JP2010086500A - Operation device - Google Patents

Abstract

【Task】
While enabling various operations similar to those of a touch panel, a mechanical feeling is given to the user.
[Solution]
The top plate (18) is fixed on the actuator (14) on the base plate (12) via the support column (16). A non-volatile display sheet (22) is disposed between the actuator (14) and the top plate (18). The display sheet (22) has a hole (24) through which the column (16) passes. The control circuit (30) applies a drive current to the actuator (14) of the operation key (10). As a result, the actuator (14) expands and pushes the top plate (18) up through the support column (16). When the top plate (18) is pressed, a change in voltage applied to the actuator (14) is detected by a voltmeter. The control circuit (30) determines that the operation key (10) has been pressed when the voltage change amount exceeds a certain value, and develops the function assigned to the operation key (10).
[Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an operating device capable of changing input contents (such as characters), and more specifically, relates to an operating device having a function of displaying input contents.

  As a device for inputting and inputting various options while displaying an image, a touch panel used in a bank ATM, various information terminals, a car navigation system, and the like is well known (see Patent Document 1).

  There are various types of touch panels. Generally, the touch panel has a structure in which a thin touch sensor film is attached to the front or back surface of the display device. Not only can you change the key layout and assigned characters (or functions) depending on the situation, but you can change not only the assigned characters (or functions) but also the position on the screen by changing the display image on the display device. A flexible man-machine interface can be realized (see Patent Document 2).

On the other hand, in the configuration in which operation keys are arranged on the side of the screen or the configuration using a dedicated character input device such as a computer keyboard, the arrangement of selection keys or input characters cannot be basically changed. A plurality of characters or functions can be assigned to one key by pressing another key simultaneously with a shift key, a control key, a function key, or the like. In this configuration, each operation key is physically sufficiently separated, and each operation key can be identified only by touch, so that it is difficult to make a mistake such as pressing an adjacent key by mistake.
JP 2005-321948 A JP 2001-350569 A

  Since the touch panel has a touch sensor film attached to the glass (or plastic) plate on the upper surface of the display, unlike a keyboard, it is impossible to separate keys by physical unevenness. Also, the key cannot be identified by touch.

  In the touch panel, when the pressure of the finger to be pressed is small, the key input may not be correctly determined. From the viewpoint of the user, since the pressing pressure is small, it is difficult to identify whether the key input is not recognized or whether an area deviated from the key area is pressed.

  For this, a system is used in which a key is pressed to confirm that the key has been pressed at the same time as the key input. However, this method cannot be used in environments where sound should not be output. Further, when it is necessary to press a large number of keys continuously, if the input speed increases, the user presses the next key before recognizing the confirmation sound, and as a result, erroneous input is likely to occur.

  In the touch panel, a small key can be surely pressed by using a pen called a stylus, but in this case, the input speed is greatly reduced as compared with the case of using a finger.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an operating device that can easily identify the operational feeling by tactile sensation while eliminating such inconvenience and ensuring the flexibility of the touch panel.

  An operating device according to the present invention includes a top plate that serves as a key top, a support that supports the top plate, and an actuator that is mounted on the base plate, and the actuator that moves the support up in response to a drive signal. A display sheet whose display contents can be changed, the display sheet being disposed between the base plate and the top plate and having a hole through which the support column passes, and the drive signal being supplied to the actuator And a control circuit, and the top plate is made of a transparent material that allows the display content of the display sheet to be visually recognized.

  Furthermore, it is preferable that a mechanically reversible deformable structure is provided below the actuator. In addition, either or both of a means for detecting a change in the driving voltage or current of the actuator in accordance with the pressure applied to the actuator and a means for sensing the deformation of the mechanically reversible deformable structure are provided. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, various operations similar to those of a touch panel can be performed by changing the display content of the display sheet. Further, since the top plate is lifted by the actuator, it is possible to give the user a feeling of operation similar to that of a normal mechanical operation switch.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention. For ease of understanding, FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a single operation key, which is shown elongated in the vertical direction. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an operation panel in which the operation keys shown in FIG. 1 are arranged in 3 × 3. FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view (a) and a key display example (b) of the embodiment shown in FIG.

  In the operation key 10 of this embodiment, a support column 16 is erected on the actuator 14 on the base plate 12, and a top plate 18 serving as a key top is fixed to the upper end surface of the support column 16. A display sheet 22 is disposed between the actuator 14 and the top plate 18. The display sheet 22 has a hole 24 through which the support column 16 passes. The actuator 14 also has a function as a pressure sensor as will be described later, and outputs a pressure sensing signal when the user presses the top plate 18. Further, a pressure-sensitive element may be disposed between the actuator 14 and the base plate 12 below the support column 16 to detect whether or not the user has pressed the top plate 18 with the pressure-sensitive element. In that case, the actuator 14 does not need to have a function as a pressure-sensitive sensor. In addition, since the hole 24 is actually fine enough, the display content of the display sheet 22 is not impaired.

  Any actuator can be used as the actuator 14 as long as the support 16 can be moved up and down by an electric signal. In particular, an organic actuator using a polymer material described in JP-A-2006-325335 is suitable for the actuator 14 of this embodiment because an actuator matrix can be easily produced by printing. This organic actuator utilizes deformation due to thermal expansion. This organic actuator is composed of a composite material of conductive filler and organic polymer binder, generates Joule heat by applying voltage, and reversibly deforms due to thermal expansion due to its self-heating. Both ends of the film-like organic actuator are fixed to the base plate 12 so that the film becomes flat. When an electric current is passed through the actuator film in this state, the actuator film expands, and the support column 16 installed at the center can be moved in the vertical direction by elastic buckling deformation. When the actuator film is arranged so as to buckle and deform upward, the top plate 18 is pushed up when a current is passed through the actuator 14.

  In the cross-sectional view shown in FIG. 3A, the operation keys shown on the left and right indicate a normal state or an initial state, and the operation key shown in the center indicates a state where the top plate 18 is lifted according to the operation. As the actuator 14, any actuator can be used as long as it can move the column 16 up and down by an electric signal, such as a thermal expansion type organic actuator, a shape memory alloy, a polymer actuator utilizing the movement of electric charges, and the like. .

  The display sheet 22 is made of, for example, non-volatile electronic paper that can maintain display even when the supply of the drive signal is stopped. There are various types of electronic paper, but it is possible to make a through hole at the boundary of a cell serving as a display unit, and the display capability of the display sheet 22 is provided by providing the hole 24 at such a position. Can be maintained. Other types of flat display elements may be used as long as the holes can be formed. For example, a reflective display such as a cholesteric liquid crystal display or an electrophoretic display can be used, and a self-luminous display such as an organic EL display can also be used. The display sheet 22 is supported by a support plate (not shown) so as to be positioned at a certain height with respect to the base plate 12.

  In FIG. 2, the thickness of the base plate 12, the top plate 18, and the display sheet 22 is omitted for easy understanding.

  The control circuit 30 applies a display signal indicating characters or the like to be input with the operation keys 10 to the display sheet 22. Thereby, a display can be changed freely according to the input content.

  The top plate 18 is made of a transparent material that allows the display content of the display sheet 22 to be read.

  Reflection of the top and bottom surfaces of the top plate 18 and the top surface of the display sheet 22 reduces the visibility of the display content of the display sheet 22. In order to prevent this, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, irregularities having a period equal to or less than a half wavelength of visible light (about 200 nm) were formed on the top and bottom surfaces of the top plate 18. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the top surface of the top plate 18. Such unevenness of the period is equivalently a gradual change in refractive index, and reflection can be suppressed. That is, the irregularities having such a period function as a refractive index matching layer. Similarly, reflections can be suppressed by forming irregularities with a period equal to or less than a half wavelength of visible light (about 200 nm) on the upper surface of the display sheet 22.

  The usage of this embodiment will be briefly described. The control circuit 30 outputs a signal to the display sheet 22 so that characters assigned to the operation keys 10 are displayed on the display sheet 22 below the top plate 18 of the operation keys 10. Further, the control circuit 30 pushes up the top 18 through the support 16 when a function assigned to the operation key 10 is assigned. The operation keys in the center of the front row in FIG. 2 are in a state where the top plate 18 is lifted.

  When the user pushes down the top plate 18, pressure is applied to the actuator 14 via the support column 16, and the actuator 14 is extended by the pressing force accordingly, and its electric resistance ground changes. Since the current flowing through the actuator 14 is controlled to be constant by the control circuit 30, the voltage value applied to both ends of the actuator 14 changes in accordance with the change in the electrical resistance value. When the change amount of the applied voltage exceeds a certain value, the control circuit 30 determines that the operation key 10 has been pressed, and develops the function assigned to the operation key 10. That is, for example, if the assignment function is input of the character “A”, the character “A” is displayed in the input window portion of the display sheet 22.

  With this process, in this embodiment, it is possible to give the user a feeling of key operation. Since the display content of the display sheet 22 can be freely changed, a small number of operation keys can be used according to the situation with the same flexibility as the touch panel.

  When the drive current to the actuator 14 is turned off, the actuator 14 returns to its original length, and the top plate 18 also returns to its original height.

  The actuator 14 is exemplified by a configuration having a polymer material that expands due to an electric current, but may be of other configurations.

  A cross-sectional view of another embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. In this embodiment, the top plate 18 is pushed down when the actuator 14 is expanded, and is projected when contracted. In such a configuration, the base plate 12 and the actuator 14 are connected by a minute coil spring 25 in order to prevent the actuator 14 from being further deformed upward in the drawing when expanded.

  In this embodiment, between the coil spring 25 and the base plate 12, a structure spring 26 that is a type of disc spring that can be mechanically reversibly deformed and generally called a "metal dome" is disposed. When a pressure exceeding a certain level is applied to the metal dome 26, a part of the upwardly projecting spherical surface is reversibly deformed, and the impact of the deformation is fed back to the user as a key press feeling. Furthermore, an electrical contact is provided inside such a structure 26. This configuration corresponds to a switch generally called a “membrane switch”. In the first embodiment, the pressing of the key is detected by detecting the change in the electrical property accompanying the deformation of the actuator 14 to determine the pressing of the key. However, as in this embodiment, the membrane switch is installed below the actuator, A key press determination may be performed by detecting the deformation.

  In each of the above embodiments, in order to simplify the description, an example in which the top plate 18 is a single operation key has been shown. However, when the same structure is miniaturized, a single operation key is replaced by a plurality of top plates 18. It becomes possible to express. If miniaturization is advanced in this way, a tactile presentation display composed of fine tactile presentation elements can be realized in the same manner as a display composed of fine pixels.

  Although the invention has been described with reference to specific illustrative embodiments, various modifications and alterations may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the claims. This is obvious to an engineer in the field to which the present invention belongs, and such changes and modifications are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of one Example of this invention. It is a perspective view of the structure which has arrange | positioned the operation key shown in FIG. 1 in 3x3. They are sectional drawing (a) of the structure shown in FIG. 2, and a display example (b). It is a perspective view of the upper surface which shows the structural example which made the both surfaces of the top plate 18 and the upper surface of the display sheet 22 uneven | corrugated shape. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of another Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10: operation key 12: base plate 14: actuator 16: support 18: top plate 22: display sheet 24: hole 25: coil spring 26: mechanically reversible deformable structure 30: control circuit

Claims (6)

A top plate as a key top,
A column supporting the top plate;
An actuator mounted on a base plate, the actuator moving the support column upward by a drive signal;
A display sheet that can change the display content, the display sheet is disposed between the base plate and the top plate, and includes a hole that penetrates the support column,
A control circuit for supplying the drive signal to the actuator,
The operating device, wherein the top plate is made of a transparent material that allows the display content of the display sheet to be visually recognized.   2. The operating device according to claim 1, further comprising a mechanically reversible deformable structure installed below the actuator.   3. The operating device according to claim 1, further comprising means for detecting a change in driving voltage or current of the actuator in accordance with a pressure applied to the actuator.   The operating device according to claim 2, further comprising means for sensing deformation of the mechanically reversible deformable structure.   The operating device according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is made of a material that deforms in response to the drive signal.   6. The method according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the upper and lower surfaces of the top plate and the upper surface of the display sheet has irregularities with a period smaller than a half wavelength. Operating device.

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