JP2010170310A - Terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a terminal device facilitating calibration work. <P>SOLUTION: The terminal device includes: a display unit (28) rotatably supported against a device body; an input panel (27) disposed on a display surface of the display unit for detecting information about the coordinates of a position where an object makes contact; a reference point contact means (40) securely disposed on the device body and capable of contacting at least two protrusions (41, 42) serving as reference points for the input panel stored in a fixed position of the device body; and a coordinate information correction means (29) for obtaining information about the coordinates of positions where the protrusions of the reference point contact means make contact, and correcting the difference of the coordinate information detected by the input panel, according to the coordinate information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a terminal device provided with a display input device.

  In recent years, display input devices in which a touch panel (contact type sensor) is arranged on a display screen of a liquid crystal display panel have been widely used. In a camera equipped with this display input device, when a finger or a pen-shaped member (hereinafter referred to as “finger”) is brought into contact with the touch panel in accordance with an icon displayed on the liquid crystal display panel, it is displayed at that position. In the camera body, the corresponding operation is executed assuming that the operation indicated by the icon is selected by the user (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2007-264808 A

  However, if a deviation occurs between the liquid crystal display panel and the touch panel due to factors such as aging, the display position of the icon and the contact position of the user will not match, so the user touches the icon position with a finger or the like. However, the operation corresponding to the icon is not executed. In order to prevent such a problem, the user needs to periodically perform a position correction operation called calibration. Specifically, two bright spots, which are two reference points, are alternately lit on the display screen (mainly set on the diagonal line of the screen), and the user touches the position of the bright spot with a pen-shaped member. Thus, the error between the display position of the bright spot and the actual contact position is taken in, and the deviation between the display position of the bright spot and the contact position with the pen-shaped member is corrected.

  Thus, in the calibration work in the conventional display input device, the user himself / herself needs to bring the bright spot into contact with the pen-type member, so that the work is complicated.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a terminal device that can easily perform a calibration operation.

The present invention solves the above problems by the following means. In addition, in order to make an understanding easy, although the code | symbol corresponding to embodiment of this invention is attached | subjected and demonstrated, it is not limited to this.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display unit (28) rotatably supported by the apparatus main body, and an input unit that is arranged on the display screen of the display unit and detects coordinate information of a position where an object contacts. Reference point contact means fixedly arranged on the panel (27) and the apparatus main body and capable of contacting at least two protrusions (41, 42) serving as reference points with respect to the input panel stored at a fixed position of the apparatus main body (40) and coordinate information correction means for acquiring coordinate information of a position where the protrusion of the reference point contact means contacts, and correcting a shift of coordinate information detected by the input panel based on the coordinate information ( 29), and a terminal device.
Invention of Claim 2 is a terminal device of Claim 1, Comprising: The position detection means (30) which detects the position of the said input panel (27), The said input panel by the said position detection means When it is detected that the position is stored in the fixed position of the apparatus body, the reference point contact means (40) is driven to contact at least two protrusions serving as reference points with the input panel. And point control means (29).
The terminal device according to claim 3, wherein the protrusions (41, 42) of the reference point contact means (40) are deformed by application of a predetermined voltage (43). ), The piezoelectric element expands and deforms when a first voltage is applied to bring the protrusion into contact with the input panel, and contracts and deforms when the second voltage is applied. Is not in contact with the input panel.
Note that the configuration described with reference numerals may be improved as appropriate, or at least a part thereof may be replaced with another component.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the terminal device which can perform a calibration operation | work easily can be provided.

1 is an external view of a camera according to an embodiment. (A)-(d) is a rear view which shows a state when the free angle monitor of a camera is rotated. It is a block diagram which shows the electrical structure of a camera. (A), (b) is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of a panel position detection part. (A), (b) is a schematic sectional drawing which shows the structure of a protrusion drive part. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence in the case of performing an automatic calibration process.

  A digital camera that is an embodiment of a terminal device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings shown below, an XYZ orthogonal coordinate system is appropriately provided in order to facilitate explanation and understanding. In this coordinate system, the direction toward the left as viewed from the photographer at the camera position (hereinafter referred to as the normal position) when the photographer shoots a horizontally long image with the optical axis L horizontal is defined as the X plus direction. Further, the direction toward the upper side in the normal position is defined as the Y plus direction. Further, the direction toward the subject at the normal position is taken as the Z direction.

  FIG. 1 is an external view of a camera according to the present embodiment. The camera 10 of the present embodiment includes a camera body 11 and a lens barrel 12 attached to the camera body 11 integrally.

  On the upper surface of the camera body 11, a release button 13, a liquid crystal panel 14, and a command dial 15 for inputting an exposure mode and photographing conditions are arranged. A free angle monitor 16, a viewfinder 18, a main switch 19, and a selector dial 20 are disposed on the back side of the camera body 11. Further, a storage portion 11 a of the free angle monitor 16 is provided on the back surface of the camera body 11.

  The free angle monitor 16 includes a liquid crystal monitor 28 and a touch panel 27 provided on the display surface. The liquid crystal monitor 28 displays a still image (reproduced image) of an image captured by an imaging unit 21 described later, a moving image including a live view image, various menus, and an icon that is a specific symbol for inputting an instruction. . The touch panel 27 is an input panel that detects, as an input, a position touched by an object such as a user's finger, and a contact type sensor such as a pressure-sensitive type or a capacitance type is used. The touch panel 27 becomes operable by being energized by a control unit 29 to be described later, and outputs a position where an object such as a user's finger contacts to the control unit 29 as coordinate information.

  The free angle monitor 16 is rotatably supported by a hinge portion 17 provided at the left end of the camera body 11. The hinge portion 17 of the present embodiment is a biaxial rotating portion that includes a rotating shaft A and a rotating shaft B. By this hinge portion 17, the free angle monitor 16 can rotate about 180 degrees about the rotation axis A, and can rotate about 360 degrees about the rotation axis B orthogonal to the rotation axis A. Thus, the user can turn the display surface of the free angle monitor 16 in an arbitrary direction.

  A position detection projection 32 is provided on the surface of the free angle monitor 16 on the touch panel 27 side and on the end opposite to the hinge portion 17. The position detection protrusion 32 is provided only on the surface on the touch panel 27 side, and is not provided on the opposite surface.

  Next, the rotation of the free angle monitor 16 will be described. 2A to 2D are rear views showing a state when the free angle monitor 16 of the camera 10 is rotated. In FIG. 2, the position of the touch panel 27 in FIG. 1 is shown as the position of the liquid crystal monitor 28.

  FIG. 2A shows a state in which the free angle monitor 16 is stored on the back surface of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 facing up, and this state is a basic display position of the free angle monitor 16. When the free angle monitor 16 is in the display position, the display surface of the liquid crystal monitor 28 faces the user side. For this reason, the user can see the selection screen on which the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28 and a plurality of icons are arranged. Normally, when inputting from the free angle monitor 16, the free angle monitor 16 is stored in the display position, and a finger or the like is brought into contact with the touch panel 27 while holding the camera body 11. At the time of shooting, the display screen of the free angle monitor 16 can be brought to a desired position by appropriately moving the camera 10.

  On the other hand, when the free angle monitor 16 is rotated 180 degrees in the direction of the arrow about the rotation axis A from the display position, the free angle monitor 16 moves to the left side of the camera body 11 as shown in FIG. However, at this position, the liquid crystal monitor 28 faces the subject, so that the user cannot see the image displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28. Further, when the free angle monitor 16 is rotated 180 degrees in the direction of the arrow about the rotation axis B from the position of FIG. 2B, the liquid crystal monitor 28 of the free angle monitor 16 is displayed as shown in FIG. It turns to the user side.

  Therefore, the liquid crystal monitor 28 is set to the live view display, and the free angle monitor 16 is rotated approximately 90 degrees about the rotation axis B from the state of FIG. Shooting can be performed. Further, it is possible to perform low-angle shooting by rotating the free angle monitor 16 about 90 degrees around the rotation axis B and lowering the camera 10 downward.

  Further, when the free angle monitor 16 is rotated 180 degrees around the rotation axis A in the direction of the arrow, the free angle monitor 16 is placed with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side of the camera body 11 as shown in FIG. Stored. In this state, since the display surface of the liquid crystal monitor 28 faces the camera body 11, the user cannot see an image or icon displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28. In the following description, as shown in FIG. 2D, the free angle monitor 16 is stored in the storage unit 11a with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side, and the free angle monitor 16 is on the liquid crystal monitor 28 side. It is stored in a fixed position.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 1 again, the finder 18 is an optical finder for confirming a subject image obtained by an optical system (not shown) of the camera body 11. The main switch 19 is a switch for turning on / off the power of the camera. The selector dial 20 is an input means for selecting and setting menu items displayed on the liquid crystal monitor 28. The camera 1 is provided with other operation members such as various dials, levers, and switches, but the illustration and description thereof are omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the camera 10. Hereinafter, each part will be described.

  The lens barrel 12 includes a lens 12a that is an imaging optical system. The subject light incident on the lens barrel 12 is refracted by the lens 12a, and a subject image is formed on the light receiving surface of the imaging unit 21 on the exit side.

  The imaging unit 21 includes a plurality of solid-state imaging elements (not shown) arranged in a plane. The subject image formed by the lens 12a is captured by the light receiving surface of the solid-state imaging element, converted into an image signal, and the image processing unit 22. Output to.

  The image processing unit 22 performs analog and digital image processing such as noise removal, A / D conversion, color correction processing, size change, and encoding on the image signal output from the imaging unit 21, and finally Create image data. This image data is temporarily stored in a DRAM 25 described later.

  The EEPROM 23 is a non-volatile memory that retains stored information even when the power of the camera 10 is turned off, and stores input information such as user settings and custom settings.

  The ROM 24 stores not only programs necessary for the operation and control of the camera 10, but also initial values and setting values necessary for executing the programs.

  The DRAM 25 is a volatile memory in which stored information is erased when the power of the camera 10 is turned off. In addition to the above-described image data, the data required when the image processing unit 22, the control unit 29, etc. perform processing. Is temporarily stored.

  The memory card I / F (interface) unit 26 is a writing / reading device having a function of recording image data stored in the DRAM 25 on the memory card 100 and reading out the image data recorded on the memory card 100. is there. A memory card 100 is detachably attached to a memory card slot (not shown) of the memory card I / F unit 26.

  The liquid crystal panel 14 is a display device disposed on the upper surface of the camera 10 and displays information related to shooting conditions such as shutter speed, aperture value, and setting sensitivity.

  The panel position detection unit 30 is position detection means for detecting whether or not the free angle monitor 16 is stored at a fixed position of the camera body 11. 4A and 4B are schematic cross-sectional views illustrating the configuration of the panel position detection unit 30. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4A, a push switch 31 is embedded in the back surface of the camera body 11. The push switch 31 is an electrically conductive state when the switch head 31a is pressed, and is a non-conductive state when not pressed as shown. The push switch 31 is connected to the control unit 29 via a wiring 33. The tip of the switch head 31a is adjusted to be substantially the same position as the flat surface of the camera body 11 when not pressed.

  When the user stores the free angle monitor 16 in the storage portion 11a of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side, as shown in FIG. 4B, the position detection projection 32 provided on the free angle monitor 16 is pushed. Since the switch head 31a of the switch 31 is pressed, the push switch 31 becomes conductive. When the user pulls out the free angle monitor 16 from the storage portion 11 a of the camera body 11, the position detection protrusion 32 provided on the free angle monitor 16 is connected to the switch head of the push switch 31 as shown in FIG. Since it is separated from 31a, the push switch 31 becomes non-conductive. Therefore, whether or not the free angle monitor 16 is stored in the fixed position of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side can be detected based on the conduction state and the non-conduction state of the push switch 31. In a control unit 29 described later, a detection current of a predetermined value is supplied to the push switch 31. When the current is detected, there is no panel detection signal. When the current is not detected, the panel detection signal is received. judge.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2D, the panel position detection unit 30 is connected to the position detection projection 32 when the free angle monitor 16 is stored in a fixed position of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side. The switch head 31a is disposed at a position where it coincides with the switch head 31a. In the present embodiment, in order to detect that the free angle monitor 16 is stored in a fixed position of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side, the position detection protrusion 32 is provided on the touch panel 27 side of the free angle monitor 16. It is a surface and is provided on the side opposite to the hinge portion 17. This is to prevent the free angle monitor 16 from being detected as a storage state when it is slightly pulled out of the storage unit 11a.

  Since the position detection projection 32 is not provided on the surface of the free angle monitor 16 opposite to the liquid crystal monitor 28, the free angle monitor 32 is provided on the rear surface of the camera body 11, as shown in FIG. In the state where 16 is stored with the liquid crystal monitor 28 face up, the push switch 31 remains non-conductive.

  The protrusion driving unit 40 makes the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 which are reference points in a calibration process described later contact the touch panel 27 of the free angle monitor 16 stored at a fixed position of the camera body 11. Functions as a reference point contact means. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the protrusion driving unit 40. Here, the first protrusion 41 is described as an example, but the second protrusion 42 has the same configuration. As shown in FIG. 5A, on the back surface of the camera body 11, a protrusion composed of a first protrusion 41 that contacts the touch panel 27 and a piezoelectric element 43 that protrudes the first protrusion 41 from the camera body 11. A drive unit 40 is disposed.

  The first protrusion 41 is made of a resin or rubber-based material and has a substantially conical shape. The first protrusion 41 is attached to the upper surface of the piezoelectric element 43 by adhesion, and is adjusted to be substantially the same position as the flat surface of the camera body 11 when the piezoelectric element 43 is not stretched and deformed.

  The piezoelectric element 43 is a member that expands and contracts when a predetermined voltage is applied, and is connected to the control unit 29 via the wiring 44. When the first voltage is applied, the piezoelectric element 43 expands and deforms, and as shown in FIG. 5B, the first protrusion 41 (second protrusion 42) protrudes to be in contact with the touch panel 27. . Further, when the second voltage is applied, it contracts and deforms, and as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the first protrusion 41 (second protrusion 42) contracts and is not in contact with the touch panel 27 (not shown). It is what. The second voltage may be 0V.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2D, the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 are formed when the free angle monitor 16 is stored in a fixed position of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side. Are arranged at two points on the diagonal line with respect to the display screen. That is, the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 are disposed so as to coincide with the positions of the bright spots displayed at the upper left and lower right corners of the liquid crystal monitor 28 in the normal calibration process. In the present embodiment, an example in which two protrusions are brought into contact with the touch panel 27 is shown, but the number of protrusions may be three or more.

  The control unit 29 is a circuit that controls the operation of the entire camera 10 and is configured by a microprocessor. When the panel position detection unit 30 detects that the free angle monitor 16 is stored in the fixed position of the camera body 11, the control unit 29 in the present embodiment controls the two protrusion driving units 40 to control the touch panel 27. On the other hand, it has a function as a reference point control means for bringing the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 into contact with each other. Such an operation as the reference point control means is executed by selecting a calibration processing mode.

  That is, in the calibration processing mode, when the panel position detection unit 30 detects that the free angle monitor 16 is stored at the fixed position of the camera body 11, the control unit 29 receives the panel detection signal from the panel position detection unit 30. Receive. Upon receiving this panel detection signal, the control unit 29 applies a first voltage to the piezoelectric element 43 that drives the first protrusion 41, and then applies a second voltage to the piezoelectric element 43 that drives the first protrusion 41. . Subsequently, the first voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 43 that drives the second protrusion 42, and then the second voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 43 that drives the second protrusion 42. By applying such a voltage, the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 are alternately brought into contact with the touch panel 27.

  In the calibration process, the control unit 29 determines the coordinate information of the position of the touch panel 27 touched by the pen-shaped member by the user operation or the position of the touch panel 27 touched by the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 by the protrusion driving unit 40. It functions as a coordinate information correction unit that acquires coordinate information and corrects a shift in coordinate information detected by the touch panel 27 based on the coordinate information.

  That is, in the normal calibration process, the control unit 29 displays the first bright spot as the reference point in the upper left corner of the liquid crystal monitor 28. When the user brings the pen-shaped member into contact with the bright spot, coordinate information of the position touched on the touch panel 27 is acquired. Thereafter, the first bright spot displayed in the upper left corner is turned off, and the second bright spot serving as the reference point is displayed in the lower right corner of the liquid crystal monitor 28. When the user brings the pen-shaped member into contact with the bright spot, coordinate information of the position touched on the touch panel 27 is acquired. The control unit 29 corrects a deviation between the display position on the liquid crystal monitor 28 and the contact position on the touch panel 27 by calculating a coefficient for correction based on the coordinate information of the two points acquired in this way. To do. An existing processing program can be used for this calibration processing.

  In the present embodiment, in addition to the normal calibration processing mode described above, calibration processing is automatically executed when the free angle monitor 16 is stored at a fixed position on the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side. The automatic calibration processing mode can be selected. The above two processing modes can be appropriately selected by the user.

  In addition to this, the control unit 29 performs lens driving for focus adjustment and control of a diaphragm unit and a shutter unit (not shown) for exposure control.

  The operation input unit 50 includes a plurality of operation input means operated by a user. For example, the release button 13, command dial 15, main switch 19, selector dial 20, and the like described in FIG. 1 constitute the operation input unit 50.

  Next, the processing procedure when the control unit 29 executes the automatic calibration process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing of the flowchart shown below is executed every time the free angle monitor 16 is stored in a fixed position of the camera body 11 with the liquid crystal monitor 28 on the back side.

  The control unit 29 determines whether a panel detection signal is received from the panel position detection unit 30 (step S101). If “No” here, the process returns to step S101, and if “Yes”, the first voltage is applied to the piezoelectric element 43 corresponding to the first protrusion 41 to project the first protrusion 41 (step S102). Thereby, the tip of the first protrusion 41 comes into contact with the touch panel 27. And the control part 29 acquires the 1st coordinate information used as the contact position of the 1st protrusion 41 from the touch panel 27 (step S103). The first coordinate information is stored in the DRAM 25. Subsequently, the control unit 29 applies the second voltage to the piezoelectric element 43 corresponding to the first protrusion 41 to contract the first protrusion 41 (step S104).

  Next, the control unit 29 applies a first voltage to the piezoelectric element 43 corresponding to the second protrusion 42 to cause the second protrusion 42 to protrude (step S105). Thereby, the tip of the second protrusion 42 comes into contact with the touch panel 27. And the control part 29 acquires the 2nd coordinate information used as the contact position of the 2nd protrusion 42 from the touch panel 27 (step S106). The second coordinate information is stored in the DRAM 25. Subsequently, the control unit 29 applies the second voltage to the piezoelectric element 43 corresponding to the second protrusion 42 to contract the second protrusion 42 (step S107). Subsequently, the control unit 29 reads out the first and second coordinate information from the DRAM 25, and executes a calibration process for correcting the shift of the coordinate information detected by the touch panel 27 based on the first and second coordinate information. Then (step S108), the processing of this routine is terminated.

According to the said embodiment, there exist the following effects.
(1) Since the touch panel 27 stored at a fixed position of the camera body 11 is brought into contact with two protrusions serving as reference points from the camera body 11 side, the user himself pens the bright spot on the display screen. The operation of making contact with the mold member becomes unnecessary. Thus, since the user does not need to manually input the reference point, the calibration operation can be easily performed.
(2) When it is detected that the touch panel 27 is stored at a fixed position of the camera body 11, two protrusions serving as reference points are brought into contact from the camera body 11 side. It is not necessary to perform an operation for inputting a point, and the calibration work can be automatically performed. Therefore, the calibration work can be performed more easily.
(3) Since the two projections serving as the reference points are driven by the piezoelectric element, the operation of projecting or contracting the two projections can be performed at high speed, and the operating sound can be reduced. Furthermore, the configuration of the panel position detection unit 30 can be simplified, and an increase in weight can be suppressed.
(Deformation)

Without being limited to the embodiment described above, the present invention can be variously modified and changed as described below, and these are also within the scope of the present invention.
(1) In the present embodiment, an example in which the push switch 31 and the position detection projection 32 are used as the panel position detection unit 30 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, from a rotary encoder provided in the hinge unit 17. Based on the signal, it may be detected that the touch panel 27 is stored at a fixed position of the camera body 11.
(2) In the present embodiment, the example in which the two protrusions are driven by the piezoelectric element in the protrusion driving unit 40 has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be driven using, for example, a solenoid.
(3) The automatic calibration process may be executed every time the free angle monitor 16 is stored at a fixed position on the back of the camera as in this embodiment, or is executed at a rate of once every several times. You may do it. Alternatively, it may be executed when the free angle monitor 16 is stored at a fixed position on the back of the camera and the camera body is turned off (the power is turned off after the automatic calibration process).
(4) In this embodiment, in the automatic calibration process, the first protrusion 41 and the second protrusion 42 are sequentially brought into contact with the touch panel 27, and the first and second coordinate information are sequentially detected. When the above contact position can be detected, the first and second projections may be simultaneously brought into contact with the touch panel 27 to detect the first and second coordinate information.
(5) In this embodiment, an example in which the terminal device according to the present invention is applied to a digital camera has been described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and a free angle monitor such as a video camera or a camera-equipped mobile phone is provided. It can be applied to general equipment.

  Moreover, although the said embodiment and modification can be used in combination suitably, since the structure of each embodiment is clear by illustration and description, detailed description is abbreviate | omitted. Furthermore, the present invention is not limited by the embodiment described above.

  10: Camera, 16: Free angle monitor, 27: Touch panel, 28: Liquid crystal monitor, 29: Control unit, 30: Panel position detection unit, 40: Projection drive unit

Claims (3)

A display unit rotatably supported by the apparatus body;
An input panel that is arranged on the display screen of the display unit and detects coordinate information of a position in contact with an object;
Reference point contact means fixedly arranged on the apparatus main body and capable of contacting at least two projections serving as reference points with respect to the input panel stored in a fixed position of the apparatus main body,
Coordinate information correction means for acquiring coordinate information of a position where the protrusion of the reference point contact means is in contact, and correcting deviation of coordinate information detected by the input panel based on the coordinate information;
A terminal device comprising: The terminal device according to claim 1,
Position detecting means for detecting the position of the input panel;
When it is detected by the position detecting means that the position of the input panel is stored in a fixed position of the apparatus main body, the reference point contact means is driven to become at least two reference points with respect to the input panel. Reference point control means for bringing two protrusions into contact with each other;
A terminal device comprising: The terminal device according to claim 1 or 2,
The protrusion of the reference point contact means is driven by a piezoelectric element that is deformed by application of a predetermined voltage, and the piezoelectric element is stretched and deformed when a first voltage is applied, and the protrusion is in contact with the input panel. And when the second voltage is applied, it shrinks and deforms so that the protrusion is not in contact with the input panel.
A terminal device characterized by the above.

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