TWI850001B - Touch control device and touch sensing method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A touch control device and touch sensing method thereof are provided. The touch sensing method includes: determining whether an active pen is at an in-range state; setting a threshold value, and generating a strength threshold range according to the threshold value; when the active pen is at the in-range state, comparing a touch signal transmitted by the active pen with the strength threshold range to determine a position state of the active pen; performing an adjusting operation on the threshold value by comparing an energy of the touch signal with the threshold value.

Description

Touch device and touch sensing method

The present invention relates to a touch device and a touch sensing method, and in particular to a touch device and a touch sensing method capable of reducing sensing delay.

In the known technical field, in order to effectively sense the touch action of the active pen, the controller that performs the touch sensing action needs to pre-set a threshold value and set the sensing strategy of the touch signal according to the set threshold value. Because different active pens may have different specifications. The touch panel may produce different sensing amounts for the touch signals of different active pens. Even active pens of the same brand may cause the touch panel to produce different sensing amounts under the condition of different battery capacities. Therefore, the sensing strategy with a fixed threshold value cannot cope with such an application environment and is prone to the phenomenon of delayed sensing of touch actions.

The present invention provides a touch device and a touch sensing method, which can effectively reduce the delay time of touch sensing.

The touch sensing method of the present invention includes: determining whether the active pen is in an in-range state; setting a threshold value, and generating an intensity threshold range according to the threshold value; when the active pen is in an in-range state, comparing the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen and the intensity threshold range to determine the position state of the active pen; and adjusting the threshold value based on comparing the energy of the touch signal with the threshold value.

The touch device of the present invention comprises an active pen and a touch panel. The active pen is used to send touch signals. The touch panel has a controller for executing the touch sensing method as described above.

Based on the above, the touch sensing method of the present invention sets a threshold value, compares the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen with the intensity threshold range generated by the threshold value, and determines the position state of the active pen based on the comparison result, which can effectively speed up the sensing speed of the touch signal of the active pen and reduce the sensing delay.

Please refer to Figure 1, which shows a flow chart of a touch sensing method of an embodiment of the present invention. The touch sensing method of the present invention is used to sense a touch signal sent by an active pen, and determine the position state of the active pen based on the touch signal. Each step of the touch sensing method of the present invention can be executed through a controller on the touch panel. Among them, in step S110, the controller can first determine whether the active pen is in the within-range state. Here, reference can be made to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of the touch action of the active pen of an embodiment of the present invention. In Figure 2, the active pen can approach the touch panel according to the path P1 to perform a touch action. After the touch action is completed, the active pen can move away from the touch panel according to the path P2. As the active pen approaches the touch panel along the path P1, the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen sensed by the controller on the touch panel will be higher. As the active pen moves away from the touch panel along the path P2, the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen sensed by the controller on the touch panel will be lower.

In step S110, the controller can sense the touch signal sent by the active pen and sense the function term corresponding to the touch signal. In this embodiment, a frame period of the touch signal includes multiple function terms, and the controller can determine the function term corresponding to the touch signal according to the frequency of the touch signal and the time when the signal is sent. The frequency of the touch signal and the time when the signal is sent and the corresponding function term can be defined in the relevant protocol of the active pen touch mechanism, and the relevant details are not described in detail.

Furthermore, the controller can set an in-range determination value IRV according to the function item corresponding to the touch signal. The controller also senses the energy intensity of the touch signal, and by comparing the energy intensity of the touch signal with the in-range determination value IRV, it can be determined whether the active pen is in the in-range state or the out-of-range state. In detail, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the in-range determination value IRV, it can be determined that the active pen is in the in-range state. Conversely, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is not greater than the in-range determination value IRV, it can be determined that the active pen is in the out-of-range state.

Please refer to FIG. 1 again. Then, in step S120, the controller may set a threshold value and generate a strength threshold range ZF according to the set threshold value. In FIG. 2, the strength threshold range ZF has two boundary values, namely, a first strength threshold value ZF_L and a second strength threshold value ZF_H, wherein the second strength threshold value ZF_H may be greater than the first strength threshold value ZF_L. It is worth mentioning that in this embodiment, the first strength threshold value ZF_L and the second strength threshold value ZF_H may be less than the energy intensity value CFV of the touch signal when the active pen actually touches the touch panel. Therefore, the first strength threshold ZF_L and the second strength threshold ZF_H can be used as touch relationship determination thresholds when there is no actual stress (zero force) between the active pen and the touch panel.

Continuing from step S120, then, in step S130, when the active pen is judged to be in the within-range state, the controller may activate the judgment mechanism of the position state of the active pen. The controller may compare the energy intensity of the touch signal sent by the active pen and the intensity threshold range to determine the position state of the active pen. The controller may judge whether the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the first intensity threshold ZF_L and whether it is greater than the second intensity threshold ZF_H to judge whether the position state of the active pen is a hovering state or an ink state. In this embodiment, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is not greater than the first intensity threshold ZF_L, the controller may judge that the position state of the active pen is a hovering state or an ink state. When the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the first intensity threshold ZF_L, the controller can determine the position state of the active pen according to the relationship between the energy intensity of the touch signal and the second intensity threshold ZF_H. The relevant details will be described in detail in the following embodiments.

It is worth mentioning that in step S130, the active pen position state determination mechanism is activated only when the active pen is determined to be in the range state. In this way, the controller only needs to execute the active pen position state determination mechanism when the active pen is close enough to the touch panel, and does not need to continuously execute the active pen position state determination mechanism, which can effectively save power consumption.

In step S140, the controller can further adjust the threshold value by comparing the energy intensity of the touch signal with the threshold value. In this embodiment, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the set threshold value by a sufficiently large difference, the controller can dynamically adjust the threshold value and reset the intensity threshold value range according to the adjusted threshold value. In this way, the threshold value and the intensity threshold value range can be adaptively adjusted according to the energy intensity of the touch signal.

Please note that the energy intensity of the touch signal can be related to the position of the active pen, or the power and specifications of the active pen. Therefore, by dynamically adjusting the threshold and the intensity threshold range, active pens under different conditions can produce substantially the same touch experience, effectively improving the control performance of touch actions.

Incidentally, in FIG. 2 , when the active pen actually contacts the touch panel and the energy intensity of the touch signal is a numerical value CFV, the active pen can set its symbol type to an ink discharge state according to the contact state between the active pen and the touch panel. Alternatively, when the pressure value of the active pen contacting the touch panel is greater than a preset reference value, the controller can set the position state of the active pen to an ink discharge state.

Please refer to Figure 3 below, which shows a flow chart of a touch sensing method of another embodiment of the present invention. In step S310, the controller of the touch panel can sense the energy intensity of the touch signal corresponding to the function item sent by the active pen. And, in step S320, the controller can set the threshold value corresponding to the function item of the active pen. In the embodiment of the present invention, the active pen can execute multiple function items. And corresponding to each function item, the controller can set different multiple set threshold values respectively, so that the position state of the active pen can be judged multiple times in one frame period of the touch signal.

In step S330, the controller can determine whether the active pen is within the range. If the active pen is determined to be outside the range, the controller does not perform the action of reporting the coordinates (step S331). Conversely, when the active pen is determined to be within the range, the controller can execute step S340.

In step S340, the controller may check whether it is necessary to perform a dynamic adjustment action of the threshold. The action details of step S340 will be carefully explained in the following implementation method. Then, in step S350, the controller may determine whether the marking category of the active pen is in the ink-out state or whether the pressure sensing value of the active pen is greater than a reference value. On the other hand, the controller may determine whether the intensity of the touch signal is greater than or equal to the first intensity threshold ZH_L, or determine whether the intensity of the touch signal is greater than or equal to the second intensity threshold ZH_H. The controller can also determine the bounce state of the touch signal strength between the first strength threshold ZH_L and the second strength threshold ZH_H according to the relationship between the touch signal strength and the first strength threshold ZH_L and the second strength threshold ZH_H, and calculate the number of bounces of the touch signal strength between the first strength threshold ZH_L and the second strength threshold ZH_H.

For example, the controller detects that the intensity of the touch signal is greater than the first intensity threshold ZH_L (not greater than the second intensity threshold ZH_H) at the first time point, and then detects that the intensity of the touch signal is greater than the second intensity threshold ZH_H at the second time point. Then, at the third time point, the controller detects that the intensity of the touch signal is only greater than the first intensity threshold ZH_L (not greater than the second intensity threshold ZH_H), indicating that the intensity of the touch signal has bounced once between the first time point and the third time point.

The bouncing action mentioned above may be caused by the position jitter of the active pen when it approaches the touch panel.

To further explain, in step S350, when the controller determines that the marking type of the active pen is in the ink-out state or the pressure sensing value of the active pen is greater than the reference value, the controller can determine that the coordinate state (i.e., the position state) of the active pen is in the ink-out state (step S360). Alternatively, when the controller determines that the number of bounces of the intensity of the touch signal between the first intensity threshold ZH_L and the second intensity threshold ZH_H is greater than a preset upper limit value, the controller can also determine that the coordinate state (i.e., the position state) of the active pen is in the ink-out state (step S360). In contrast, if none of the above states occurs, the controller may execute step S351 and determine that the coordinate state (ie, position state) of the active pen is a suspended state (step S351).

After step S360, the controller may execute step 370 and dynamically adjust the threshold. The details of the actions related to step S360 will be described in detail in the following implementation.

It is worth mentioning that the first intensity threshold ZH_L and the second intensity threshold ZH_H in this embodiment may constitute an intensity threshold range, wherein the second intensity threshold ZH_H may be the upper limit of the intensity threshold range, and the first intensity threshold ZH_L may be the lower limit of the intensity threshold range. The first intensity threshold ZH_L and the second intensity threshold ZH_H may be generated according to the thresholds preset by the controller, wherein the controller may multiply the thresholds by a first ratio to generate the first intensity threshold ZH_L, and may multiply the thresholds by a second ratio to generate the first intensity threshold ZH_H. The first ratio may be less than 1, and the second ratio may be greater than or equal to 1.

Therefore, when the controller dynamically adjusts the threshold, the first intensity threshold ZH_L and the second intensity threshold ZH_H can also be adjusted accordingly.

Of course, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first ratio and the second ratio may not be fixed values, but may be adaptively adjusted according to actual needs.

Please refer to Figure 4 below, which shows a flow chart of the implementation method for checking whether it is necessary to perform a dynamic adjustment action of the threshold value in the embodiment of Figure 3 of the present invention. In this embodiment, step S410 starts the check action of whether it is necessary to perform a dynamic adjustment action of the threshold value. In step S420, the controller can determine whether the energy intensity of the touch signal sent by the active pen at this time is greater than the product of the threshold value and a proportional value. If the controller determines that the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the product of the threshold value and the proportional value, it means that the currently set threshold value is too small. The controller will determine that the active pen is in an ink-discharging state when the active pen is far away from the touch panel. At this time, the controller can execute step S430 and execute the dynamic adjustment action of the threshold value. In contrast, if the controller determines that the energy intensity of the touch signal is not greater than the product of the threshold and the proportional value, the controller may not perform the dynamic adjustment action of the threshold (step S440).

In this embodiment, the ratio value can be any real number greater than 1, for example, it can be 1.2.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 5, which is a flow chart showing an implementation method of the dynamic adjustment action of the threshold in the embodiment of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 of the present invention. In step S510, the controller can activate the dynamic adjustment action of the threshold. Then, in step S520, the controller can calculate the energy intensity of the touch signal of the current function item. It is worth mentioning that the controller can calculate the energy intensity of the touch signal based on the sum of the capacitance values of multiple sensing capacitors in the touch panel for sensing the touch signal.

Next, in step S521, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is greater than the set threshold, the controller can adjust the threshold by increasing the threshold by a step value (step S531). In step S522, when the energy intensity of the touch signal is not greater than the set threshold, the controller can adjust the threshold by decreasing the threshold by a step value (step S532). The step values mentioned in step S531 and step S532 can be the same or different. In addition, the step value does not need to be a fixed value, but can be dynamically adjusted according to actual needs.

It should be noted that in the action flow of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 , the energy intensity of the touch signal changes dynamically over time. The controller can periodically sense the energy intensity of the touch signal according to the length of the frame period. In this embodiment, when the energy intensity of the touch signal decreases due to the decrease in the power of the active pen after use, the energy intensity of the touch signal may not be greater than the set threshold value. When the energy intensity of the touch signal increases due to the increase in the power of the active pen after charging, the energy intensity of the touch signal may be greater than the set threshold value. Thus, the threshold value can be increased or decreased through steps S521, S531, S522, and S532.

Please refer to Figure 6 below, which shows a schematic diagram of a touch device of an embodiment of the present invention. The touch device 600 includes an active pen 610 and a touch panel 620. The active pen 610 has electrodes 611 and 612. The electrode 611 is arranged at the tip of the active pen 610, and the electrode 612 is arranged at the side of the active pen 610. The electrodes 611 and 612 can correspond to the function items according to the protocol to send touch signals of different frequencies according to different times. The touch panel 620 includes a controller 621 and a touch sensing array 622 composed of a plurality of sensing capacitors TP. The controller 621 is coupled to the sensing capacitor TP, and obtains the energy intensity of the touch signal by calculating the capacitance value of the sensing capacitor TP.

In addition, the controller 621 can be used to execute the action flow of the aforementioned multiple embodiments and implementation methods. The relevant details have been described in detail in the aforementioned embodiments and implementation methods, and will not be repeated here.

In summary, the touch device of the present invention generates an intensity threshold range according to the threshold by setting a threshold, and compares the energy intensity of the touch signal with the intensity threshold range to determine the position state of the active pen according to the comparison result. Furthermore, the touch device of the present invention can dynamically adjust the threshold, which can effectively reduce the sensing delay of the touch action and enhance the user's touch experience.

600: Touch device 610: Active pen 611, 612: Electrode 620: Touch panel 621: Controller 622: Touch sensor array CFV: Value IRV: In-range judgment value S110~S140, S310~S370, S410~S440, S510~S532: Steps TP: Sensing capacitance ZF: Intensity threshold range ZF_L, ZF_H: Intensity threshold

FIG. 1 is a flow chart of a touch sensing method of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the touch action of the active pen of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a touch sensing method of another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an implementation method for checking whether a dynamic adjustment action of a threshold value is required in the embodiment of FIG. 3 of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an implementation method for performing a dynamic adjustment action of a threshold value in the embodiments of FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a touch device of an embodiment of the present invention.

S110~S140: Steps

Claims (20)

A touch sensing method includes: determining whether the energy of a touch signal sent by an active pen is within a strength range; setting a threshold; when the active pen is within the strength range, comparing the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen with a strength threshold range to determine a position state of the active pen; and performing the threshold control according to the comparison of the energy of the touch signal and the threshold. The step of adjusting the threshold value by comparing the energy of the touch signal with the threshold value includes: determining whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the product of the threshold value and a preset ratio value; and when the energy of the touch signal is greater than the product of the threshold value and the preset ratio value, activating a threshold value adjustment mechanism to adjust the threshold value, wherein the preset ratio value is greater than 1. The touch sensing method as described in claim 1, wherein the step of determining whether the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen is within the strength range includes: sensing a function item corresponding to the touch signal sent by the active pen; setting a determination value within the strength range according to the function item; and comparing the energy of the touch signal with the determination value within the strength range to determine whether the active pen is within the strength range. The touch sensing method as described in claim 1, wherein the threshold adjustment mechanism includes: when a marking type of the active pen is in the ink discharge state, calculating the energy of the touch signal; when the energy of the touch signal is greater than the threshold, increasing the threshold by a first value; and when the energy of the touch signal is not greater than the threshold, reducing the threshold by a second value. The touch sensing method as described in claim 3, wherein the step of calculating the energy of the touch signal includes: obtaining the energy of the touch signal according to the sum of the capacitance values of multiple sensing capacitors that sense the touch signal. A touch sensing method as described in claim 3, wherein the first value and the second value are step values. The touch sensing method as described in claim 1, wherein the position state of the active pen is a suspended state or an ink discharge state. The touch sensing method as described in claim 1 further includes: generating the intensity threshold range according to the threshold. The touch sensing method as described in claim 7, wherein the step of generating the intensity threshold range according to the threshold includes: Generating a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold according to the threshold, wherein the second intensity threshold is greater than the first intensity threshold. The touch sensing method as described in claim 8, wherein the step of comparing the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen and the intensity threshold range to determine the position state of the active pen includes: determining whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the first intensity threshold and determining whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the second intensity threshold to obtain a bounce state of the energy change of the touch signal; and determining the position state of the active pen according to the bounce state. The touch sensing method as described in claim 1 further includes: when a mark type of the active pen is in the ink discharge state or a pressure sensing value of the active pen is greater than a reference value, determining that the position state of the active pen is in the ink discharge state. A touch sensing method as described in claim 1, wherein the active pen has multiple executable function items, and these executable function items correspond to multiple setting thresholds respectively. A touch device includes: an active pen that sends a touch signal; and a touch panel having a controller for: determining whether the energy of a touch signal sent by the active pen is within an intensity range; setting a threshold; and when the active pen is within the intensity range, comparing the energy of the touch signal sent by the active pen with an intensity threshold range to determine a touch signal of the active pen. position state; and adjusting the threshold value by comparing the energy of the touch signal with the threshold value, wherein the controller is further used to: determine whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the product of the threshold value and a preset ratio value; and when the energy of the touch signal is greater than the product of the threshold value and the preset ratio value, activate a threshold adjustment mechanism to adjust the threshold value, wherein the preset ratio value is greater than 1. A touch device as described in claim 12, wherein the controller is further used to: sense a function item corresponding to the touch signal sent by the active pen; set a strength range determination value according to the function item; and compare the energy of the touch signal with the strength range determination value to determine whether the active pen is in the strength range state. A touch device as described in claim 12, wherein the controller is further used to: calculate the energy of the touch signal when a marking type of the active pen is in the ink discharge state; when the energy of the touch signal is greater than the threshold, increase the threshold by a first value; and when the energy of the touch signal is not greater than the threshold, reduce the threshold by a second value. A touch device as described in claim 14, wherein the touch panel further includes a plurality of sensing capacitors, and the controller senses the capacitance values of the sensing capacitors of the touch signal to obtain the energy of the touch signal. A touch device as described in claim 14, wherein the first value and the second value are step values. A touch control device as described in claim 12, wherein the controller is further used to: generate the intensity threshold range according to the threshold. A touch control device as described in claim 16, wherein the controller is further used to: generate a first intensity threshold and a second intensity threshold according to the threshold, wherein the second intensity threshold is greater than the first intensity threshold. A touch device as described in claim 12, wherein the controller is further used to: determine whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the first intensity threshold and determine whether the energy of the touch signal is greater than the second intensity threshold to obtain a bounce state of the energy change of the touch signal; and determine the position state of the active pen according to the bounce state. A touch device as described in claim 12, wherein the active pen has multiple executable function items, and these executable function items correspond to multiple setting thresholds respectively.

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