of the touch event includes a position and intensity, i.e. three-dimensional characteristics of the touch event. 
         [0021]    Please refer to  FIGS. 2 and 3  for more detail.  FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram of an arbitrary touch pad PAD_x of the touch control device  10 , and  FIG. 3  is a bird&#39;s eye view perspective diagram of the touch pad PAD_x. The touch pad PAD_x includes a first substrate  200 , a second substrate  202 , detecting wires WRV_ 1 -WRV_s, WRH_ 1 -WRH_t, and detecting units  204 ,  206 . As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the detecting wires WRV_ 1 -WRV_s are horizontally disposed along a vertical direction on the first substrate  200 , with sensing units DUV disposed at fixed distances; the detecting wires WRH_ 1 -WRH_t are vertically disposed along a horizontal direction on the second substrate  202 , with sensing units DUH disposed at fixed distances. The sensing units DUV and DUH are disposed at relative positions, as shown in  FIG. 3 , for detecting touch at a same position. Moreover, the detecting unit  204  is coupled to the detecting wires WRV_ 1 -WRV_s, for detecting variations of electrical characteristics of the detecting wires WRV_ 1 -WRV_s to output a detection result DET_V to the logic unit  100 . The detecting unit  206  is coupled to the detecting wires WRH_ 1 -WRH_t, for detecting variations of electrical characteristics of the detecting wires WRH_ 1 -WRH_t to output a detection result DET_H to the logic unit  100 . Therefore, the logic unit  100  may determine a vertical position at which the touch event occurs according to the detection result DET_V generated by the detecting unit  204 ; and the logic unit  100  may determine a horizontal position at which the touch event occurs according to the detection result DET_H generated by the detecting unit  206 . 
         [0022]    For example, please refer to  FIG. 4 , which is a schematic diagram of the arbitrary touch pad PAD_x detecting a touch event. As shown in  FIG. 4 , if a finger touches an intersection between the detecting wires WRV_ 1  and WRH_ 2 , the detection result DET_V outputted by the detecting unit  204  would indicate electrical signal variations on the detecting wire WRV_ 1 ; similarly, the detection result DET_H outputted by the detecting unit  206  would indicate electrical signal variations on the detecting wire WRH_ 2 . Therefore, the logic unit  100  may determine the touch event occurs at a position (2, 1). 
         [0023]    Further, the detection results DET_V, DET_H outputted by the detecting units  204 ,  206  may include an electrical signal intensity, e.g. to detect how a signal intensifies when the finger is closer, and weakens when the finger is further away. As such, the logic unit  100  can determine not only a position of the touch event, but also an intensity of the touch event, i.e. to detect the touch event in three dimensions. Therefore, via superimposing the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n, the touch control device  10  can detect three-dimensional characteristics of the touch event, thereby enhancing operation variability. 
         [0024]    Note that, the essence of the present invention lies in superimposing the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n to detect three-dimensional characteristics of a touch event, and any variations made accordingly are within the scope of the present invention. For example, despite the first substrate  200  and second substrate  202  being separately depicted in  FIG. 2 , the two may be two wiring layers within a single double-layered or multi-layered circuit board. Moreover, materials for forming the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n are not limited; transparent materials may be used for touch display devices. In other words, in the example of  FIG. 2 , a transparent material is used for the first substrate  200 , the second substrate  202 , and the detecting wires WRV_ 1 -WRV_s, WRH_ 1 -WRH_t. In addition, the variation of electrical characteristics detected by the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n may be an electric charge variation, or any other electrical signal capable of indicating characteristics of a touch event. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, through suitably adjusting operations of the logic unit  100 , the touch control device  10  of the present invention may further be applied in three-dimensional multi-touch operations, thereby further enhancing operation variability. 
         [0026]    Note that, in the touch control device  10 , sizes of the touch pads PAD_ 1 -PAD_n; layout, lengths and quantity of the detecting wires, and quantity of the substrates may all be different. As such, the touch control device  10  may be further applied to multi-touch applications. For example, please refer to  FIG. 6  which is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device  60  according to an embodiment of the present invention. The touch control device  60  has a same structure as that of the touch control device  10 , and only a layout of the detecting wires in the touch pads is shown for conciseness. The touch control device  60  includes four layers of touch pads, each touch pad including only a single substrate for disposing the detecting wires, wherein a first layer touch pad is disposed with detecting wires A 1 -A 6 , a second layer touch pad is disposed with detecting wires B 1 -B 6 , a third layer touch pad is disposed with detecting wires C 1 -C 6 , and a fourth layer touch pad is disposed with detecting wires D 1 -D 6 . Moreover, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the detecting wires A 1 -A 6  and B 1 -B 6  cover an entirety of the touch pad, whereas the detecting wires C 1 -C 3  only cover an upper-left corner of the touch pad, the detecting wires C 4 -C 6  only cover a bottom-right corner of the touch pad, the detecting wires D 1 -D 3  touch pads only cover a bottom-left corner of the touch pad, and the detecting wires D 4 -D 6  only cover an upper-right corner of the touch pad. Consequently, as shown in  FIG. 7 , when a user concurrently touches two points on the touch control device  60 , the logic unit may correctly determine that a touch event occurs on the detecting wires A 2 , B 1 , C 1  and A 5 , B 5 , C 5  through the partially disposed detecting wires C 1 -C 6 , D 1 -D 6 , and avoid the “ghost key” problem. In other words, in example of  FIG. 7 , the “ghost key” would have occurred on the detecting wires A 5 , B 1 , D 5  and A 2 , B 5 , D 2 , yet such faulty determination is avoided since in this case the detecting wires D 5 , D 2  do not detect a touch. 
         [0027]    Note that,  FIGS. 6 and 7  are used to illustrate that the layout and quantity of the detecting wires in each touch pad in the present invention, as well as the quantity of substrates, etc. may all be modified to suit different application requirements, and are not subject to any limitations. For example,  FIG. 8  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device  80  according to an embodiment of the present invention. For conciseness, only a layout of the detecting wires of the touch pads is shown. The touch control device  80  includes double-layered touch pads, each touch pad including only a single substrate for disposing the detecting wires; wherein the first touch pad is disposed with detecting wires AX 1 -AX 4 , and the second touch pad is disposed with detecting wires BX 1 -BX 4 . As shown in  FIG. 8 , the detecting wires AX 1 -AX 4  are not disposed horizontally to each other, and similarly the detecting wires BX 1 -BX 4  are not disposed horizontally to each other. Moreover, angles projected by intersections between the detecting wires AX 1 -AX 4  and the detecting wires BX 1 -BX 4  are not orthogonal, as is the case in aforementioned embodiments. Additionally,  FIG. 9  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device  90  according to an embodiment of the present invention, also only showing the layout of the detecting wires of the touch pad. The touch control device  90  includes three-layered touch pads, each touch pad including a single substrate for disposing the detecting wires, wherein the first touch pad is disposed with detecting wires AY 1 -AY 3 , the second touch pad is disposed with detecting wires BY 1 -BY 3 , and the third touch pad is disposed with detecting wires CY 1 -CY 3 . As shown in  FIG. 9 , the detecting wires AY 1 -AY 3 , BY 1 -BY 3 , CY 1 -CY 3  are curve-shaped, also suited for the present invention. Additionally,  FIG. 10  is a perspective schematic diagram of touch pads of a touch control device  110  according to an embodiment of the present invention, also only showing the layout of the detecting wires of the touch pad. The touch control device  110  includes double-layered touch pads, each touch pad including a single substrate for disposing the detecting wires, wherein the first touch pad is disposed with detecting wires AZ 1 -AZ 6 , and the second touch pad is disposed with detecting wires BZ 1 -BZ 6 . As shown in  FIG. 10 , the detecting wires AZ 1 -AZ 6  are of unequal lengths, and the detecting wires BZ 1 -BZ 6  are of unequal lengths, suitable for implementing triangular touch control devices, also suited for the present invention. 
         [0028]    Those skilled in the art should understand via the aforementioned embodiments that the layout of the detecting wires in the present invention is not limited, and may be suitably adjusted for different application requirements. 
         [0029]    As can be seen from the above, the present invention utilizes superimposed touch pads to detect three-dimensional characteristics of a touch event. Additionally, the present invention may be modified to suit multi-touch applications through adjusting layout or quantity of the detecting wires in each touch pad, to avoid the “ghost key” problem. 
         [0030]    In summary, the present invention detects three-dimensional characteristics of a touch event and accommodates multi-touch applications to enhance operation variability. 
         [0031]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention.