Patent Description:
An input display device is disclosed in which a protrusion is provided on a touch panel disposed to be superimposed on a display, and an image such as an operation icon is displayed at a position overlapping the protrusion (for example, <CIT>). The user performs an input by performing a touch operation on the protrusion.

In a display device that performs a capacitive touch operation, there has been proposed a user interface (hereinafter, referred to as a three-dimensional UI) in which a cover glass has an uneven shape so that a touch position is tactilely recognized and the touch position can be understood without gazing.

<FIG> is an operation example of a conventional flat touch panel, and a user U visually recognizes an operation icon <NUM> displayed on a display <NUM> and performs an input by performing a touch operation on the position of the operation icon <NUM> (note in the example of Figure).

<FIG> is an operation example of a touch panel having a three-dimensional UI, and <FIG> is a schematic cross-sectional view of the three-dimensional UI. A transparent cover lens <NUM> having an uneven shape is attached on a touch panel <NUM> including a capacitive sensor, and a display <NUM> displays an operation icon <NUM> at a position overlapping the cover lens <NUM>. The user U performs input by touching the cover lens <NUM> with a finger. A highly sensitive electrostatic sensor capable of detecting the electrostatic capacitance (distance) of the finger even when the finger is away from the sensor is used for the touch detection, and the presence or absence of the touch can be determined even from on the thick cover lens <NUM>. This makes it possible to reduce touch mistakes (operation error) under a situation where it is difficult to gaze at the in-vehicle display during driving.

In the three-dimensional UI, in order to realize a shape imitating various physical switches (buttons, knobs, sliders, and the like) existing in the vehicle interior and operation sensing thereof by a touch panel, it is required to cope with various operation gestures.

As one of the in-vehicle switches, as illustrated in <FIG>, there is a keyboard-shaped or protruding switch <NUM> protruding in the horizontal direction from the display. The keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> has an operation face <NUM> extending laterally from a touch panel <NUM>. A method of operating such a keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> is different from a method of operating a normal flat-shaped switch. In the flat-shaped switch, as illustrated in <FIG>, a finger U is touched or pushed in the screen direction with respect to the flat operation face <NUM> on the touch panel <NUM>, but in the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, as illustrated in <FIG>, a touch operation is performed by placing the finger U on an operation face <NUM> protruding laterally from the touch panel <NUM>.

A more specific operation method will be described with reference to <FIG> is a schematic cross section of a flat-shaped switch, and a flat cover glass <NUM> is attached on the touch panel <NUM>. The user moves the finger U in the X direction and brings the finger U close to the cover glass <NUM> to perform a touch operation. For this reason, the distance from the sensor of the touch panel <NUM> to the finger U greatly changes, and the difference in value of the electrostatic capacitance measured at the time of touch/non-touch increases, and thus, it is easy to determine the threshold value of the presence or absence of the touch operation.

On the other hand, in the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, as illustrated in <FIG>, the cover glass <NUM> is attached onto the touch panel <NUM>, and the cover glass <NUM> has a protrusion <NUM> protruding in a direction away from the touch panel <NUM>.

When the user performs a touch operation on the protrusion <NUM>, the user moves the finger U in the Y direction from a position P1 away from the touch panel <NUM> by a distance D, and places the finger U on the front face of the protrusion <NUM> at a position P2. While the finger U is at the distance D from the touch panel <NUM> at the position P1, since the finger U floats in the air without contacting the cover glass <NUM>, the electrostatic capacitance measured by the sensor is small, and the touch operation of the finger U is not sensed. While the finger U is at the distance D from the touch panel <NUM> at the position P2, since the finger U comes into contact with the front face of the protrusion <NUM>, the electrostatic capacitance measured by the center increases, and the touch operation of the finger U is sensed.

However, when the finger U is placed on the front face of the protrusion <NUM>, since the finger U is away from the touch panel <NUM> by the distance D, the difference between the electrostatic capacitance at the time of non-contact at the position P1 and the electrostatic capacitance at the time of contact at the position P2 does not greatly change, and it is difficult to determine the presence or absence of the touch operation. For this reason, in the touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, a sensing method capable of accurately determining the presence or absence of the touch operation is required.

<CIT> discloses a terminal device which is capable of making a key display with which a user makes an input easily. A hover position detection unit measures a distribution of a physical quantity indicating a degree of approach of an operation finger to the touch panel displaying the key display, and detects a hover position from the distribution of the physical quantity. According to <FIG>, a (virtual) keyboard is displayed on the touch panel. A target key identification unit identifies, as a target key, a key corresponding to a display region including coordinates of the hover position. A user assistance display control unit generates a display control signal indicating that an assistance display that represents the target key is to be displayed at a different position from a display position of the target key. A display makes a screen display in accordance with the display control signal.

<CIT> discloses a touch interface intended to control a device, the interface being intended to be touched by an external body, and comprising a plate, at least one transducer configured to apply a pressure of variable amplitude to the plate so as to make the plate vibrate. The vibration brings about an impression of texturing, felt by the external body touching either the plate or a three-dimensional control member. The vibration then constitutes haptic feedback from the interface, resulting in a touch sensation being modified.

<CIT> relates to a touch and hover sensing device comprising a sensing panel having multiple sensors at locations of the panel, the sensors having varying sensitivities as a function of sensor location, and a touch and hover control system configured to compensate for the sensitivity variation by adjusting capacitance measurements from the sensors according to the sensor locations, the capacitance measurements being caused by the proximate object.

An object of the present invention is to provide an input display device capable of accurately sensing the presence or absence of a touch operation on a keyboard-shaped/protruding switch.

The invention relates to an input display device according to the appended claims. Embodiments are disclosed in the dependent claims.

An input display device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a display configured to display an image, and a capacitive touch panel mounted on the display, the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch provided on the touch panel, a sensing unit configured to sense a position of an operation target when the operation target approaches the touch panel, and a determination unit configured to determine presence or absence of a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch based on a variation in positions of the operation target sensed by the sensing unit. The determination unit acquires a certain number of sensed positions of the operation target, and calculates the variation in positions of the operation target from the certain number of the acquired positions of the operation target.

In an embodiment, the determination unit determines whether a variation in sensed positions of the operation target is large, determines that a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is not performed when the variation is large, and determines that a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is performed when the variation is small. In an embodiment, the determination unit compares a variation in sensed positions of the operation target with a threshold value, determines that a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is not performed when the variation is equal to or greater than the threshold value, and determines that a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is performed when the variation is less than the threshold value.

In an embodiment, the input display device further includes a cover glass on the touch panel, wherein the cover glass includes the at least one keyboard-shaped/protruding switch. The front face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is extending laterally from a front face of the touch panel. In an embodiment, the display is an in-vehicle display.

According to aspects of the present invention, since the presence or absence of the touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is determined based on the variation in sensed positions of the operation target, the determination accuracy of the touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch can be improved, and erroneous determination can be suppressed.

An input display device according to aspects of the present invention provides an interface between a person and a machine. The input display device of the present invention is not particularly limited, but is applied to, for example, an electronic device equipped with a display with a touch panel. The electronic device equipped with the display with a touch panel is, for example, an in-vehicle device having a navigation function, an audio visual function, a television function, and the like.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. <FIG> is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an input display device according to an embodiment of the present invention. An input display device <NUM> of the present embodiment includes a display <NUM> configured to display an image and a video, a touch panel <NUM> including a capacitive sensor mounted on the display <NUM>, a cover glass <NUM> attached to a front face of the touch panel <NUM> and including a keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> as a three-dimensional UI, and a controller <NUM> configured to control image display on the display <NUM>, touch sensing on the touch panel <NUM>, and the like.

The display <NUM> is not particularly limited, but includes, for example, a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL panel, and displays image data provided from the controller <NUM>. For example, an operation icon representing an input operation may be displayed at a corresponding position of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>.

The touch panel <NUM> includes, for example, a plurality of sensors (sensing units) formed at positions where a plurality of X-side and Y-side electrode lines intersect, and the sensor senses an electrostatic capacitance when a user's finger, hand, or the like approaches or comes into contact with the cover glass <NUM> or the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>. The touch panel <NUM> is mounted on the display <NUM> and provides an input interface for the user to make an input to an icon or the like displayed on the display <NUM>.

The cover glass <NUM> is attached to the front face of the touch panel <NUM>. The cover glass <NUM> may be part of the touch panel <NUM>, or may be prepared separately from the touch panel <NUM>.

One or more keyboard-shaped/protruding switches <NUM> are formed on the cover glass <NUM> as a three-dimensional UI. The keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> has a keyboard-shaped or protruding shape, and the protruding shape includes at least a front face extending laterally from the cover glass <NUM>, that is, a front face extending in a direction away from the touch panel <NUM>. This front face has a size that allows at least a user's finger to be placed thereon.

The shape, size, thickness, material, and the like of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> are not particularly limited, but include, for example, the operation face <NUM> extending laterally from the front face of the touch panel <NUM> as illustrated in <FIG>. The operation face <NUM> is not necessarily transparent, and characters, symbols, figures, and the like representing the content of the input operation may be drawn on the operation face. Further, the operation face <NUM> is not necessarily flat, and may include some irregularities, be linearly inclined, or be curved.

Further, the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> may be formed integrally with the cover glass <NUM> or may be separate from the cover glass <NUM>. For example, the side face of the rectangular keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> may be attached to the cover glass <NUM> with a double-sided adhesive or the like. In this case, the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> can be made of a material different from the cover glass <NUM>, and is made of, for example, acrylic, polycarbonate, or the like.

The coordinate position of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> on the touch panel <NUM> is registered in the memory of the controller <NUM>, and when a finger approaching the touch panel <NUM> is sensed, the controller <NUM> determines whether the finger is a touch operation of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>. Furthermore, the controller <NUM> can display an icon representing an input operation in the vicinity of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> via the display <NUM>. The user visually recognizes an icon drawn on the operation face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> or an icon displayed on the display <NUM>, and performs an input operation by touching the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>.

The controller <NUM> includes hardware and/or software resources, and performs overall processing of the input display device using, for example, an arithmetic processing unit, a microcontroller including a ROM/RAM, or the like. For example, the controller performs display processing of the display <NUM>, touch sensing or operation determination (sense touch position and finger distance, and determine whether the touch operation is performed) from an output value of the touch panel <NUM>, and processing of video display/video switching according to the touch sensing or operation determination.

In an aspect, as illustrated in <FIG>, controller <NUM> includes a touch sensing unit <NUM>, an operation determination unit <NUM>, a display control unit <NUM>, and a memory <NUM>. The touch sensing unit <NUM> drives the plurality of electrode lines on the X side and/or the Y side of the touch panel <NUM>, measures the electrostatic capacitance of each sensing unit (sensor) of the driven electrode lines, senses the touch position based on the measurement result, and provides the sensing result to the operation determination unit <NUM>.

The operation determination unit <NUM> determines the presence or absence of a touch operation on the touch panel <NUM> or a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> based on the measurement result of the touch sensing unit <NUM>. The touch mentioned here includes not only contact of the user's finger with the cover glass <NUM> and the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> but also approach of the finger to the cover glass <NUM> and the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>. For example, when the user's finger contacts or approaches the flat front face of the cover glass <NUM>, the operation determination unit <NUM> determines the presence or absence of a touch operation based on a change in electrostatic capacitance of a corresponding sensing unit (sensor), and similarly, when the user's finger contacts or approaches the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>, the operation determination unit determines the presence or absence of a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> based on a change in electrostatic capacitance of a corresponding sensing unit (sensor).

The display control unit <NUM> displays an image and a video on the display <NUM>, and displays an icon at a corresponding position of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> as necessary. When no icon is drawn on the operation face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>, an icon representing the operation content of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> can be displayed on the display <NUM>. In addition, the display control unit <NUM> switches an image to be displayed on the display <NUM> to another image in response to the operation determination unit <NUM> determining that a touch operation has been performed.

The memory <NUM> stores information about coordinates, a size, and the like of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>, coordinates of a touch position (finger position) sensed by the touch sensing unit <NUM>, and the like. In addition, the memory <NUM> may store image data such as an icon to be displayed in the vicinity of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>.

Next, a sensing operation of a touch operation of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch according to the present embodiment will be described. In the present embodiment, an algorithm is used to determine whether a finger is in a state of not touching the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch in the air or in a state of touching the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch based on an amount of shake or variation in sensed finger positions.

<FIG> is a graph of a finger position (x, y coordinates) sensed when the finger is brought close to the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, and the lower graph is an enlarged view of the sensed finger position. • represents a finger position when the finger is in the air, that is, a finger position when the finger U is not in contact with the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> at the position P1 in <FIG> represents a finger position when the finger U is placed on the front face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM>, that is, a finger position when the finger U is in contact with the operation face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch <NUM> at the position P2 in <FIG>.

As is clear from the graph, it can be seen that the amount of shake (variation) of the finger position sensed when the finger U touches the front face of the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is small, but the amount of shake (variation) of the finger position sensed when the finger is in the air is large. That is, depending on whether the finger touches the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, a magnitude difference occurs in an amount of shake (variation) of the sensed finger position. The sensing algorithm of the present embodiment determines that there is a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch in a case where the amount of shake is small, and determines that there is no touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch in a case where the amount of shake is large, based on the amount of shake (variation) of the sensed finger position.

A specific example of the sensing algorithm is shown below.

Here, the threshold value for determining the magnitude of the variation is determined based on the sensing accuracy of the sensor of the touch panel <NUM>. For example, in a case where the variation is calculated by the variance, the threshold value is set by a method in which whether the variance is a certain value or more or a movement average of x and y coordinate positions is obtained, and when the value exceeds 1σ of the normal distribution, the shake is large (a finger is in the air), and when the value is within 1σ, the shake is small (a keyboard-shaped switch is touched). Note that the determination of the amount of shake (variation) is not limited to the above algorithm, and any method may be used as long as the difference in the amount of shake can be determined as illustrated in the graph.

<FIG> illustrates an operation flow of the sensing algorithm of the present embodiment. The touch sensing unit <NUM> senses the finger distance based on the measured electrostatic capacitance (S100). The finger distance is a distance from the sensor of the touch panel <NUM> to the finger. The finger distance sensed by the touch sensing unit <NUM> is provided to the operation determination unit <NUM>.

The operation determination unit <NUM> determines whether the sensed finger distance is equal to or greater than a threshold value (S110), that is, determines that the finger approaches the touch panel <NUM> when the finger distance is equal to or less than the threshold value. When determining that the finger is approaching, the operation determination unit <NUM> starts to acquire the coordinates of the finger position (X, Y coordinates), and stores the coordinates of a certain number of finger positions in the memory <NUM> (S120). Although the number of finger positions to be acquired is any number, for example, coordinates of <NUM> consecutive finger positions are acquired. When the sensor senses an electrostatic capacitance at <NUM> fps (frames per second), coordinates of <NUM> consecutive finger positions are obtained during <NUM> seconds.

Next, the operation determination unit <NUM> calculates a variation in finger positions from the coordinates of a certain number of finger positions stored in the memory (S130). A method of calculating the variation is any method, and for example, dispersion, standard deviation, or the like can be used. The variation is calculated in each of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the finger position.

Next, the operation determination unit <NUM> determines whether the variation is large (S140). For example, when the variance is used for calculating the variation, it is determined whether the variation exceeds a threshold value, and when the standard deviation is used, it is determined whether the variation falls within 1σ. This determination is made on each of the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the finger position, and it is determined that the variation in finger positions is large when the variation in both the X coordinate and the Y coordinate is equal to or larger than the threshold value.

When it is determined that the variation is large, it is determined that the finger does not touch the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch (the finger is in the air), and this routine is ended, and preparation for next finger sensing is performed. On the other hand, when it is determined that the variation is small, it is determined that the finger touches the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch located in the sensed finger coordinate area (S150). As a result, the controller <NUM> determines that an input operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch has been performed.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch, the presence or absence of the touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is determined by utilizing the event that the magnitude difference occurs in the amount of shake (variation) of the finger position sensed depending on whether the finger touches the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch. Therefore, the determination accuracy of the touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch is improved, and erroneous determination can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the user touches the touch panel (cover glass) with a finger is used, but the present invention is not necessarily limited to the finger, and the present invention is also applied to a case where the user touches the touch panel (cover glass) with a hand or other members. In the above embodiment, the variance or the standard deviation is used for calculating the variation, but this is an example, and the variation may be calculated by another method.

Claim 1:
An input display device (<NUM>) comprising a display (<NUM>) configured to display an image, and a capacitive touch panel (<NUM>) mounted on the display (<NUM>),
a keyboard-shaped/protruding switch (<NUM>) provided on the touch panel (<NUM>), wherein the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch (<NUM>) has a protruding shape which includes at least a front face extending in a direction away from the touch panel (<NUM>);
a sensing unit (<NUM>) configured to sense a position of an operation target when the operation target approaches the touch panel (<NUM>); and
a determination unit (<NUM>) configured to determine presence or absence of a touch operation on the keyboard-shaped/protruding switch (<NUM>) based on a variation in positions of the operation target sensed by the sensing unit (<NUM>), wherein the determination unit (<NUM>) is configured to acquire a certain number of sensed positions of the operation target, and to calculate the variation in positions of the operation target from the certain number of the acquired positions of the operation target.