CN201266370Y - Multi-point touch detection system - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model relates to a multi-point touch detection system, which includes: a touch sensing device, which includes a plurality of mutually insulated conduction areas for monitoring multi-point touch events of a user at the same time to generate output signals; A microcontroller that sends out at least one control signal; an application device that responds to the control signal to change the display state of the human-computer interaction object, the application device includes a display that displays the multi-machine interaction object; the touch sensing device and the One end of the microcontroller is connected, and the other end of the microcontroller is connected with the application device. By applying the present invention, at least two touch points pressed simultaneously can be identified.

Description

Multi-touch detection system

technical field

The utility model relates to the field of touch displays, in particular to a multi-point touch system.

Background technique

Today, almost every electronic application device provides a human-computer interaction user interface, such as buttons, keyboards, and mice. Among the related technologies of various user interfaces, touch-sensitive displays (also known as "touch display screens" or "touch panels") are becoming more and more popular because of their intuitiveness and convenient operation, and are widely used in various electronic application devices, such as Portable equipment and public systems. As a user interface, a touch-sensitive display detects the user's touch and converts it into an electrical signal. Through signal analysis, the signal processor determines where the user touches, then displays and executes the corresponding action.

In different industrial applications, there are different types of touch panels designed using various technologies, such as surface acoustic wave touch panels, infrared touch panels, capacitive touch panels, and resistive touch panels.

A surface acoustic wave touch panel monitors ultrasonic waves that are transmitted to the touch panel. When a finger touches the panel, part of the sound waves are absorbed. Changes in this ultrasonic wave can be used to estimate the position of a finger touching the panel.

Infrared touch panels capture touch occurrences in two different ways. One method is by detecting the change of resistive heat on the surface of the touch panel; the other method is by arranging a matrix of row and column infrared sensors on the touch panel and detecting the interruption of the modulated laser light near the surface of the screen.

Capacitive touch panels are coated with a transparent conductive glass plate, such as indium tin oxide (ITO), light emitting polymer (LEP) or other media that can conduct current between touch panels. The touch panel can be understood as a capacitor that stores charges in the horizontal and vertical coordinates and precisely controls the electric field. The human body itself also accumulates electric charges, which can also be regarded as a capacitor. When the "normal capacitance" of the touch panel (its reference state) is disturbed by another capacitance, such as a user's finger, circuits located in the corners of the touch panel record the result of the reference capacitance being "disturbed" (such as a touch). The information can be used to estimate where a touch occurred on the touch panel.

A resistive touch panel consists of multiple parts, including two thin metal conductive layers, an upper conductive layer and a lower conductive layer, separated by a tiny space between the two conductive layers. In operation, there is a voltage drop across the lower conducting layer and current flows. When a user touches the upper conductive layer of the resistive touch panel, for example, with a finger or a stylus, the two conductive layers are connected at the touch point. Therefore, a portion of the current flows through this connection point to the upper conducting layer, causing a change in the current in the lower conducting layer. The result of the current change can be used to detect the occurrence of touch and estimate the position of the connection point on the touch panel.

A resistive touch panel works like a voltage divider with an output. Figure 1 shows the block diagram of this voltage divider. The two resistors Z1 and Z2 connected in series in the figure represent two parts of the lower conducting layer separated by a connection point on the upper conducting layer. If the supply voltage Vin is applied to the opposite ends of the two resistors, the output voltage Vout at the connection point is:

${\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; V</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; out</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; =</span>\frac{{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; Z</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 2</span>}}}{{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; Z</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 1</span>}}<span\; class="notranslate">\; +</span>{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; Z</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; 2</span>}}}{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; V</span>}}_{\mathrm{<span\; class="notranslate">\; in</span>}}$

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a device including a single touch-sensitive area being touched by two fingers simultaneously.

The resistive touch panel device includes at least two parts, a base layer 100 and a contact layer 200 . In some examples, the base layer 100 is a panel made of a rigid material, such as a glass panel, which provides mechanical stability to the entire device, and the contact layer 200 is made of a flexible material, such as polyethylene terephthalate. Polyethylene glycol ester (PET), which provides the flexibility needed when the upper and lower conductive layers are in contact. In some examples, both the upper surface of the base layer 100 and the lower surface of the contact layer 200 are covered with an ITO coating.

Depending on the specific application, the touch panel can have different shapes, regular or irregular. For example, the touch panel device in FIG. 2 is a regular shape with four borders. Four sets of electrodes 110 are distributed along four sides and connected together by the ITO coating on the upper surface of the base layer 100 . The contact layer 200 has a signal output terminal 210 connected to the lower surface ITO coating. In particular, the ITO coating attached to the base layer 100 and the contact layer 200 are separated into two independent parts by an isolation layer (not shown in FIG. 2 ). When no force is applied on the contact layer 200, the upper and lower ITO coatings are insulated from each other. When an object, such as a fingertip pressure, is applied to the contact layer 200, the contact layer 200 deforms downward to a certain extent, so that the two ITO coatings are in contact with each other. If there is only one contact point between the two conductive layers (for example, "+" is used to indicate the contact point), the position of the contact point on the touch panel can be determined by the following (i) applying voltage to the left and right electrodes of the base layer 100, Then measure the output signal of the terminal 210 (ii) apply a voltage to the upper and lower electrodes of the base layer 100, and measure another output signal of the terminal 210. Every two such output signals can determine the position of the contact point in the X-coordinate direction and the Y-coordinate direction on the ITO coating, thereby determining the specific position of the contact point.

However, if two or more fingertips are in contact with the touch panel at the same time, that is, there are at least two contact points, the use of the touch panel shown in FIG. 2 can only generate a corresponding output signal for estimating the contact position. In this case, the estimated position may be the average of the two contact point positions on the touch panel, that is, two fingertips in contact with the touch panel produce an average touch point, and the touch screen as a user interface will not be able to correctly accurately identify the user's instructions. To avoid such a situation, the user must be careful not to have two fingertips in contact with the touch panel at the same time. The above situation also leads to the unsupported application of complex human-computer interaction operation with multiple touch points.

Utility model content

In view of this, the utility model provides a multi-touch detection system capable of identifying at least two touch points pressed simultaneously.

The technical scheme of the utility model is achieved in that:

The multi-point touch detection system includes: a touch sensing device, which includes a plurality of mutually insulated conduction areas for monitoring the user's multi-point touch events at the same time to generate output signals; a micro for sending at least one control signal A controller; an application device that responds to the control signal to change the display state of the human-computer interaction object, the application device includes a display that displays the multi-machine interaction object; the touch sensing device is connected to one end of the microcontroller, and the The other end of the microcontroller is connected with the application device.

It can be seen that the touch sensing device of the present invention includes a plurality of insulated conductive regions, and the conductive regions monitor the user's multi-touch events at the same time, and generate output signals according to the multi-point touch events for the microcontroller and the application device to perform. Subsequent processing, so that at least two touch points pressed simultaneously can be identified.

Description of drawings

In order to make the above-mentioned features and advantages and other features and advantages of the present utility model clearer, the utility model will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a voltage divider;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a device comprising a single touch-sensitive area and being touched by two fingers at the same time;

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a plurality of touch-sensitive areas provided by an embodiment of the present invention and being touched by six fingers at the same time;

4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the connection between the multi-touch device shown in FIG. 3 and the control circuit;

5A to 5C are schematic diagrams of a multi-touch sensing device with multiple conductive regions;

Fig. 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a multi-touch sensing panel with multiple conductive regions provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

7 is a data flow chart of the multi-touch sensing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-touch sensing system provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of the multi-touch sensing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 10 is a working flow diagram of the multi-touch sensing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the utility model clearer, the utility model will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and examples.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of multiple touch sensing areas provided by an embodiment of the present invention, simultaneously being touched by six fingers. Similar to the touch panel shown in FIG. 2 , the touch panel shown in FIG. 3 also includes a base layer 300 and a contact layer 400 , both of which are covered with a conductive layer. Four sets of electrodes are distributed on four edges of the base layer 300 . To support the multi-touch function, the conduction layer on the lower surface of the contact layer 400 is divided into six mutually isolated conduction regions 400-1 to 400-6, each conduction region has its own output terminal 410-1 to 410-6 . Since the six conductive regions are electrically insulated from each other, when each of the six regions is in contact with a fingertip at the same time, each of the above-mentioned regions can generate an independent output signal.

As shown in FIG. 3, each of the six conductive areas is touched by a fingertip at the same time. At the same time, the power supply voltage Vin is applied to the electrodes on the upper and lower edges of the base layer 300, and six voltage signals are respectively outputted at the six output terminals, and the signal of each output signal originates from a contact point on the conduction area. Then, the supply voltage Vin is removed from the electrodes on the upper and lower edges of the base layer 300 and applied to the electrodes on the left and right edges of the base layer 300. If the six fingertips in contact with the touch panel are not removed, the six output terminals will generate another six a voltage signal. Therefore, the six conductive regions will respectively send out one-to-two correlated measurement signals, one signal is correlated with the left and right edges of the base layer 300 , and the other signal is correlated with the upper and lower edges of the base layer 300 . Each pair of measurement signals can be used to estimate the position of the corresponding contact point on each conductive area, so the event that six conductive areas on the touch panel are simultaneously independently touched can be detected and corresponding position information can be generated.

4A and 4B are schematic diagrams of the multi-touch device shown in FIG. 3 provided by the embodiment of the present invention, connected with the control circuit for controlling its operation.

The six dashed boxes in the base layer 300 represent the six conductive regions of the contact layer 400 . Note that there is no overlap between any two adjacent conductive regions. The four control circuits 11 to 14 are correspondingly connected to at least one electrode on an edge of the base layer 300 . In some examples, a control circuit includes multiple switches, each switch controlling the ON/OFF state of a corresponding electrode. When a switch connected to an electrode is turned on, a circuit is formed between the switch and the electrode. A finger touching any of the six conductive regions generates an output voltage at its corresponding output. In some examples, the touch panel is connected to and controlled by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), for example, the touch panel is connected to a touch panel microcontroller through four control circuits. In other examples, the touch panel is connected to multiple touch panel microcontrollers, each responsible for controlling one or more orientations of the touch panel.

Referring to FIG. 4A , in order to estimate the Y coordinate position of a finger contact point (such as P1 ) in a certain area, a power supply voltage Vin is applied to the electrodes on the upper and lower edges of the base layer 300 . According to the operation of the control circuits 11 and 12, the output terminal of the conductive area on the touch panel that is touched by a finger generates one or more output signals. In some application examples, the switches of the two control circuits 11 and 12 are set to be on or off according to a predefined circuit structure to minimize the error caused by the fringe electric field leakage of the conductive layer on the base layer 300 . For example, different switches of the control circuits 11 and 12 may be turned on or off at the same time when the finger contact position is detected. In another example, a pair of switches, one in the control circuit 11 and the other symmetrically in the control circuit 12, are turned on and off at the same time. By doing so, multiple measurements are generated at the same output and the average of these measurements can be used to estimate the Y-coordinate position of the finger contact point. In some examples, an average value is determined from multiple measurements of corresponding switch pairs on the edge of substrate 300 .

Note that there are many other schemes and different circuit configurations that can achieve good measurement results by running multiple switches in the control circuit. Reference is made here to an application number CN200810096144.6, the application date is May 6, 2008, and the utility model name is a utility model patent for a touch screen body and a resistive touch screen using the screen body), in which the disclosed circuit It can be applied in some examples of the touch panel of the present invention.

According to actual application conditions, the insulating conductive region on the contact layer of the resistive multi-touch sensing device can be made into different shapes and sizes according to the size of the touch panel. For example, the six conductive regions in Figure 4A are squares of the same size. In practical application, in order to have the same or similar resolution when estimating the X and Y coordinates of the contact point, the conduction area can adopt the above-mentioned design. In some examples, the conductive regions can be rectangular with the same or different dimensions. In this case, the touch panel can have different resolutions in X and Y coordinates according to requirements. In some examples, the conductive area can be a regular or irregular polygon. In other examples, the conductive area may be circular or oval.

FIG. 4B depicts a touch panel upper surface structure with multiple conductive regions. The touch panel includes an upper conductive layer and a lower conductive layer. The upper conductive layer is divided into six rectangular conductive regions, namely the conductive region 430-1 to the conductive region 430-6. The lower conductive layer 420 has four electrodes at four corners, that is, electrodes 1 to 4 . In order to measure the position of the contact point "P7" in the Y-axis direction, electrode 1 and electrode 2 are connected to the positive pole of the power supply, and electrodes 3 and 4 are connected to the negative pole of the power supply. Because the upper conductive layer is in contact with the lower conductive layer 420 at the contact point P7, the output terminal 430-4 of the conductive region generates a voltage signal corresponding to the position of the contact point in the Y-axis direction (eg proportional relationship). After measuring the Y-axis position, connect electrode 1 and electrode 3 to the positive terminal of the power supply and electrode 2 and electrode 4 to the negative terminal of the power supply. In this case, the output terminal 430-4 of the conductive region generates another voltage signal corresponding to the position of the contact point in the X-axis direction (for example, a proportional relationship). Please note that the voltage measurement process in the X-axis direction and the Y-axis direction is completed within a very short period when the upper and lower conductive layers are in contact with point P7 before the finger leaves the upper surface of the touch panel.

5A to 5C are schematic diagrams of a multi-touch sensing device with multiple conductive regions provided by an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 5A , the touch panel 505 is rectangular, and its contact layer is divided into 20 triangles with the same size. Each triangle represents a conductive region 510 with an output terminal. When the power is applied to the opposite two edges of the touch panel 505, use the same circuit connection in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 to measure the voltage output signal, and can detect the X-axis and Y of multiple fingertip contact points simultaneously on different conductive areas of the touch panel 505 axis position. In conclusion, dividing the contact layer into multiple smaller conductive regions can help improve the resolution of the multi-touch panel.

FIG. 5B depicts a touch panel 515 having multiple conductive regions of different shapes and sizes. Part of the conduction area 520 is "M" shaped and the other areas 530, 540 are triangular in shape, each having its own output. When the power is applied to the opposite two edges of the touch panel 515, use the same circuit connection in Fig. 3 and Fig. 4 to measure the voltage output signal, and can detect the X-axis and Y of multiple simultaneous finger contact points on different conduction areas of the touch panel 515 axis position. The touch panel shown in FIG. 5B is only used when different areas and/or different orientations of the touch panel require different applications and different resolutions. For example, the touch panel 515 in FIG. 5B may have a higher resolution in the edge portion and in the lateral direction than in the central portion and in the longitudinal direction.

FIG. 5C depicts a hexagonal touch panel 525 with multiple conductive regions. The contact layer on the touch panel 525 is divided into six conductive regions 550, each region is an equilateral triangle and has its own output terminal. In this example, assuming that there is a finger contact point "P" in a certain conductive area, in order to determine the position of the finger contact point, the power supply voltage is applied to the touch panel 525 in three different directions, such as XX' direction, Y-Y' direction and Z-Z' direction. There is a separate output signal on output 560 for each direction. The output signal can determine a certain position of the contact point. Repeating the same steps in the three directions produces three estimates of the contact point location. Since the correlation of the three directions is known, any two of the three estimation results can be used to determine the unique position of the contact point on the touch panel, and the third estimation result can be used to improve the contact position on the touch panel 525. The precision of the point location. Obviously, to further improve the resolution of the touch panel, those skilled in the art need to make more measurements in other directions.

FIG. 6 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a multi-touch sensing panel with multiple conductive regions. Please note that the dimensions of the layers shown in the figure are for illustration only and do not represent the exact dimensions of the layers.

Conductive layer 670 represents a layer of transparent conductive material, such as ITO or LEP, attached to the upper surface of the base layer of the touch panel. The spacer layer 660 is on the conductive layer 670 . In some examples, the spacer layer 660 is composed of a two-dimensional spatial array of micro-dots. A spatial array of microdots separates the upper and lower conductive layers to avoid accidental contact. In some examples, a spatial array of micro-dots is fabricated into the lower conductive layer 670 through a process that precisely controls the dot size, height and density. In some instances, a predefined dot density determines the relative method of operation of the touch panel. For example, a low lattice density is effective for finger touches. In contrast, stylus-type input devices require a higher dot matrix density. In some instances, a slight positive air pressure exists between the layers to prevent accidental or inadvertent contact, such as dust and stains, from damaging the touch panel.

The lower electrode layer 650 is distributed on the edge of the conductive layer 670 . The electrode layer 650 and the conductive layer 670 are electrically connected together. In some examples, the lower electrode layer 650 is comprised of two or more isolated sections, and each section is connected to an electrode spread out on the same edge as the substrate 300 shown in FIG. 3 . When the positive and negative poles of the power supply voltage are connected to the two electrodes at the opposite edges of the conductive layer 670, there will be a voltage drop across the conductive layer 670 and current will flow.

Conductive layer 610 represents another layer of transparent conductive material, such as ITO or LEP, attached to the lower surface of the touch panel contact layer. The dotted lines in the conductive layer 610 represent a plurality of mutually isolated regions 610-1, 610-2, to 610-N divided in the layer. A top electrode layer 620 is distributed on the edge of the conductive layer 610 . In some examples, the upper electrode layer 620 is divided into a plurality of isolated units and each unit is connected to a conductive region 610 - 1 , 610 - 2 , to 610 -N in the upper conductive layer 610 . When a conductive region of the upper conductive layer 610 contacts with the lower conductive layer 670 at a certain point, a voltage signal is transmitted through a unit of the upper electrode layer 620 to the corresponding output terminal and transmitted to the microcontroller connected to the touch panel .

Two insulators 630 are respectively attached to corresponding ends of the upper electrode layer 620 and the lower electrode layer 650, so that the two electrode layers 620 and 650 will not be connected to each other and avoid potential failures during the application of the multi-point touch panel. In some examples, the two insulators 630 are bonded together by a double-sided adhesive layer 640 . In other examples, the double-sided adhesive layer 640 itself is an insulator. In this case, the upper and lower electrode layers 620 and 650 are directly pasted together with the double-sided adhesive layer 640 , and the two insulating layers 630 are omitted.

FIG. 7 is a data flow chart of the multi-touch sensing system provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

The multi-touch sensing system includes a display screen 710, an application microprocessor 720, a touch panel microcontroller 730, and a multi-touch panel 740 as described above. In some examples, the multi-touch sensing system is a portable device such as a cell phone, game pad, global positioning system (GPS), personal digital assistant (PDA), or a portion thereof. In some other examples, the multi-touch sensing system is a public system, such as a bank ATM machine, a station automatic ticket machine, a library's book retrieval system or a part thereof. In other examples, the multi-touch sensing system is or is a part of an automotive electronic control system or a product manufacturing system.

When working, the microcontroller 730 sends instructions to the touch panel 740 to simultaneously detect commands input by the user or requests sent by using multi-finger contact or multi-point contact requests using pen tools through the control signal 19 . According to the received user request, the touch panel 740 generates a plurality of output signals 20 and transmits 20 the signals to the microcontroller 730 through the aforementioned multi-conduction area. Microcontroller 730 processes output signal 20 to determine multi-touch position related information 17 and sends this information 17 to application microprocessor 720 (eg CPU processor).

The application microprocessor 720 executes a predefined operation according to the relevant location information 17 and displays the operation result 16 on the display screen 710 . For example, a user rotates a picture on the display using a multi-touch gesture. According to the actions of the finger touching multiple points on the screen, the microprocessor 720 rotates the original picture by 90 degrees, for example, and displays it on the screen. In some application examples, the microprocessor 720 will send a response signal 18 to the microcontroller 730 at the same time. According to the response signal 18 , the microcontroller 730 sends a new command to the touch panel 740 . In some instances, microprocessor 720 and microcontroller 730 represent different circuit portions of an integrated chip, such as an ASIC.

Fig. 8 is a functional block diagram of an embodiment of a multi-touch sensing system.

There are multiple communication channels between the touch panel 810 and the touch panel driver 820 . For explanation, it is assumed that the touch panel 810 has the same structure as the touch panel shown in FIG. 3 . The output terminals Vin1 to Vin6 are respectively connected to six conductive regions of the upper conductive layer and generate and output voltage signals when multiple fingers touch the surface of the touch panel 810 at the same time.

When any one of the six conductive regions is detected to have an output signal, the touch panel driver 820 reports to the microcontroller 830 through an interrupt signal 827 . In response, the microcontroller 830 sends operational instructions 825 to the touch panel driver 820, the instructions including measuring the output voltages of the six conductive regions and converting the voltage signals. In some examples, touch panel driver 820 includes multiple voltage signal measurement units, each responsible for monitoring one or more conductive regions. These voltage signal measurement units can work in parallel. In some other examples, the touch panel driver 820 has only one measurement unit. In this case, the measurement unit is responsible for continuously monitoring all conductive areas on the touch panel, detecting one area at a time. In some instances, touch panel driver 820 and microcontroller 830 have powerful signal processing capabilities. Thus, a multi-touch sensing system can detect whether there is a touch event in multiple conductive areas, and if a touch event occurs in one area, it can estimate where the touch event occurred. Although the touch events on different conduction areas are determined sequentially, the user experience feels that they are detected simultaneously. The touch panel driver 820 has one or more signal measurement units, depending on the specific application of the multi-touch panel.

After determining the location of the multi-point or synchronous or pseudo-simultaneous touch events, the microcontroller 830 performs operations on the objects displayed on the display screen 840 . For example, if the user rotates the picture displayed on the display screen 840 through a multi-finger gesture, the microcontroller 830 displays the rotated picture on the screen, for example, the picture rotated by 90 degrees is displayed on the screen instead of the original picture.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of another embodiment of a multi-touch sensing system.

The multi-touch input panel 910 is connected with a connection microcontroller 920 . In some examples, microcontroller 920 is an ASIC chip having multiple circuits. In other examples, microcontroller 920 is an electronic system incorporating multiple ICs, each with a specific function. For example, the panel driver 930 is responsible for controlling the operation of a switch, such as an on/off switch as shown in FIG. 4A . By adjusting the on/off of the switch in different directions, the multi-touch sensing system can measure the X-axis and Y-axis positions of the corresponding touch events on different conductive areas simultaneously or differently.

The multi-touch panel 910 transmits output signals of different conductive regions to the noise filter 940 . Many noise suppression algorithms known in the art can be applied to the noise filter 940 to improve the resolution of the output signal and reduce the error in estimating the location of the touch event. After suppressing the noise of the output signal, the noise filter 940 transmits the output signal to the A/D converter 950 in the control part circuit 960 . The A/D converter 950 digitizes the analog output signal generated by the touch panel 910 . The resolution of the A/D converter 950 will affect the resolution of the multi-touch panel 910 to a certain extent. The A/D converter in a conventional multi-touch sensing system has a resolution of at least 8 bits, possibly 12 bits or even higher.

The control section circuit 960 includes an erasable memory 970 or is connected to the erasable memory 970 . In some examples, the memory 970 stores one or more signal processing algorithms for estimating the location information of the touch event from the digital output signal. The capacity of the memory 970 depends on the complexity of the signal processing algorithm. A conventional memory chip has a capacity of at least 4Kb. The control part circuit 960 obtains one or more signal processing algorithms from the memory 970 and applies the algorithms to the digital output signal generated by the A/D converter 950 to determine the position of the corresponding touch event on the multi-touch panel 910 .

In some examples, microcontroller 920 includes one or more interface circuits 980 . Through the interface circuit 980, the microcontroller 920 is connected to other devices in the same application circuit (such as the microprocessor 720 in FIG. 7) or other application circuits outside the multi-touch sensing system. The information of the 980 touch event can be transmitted to other devices or circuits through the interface circuit. Other devices or circuits can also send instructions to the multi-touch sensing circuit through the interface circuit 980 . In some examples, interface circuit 980 is a specific device for some specific applications. In some other examples, the interface circuit 980 is an interface circuit compatible with standard I/O protocols, such as USB and RS-232.

Figure 10 is a working flow diagram of the multi-touch sensing system. As shown in Figure 7 to 9 circuit connection, a multi-touch detection system usually includes a touch sensing device, a microcontroller connected to the sensing device and a micro-controller The application circuit to which the device is connected. The touch sensing device has multiple electrically isolated conductive regions for detecting simultaneous finger contact events.

The touch sensing device generates a plurality of output signals (1020) when the conductive area (1010) detects multiple simultaneous contact events by the user. In some instances, each contact in multiple simultaneous contact events generates a signal. In some instances, multiple output signals are generated simultaneously. In other examples, multiple output signals are generated sequentially. In other instances, multiple output signals are divided into multiple sets. The output signals in a single set are generated sequentially, and the output signals of different sets can be generated simultaneously.

A number of output signals are transmitted to the microcontroller (1030). In some examples, a microcontroller includes multiple signal processing units, each responsible for processing one or more output signals. Multiple signal processing units process output signals in parallel. In some other examples, the microcontroller has only one signal processing unit to process multiple output signals sequentially, one signal at a time. In other instances, the microcontroller prioritizes the output signals according to their corresponding conduction regions. For example, if the output signal of a specific conductive area in the touch panel is given higher priority (such as the middle area), then the microcontroller will first process this output signal and then process the output signals of other areas (such as near area around the edge of the touch panel). In some instances, the ordering or prioritization of the conductive regions may depend on the different sizes of the conductive regions. For example, the output signal of a conduction area with a larger size is prioritized for processing than the signal of a conduction area with a smaller size. In some instances, it is necessary to sort or prioritize conductive areas in some multi-touch sensing system applications. For example, the user selects an object on the touch screen by one finger touch, only after the user selects another object on the touch screen by another finger touch at the same time or before, the computer gamepad or ATM machine just performs this corresponding operation. In other words, the interaction between the user and different objects on the touch screen has an inherent order, so the user is required to touch the objects in a certain processing order.

The microcontroller generates one or more control signals based on the output signals and transmits the control signals to the application device (1040). The application device includes a display screen displaying a plurality of human-computer interaction objects. Typical human-computer interaction objects include text, virtual keys, images, and virtual keyboards. The application device changes the state of the human-computer interaction object on the display screen in response to the control signal (1050). For example, the app may rotate an image on the screen or highlight an area selected by the user.

The foregoing description, for purposes of explanation, has presented a few examples for description. However, the above discussed illustrations are not meant to limit the invention to these examples. It can be seen from the above description that there are many places that can be modified and changed. The examples enumerated are only used to better illustrate the principles and practical applications of the utility model, so other skilled persons in the art can use the utility model and various examples to make various modifications that can obtain the expected realization effect of the utility model , should be included in the protection scope of the present utility model.

Claims (15)

1, multipoint touch detection system is characterized in that, this system comprises:

One touch induction device, this device comprise a plurality of conductive area that are used for the multiple point touching incident of monitor user ' synchronization with the mutually insulated of generation output signal;

One is used to send the microcontroller of at least one control signal;

The described control signal of one response is to change the application apparatus of human-computer interaction object show state, and this application apparatus comprises that one shows the display of many human-computer interactions object;

Described touch induction device is connected with described microcontroller one end, and the other end of described microcontroller is connected with described application apparatus.

2, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 1 is characterized in that, described touch induction device comprises:

One has first conducting stratum at first pair of edge at least, described first pair of edge comprises, first edge and one second edge wherein second edge and first edge be arranged in parallel substantially, when power supply is loaded on described first edge and second edge, on first conducting stratum between described first edge and second edge, producing has voltage drop;

And second conducting stratum that separates by wall and described first conducting stratum, described second conducting stratum comprises the conductive area of a plurality of mutually insulateds.

3, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 2, it is characterized in that, described system comprises that also one receives described output signal to generate the touch panel driver of multiple touch points positional information, and described touch panel driver is connected with described touch induction device.

4, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 3 is characterized in that, described microcontroller is connected with described touch panel driver, is used to receive the positional information of touch panel driver output to form at least one control information.

5, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 2, it is characterized in that, described application apparatus comprises that one receives described control signal to change the signal processor of man-machine interaction object state on display, and described signal processor is connected with described microcontroller.

According to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that 6, described microcontroller comprises that also one is used for the noise filter of denoising when forming described output signal, described noise filter is connected with described touch induction device.

7, according to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that described microcontroller also comprises an A/D converter, receive the output signal that described touch induction device produces, and be digital signal these signals.

8, according to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that described microcontroller also comprises a storer, storage is applicable to the signal processing algorithm of the output signal that described touch induction device produces.

9, according to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that described microcontroller also comprises an interface circuit, described interface circuit one end is connected with described microcontroller, and the described interface circuit other end is connected with described application apparatus.

10, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 9 is characterized in that, described interface circuit is a special interface circuit.

11, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 9 is characterized in that, described interface circuit is a usb circuit.

12, multipoint touch detection system according to claim 9 is characterized in that, described interface circuit is the RS-232 interface circuit.

According to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that 13, described a plurality of insulated conductive area size are identical.

According to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that 14, described a plurality of insulated conductive zone has two kinds of sizes at least.

According to claim 4 or 5 described multipoint touch detection systems, it is characterized in that 15, described insulated conductive zone is any shape in triangle, rectangle, the square.

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