WO2013039358A1 - User input detection device and electronic device comprising same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a user input detection device, wherein a touch detection value is outputted based on a difference in voltage changes occurring by driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad and a precise touch area and touch coordinates are calculated using the outputted touch detection value. Various user input methods are provided using the calculated precise touch area and touch coordinates.

Description

User input sensing device and electronic device including the same

The present invention relates to a user input sensing device and an electronic device including the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a touch sensing device and an electronic device including the same.

The touch panel is an input device that allows a user's command to be input by touching with a human hand or other contact means based on the content displayed by the image display device.

To this end, the touch panel is provided on the front face of the image display device to convert a contact position directly contacted by a human hand or other contact means into an electrical signal. Accordingly, the instruction selected at the contact position is received as an input signal.

Since such a touch panel can replace an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, its use range is gradually being expanded.

As a method of implementing a touch panel, a resistive film method, a light sensing method, and a capacitive method are known. The capacitive touch panel converts a contact position into an electrical signal by detecting a change in capacitance that a conductive sensing pattern forms with other surrounding sensing patterns or ground electrodes when a human hand or an object comes in contact.

In this case, the sensing pattern includes a first sensing pattern (X pattern) formed to be connected along the first direction and a second sensing pattern (Y pattern) formed to be connected along the second direction to determine a contact position on the contact surface. .

1 is an exploded plan view of a conventional touch panel.

The conventional touch panel 10 includes a transparent substrate 11, a first sensing pattern 12, a first insulating layer 13, a second sensing pattern 14, and a metal pattern 15 sequentially formed on the transparent substrate 11. And a second insulating film 16.

The first sensing pattern 12 is formed to be connected in a first direction on one surface of the transparent substrate 11. For example, the first sensing pattern 12 may be formed in a regular pattern in which a plurality of diamond shapes are lined up on the transparent substrate 11.

The first sensing pattern 12 may be formed of a plurality of X patterns formed such that the first sensing patterns 12 positioned in one column having the same X coordinate are connected to each other.

The first sensing pattern 12 includes a pad 12a to be electrically connected to the metal pattern 15 in units of columns. The pads 12a of the first sensing pattern 12 may be formed in units of columns.

The second sensing pattern 14 is formed to be connected in a second direction on the first insulating layer 13, and is alternately disposed with the first sensing pattern 12 so as not to overlap the first sensing pattern 12. For example, the second sensing pattern 14 may be formed of the same diamond pattern as the first sensing pattern 12, and the second sensing patterns 14 positioned in one row having the same Y coordinate are connected to each other. .

The second sensing pattern 14 includes a pad 14a to be electrically connected to the metal pattern 15 in a row unit. The pad 14a of the second sensing pattern 14 may be formed in a row unit.

Meanwhile, the first and second sensing patterns 12 and 14 are made of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as ITO), and the first insulating layer 13 is made of a transparent insulating material.

Each of the sensing patterns 12 and 14 of the unit is electrically connected to a position detection line (not shown) to supply a contact position signal to a driving circuit (not shown) or the like.

When a hand or an object comes into contact with the touch panel 10 illustrated in FIG. 1, a power failure according to the contact position toward the driving circuit via the first and second sensing patterns 12 and 14, the metal pattern 15, and the position detection line. The change in dose is communicated. And the contact position is grasped | ascertained as the change of capacitance is converted into an electrical signal by X and Y input processing circuits (not shown) etc.

However, since the conventional touch panel 10 should have an ITO pattern in each layer for X and Y, and an insulation layer must be provided between the X and Y layers, the thickness increases. In addition, since capacitive changes generated by touch are accumulated several times, touch detection is required to detect capacitive changes at a high frequency. This requires complex computational and statistical processing.

In addition, since the difference between the electrical signals before and after the touch is extremely minute, touch sensing is affected by the wiring resistance, and therefore, a metal wiring such as the metal pattern 15 is required to maintain the low resistance. An additional mask process is needed to form this metal pattern 15.

In addition, since touch detection of the conventional touch panel 10 is highly dependent on the resistance value and sensitive to noise, there are many difficulties in increasing the touch detection sensitivity.

Furthermore, since the touch panel 10 detects a touch by using a minute change in capacitance accumulated several times through a complicated calculation, the touch panel 10 cannot calculate an accurate touch area. Thus, it was practically impossible for a user to use the touch area as one means of user input.

* 1. Detection of touch area and coordinates

A user input sensing device according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and calculate touch coordinates using the touch area.

The signal processor may calculate the touch area by extracting a touch cell group corresponding to touched adjacent electrode pads and summing touch detection values of the touched touch cell group.

Here, the signal processor may calculate multi-touch coordinates by using touch areas of a plurality of touch cell groups.

Here, the signal processor may calculate the touch coordinates based on the position of the electrode pad on the matrix and the touch area occupying the electrode pad.

Here, the signal processor may calculate the touch coordinates based on the position of the electrode pad on the matrix and the distribution of the touch area in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

Here, the signal processor may calculate touch coordinates by using a center point of the touch area in the X and Y axis directions.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a user input sensing method includes driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; Calculating a touch area based on the touch detection value; And calculating touch coordinates by using the calculated touch area and position information of the touched electrode pad.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. And outputting the touch detection value, and detecting the difference in the output voltage change before and after the touch as the touch detection value.

The method may further include extracting a touch cell group including an adjacent cell in which a touch is detected, based on the touch detection value.

The calculating of the touch coordinates may include calculating touch coordinates based on the coordinates of the center point of the touch area.

Here, the center point coordinates of the touch area may be calculated based on the distribution of the touch area occupying the electrode pad.

Here, the center point coordinates of the touch area may be calculated using an area center point in the X axis direction and an area center point in the Y axis direction of the touch area.

An integrated circuit (IC) used in a user input sensing device according to a third aspect of the present invention includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix form. A driving unit configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating an electrode pad; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and calculate touch coordinates using the touch area.

The signal processor may calculate the touch area by extracting a touch cell group corresponding to touched adjacent electrode pads and summing touch detection values of the touched touch cell group.

The signal processor may calculate the touch coordinates based on the position of the electrode pad and the touch area occupying the electrode pad.

Here, the signal processor may calculate touch coordinates by using the position of the electrode pad and the center point of the touch area in the X and Y axis directions of the touch panel.

* 2. Linearity of the amplifier

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a user input sensing device includes: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form with a uniform area; A drive unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between the output voltage and the voltage of the reference cell and output a touch detection value; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area by using the touch detection value and to calculate touch coordinates by using the touch area, wherein the detector comprises an amplifier, wherein the saturation voltage of the amplifier is an area of the electrode pad. All of these are greater than or equal to the difference voltage when touched.

Here, the amplifier may be a differential amplifier.

The detector may further include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for digitally converting the amplified difference voltage.

Here, the amplifier may perform substantially linear amplification on an input smaller than the saturation voltage.

Here, the signal processor may calculate the touch coordinates based on the position of the electrode pad on the matrix and the distribution of the touch area in the X-axis and Y-axis directions.

Here, the signal processor may calculate touch coordinates by using a center point of the touch area in the X and Y axis directions.

In accordance with a fifth aspect of the present invention, an integrated circuit (IC) used in a user input sensing device includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix with a uniform area. A driving unit configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between the output voltage and the voltage of the reference cell and output a touch detection value; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area by using the touch detection value and to calculate touch coordinates by using the touch area, wherein the detector comprises an amplifier, wherein the saturation voltage of the amplifier is an area of the electrode pad. All of these are greater than or equal to the difference voltage when touched.

Here, the amplifier may be a differential amplifier.

The detector may further include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for digitally converting the amplified difference voltage.

Here, the amplifier may perform substantially linear amplification on an input smaller than the saturation voltage.

For example, the signal processor may calculate touch coordinates based on a position of the electrode pad on the matrix and a distribution of touch areas in the X and Y axis directions.

Here, the signal processor may calculate touch coordinates by using a center point of the touch area in the X and Y axis directions.

* 3. Linearity of touch detection value and touch area

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, a user input sensing device includes a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form with a uniform area; A drive unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between the output voltage and the voltage of the reference cell and output a touch detection value; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and calculate touch coordinates using the touch area, wherein the detector processes the touch detection value to be substantially linearly proportional to the touch area.

Here, the difference voltage may range from 0 to a value (maximum value) when all regions of the electrode pad are touched.

Here, the detector may perform the processing using a linear function within the range of the difference voltage.

Here, the detector may perform the processing by using a function of the difference voltage and the touch area.

Here, the detector may correct the function of the difference voltage and the touch area by using an inverse function of the difference voltage and the touch area.

The detector may further include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and may convert an analog value corresponding to the difference voltage into a digital value.

The detector may perform the processing by using a table in which the difference voltage converted into the digital value and the touch area are matched.

The detection unit may include a differential amplifier, and the differential amplifier may output an amplified value of the difference voltage to provide the analog-to-digital converter.

The user input sensing device may further include a memory, and the touch detection value for each touch cell corresponding to the electrode pad may be recorded in the memory.

The signal processor may calculate a touch area by using touch detection values recorded for each touch cell of the memory.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing method comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material formed in a uniform area and arranged in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference voltage between the driven touch cell and a reference cell; Calculating a touch area and touch coordinates based on the touch detection value, wherein the touch detection value is substantially linearly proportional to the touch area.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

The outputting of the touch detection value may include processing the touch detection value and the touch area to be substantially linearly proportional to each other using a linear function within a range of a difference voltage when all of the electrode pad areas are touched from zero. can do.

The outputting of the touch detection value may include processing the touch detection value and the touch area to be substantially linearly proportional to each other by using a function of the difference voltage and the touch area.

The outputting of the touch detection value may further include correcting a function of the difference voltage and the touch area by using an inverse function of the difference voltage and the touch area.

The outputting of the touch detection value may include converting the difference voltage into a digital value and using the table matching the difference voltage and the touch area converted into the digital value, the touch detection value and the touch area may be substantially linearly proportional to each other. Processing may be included.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, an integrated circuit (IC) used in a user input sensing device includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material arranged in a matrix in a uniform area. A driving unit configured to output a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between the output voltage and the voltage of the reference cell and output a touch detection value; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and calculate touch coordinates using the touch area, wherein the detector processes the touch detection value to be substantially linearly proportional to the touch area.

Here, the difference voltage may range from 0 to a value (maximum value) when all regions of the electrode pad are touched.

Here, the detector may perform the processing using a linear function within the range of the difference voltage.

Here, the detector may perform the processing by using a function of the difference voltage and the touch area.

The detector may further include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and may convert an analog value corresponding to the difference voltage into a digital value.

The detector may perform the processing by using a table in which the difference voltage converted into the digital value and the touch area are matched.

*4. Multi-touch detection

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing device including: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material corresponding to a plurality of touch cells, respectively; A drive unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between a voltage output from each of the touch cells and a voltage of a reference cell, and output a touch detection value; And a signal processing unit configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and to calculate touch coordinates using the touch area, wherein the signal processing unit includes a first touch having a touch detection value larger than a first threshold value. A touch cell group belonging to a multi-touch is generated by using touch detection values of neighboring touch cells of the cell.

The signal processor may compare a sum of touch detection values of the first touch cell and the peripheral touch cells with a second threshold value.

Here, when the sum of the touch detection values is greater than the second threshold value, the signal processor may compare the touch detection value of the first touch cell with the touch detection value of the peripheral touch cells, respectively.

The signal processor may update the second touch cell to the center cell when the touch detection value of the second touch cell, which is one of the peripheral touch cells, is greater than the touch detection value of the first touch cell.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for detecting a user input, comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material formed in a uniform area and arranged in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference voltage between the driven touch cell and a reference cell; Extracting a first touch cell whose touch detection value is larger than a first threshold value, and generating a touch cell group belonging to a multi-touch using touch detection values of peripheral touch cells of the first touch cell; And mapping a finger ID to the touch cell group.

The generating of the touch cell group may include comparing a sum of touch detection values of the first touch cell and the peripheral touch cells with a second threshold value.

Here, the generating of the touch cell group may include comparing the touch detection value of the first touch cell with the touch detection value of the peripheral touch cells when the sum of the touch detection values is larger than a second threshold value.

The generating of the touch cell group may include updating the second touch cell to the center cell when the touch detection value of the second touch cell, which is one of the peripheral touch cells, is larger than the touch detection value of the first touch cell. Include.

* 5. Display unit integrated user input sensing device

An electronic device according to an eleventh aspect of the present invention includes a touch panel; And a display device including a liquid crystal layer, a thin film transistor array layer, and a color filter layer between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the touch panel includes: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area using the touch detection value and calculate touch coordinates using the touch area.

Here, the plurality of electrode pads may be formed in a single layer.

The plurality of electrode pads may be directly patterned on the second substrate.

Here, the plurality of electrode pads may be directly patterned on the lower portion of the second substrate.

The driver, the detector, and the signal processor may be integrated with the driving integrated circuit (IC) of the display device.

* 6 Electronic device device with adjustable sensitivity

An electronic device according to a twelfth aspect of the present invention includes a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; A signal processing unit calculating a touch area using the touch detection value and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area; And a switch for adjusting the touch sensitivity by adjusting the size of the touch detection value.

Here, the switch may be a switch for changing the magnitude of the voltage signal applied to the first capacitor.

Here, the switch may be a switch for changing the magnitude of the capacitance of the first capacitor.

Herein, the switch may be controlled by an application program.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing method comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; Calculating a touch area based on the touch detection value; And calculating touch coordinates using the calculated touch area and position information of the touched electrode pad, and adjusting touch sensitivity by adjusting the size of the touch touch detection value.

The adjusting of the touch sensitivity may include changing a magnitude of the voltage signal applied to the first capacitor.

Here, the adjusting of the touch sensitivity may include changing a magnitude of the capacitance of the first capacitor.

Here, the touch sensitivity adjustment step may be performed by an application program.

The adjusting of the touch sensitivity may include selecting one of a first mode and a second mode having different touch sensitivity.

* 7. User input using area size

An electronic device according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, a touch panel that can be touched by the user and generates an output signal of a different size according to the touch area; An input sensing unit calculating a touch area using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area; And an application processor configured to compare the touch area and the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and perform different operations according to the comparison result.

Here, the application processor may compare the touch time and the reference time of the user with respect to the same graphical interface and perform different operations according to the comparison result.

Here, the reference area and / or the reference time may be provided to be set by the user.

Here, the electronic device may provide a touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area.

Here, the touch panel may include a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

Here, the input sensing unit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, and changes a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. The touch area can be calculated based on the difference of.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating an electronic device, the method including generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And comparing the touch area with the reference area with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to the comparison result.

The performing of the operation may include comparing a touch time and a reference time of the user with respect to the same graphic interface and performing different operations according to a comparison result.

The method may further include providing the reference area and / or the reference time to be set by the user.

The method may further include providing a user with a touch input mode operating according to the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the touch area.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad by using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

A method of operating an electronic device according to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, the method comprising: generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And comparing the touch area with the reference area in a predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to the comparison result.

The performing of the operation may include comparing a touch time and a reference time of the user in the predetermined touch input mode and performing different operations according to a comparison result.

The method may further include providing the reference area and / or the reference time to be set by the user.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad by using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

* 8 User input using area size change

An electronic device according to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, a touch panel that can be touched by the user and generates an output signal of a different size according to the touch area; An input sensing unit calculating a touch area using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area; And an application processing unit configured to perform a predetermined operation as the touch area is changed while the user's touch state is maintained with respect to the graphical user interface.

Here, the application processing unit may determine that the touch state is maintained when the touch coordinates are activated for a predetermined time or more within a predetermined range and a touch is continuously detected in the touch cell and the adjacent touch cell.

Here, the reference value of the increase amount of the touch area and / or the decrease amount of the touch area for performing the predetermined operation may be provided to be set by the user.

Here, the touch input mode operating according to the change of the touch area and the touch input mode operating regardless of the change in the touch area may be provided.

Here, the touch panel may include a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

Here, the input sensing unit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, and changes a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. The touch area may be calculated based on the difference of.

An operation method of an electronic device according to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention includes generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And performing a predetermined operation as the touch area is changed while the user's touch state is maintained with respect to the graphical user interface.

Here, the performing of the operation may include determining that the touch state is maintained when the touch coordinates are activated for a predetermined time or more within a predetermined range and a touch is continuously detected on the touch cell and the adjacent touch cell. .

Here, the method may further include providing a reference value of the increase amount of the touch area and / or the decrease amount of the touch area for performing the predetermined operation to be set by the user.

The method may further include providing a user with a touch input mode operating according to the change of the touch area and a touch input mode operating regardless of the change of the touch area.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad by using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

An operating method of an electronic device according to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention includes generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area by using the output signal and calculating touch coordinates by using the touch area; And performing a predetermined operation as the touch area is changed while the user's touch state is maintained in a predetermined touch input mode.

Here, the performing of the operation may include determining that the touch state is maintained when the touch coordinates are activated for a predetermined time or more within a predetermined range and a touch is continuously detected on the touch cell and the adjacent touch cell. .

Here, the method may further include providing a reference value of the increase amount of the touch area and / or the decrease amount of the touch area for performing the predetermined operation to be set by the user.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad by using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

* 9. 3D content viewpoint change

An electronic device according to a twentieth aspect of the present invention includes a touch panel that can be touched by a user and generates an output signal having a different size according to a touch area; An input detector configured to calculate a touch area using the output signal; And an application processor configured to change the viewpoint of the content that can be displayed in three dimensions in response to the change of the touch area when the touch area is changed while the user's touch state is maintained with respect to the content that can be displayed in three dimensions.

Here, the change direction of the viewpoint may be determined by the change direction of the touch coordinates generated with the change of the touch area.

Here, the change of the viewpoint may be performed by rotating the content by an angle corresponding to the change of the touch area with respect to a specific axis or point.

Here, the touch panel may include a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form.

Here, the input sensing unit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, and changes a voltage in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. The touch area may be calculated based on the difference of.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of operating an electronic device, the method including generating an output signal having a different size according to a touch area of a user; Calculating a touch area using the output signal; And changing the viewpoint of content that can be displayed in three dimensions according to the change of the touch area when the touch area is changed while the user's touch state is maintained.

Here, the viewpoint change step includes changing the viewpoint of the content that can be displayed in the three-dimensional direction in the change direction of the touch coordinates generated when the touch area is changed.

The method may further include setting a touch input mode that operates according to the change direction of the touch coordinates and a touch input mode that operates regardless of the change direction of the touch coordinates.

The generating of the output signal may include driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form.

The calculating of the touch area may include calculating the touch area based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad by using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. It may include the step.

Here, the change of the viewpoint may be performed by rotating the content by an angle corresponding to the change of the touch area with respect to a specific axis or point.

* 10. Create Touch Geometry Information

A user input sensing device according to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, comprising: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to generate shape information of the touch area using the touch detection values detected by the plurality of electrode pads.

The signal processor may calculate a touch area based on the touch detection value, and generate shape information of the touch area based on the touch area.

The signal processor may extract a touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads, and generate shape information of the touch area based on the touch area of each touch cell belonging to the touch cell group.

Here, the signal processor may generate shape information of the touch area based on distribution of touch areas in the X-axis and Y-axis directions of the touch cell group.

The signal processor may extract a touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads and generate a ratio of the first axis length and the second axis length of the touch cell group as the shape information.

Here, the signal processor may extract a touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads, and generate a ratio of the first axis length and the second axis length of the touched area in the touch cell group as the shape information. have.

Here, the first axis and the second axis may be perpendicular to each other.

Here, the first axis and the second axis may be a long axis and a short axis, respectively.

Here, the signal processor may generate, as the shape information, an angle formed between the first axis or the second axis and the X axis or the Y axis.

According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing method comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; And generating shape information of the touch area based on the touch detection values detected by the plurality of electrode pads.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. And outputting the touch detection value, and detecting the difference in the output voltage change before and after the touch as the touch detection value.

The generating of the shape information may include: calculating a touch area based on the touch detection value; And generating shape information of the touch area based on the calculated touch area.

The generating of the shape information may include extracting a touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads and generating a ratio of the first axis length and the second axis length of the touch cell group as the shape information. It may include.

An electronic device including an input sensing device according to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix, and charges the electrode pad using the switch. And an input sensing device that floats and outputs a voltage change in response to the voltage signal applied to the first capacitor as a touch detection value. And a central processing unit (CPU) configured to calculate shape information of the touch area by using the touch detection values of the touch cell groups corresponding to the plurality of electrode pads, wherein the central processing unit includes the touch cell group of the touch cell group in which the touch is detected. The shape information is calculated by receiving first axis length data and second axis length data from the input sensing device.

According to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention, an electronic device including an input sensing device includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix, and the electrode pad is connected using the switch. An input sensing device that outputs a voltage change in response to the voltage signal applied to the first capacitor as a touch detection value after charging and floating; And a central processing unit (CPU) configured to calculate shape information of the touch area by using touch detection values of the touch cell groups corresponding to the plurality of electrode pads, wherein the central processing unit includes a touch cell in the touch cell group where the touch is detected. The shape information is calculated based on the touch area value of each touch cell.

* 11. Touch Geometry Information Control

According to a twenty sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a user input sensing device may include: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to generate shape information of the touch area by using the touch detection value and to generate a control signal corresponding to the change when the generated shape information of the touch area is changed.

Here, when the shape information of the touch area is changed while the touch is maintained, the signal processor may generate a control signal corresponding to the change.

The shape information of the generated touch area may include slope information of a central axis passing through the center of the shape.

Here, when the slope of the central axis is changed more than the threshold value, it is possible to generate a rotation signal for the content displayed on the screen.

According to a twenty-seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing method comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material disposed in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; Generating shape information of a touch area based on the touch detection value; And generating a control signal corresponding to the change when the shape information of the generated touch area is changed.

The driving of the touch cell may include charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad. And outputting the touch detection value, and detecting the difference in the output voltage change before and after the touch as the touch detection value.

The shape information of the generated touch area may include slope information of a central axis passing through the center of the shape.

Here, when the slope of the central axis is changed more than the threshold value, it is possible to generate a rotation signal for the content displayed on the screen.

An electronic device including an input sensing device according to a twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to a plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix, and charges the electrode pad using the switch. And an input sensing device that floats and outputs a voltage change in response to the voltage signal applied to the first capacitor as a touch detection value. And a central processing unit (CPU) to generate shape information of the touch area based on the information transmitted from the input sensing device, wherein the shape information of the touch area includes a touch of a touch cell group corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads. It is calculated using the detected value.

Here, the shape information of the generated touch area includes inclination information of a central axis passing through the center of the shape, and the central processing unit generates a control signal corresponding to the change when the inclination of the central axis changes by more than a threshold value. can do.

The CPU may calculate the shape information by receiving the first axis length data and the second axis length data of the touch cell group from which the touch is detected, from the touch sensing device.

* 12. Pointing Cursor Control

According to a twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention, a user input sensing device includes: a plurality of electrode pads disposed in a matrix form on a substrate made of a transparent material; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to calculate a touch area and touch coordinates using the touch output value and to control a pointing cursor on the screen to be moved based on the calculated movement of the touch coordinates.

Here, in the user input sensing device, some of the plurality of electrode pads may be allocated to a track pad area for moving the pointing cursor.

Here, the track pad area may include an external display area allocated for displaying a track pad area to a user and an extended area for assisting in calculating coordinate movement in the external display area.

The signal processor may control the pointing cursor to move in a free moving manner based on a direction in which the contact means touches and moves to the track pad area.

The signal processor may control the pointing cursor to move in one of up, down, left, and right directions based on a direction in which the contact means touches and moves the track pad area.

Here, the touch resolution of the track pad area may be different from the touch resolution of an area outside the track pad area.

The signal processor may control the pointing cursor to be clicked when the touch area corresponding to the track pad is equal to or larger than a threshold.

The threshold may be a touch area where all of the external display area is touched.

According to a thirtieth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing method comprising: driving a touch cell corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material arranged in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; Calculating a touch area and touch coordinates based on the touch detection value; And moving the pointing cursor on the screen based on the calculated movement of the touch coordinates.

The moving of the pointing cursor may further include clicking the pointing cursor on a screen when the touch area corresponding to the track pad is greater than or equal to a threshold.

* 13. Trackpad implementation of virtual keyboard

An interface device according to a thirty-first aspect of the present invention includes a first area for displaying a virtual keyboard having one or more keys arranged on a touch screen, and a second area for controlling an operation of a pointing cursor in the touch screen adjacent to the virtual keyboard. Output unit for displaying; And a controller configured to generate a control signal for controlling an operation of the pointing cursor in response to movement of touch coordinates of the second area.

Here, the interface device, a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And a signal processor configured to calculate touch coordinates using the calculated touch area and position information of the touched electrode pad.

The interface device may further include a setting unit for allocating an electrode pad corresponding to the first area of the touch screen and an electrode pad corresponding to the second area of the touch screen.

The setting unit may store at least one of information about an electrode pad corresponding to a first area of the touch screen and information about an electrode pad corresponding to a second area of the touch screen.

Here, the second area may be disposed at the upper center portion of the virtual keyboard.

Here, when the virtual keyboard is moved, the second area may be reset in response to the movement of the virtual keyboard.

Here, the display unit may further display a third area displaying a special function key for providing a specific function on one side of the second area.

An interface method according to a thirty-second aspect of the present invention includes: displaying a virtual keyboard having one or more keys arranged in a first area of a touch screen;

Displaying a second area adjacent to the virtual keyboard for controlling the operation of a pointing cursor in the touch screen; And generating a control signal for controlling the operation of the pointing cursor in response to the movement of the touch coordinates of the second area.

Here, the second area may be located at the upper center portion of the virtual keyboard.

Here, the interface method in which the pointing cursor is moved intermittently or continuously in response to the movement of the touch coordinates in the second area.

.

* 14. Prevents malfunction due to signal wiring

According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a user input sensing device comprising: a plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix on a single layer; An integrated circuit (IC) for detecting touch on the plurality of electrode pads; And signal wires connecting the integrated circuit IC and the plurality of electrode pads to each other, wherein the signal wires are formed of the same material on the same layer as the electrode pads, and the signal wires are an area where the touch is detected. Connected to the integrated circuit IC, the integrated circuit detects that a touch is generated on the electrode pad when the touch detection value of the specific electrode pad is greater than or equal to a threshold.

Here, the integrated circuit includes a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and responds to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. A driver for outputting a voltage; A detector configured to receive a difference voltage between the output voltage and the voltage of the reference cell and output the touch voltage as the touch detection value; And a signal processing unit calculating a touch area using the touch detection value and calculating touch coordinates using the touch area.

Here, the electrode pad and the signal line may be implemented by indium-tin-oxide (ITO).

Here, the electrode pad and the signal wiring may be formed on the substrate by the same process.

The substrate on which the electrode pad and the signal line are formed may be a cover glass of the electronic device on which the user input sensing device is mounted.

The substrate on which the electrode pad and the signal line are formed may be a film or a glass substrate in a display device that is integrally implemented with a user input sensing device.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a true one-layer touch panel made of only a transparent conductive material may be implemented. In addition, the implemented touch panel may be easily integrated into an electronic device such as a display device.

In addition, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an accurate touch area and touch coordinates can be detected using independent touch cells. Various new user input methods may be provided using the detected touch area and touch coordinates.

1 is an exploded plan view of a conventional touch panel.

2 is a block diagram of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3A is an equivalent circuit diagram of a touch cell according to one embodiment of the present invention.

3B is an equivalent circuit diagram of a touch cell according to one embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a waveform diagram of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a schematic block diagram of a touch cell and a detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a graph for explaining an operation of a detector according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a graph showing the voltage difference between a touch cell and a reference cell as a function of touch capacitance in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a touch cell and a memory in a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

10 to 13 are diagrams illustrating in detail a method of calculating a touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of detecting a multi-touch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

15 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

16 is a diagram illustrating a touch panel integrated display device according to an exemplary embodiment.

17 is a diagram illustrating a touch panel integrated display device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

18 illustrates an electronic device capable of switching modes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

19 is a flowchart illustrating a mode switching method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

 20 to 22 are diagrams illustrating a user input method using the size of a touch area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

23 to 24 illustrate a user input method using touch area and touch coordinate movement according to an embodiment of the present invention.

25 to 29 are diagrams illustrating a user input method using a change in size of a touch area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

30 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a user input according to a touch area size according to an embodiment of the present invention.

31 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing a user input according to a change in the size of a touch area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

32 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating touch shape information and performing a user input using the generated touch shape information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

33 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between touch shape information and a touch cell.

34 is a diagram illustrating generation of touch shape information by using a touch detection value.

FIG. 35 illustrates a user input method of rotating content by using touch shape information generated according to an embodiment of the present invention.

36 illustrates a track pad controlling a pointing cursor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

37 illustrates an operation of controlling a pointing cursor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

38 is a diagram illustrating a method of controlling a pointing cursor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

39 is a diagram illustrating an interface device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

40 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing a pointing cursor on a virtual keyboard according to an embodiment of the present invention.

41 is a diagram illustrating a virtual keyboard interface according to one embodiment of the present invention.

42 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between areas of a virtual keyboard and touch cells according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings so that those skilled in the art may easily implement the present invention. As those skilled in the art would realize, the described embodiments may be modified in various different ways, all without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. In the drawings, parts irrelevant to the description are omitted in order to clearly describe the present invention, and like reference numerals designate like parts throughout the specification.

Throughout the specification, when a part is said to "include" a certain component, it means that it can further include other components, without excluding other components unless specifically stated otherwise.

In addition, the terms “… unit”, “… unit”, “module”, etc. described in the specification mean a unit that processes at least one function or operation, which may be implemented by hardware or software or a combination of hardware and software. have.

Throughout the specification, when a part is "connected" to another part, this includes not only a case where the part is directly connected, but also a case where another system is connected in the middle.

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

First, a touch sensing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 2.

2 is a block diagram of a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 2, the touch sensing device according to the present embodiment includes a touch panel and a driving device.

The touch panel includes a plurality of electrode pads 110 formed on a substrate 100 such as glass or plastic film made of transparent material and a plurality of signal wires 120 connected thereto.

The plurality of electrode pads 110 may be, for example, rectangular or rhombic, but is not limited thereto. The electrode pad 110 may be implemented in a polygonal shape. The electrode pads 110 may be arranged in the form of a matrix of substantially adjacent polygons.

Each signal line 120 has one end connected to the electrode pad 110 and the other end extending to the bottom edge of the substrate 100. The signal wire 120 may be formed of the same material on the same layer as the electrode pad 110. That is, it may be formed of a transparent conductive material. The line width of the signal wire 120 may be designed to be considerably narrow, on the order of several tens to several tens of micrometers. According to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, although the signal wiring 120 is formed across the touch screen area, no malfunction due to the signal wiring 120 occurs. A detailed description will be given later in this section.

The electrode pad 110 and the signal wire 120 may be made of a transparent conductive material such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO), indium-zinc-oxide (IZO), carbon nanotube (CNT), graphene, or graphene. .

The electrode pad 110 and the signal wiring 120 can be formed at the same time by, for example, laminating an ITO film on the substrate 100 by sputtering or the like and then patterning the same using an etching method such as photolithography. Here, the substrate 100 may be a film or a glass substrate. In addition, the substrate 100 may be a cover glass of the electronic device in which the touch panel is mounted. In the case of implementing the display panel integrated touch panel described below, the substrate 100 may be a film or a glass substrate in the display device.

The electrode pad 110 and the signal wire 120 may be covered with a transparent insulating protective film (not shown).

The driving device for driving the touch panel may be directly mounted on a part of the substrate 100 or may be formed on a circuit board 200 such as a printed circuit board or a flexible circuit film. The driving device may include a driver 210, a detector 220, a signal processor 230, a memory 240, and the like, and may be implemented as one or more integrated circuit (IC) chips.

The driver 210 is connected to the signal wire 120, receives a signal from the signal processor 230, drives circuits for touch detection, and outputs a voltage corresponding to the determination result of the touch detection. The driving unit 210 may include a plurality of switches and a capacitor connected to the electrode pad 110.

The detector 220 is connected to the driver 210 and converts, amplifies, or digitizes the difference in the voltage change of the electrode pad 110 received from the driver 210 to be stored in the memory 240. The detector 220 may include an amplifier and an analog-digital converter.

The signal processor 230 applies a signal for controlling the driver 210 or processes the digital voltage stored in the memory 240 to generate necessary information. The signal processor 230 may be implemented by being separated into an analog signal processor and a digital signal processor. The analog signal processor may control the driver 210, and the digital signal processor may calculate the touch area and the touch coordinates based on the difference in the voltage change detected by the detector 220. The signal processor 230 may include a micro controller unit (MCU), and may perform signal processing determined by the firmware.

The memory 240 stores predetermined data used for touch detection, area calculation, touch calculation, or data received in real time according to a command of the signal processor 230.

As described above, the driver 210, the detector 220, the signal processor 230, and the memory 240 may be separately implemented or two or more components may be integrated.

A detailed embodiment of the touch panel and the driver shown in FIG. 2 and its operation will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A, 3B, and 4.

3A and 3B are equivalent circuit diagrams of a touch cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIGS. 3A and 3B, the driving unit 210 may include a plurality of transistors Q and a plurality of first capacitors C1 that perform switching operations, and may further include a plurality of pad capacitors Cp. Can be. The transistor Q, the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp may be grouped one by one for the electrode pad 110 and the signal wire 120, and in the future, the electrode pad 110, the signal wire 120, The transistor Q, the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp are collectively referred to as a "touch cell". The touch cell is a concept including a case where each component is electrically connected by a multiplexer. Components performing the same functions in FIGS. 3A and 3B have the same reference numerals.

The transistor Q is a field effect transistor, for example, a control voltage Vc may be applied to a gate, a data voltage Vd may be applied to a source (or a drain), and a drain (or source) may be a signal wire ( 120). The control voltage Vc and the data voltage Vd may be applied by the control of the signal processor 230. Instead of the transistor Q, other devices capable of switching may be used.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 3A, the first capacitor C1 may be formed between the gate and the drain of the transistor Q. FIG. According to another embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3B, the first capacitor C1 may be formed separately from the transistor Q. FIG.

The voltage signal applied to the first capacitor C1 may be the same signal as the voltage signal VC applied to the gate of the transistor Q, as shown in FIG. 3A, but as shown in FIG. 3B, If the first capacitor C1 is formed separately from the transistor Q, a separate first voltage signal Vex may be applied. As shown in FIG. 3B, the first voltage signal Vex applied to the first capacitor C1 is preferably a square wave signal, and may be applied after the transistor Q is turned off.

The pad capacitor Cp is a kind of parasitic capacitance formed by the electrode pad 110, the signal wiring 120, or the like. The pad capacitor Cp may include any parasitic capacitance generated by the driver 210, the touch panel, and the image display device. In FIG. 3, reference numeral Ct denotes a capacitance formed between the electrode pad 110 and the user's finger when the user touches the electrode pad 110.

On the other hand, the cell can be arranged in a position that the user can not touch, or a cell having an electrical characteristic that is not always touched, which will be referred to as a "reference cell". The "reference cell" may exist physically, but may be a virtual cell having only data values.

4 illustrates a waveform diagram of a touch cell according to the embodiment of FIG. 3A.

Referring to FIG. 4, the signal processor 230 may apply the data voltage Vd and the control voltage Vc to the source and gate of the transistor Q, respectively.

After the data voltage Vd rises, the transistor Q is turned on when the control voltage Vc applied to the gate rises from the low voltage VL to the high voltage VH. Accordingly, the electrode pad is charged with the data voltage Vd, and the output voltage Vo will be the data voltage Vd.

Next, when the control voltage Vc falls from the high voltage VH to the low voltage VL, the transistor Q is turned off, and the electrode pad 110 is in a floating state. At this time, the voltage level of the output voltage Vo of the electrode pad 110 may drop instantaneously due to the level drop of the square wave applied to the first capacitor C1. This voltage drop is sometimes called "kick-back."

When there is no touch in the touch cell or in the case of the reference cell (Case 1), that is, when the capacitor connected to the electrode pad 110 has only the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp, these capacitors C1 and Cp The voltage drop V1 of the output voltage Vo by

Equation 1: V1 = {C1 / (C1 + Cp)} × (VH-VL)

Is given by For convenience, the reference numerals of the capacitor and its capacity are used the same.

Equation 1 is easily derived from equations for calculating the total charge amount before and after voltage drop.

However, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the user is touching the electrode pad 110 (Case 2), a capacitor Ct is formed between the electrode pad 110 and the user's finger or the contact means. In the capacitor connected to the pad 110, a touch capacitor Ct is added in addition to the first capacitor C1 and the pad capacitor Cp. The voltage drop V2 of the electrode pad 110 by these three capacitors C1, Cp, and Ct becomes as follows.

Equation 2: V2 = {C1 / (C1 + Cp + Ct)} × (VH-VL)

As a result, the voltage drop V2 when there is a touch (Case 2) is smaller than the voltage drop V1 when there is no touch (Case 1). The difference between the voltage drop V2 and the voltage drop V1 depends on the touch capacitance Ct.

In general, the capacitance C of the capacitor is proportional to the area A of the electrode and proportional to the distance d between the electrodes, that is, C = εA / d (ε is the dielectric constant). Therefore, the larger the touch area, the larger the touch capacitance Ct. Using this relationship, the touch area may be calculated using the difference in voltage drop of the electrode pads 110 before and after the touch. A detailed description of the touch area calculation will be described later.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a variation of the control voltage Vc applied to the first capacitor C1 occurs when the transistor Q is turned off, a voltage change of the output voltage Vo occurs. In the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the touch may be detected from the difference in the variation value of the output voltage Vo before and after the touch (that is, the difference between the voltage drop V2 and the voltage drop V1).

Although not shown in FIG. 4, when the control voltage Vc is applied to the first capacitor C1 instead of the control voltage Vc as shown in FIG. 3B, the separate first voltage signal Vex is applied. ) Is applied after the transistor Q is turned off and the electrode pad 110 is in a floating state. At this time, the output voltage Vo changes in voltage level in response to the voltage rising or falling of the first voltage signal Vex.

Since the embodiment shown in FIG. 3B responds to the first voltage signal Vex after the transistor Q is turned off, only the change time of the output voltage Vo is different from Equation 1 and Equation 2. The same voltage drop occurs. In this case, VH and VL will be the voltage levels of the first voltage signal Vex. When the applied first voltage signal Vex rises from the low voltage VL to the high voltage VH, the output voltage Vo level rises. In this case, since the total capacitance when there is a touch (Case 2) is larger than the total capacitance when there is no touch (Case 1), a small increase in voltage will occur (see Equations 1 and 2). Therefore, even when the first voltage signal Vex applied to the first capacitor C1 in the floating state rises, the touch can be detected on the same principle as in the above-described embodiment. Therefore, according to the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3B, a designer may select which time point of voltage rise / fall time is used for touch detection.

Hereinafter, for convenience, a description will be mainly given of a configuration in which a touch is detected at the moment when the voltage Vc or Vex applied to the first capacitor C1 falls from VH to VL in a floating state.

Next, a detailed example and operation of the detector shown in FIG. 2 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7.

5 is a schematic block diagram of a touch cell and a detector according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the detector according to the present embodiment may include an amplifier 222 and an analog-digital converter (ADC) 224.

The two inputs of the amplifier 222 may be an output voltage Vo of the touch cell 250 and an output voltage Vr of the reference cell 260, and the amplifier 222 may have a difference between the two output voltages Vo and Vr. It may be a differential amplifier for amplifying and outputting. In FIG. 5, Va represents the output voltage of the amplifier 222, and VaD represents the digitization of the output voltage of the amplifier 222.

In this case, the touch cell 250 includes the electrode pad 110, the signal wire 120, the transistor Q, the first capacitor C1, and the pad capacitor Cp shown in FIG. 3, and there is a touch. Refers to a typical touch cell further including a touch capacitor Ct, and the reference cell 260 refers to a touch cell that does not include a touch capacitor Ct because a user's touch does not occur as mentioned above.

The voltage difference (ΔV = Vo-Vr) between the output voltage Vo of the touch cell 250 and the output voltage Vr of the reference cell 260 is such that the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 is at a high voltage VH. It means the voltage difference when it falls to the low voltage (VL).

The voltage difference ΔV between the touch cell Vo and the reference cell Vr when the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 falls from the high voltage VH to the low voltage VL is expressed by Equation 3 below. .

Equation 3: ΔV = V1-V2 = V1-{C1 / (C1 + Cp + Ct)} × (VH-VL)

According to Equation 3, since the difference voltage ΔV for detecting the touch is affected only by C1, Cp, and Ct of the material of the touch panel, it is possible to implement the signal wiring of the touch panel with ITO with high resistance. Accordingly, in the touch panel according to the embodiment of the present invention, the electrode pad and the signal wiring may be implemented together on a single layer of a transparent material.

6 is a graph illustrating the output of an amplifier in an embodiment of the present invention.

When the amplifier 222 is a differential amplifier, the difference voltage ΔV is linearly amplified, but is saturated and outputs a constant value above a specific value.

Referring to FIG. 6, the output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 may be Vas when the difference voltage ΔV is greater than or equal to the saturation voltage ΔVs, and when it is smaller than this, the output voltage Va may have a magnitude proportional to the difference voltage ΔV. have. For example, if the difference voltage ΔV is 0, the output voltage Va is also 0, if the difference voltage ΔV is ΔV1, the output voltage Va is Va1, and if the difference voltage ΔV is ΔV2, the output voltage Va is When Va2 and the difference voltage ΔV are ΔV3, the output voltage Va may be Va3.

On the other hand, when the electrode pad 110 according to the embodiment of the present invention is sufficiently small in size and the electrode pad 110 is completely covered by a finger when a touch occurs, the difference voltage ΔV has a maximum value. It will not increase anymore.

Thus, by designing the amplifier 222 such that the saturation voltage ΔVs is greater than or equal to the maximum value of the difference voltage ΔV, linearity may be imparted to the amplifier. The linearity can be used to calculate an accurate touch area.

The output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 is input to the ADC 224, and the ADC 224 may convert the input analog voltage Va into a digital signal VaD and output the digital signal VaD.

For example, the ADC 224 may divide the output voltage Va of the amplifier 222 into four sections and give a two-bit digital value in order of magnitude to each section. Referring to FIG. 6, the amplifier 222 output voltage Va is about 0 to Va1, 00 for Va1 to Va2, 01 for Va2 to Va3, 10 for Va2 to Va3, and 11 for Va3 or more. Can be given.

However, setting the digital value to 2 bits is just one example. Other examples are 4 bits, 8 bits, and 10 bits.

7 is a graph illustrating a relationship between a difference voltage and a touch capacitance in an embodiment of the present invention.

The touch capacitance Ct of Equation 3 is rearranged as a function of the difference voltage ΔV as follows.

Equation 4: Ct = -K2-K1 / (ΔV-V1)

Where K1 = C1 (VH-VL), K2 = C1 + Cp,

Thus, K1 and K2 are constants and greater than zero)

As shown in FIG. 7, when the difference voltage ΔV is zero, the touch capacitance Ct is zero, and as the difference voltage ΔV increases, the touch capacitance Ct increases.

Here, since the touch capacitance Ct is proportional to the touch area A and inversely proportional to the distance d between the touch means and the electrode pad 110, that is, since Ct = εA / d (ε is a dielectric constant), the distance ( When d) is constant, the touch area A and the touch capacitance Ct are linearly proportional.

As a result, it is understood that the larger the difference voltage ΔV is, the larger the touch area A is.

Since the touch area A cannot be larger than the area of the electrode pad 110, as described above, when the entire area of the electrode pad 110 is completely covered by a touch such as a finger, the difference voltage ΔV is a maximum value. The touch area A also becomes the maximum value.

As a result, the graph of FIG. 7 shows that the difference voltage ΔV is effective in a range between 0 and the maximum value ΔV_max, and the linearity between the difference voltage ΔV and the touch area A may be given using this characteristic. have.

For example, a linear function may be generated in the valid period and the output value of the generated linear function may be matched for each difference voltage ΔV. In this case, a table in which the touch area A corresponding to each difference voltage ΔV (or its digital value) is matched may be used.

As another method, linearity can be imparted between the difference voltage ΔV and the touch area A by applying a predetermined weight to the output of each difference voltage ΔV.

Alternatively, linearity may be imparted by using an inverse function of the difference voltage ΔV and the touch area A, such as gamma correction.

This correction for linearity can reduce the amount of computation since the number of samples to be processed is limited if processed after or simultaneously with the analog-to-digital conversion.

Alternatively, even if the relationship between the touch area A and the difference voltage ΔV is not a perfect linear proportion, if the slope is sufficiently gentle to provide sufficient accuracy for calculating the area, it is treated as being substantially linear proportional, and special correction processing The difference voltage [Delta] V can be used to calculate the touch area A without any change.

As described in the embodiment related to FIG. 6, since the difference voltage ΔV and the amplification value Va are also linear by the amplifier 222, the amplification value Va of the difference voltage ΔV is also the touch area A. ) And linearity. Naturally, the digitized value VaD of the amplification value Va also has a linearity with the touch area A.

The relationship between the difference voltage ΔV defined by the various embodiments described above, its amplification value Va or VaD, and the touch area A is referred to as "substantially linear proportionality". Using such a "substantial linear proportional" relationship, the touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention can detect a very accurate touch area and coordinates.

8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a correspondence relationship between a touch cell and a memory in a touch sensing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The memory 240 illustrated in FIG. 2 may be, for example, a plurality of memories having addresses corresponding to the touch cells 250 (strictly speaking, the electrode pads 110 should be used as the touch cells 250 for convenience of description). Cells, each memory cell may store amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD through the amplifier 222 and the ADC 224.

As described above, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is substantially linearly proportional to the touch area for the electrode pad 110. Thus, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is treated the same as the touched digital area value.

In the present specification, the amplified and digitized difference voltage VaD is a value related to touch detection and is referred to as " touch detection value VaD " for convenience. When the touch detection value VaD is digitized to 2 bits, the touch detection value VaD may have four values of 00, 01, 10, and 11. Here, 00 means no touch, and 11 means that the entire electrode pad is touched and covered. As described above, the size of the touch detection value VaD corresponds to the size of the touch area for one electrode pad.

8 illustrates a touch cell of C1 to C16 and a memory cell of M1 to M16, and M1 to M16 correspond to C1 to C16, respectively. Touch occurs in touch cells C6, C7, C10, C11, C14, and C15, C6 is about 2/5 of the total area, C7 is about 3/5, C10 and C11 are all, C14 and C15 are about 1 Suppose that / 10 or less touched your finger.

Then, 00 is stored in the memory cells C1 to C5, C8, C9, and C12 to C16 corresponding to the touch cells C1 to C5, C8, C9, and C12 to C16 having little or no touch, and 01 and M7 to M6. 11 may be stored in 10, M10, and M11.

The signal processor 230 may read the digital area values of the touch cells C1 to C16 from the memory 240 to determine the touch area and the touch position. This will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 9 to 13.

9 is a flowchart illustrating a method of calculating touch area and touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 9, the touch sensing apparatus according to the present embodiment first measures the touch detection value VaD of each touch cell (S10). In order to measure the touch detection value VaD, each electrode pad 110 is scanned in a predetermined frequency and order. A touch cell in which the touch detection value VaD is not 0 is determined to have a touch, and the touch detection value VaD is recorded in the memory 240 corresponding to each touch cell.

Next, a touch cell group consisting of adjacent touch cells whose touch detection value VaD is larger than a threshold value is extracted (S20). According to an embodiment of the present invention, since the electrode pads 110 are each implemented in an isolated matrix form, the electrode pads 110 provide a multi-touch sensing function. Therefore, when multi-touch occurs, it is necessary to group touch cells in which touch occurs in order to calculate respective touch areas and coordinates. A detailed method of detecting a multi-touch according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described later.

Next, the area of the touch area is calculated based on the touch detection value VaD of the touch cell group (S30). As described above, since the touch detection value VaD and the touch area are proportional to each other, the touch area may be calculated by summing the touch detection values VaD in the touch cell group.

Next, the coordinates of the touch area are calculated from the calculated area of the touch area (S40). In the touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electrode pad 110 has a polygonal shape having a uniform size, and is densely arranged in a matrix form. Therefore, the image display device is covered in a state in which each of the electrode pads 110 has a predetermined area and address. Therefore, the occupation area of the electrode pad 110 may be matched with the coordinates of the image display device.

If information on the touch occupancy area is calculated for each electrode pad from the touch area calculated in step S30, the touch area distribution of the X-axis and Y-axis of the electrode pad matrix can be obtained. By calculating the area center points of the X and Y axes based on the area distribution, it is possible to calculate the touch coordinates corresponding to the center points of the entire touch areas.

The touch coordinates can be calculated very accurately using the structure of the touch panel and the calculated touch area.

The process illustrated in FIG. 9 may be performed by a signal processor disposed inside and outside the touch sensing apparatus.

10 to 13 are diagrams illustrating a process of calculating a touch area and a touch position according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the touch position of FIG. 8 is displayed as an area, it becomes a hatched area of FIG. 10. In this case, a group consisting of four adjacent touch cells having a digital area value larger than the threshold 00, for example, 2 × 2 cells is taken, and the digital area values of the touch cells belonging to this group, that is, 01, 10, 11, and 11 are summed together. Can be regarded as a discrete touch area.

The area value can be calculated because the touch detection value VaD and the touch area have a substantially linear proportional relationship.

Although a 2 × 2 cell group has been described as an example, a group consisting of more or fewer cells may be selected according to the size of the electrode pad and the size of the touch area. In the case where the value of the touch cell is displayed as a 2-bit digitized touch detection value VaD, a total of four area values may be obtained for one cell, and 16 area values may be obtained in a 2 × 2 cell group.

By digitizing the difference in the digitized voltage change value into a higher bit, the calculated area value can be more accurate, and the size of the adjacent touch cell group having a digital area value larger than the threshold value can be larger.

11 illustrates a method of calculating touch coordinates according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 11, the center position of the touch area illustrated in FIG. 10 may be a point indicated by X. FIG. If the X coordinate of each cell is X1, X2, X3, X4 and the Y coordinate is Y1, Y2, Y3, Y4, the digital area values are detected as 01, 10, 11, 11 as shown in FIG. If so, the coordinates of the touch area center can be obtained as follows using interpolation.

X coordinate: ((01 + 11) * X2 + (10 + 11) * X3) / (01 + 11 + 10 + 11) = (4 * X2 + 5 * X3) / 9

Y coordinate: ((01 + 10) * Y2 + (11 + 11) * Y3) / (01 + 11 + 10 + 11) = (3 * Y2 + 6 * Y3) / 9

12 is a diagram illustrating a method of calculating touch coordinates according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 12, the digital area values of the touch cells are summed and graphed for each row X axis and each column Y axis of the touch cell group in the form of a 2 × 2 matrix. For example, FIG. 12 shows graphs at the bottom and the right, respectively.

In the lower graph, the sum of the digital area values corresponding to the first column is 01 + 11, and likewise, the sum of the digital area values corresponding to the second column is 10 + 11. The graph then finds the X coordinate that bisects the value integrated on the X axis (that is, the area of the area between the horizontal axes).

Similarly, in the graph on the right, the digital area value for the first row is 01 + 10 and 11 + 11, the sum of the digital area values for the second row. Again in this case, the Y coordinate is found to be bisected by the value integrated on the Y axis (that is, the area of the area lying between the vertical axes).

In this way, the touch coordinates can be calculated by obtaining the x coordinates and the y coordinates as the centers of the touch areas.

Since the electrode pads are disposed on the image display device in a matrix form, the coordinates in the electrode pad matrix may match the coordinates of the image display device. Therefore, by using the coordinates of the center position of the area distribution of the X-axis and the Y-axis in the touch cell group in which the touch has occurred, the center position of the entire touch area may be calculated in the image display device.

The signal processor 230 may determine the touch position by using the touch area occupying each cell in this manner. Even when the value of the touch cell is displayed as 2 bits, a total of 256 positions can be obtained for one block, and thus a touch coordinate resolution higher than the number of touch cells can be obtained.

If the digitized area value is provided with higher bits, the resolution of the touch coordinates will be much higher. That is, if the digitized area value is provided with a higher bit, it is possible to detect a change in the fine touch area distribution and use it to detect a change in the fine touch coordinates.

12 has been described with a fairly simple example, further statistical processing may be further performed to yield a more accurate area distribution within the touch cell group.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating touch coordinates and a touch area together based on an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 13, when a touch occurs in a predetermined area, an accurate touch area is calculated by adding digital area values of touch cells belonging to a touch cell group, which is a set of touch cells having a digital area value greater than or equal to a threshold. By properly processing the distribution of area values, the exact center position of the contact can be found.

In addition, shape information of a region in which a touch occurs may be provided using coordinate information of a touch cell in which a touch occurs. For example, in FIG. 13, since a touch occurs in a 2 × 2 touch cell group, a circular touch area having a detected area may be calculated. However, if a touch occurs in a 2 × 3 touch cell group, an elliptical touch area having a long vertical axis may be calculated. Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the shape of the touch area may also be used as one of user inputs.

In addition, if the touch area value in the touch cell of the touch cell group is considered, a more precise shape of the touch area may be calculated.

14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of sensing a multi-touch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In step S21, the signal processing unit scans all or part of the touch cells (electrode pads) in the touch screen for one frame. As a result of the scan, a touch detection value, that is, a digital area value, is calculated for each touch cell.

In operation S22, the touch cells that are touched, that is, the cells whose digital area value is greater than or equal to the first threshold value are extracted. In the touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, since the signal wires are formed together on the screen, the signal area of the electrode pad may be touched instead of the touched position, thereby generating a digital area value. However, since this digital area value is extremely small, malfunction can be sufficiently prevented by setting an appropriate first threshold value and comparing it with the detected digital area value. Since the line width of the signal wiring is several micrometers to several tens of micrometers, the digital area value which is not exceeded even if the signal wiring is touched is set smaller than the first threshold value. Meanwhile, the first threshold value is set to be larger than the digital area value generated due to noise or disturbance in consideration of the digital area value when the actual touch occurs. For example, if the digital area value when all the electrode pads are touched is 200, the first threshold value may be set to about 10 to 50.

In operation S23, a touch cell group is generated to detect a multi-touch from touched touch cells. In order to form the touch cell group, one of the touch cells having a larger digital area than the first threshold value is set as the center cell, and the sum of the digital area values of the center cell and the neighboring cells is greater than the second threshold value. That is, the sum of the digital area values of all nine cells including the center cell is compared with the second threshold value. Here, the number of cells compared with the second threshold is not limited to nine but may vary according to the number of electrode pads.

If the sum of the digital area values of the entire cell is smaller than the second threshold value, it may be determined that only the center cell is touched, or that the digital area value is generated in the center cell due to noise or disturbance. This determination can be selected by the designer according to the size of the electrode pad and the size of the digital area value of the center cell.

If the digital area value of the entire cell is larger than the second threshold value, it is determined whether the digital area value of each of the peripheral cells is larger than the digital area value of the center cell. If the digital area value of one of the peripheral cells is larger than the digital area value of the center cell, the center cell is updated to the peripheral cell having the large digital area value and the above-described comparison process is repeated.

The touch cell group may be generated through the above-described process. However, the above-described touch cell group generation method is just one example, and since the touch cells according to the embodiment of the present invention each output a digital area value, the touch cell group may be generated by various methods using the digital area value. will be.

When the touch cell group is generated, each touch cell group and a finger ID are mapped (S24). If a finger ID already exists in the previous frame, it is mapped to an existing finger ID based on touch coordinates. If there is no existing finger ID, a new finger ID is assigned to the corresponding touch cell group.

If the size of the generated touch cell group is excessively large, a palm or the like is considered to be touched.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, since independent touch cells can receive digital area values and form a plurality of touch cell groups therefrom, no ghost problem occurs and theoretically detect as many multi-touches as the number of touch cells. There is an advantage to this.

The above-mentioned multi-touch, touch area and touch position may include electronic devices including display devices associated with the touch sensing device, for example, smart phones, tablet PCs, mobile phones, electronic notebooks, personal digital assistants (PDAs). ), A web pad, a portable multimedia player (PMP), an MP3 player, or the like may be used as an input gesture.

Such an electronic device will be described with reference to FIG. 15.

15 is a block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 15, an electronic device 300 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a touch panel 150, an input detector 270, an application processor 310, a display 320, and a memory 330. Include.

The touch panel 150 includes the substrate 100 shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of electrode pads 110, and a plurality of signal wires 120, and is combined with the display unit 320 to be integrated with the display unit 320. It may be, but is not limited to such. Since the touch panel 150 is the same as described in the above embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The input detector 270 includes the driver 210, the detector 220, the signal processor 230, and the memory 240 illustrated in FIG. 2, and touches a touch area and touch coordinates with respect to a user's touch input. The information is calculated and transmitted to the application processor 310. Since the input detector 270 is the same as described in the foregoing embodiment, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The application processor 310 executes an instruction and generates or uses data. For example, the application processor 310 may process input and output data between the components of the electronic device 300, and interpret the touch information received from the input detector 270 to display the image accordingly. ) Can be displayed. The application processor 310 may be implemented on a single chip, a plurality of chips, or a plurality of electrical components, and may include, for example, a dedicated or embedded processor, a single purpose processor, a controller, or an application specific semiconductor (ASIC). .

The display unit 320 outputs various types of information to a screen and provides the information to a user. For example, the display unit 320 may include a liquid crystal display, an organic light emitting diode, and the like. The display unit 320 may display a graphical user interface (GUI). The graphical user interface provides an interface that allows a user to easily use an application running on the electronic device 300. The graphical user interface may, for example, represent a program, function, file, and operation options in a graphical image. Graphical images may include, for example, windows, dialogs, menus, icons, buttons, cursors, scroll bars, and the like. These images can be arranged in a predefined layout or dynamically generated to help the user do what they want. The user can select and activate an image or perform a preset action on the image to initiate functions and tasks associated with the various graphical images.

The memory 330 provides a place for storing executable code and data used by the electronic device 300. The memory 330 stores data according to a request from the application processor 310, and provides instructions and / or data to the application processor 310. For example, the memory 330 may include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), flash memory, or the like.

16 illustrates a display device in which a touch panel is integrated according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 16, the display device 100 including a touch function includes a first substrate 10, a second substrate 12, a liquid crystal layer 14, a thin film transistor array layer 16, and a color filter layer ( 18), the conductive film 20 and the touch panel 50.

The first substrate 10 and the second substrate 12 are opposed to each other. The liquid crystal layer 14, the thin film transistor array layer 16, and the color filter layer 18 are positioned between the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 12. The thin film transistor array layer 16 and the color filter layer 18 are positioned with the liquid crystal layer 14 therebetween. The thin film transistor array layer 16 includes a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs). A gate line is connected to the gate electrode of the thin film transistor, a data line crossing the gate line is connected to the source electrode, and a pixel electrode is connected to the drain electrode. The pixel electrode is formed at the intersection of the gate line and the data line, and forms a vertical or horizontal electric field with the common electrode of the color filter layer 18 to control the liquid crystal movement of the liquid crystal layer 14. The color filter layer 18 includes a color filter for implementing R, G, and B images, and a black matrix formed between the color filters and for increasing contrast and absorbing external light. The sealing member 22 is disposed along the edges of the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 12 to bond the first substrate 10 and the second substrate 12 to each other.

The conductive film 20 is formed on the second substrate 12. The conductive film 20 blocks an external electric field that may affect the driving of the liquid crystal layer 14. When the pixel electrode and the common electrode form a vertical electric field to control the liquid crystal, interference of an external electric field by a finger or the like may occur, which may cause the liquid crystal layer 14 to malfunction. The conductive film 20 serves to block an external electric field that may affect the operation of the liquid crystal layer 14 as described above. The conductive film 20 may be made of ITO.

The touch panel 50 is formed on the conductive film 20 with the insulating layer 24 interposed therebetween. The insulating layer 24 may include SiO ₂ or SiN _X.

The first polarizing plate 26 is formed on the lower side of the first substrate 10 and the opposite side of the thin film transistor array layer 16 with respect to the first substrate 10, and the upper side and the touch of the touch panel 50. The second polarizing plate 28 is positioned on the opposite side of the insulating layer 24 with respect to the panel 50. The first polarizer 26 and the second polarizer 28 control the polarization of light to display an image.

17 illustrates a display device in which a touch panel is integrated according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 17, in the display device 110 including the touch function according to another exemplary embodiment, the conductive layer 20 ′ may cover the inner surface of the second substrate 12, that is, the liquid crystal layer 14. It is formed on one surface of the second substrate 12 facing. The touch panel 50 is formed on the other surface of the second substrate 12. In another embodiment of the present invention, since the second substrate 12 also serves as the insulating layer 24 shown in FIG. 17, the configuration of the display device can be simplified.

Since the touch panel according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention can be implemented using only a single layer of the transparent conductive material, the touch panel can be implemented on the upper or lower portion of the upper substrate of the display device as shown in FIG. 16 or 17. Therefore, the thickness of the electronic device including the touch panel can be reduced, and the production cost can be significantly lowered by patterning the pattern of the touch panel during the manufacturing process of the display device.

On the other hand, the IC of the user input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention can be manufactured integrally with the driving IC of the display device. As such, the driving device in which the display device driver and the touch panel driver are integrated may be manufactured in the form of an IC and attached to the glass of the display device or attached to the flexible PCB to supply driving signals to the display device and the touch panel, respectively.

As such, when the driving device of the display device and the user input sensing device is manufactured in one IC type, the touch panel integrated display device illustrated in FIGS. 16 and 17 may be driven more efficiently.

18 illustrates an electronic device capable of switching modes according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The appearance of the electronic device 300 may be implemented in the form of a smart phone provided with a touch input. Smartphones provide a variety of applications using their own operating system (OS) based on hardware that provides a processor, memory, GPS, Bluetooth, and mobile communications.

The switch 310 is a hardware switch that adjusts the touch sensitivity outside the touch input device 300. When the touch sensitivity is provided in the first mode and the second mode, the switch 310 toggles between the two modes in one operation.

The switch 320 may switch between the first mode and the second mode in software. The switch 320 may be provided in the form of an application manufactured using the API when the operating system provides an API that allows the smartphone to adjust the control voltage or the magnitude (VH, VL) of the voltage applied to the first capacitor. . The user may be set to automatically switch between the first mode and the second mode according to the season or temperature change using the application.

More specifically, the electronic device 300 further includes a mode control unit (not shown) and a mode switching unit (not shown), and receive a mode switching command from an external hardware or software so that the touch modes have different touch sensitivitys. Can switch between and the second mode. For example, in the embodiment of the present invention, a first mode providing bare touch recognition sensitivity and a second mode providing touch recognition sensitivity of a gloved hand will be described as an example.

The mode controller adjusts the levels VH and VL of the high signal and the low signal applied to the first capacitor in the floating state in response to the mode switch signal received through the mode switch. As can be easily seen from Equations 1 and 2, the larger the difference between VH and VL, the higher the sensitivity can be provided.

In the second mode providing high sensitivity, a touch input may be received by sensing a capacitance Ct generated by a gloved hand. The first mode may receive a touch input by detecting a capacitance Ct generated by a bare hand as usual.

Maintaining high sensitivity at all times, such as the second mode, can detect touch input of both bare and gloved hands, but requires a higher voltage than the first mode, and malfunctions due to friction in the pocket or rubs on other parts of the body. Because of the possibility of malfunction, it is possible to set such that the first mode is normally maintained.

The mode switch may be switched by an external switch operation, but may be automatically driven by sensing a season or an external temperature.

Although the first mode for detecting the touch of the bare hand and the second mode for detecting the touch of the gloved hand have been described as an example, an embodiment for switching more modes than this is possible.

For example, a mode may be set that provides touch sensitivity for a stylus pen provided on a capacitive touch screen.

In addition to adjusting the voltage applied to the first capacitor, the sensitivity may be adjusted by changing other variables of Equations 1 and 2. For example, the sensitivity may be adjusted by varying the value of the first capacitor C1 or by changing the amplification factor of the differential amplifier or the buffer.

19 is a flowchart illustrating a touch sensitivity control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In operation S100, the touch input device is set to a first predetermined sensitivity.

Thereafter, it is determined whether the sensitivity mode switch is made in step S110. The mode switching may be performed by a switch means external to the touch input device or a switch means of software interoperating with the touch input device.

If there is a sensitivity mode switch command, the sensitivity parameter is corrected in step S120. For example, if the difference between the high signal and the low signal of the voltage applied to the first capacitor C1 is increased, the sensitivity can be increased.

When the modification of the sensitivity parameter is completed, in step S130, the touch input device is set to the second sensitivity. For example, the sensitivity of touch recognition may be set as the second sensitivity even with a gloved hand. The first sensitivity and the second sensitivity may be set respectively by determining sensitivity parameters based on data obtained from actual use.

If necessary, the second sensitivity may be displayed on the screen of the touch input device (S140). The display allows the user to confirm the sensitivity currently set in his or her touch input device, and maintain or change the sensitivity according to the result of the confirmation.

Hereinafter, various user input gestures using an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.

20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a user input method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 20, a user may lightly tap a specific graphic user interface displayed on the touch panel 150 (hereinafter, the touch operation may be referred to as a “tab”) or press firmly to press (hereinafter, tightly). Press and touch operations are called "presses". In the case of the tap operation, the touch area of the touch panel 150 and the finger may be smaller than the reference area, and in the case of the press operation, the touch area may be larger than the reference area, and thus the user's touch intention may be different. In this case, even when the same graphic user interface is touched, when the touch area is small, the electronic device 300 may perform operation A, but when the touch area is large, operation B may be performed instead of A. This operation is due to the fact that the user input sensing device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention accurately calculates the touch area.

As an example, referring to FIG. 21, various application program icons are displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. FIG. 21 illustrates that a user touches a specific icon 322 by changing a touch area. The electronic device 300 on the left side has a smaller touch area RA1 than the reference area RA. The device 300 is a case where the touch area RA2 is larger than the reference area RA. In the former case, for example, the electronic device 300 may perform an operation in which a specific icon 322 is selected and executed. In the latter case, the electronic device 300 may pop up a menu related to the specific icon 322. You can perform the floating operation.

Operations performed in each case are not limited thereto, and may include various operations such as moving, deleting, and copying icons. In addition, the user may predetermine an operation to be performed differently according to the touch area by setting options.

As another example, referring to FIG. 22, an application program such as a map is executed and displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. When the user's touch area RA1 is smaller than the reference area RA when the user touches an arbitrary point on the map, the electronic device 300 may display, for example, information about the touched location. ), And when the user's touch area RA2 is larger than the reference area RA, the electronic device 300 may move the touched position to the center of the screen and change the position. An operation of enlarging the map may be performed as a reference. Although FIG. 22 illustrates that two different points are touched, different operations may be performed according to the touch area even if the same points are touched.

Meanwhile, the electronic device 300 may use, as user input information, the touch time when the finger touches the touch panel 150 together with the touch area. This allows for more user input for the same graphical user interface. That is, when the touch area is compared with the reference area and the touch time is compared with the reference time, the touch area is smaller than the reference area and the touch time is shorter than the reference time, and the touch area is smaller than the reference area and the touch time is longer than the reference time. For example, if the touch area is larger than the reference area and the touch time is shorter than the reference time, four different users for a specific graphic user interface or one touch position may be used, such as the touch area is larger than the reference area and the touch time is longer than the reference time. An input may be accepted, and accordingly, the electronic device 300 may perform different operations in each case.

The electronic device 300 may provide a general touch input mode for receiving a touch input regardless of the touch area of the user and a special touch input mode for performing different operations according to the touch area or the touch time of the user. In the menu, the user may set which touch input mode the specific application program or graphic user interface operates in. By allowing the user to select the touch input mode as described above, the user touch input according to the touch area or the touch time and the general touch input may not be confused. In addition, the reference area and the reference time may be set by the user. For example, a user with a small hand may set a small reference area, and a user with a large hand may set a large reference area.

As such, the user may input various touch commands to the electronic device 300 by touching the same graphic user interface by changing the touch area or the touch time, so that the electronic device 300 may receive the same graphic user interface. Different actions can be performed.

In addition, even if a touch is not made on a specific graphic user interface, the input may be controlled to perform a different operation by comparing the absolute value of the touch area with a reference value.

Meanwhile, referring to FIG. 23, the user may scroll left and right or up and down while being in contact with the touch panel, and the electronic device 300 may perform an operation different from that of FIG. 20. In this case, different operations may be performed according to the touch area. For example, when the area of the touch panel is large, the scroll speed may be slowed or touch-slided with a stronger force.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 24, when the touch area is greater than or equal to the threshold, a new operation may be performed. For example, if a touch area is greater than a certain area on the document or picture and the contact surface moves, the operation of deleting a part of the document or picture may be performed.

Referring to FIGS. 25 and 26, the user may drive the electronic device 300 by using a change in the touch angle.

In general, when the user changes the touch area, the angle of the touched finger that is touching changes. This tendency is stronger because most handheld electronic devices are touch driven with the electronic device held.

For example, as shown in the upper figure of FIG. 25, the angle change of the finger joint occurs while raising the finger tip to reduce the touch area. On the contrary, in order to increase the touch area as shown in the lower figure of FIG. 25, an angle change of the finger joint occurs while the finger tip is laid down.

In this case, a change in touch coordinates and a change in area are accompanied. Therefore, as shown in the upper figure of FIG. 26, when the touch coordinate is moved upward from P1 to P2 while the touch area is reduced and the touch area is reduced, it may be recognized that the finger is bent up. Conversely, if the touch area increases as the touch coordinate moves from P3 to P4 downward as shown in the lower figure of FIG. 26, it is possible to recognize that the finger is extended. That is, the upper figure and the lower figure of FIGS. 25 and 26 correspond, respectively. By using this, various user interfaces for allowing the user to intuitively recognize the angle of the finger may be provided.

As an example, referring to FIG. 27, a plurality of messages are displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. Messages displayed on the left electronic device 300 of FIG. 27 are arranged side by side on a two-dimensional plane for each message, and messages displayed on the right electronic device 300 are three-dimensionally arranged on a three-dimensional space. When the user reduces the touch area by raising a fingertip at an arbitrary position or a predetermined position of the display unit 320 as shown in FIG. 25, the electronic device 300 displays a message type displayed on the display unit 320 as shown in FIG. 27. It can be changed from 3D message to 3D message. Also, when the touch area is increased by lying down on the fingertip, the electronic device 300 may change the message form from 3D to 2D message. Of course, depending on the increase and decrease of the touch area, two-dimensional and three-dimensional shapes may be reversed.

As another example, referring to FIG. 28, a map is displayed on the display unit 320 of the electronic device 300. On the left side of Fig. 28, the map is displayed in a two-dimensional plane, and on the right side, the map is displayed in three dimensions. As in the previous example, as the user changes the touch area while touching a finger on the display 320, the electronic device 300 may display the map in two or three dimensions.

As such, the electronic device 300 may perform a predetermined operation as the touch area increases or decreases while the user's touch is maintained. The electronic device 300 determines that the touch of the user is maintained when the touch coordinates are activated for a predetermined time or more within a predetermined range and a touch is continuously detected in the touch cell and the adjacent touch cell. The electronic device 300 may perform such an operation even if the user touches any position of the screen on which the application is executed. However, when the user touches a predetermined area designated in advance by the application, the electronic device 300 Such an operation may be performed. The reference value of the increase amount and / or decrease amount of the touch area for performing an operation may be predetermined or set by a user.

The electronic device 300 may provide a touch input mode for performing a predetermined operation according to the increase or decrease of the touch area of the user, and the user may set a specific application program or a graphic user interface to operate in the touch input mode. Since this is similar to the special touch input mode according to the touch area and the touch time of the user, the detailed description is omitted.

On the other hand, by using the change direction of the touch coordinates together with the change of the touch coordinates and the change of the touch area can provide a more various touch input method. That is, as shown in FIG. 26, the user can change the touch coordinates not only in the up-down direction as in P1 and P2 and between P3 and P4 but also in the diagonal direction P21 or P22 indicated by the dotted line in P1, or in the dotted line in P3. It can be moved to P41 or P42 in the diagonal direction indicated. According to the user's touch intention, the electronic device 300 may perform operations such as changing the viewpoint of the 2D object and the 3D object, and change the viewpoint of the object by the corresponding angle according to the change angle of the touch coordinates. Can be. In this case, since the change of the touch coordinate is generated when only the angle of the finger is changed while the touch state is maintained, the change of the touch coordinate may be set to a smaller value below the threshold.

As an example, when the user changes the touch area so that the touch coordinates change from P1 to P22 as shown in the upper side of FIG. 26, the two-dimensional map shown on the left side of FIG. 29A is shown on the right side of FIG. 29. Like a map, the view is changed to a three-dimensional map with the viewpoint changed in the P22 direction. Similarly, when the user changes the touch area so that the touch coordinates change from P3 to P41 as shown in the lower side of FIG. 26, the three-dimensional map shown on the left side of FIG. 29 is shown on the right side of FIG. 29B. As shown in the figure, the view is changed to a two-dimensional map in which the viewpoint is changed in a direction opposite to the P41 direction.

In this way, when the user changes the touch coordinates and the touch area while maintaining the touch, if the object is displayed to change the viewpoint of the object displayed on the screen according to the change direction of the touch coordinates, the user may perform a complicated command with a simple touch operation. Will be. Such a graphic user interface may be usefully applied to graphic processing between two and three dimensions such as maps, games, and graphic programs. Of course, in addition to changing the viewpoint of the graphic object according to the change direction of the touch coordinates, other operations may be performed.

27 to 29 illustrate that the two-dimensional content is changed to the three-dimensional content, but it can be said that the viewpoint of the content that can be displayed in three dimensions is changed according to the increase or decrease of the touch area. Therefore, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the viewpoint of the 3D object may be detected and changed by changing the touch area.

The change in the viewpoint may be implemented by rotating the 3D object by a specific angle with respect to a specific axis or a specific point. The rotation angle may be determined by the touch area value or the amount of change thereof.

In an embodiment of the present invention, the change in touch coordinates accompanying the change in touch area may or may not be reflected in the change in viewpoint.

For example, when the content that can be displayed in three dimensions is set to rotate only in a specific direction, the viewpoint change may be performed by detecting only a change in the touch area. On the other hand, when the content that can be displayed in three dimensions is set to rotate in various directions, the viewpoint change may be performed in consideration of a change in touch area and a change in coordinates.

The electronic device 300 may provide a touch input mode in which a predetermined operation is performed according to the direction of changing the touch coordinates of the user, and the user may set a specific application program or a graphic user interface to operate in the touch input mode. Since this is similar to the special touch input mode according to the touch area and the touch time of the user, the detailed description is omitted.

30 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing another operation according to the size of a contact area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The operation illustrated in FIG. 30 is an example in which the touch area is divided into three types of large, medium, and small, and accordingly, three different operations are performed, and the operation occurring in the electronic device including the touch sensing device and the display device is illustrated.

First, the touch is detected according to the above-described process (S210), the touch area is calculated (S220), and it is determined whether the touch area is larger than the set value A1 (S230). If the touch area is larger than the set value A1, it is determined whether the touch area is larger than the set value A2 (S230). If not, the command corresponding to the small area contact is executed (S250). If the touch area is larger than the set value A2 in step S230, a command corresponding to the large area contact is executed (S270). Otherwise, a command corresponding to the medium area contact is executed (S260).

Among the operations, steps S210 and S220 may be performed by the input detector 270, and the remaining operations may be performed by the application processor 310.

 According to the embodiment shown in FIG. 30, the content that can be displayed in three dimensions performs a predetermined operation based on the absolute amount of the touched area touched.

31 is a flowchart illustrating a method of performing another operation according to a change in size of a contact area according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the touch is detected according to the above-described process (S310), the touch area is calculated (S320), and it is determined whether the touch area is changed (S330).

If the touch area changes, it is determined whether the contact is maintained (S340), otherwise, another predetermined operation is performed.

If the touch area is maintained in step S340, a command corresponding to the change of the touch area may be executed (S350), otherwise, another operation may be performed.

If the content that can be displayed in three dimensions rotates about a specific axis or point, the viewpoint may be changed by rotating the content by an angle corresponding to the change of the touch area.

Meanwhile, a virtual image corresponding to the touch area may be generated at a touch position, and a corresponding operation may be performed or displayed on the display device. The virtual image may also be operated depending on whether the virtual image is stationary or moved. This may vary.

32 is a flowchart illustrating a method of generating touch shape information according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, an input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention drives a touch cell corresponding to an electrode pad of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form (s2010).

Next, the input sensing device measures a voltage variation value of the touch cell. In operation S2020, each electrode pad 110 is scanned in a predetermined frequency and order to measure the touch detection value VaD. A touch cell in which the touch detection value VaD is not 0 is determined to have a touch, and the touch detection value VaD is recorded in the memory 240 corresponding to each touch cell.

When the touch detection value is recorded, the touch cell group consisting of adjacent touch cells of which the touch detection value VaD is not 0 is extracted, and the shape information of the touch area is generated based on the touch detection value VaD of the touch cell group. Specifically, first, the touch area is generated based on the touch detection value VaD of the touch cell group. (S2030) As described above, the touch detection value VaD and the touch area are Since it is mutually proportional, the touch area can be calculated by summing the touch detection values VaD in the touch cell group. Next, shape information of the touch area is generated based on the touch area (s2040).

The method of generating shape information of the touch area may vary.

For example, shape information of the touch area may be generated using the X-axis and Y-axis area distributions of the touched area. Specifically, the touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads is extracted and the touch area for each touch cell belonging to the extracted touch cell group is calculated, or the first axis (for example, the X axis) for the touch cell group is extracted. ) And the distribution of the touch area in the second axis (for example, Y-axis) direction, and shape information of the touch area may be generated based on the calculated distribution of the touch area.

As another example, shape information of the touch area may be generated using touch coordinates and location information of the touch cell group. Specifically, the center point of the touch area is calculated based on the position of the electrode pad on the matrix and the distribution of the touch area in the first axis (for example, X axis) and the second axis (for example, Y axis) directions, The shape information of the touch area may be generated based on the calculated center point and the position of the electrode pad on the matrix.

As another example, shape information of the touch area may be generated using only location information of the touch cell group. Specifically, the touch cell group corresponding to the touched electrode pads is extracted, and at least one of a ratio between the first axis length and the second axis length of the touch cell group, and the angle formed by the first axis and the second axis, is used for shape information. The shape information may be generated as the shape information, or at least one of a ratio between the first axis length and the second axis length of the touched area in the touch cell group and the angle between the first axis and the second axis. In this case, the first axis and the second axis may be any axis perpendicular to the touch cell group. For example, when the touch cell group is formed into an ellipse, the first axis may correspond to the long axis of the ellipse and the second axis may correspond to the short axis of the ellipse. In one embodiment of the present invention, the touch panel has an electrode pad 110 having a polygonal shape having a uniform size and is arranged in a matrix, and the image is displayed while each of the electrode pads 110 has a predetermined area and address. It is implemented in a form arranged on top of the device. Accordingly, the address and area of the electrode pad 110 may be matched to the touched coordinates and the touch area of the image display device, and the coordinates and touch area touched by the image display device using the address and area of the electrode pad 110 may be matched. Can be calculated.

The shape information of the touch area generated in operation s2040 may include any information indicating the shape of the touch area, such as the location of the touch area, the center point of the touch area, and the reference axis of the touch area. For example, when the shape of the touch area is an ellipse, in step s2040, the long axis length of the ellipse, the short axis length of the ellipse, the angle between the long axis and the x axis (or y axis) of the ellipse, the short axis of the ellipse and the x axis (or y axis) At least one of an angle of the liver, a length ratio of the long axis and the short axis, and a coordinate of the focal point may be generated. As another example, when the shape of the touch area is the cause, in operation S2040, at least one of the coordinates of the center of the circle and the diameter of the circle may be generated.

The input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention may transmit at least one of the shape information of the touch area generated in operation s2040 to one or more modules. For example, the input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention may transmit only an address of a touch cell in which a touch is detected, touch area information for each touch cell, an aspect ratio of a shape of the touch area, and an axis tilt to one or more modules. have. One or more modules receiving the shape information of the touch area may process the shape information to display the shape of the touch on a screen in the image display device, or use the shape information as one input signal.

The input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention may determine whether the shape of the touch area is changed and generate a control signal corresponding to the change (S2050). A detailed process of step s2050 will be described based on steps s2052 to s2056.

The input sensing device determines whether the shape of the touch area is changed (S2052). Criteria for determining whether the shape of the touch area is changed may vary. In one embodiment, when the inclination of the central axis passing through the center of the shape of the touch area is changed by more than the threshold angle, it is determined that the shape of the touch area is changed. If it is determined that the shape of the touch area is changed, it is determined whether the touch is maintained while the shape of the touch area is changed (s2054). If the touch is not maintained, it is determined that the touch is received as a new input and proceeds with another operation. If is maintained, the process goes to step s2056. At this time, if it is determined whether the touch coordinate is changed and the touch coordinate is changed by more than a threshold value, this may be determined by an input (for example, a drag input) irrelevant to the change of the shape of the touch area. Finally, the control signal according to the change of the shape of the touch area is generated (s2056). For example, if the shape of the previous touch area has a slope of the central axis of 0 degrees and the shape of the changed touch area has a slope of the center axis of 30 degrees, a rotation signal for rotating the data displayed on the screen by 30 degrees in the counterclockwise direction may be generated. Can be. In this case, at least one of the rotation direction, the rotation speed, and the rotation angle with respect to the data displayed on the screen may be determined based on the inclination of the changed central axis.

33 is a diagram illustrating an example of generating shape information of a touch area in an input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 33 illustrates a case where shape information of a touch area is generated based on touch coordinates and position information of a touch cell that has been touched.

In FIG. 33A, a touch is detected in the 4X2 touch cell group 2112 among the 6X6 touch cells 2110, and the touch coordinate 2111 is adjusted based on the distribution of the touch area in the touch cell group 2112. Calculated.

According to an embodiment, the shape corresponding to the outline of the touched touch cell group 2112 may be calculated as the shape of the touch area. Assuming that the horizontal length and the vertical length of the touch cell are 1, a rectangle having a horizontal length of 2 and a vertical length of 4 is calculated as a touch shape. According to this method, as the arrangement density of the touch cells increases, the shape of the touch area can be accurately calculated.

In another embodiment, after determining a figure to be used as the shape of the touch area in advance, the characteristics of the figure may be selected according to the outline of the touched cell group 2112. For example, suppose that you use the shape of a circle (ie, including circles and ellipses) as the shape of the touch area. In the above example, since the outline of the touch cell group 2112 is a rectangle having a horizontal length of 2 and a vertical length of 4, the length of the long axis inscribed to the outline of the touch cell group 2112 is 4 and the length of the short axis is An ellipse 2113 of 2 is calculated in a touch shape. In this case, the shape of the ellipse 2113 may be calculated using the entire area of the touch area if only the long axis and the short length are provided.

In FIG. 33B, a touch is detected in the 2X2 touch cell group 2122 among the 6X6 touch cells 2120, and the touch coordinate 2121 is adjusted based on the distribution of the touch area in the touch cell group 2122. Calculated.

When the shape corresponding to the outline of the touched touch cell group 2122 is calculated as a touch shape, a square having a horizontal length of 2 and a vertical length of 2 is calculated as a touch shape. On the other hand, when the circle is used as the shape of the touch area, a circle 2123 having a diameter of 2 inscribed to the outline of the touch cell group 2122 is calculated as a touch shape. At this time, the center of the circle 2123 is determined by the touch coordinate 2121.

In FIG. 33C, a touch is detected in the touch cell group 2132 consisting of 10 touch cells among the 6X6 touch cells 2130, and the touch coordinates (based on the touch area distribution in the touch cell group 2132) are determined. 2131) was calculated.

When the shape corresponding to the outline of the touched cell group 2132 is calculated as a touch shape, the shape is calculated as a touch area including ten touch cells. On the other hand, when a circle (or ellipse) is used as the shape of the touch area, an ellipse 2133 whose long axis is inclined with respect to the x axis or the y axis is calculated as a touch shape. At this time, the long axis of the ellipse 2133 is a straight line connecting the touch coordinates 2131, the first vertex 2134, and the second vertex 2135.

Assuming that the coordinates of the lower left corner of the 6X6 touch cells 2132 are (0,0), the first vertex 2134 corresponds to the outer edge of the coordinate (1,5) cell and the coordinate (4) of the second vertex. 1 corresponds to the outer edge of the cell. Finally, a straight line connecting the touch coordinate 2131 with the first vertex 2134 and the second vertex 2135 satisfies Y = -3 / 4X + 2. Therefore, the angle between the long axis and the bottom line of the 6X6 touch cells 2130 becomes tan ^-1 (-3/4), and a straight line satisfying Y = -3 / 4X + 2 is calculated as a reference axis of the touch shape. , tan ^-1 (-3/4) can be calculated from the slope of the reference axis.

In the above-described embodiment, when the touch input device transmits the length ratio between the vertical axis and the horizontal axis in addition to the touch coordinates and the touch area to the electronic device, the electronic device can easily reconstruct the shape of the elliptical touch area with a small data transmission amount. Can be displayed on the screen. In addition, when additionally transmitting tilt information of the vertical axis or the horizontal axis, the electronic device may display a more accurate shape of the touch area.

34 is a diagram illustrating another example of generating shape information of a touch area in an input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

34 illustrates a case where shape information of a touch area is generated in consideration of touch area information of each touched cell.

In FIG. 34 (a), a touch is detected in a 3X3 touch cell group among 5X5 touch cells, and a graph obtained by adding touch area values to the X axis and each column Y axis of each row of the touch cell group is shown at the right and the bottom, respectively. It was.

First, the sum of the area values for each row of the 3X3 touch cell group is calculated. The sum of the digital area values for the first row is 01 + 10 + 01, the sum of the digital area values for the second row is 01 + 11 + 10, and the sum of the digital area values for the third row is 01 + 10. +01. Assuming that the touch shape is a circle, it can be seen that the touch shape is a circle symmetric up and down about the second row.

Next, the sum of the area values for each column of the 3 × 3 touch cell group is calculated. The sum of the digital area values for the first column is 01 + 10 + 01, the sum of the digital area values for the second column is 01 + 10 + 01, and the sum of the digital area values for the third column is 01 + 10 + 01. . Assuming a touch shape as a circle, it can be seen that the touch shape is a circle in which left and right are symmetrical.

Finally, since the sum of the area values for each row of the 3X3 touch cell group and the sum of the area values for each column of the 3X3 touch cell group are the same, the touch shape has a distance from the center as shown in FIG. It can be seen that the same circle. In this case, the ratio of the touched area to the total area of the 3 × 3 touch cell group may be calculated, and the diameter of the circle may be determined based on the ratio. For example, when the width and length of each touch cell are 1 and about 50% of the total area of the 3X3 touch cell group is touched, the radius x of the circle may be calculated based on x2π = 9 * 0.5.

In FIG. 34C, a touch is detected in the 4X2 touch cell group among the 4X4 touch cells, and a graph obtained by adding touch area values to the X axis and each column Y axis of each row of the touch cell group is shown at the right and the bottom, respectively. It was.

First, since the touch cell group in which the touch is detected is a rectangle of 4 × 2, it can be estimated that the touch area is approximately elliptical.

Next, the sum of the area values for each row of the 4 × 2 touch cell group is calculated. The sum of the digital area values for the first row is 01 + 01, the sum of the digital area values for the second row is 10 + 10, the sum of the digital area values for the third row is 10 + 10, and the fourth The sum of the digital area values for a row is 01 + 01. Assuming that the touch shape is a circle, it can be seen that the touch shape is an ellipse having a symmetrical up / down center between the second row and the third row.

Next, the sum of the area values for each column of the 4 × 2 touch cell group is calculated. The sum of the digital area values for the first column is 01 + 10 + 10 + 01, and the sum of the digital area values for the second column is also 01 + 10 + 10 + 01. Assuming that the touch shape is a circle, it can be seen that the touch shape is an ellipse in which left and right are symmetrical.

Finally, considering the position of the 4X2 touch cell group, it can be seen that the touch shape is an ellipse whose long axis is parallel to the Y axis as shown in FIG. In this case, the ratio of the touched area to the total area of the 4 × 2 touch cell group may be calculated, and the length of the major and minor axes of the ellipse may be determined based on the ratio. For example, when about 50% of the total area of the 4X2 touch cell group is touched, the lengths of the long axis and the short axis may be calculated such that the area of the ellipse is 50% of the area of the 4X2 touch cell group.

Similar to the above-described embodiment, the shape of the touch area may be calculated by combining the touch occupation area of each touch cell. For example, if an adjacent touch cell in which a part of the area is touched is detected around the touch cell where the touch is touched in the entire area, the shape of the touch area is changed by using a touch detection value corresponding to each touch cell radially from the center. Can be estimated. In the center, the aforementioned touch coordinates, that is, the area of the touch area may be replaced with the center point. The operation of the touch area may be performed by the MCU of the touch input device or the CPU of the electronic device on which the touch input device is mounted.

As described above with reference to FIGS. 32 to 34, in the input sensing device according to the exemplary embodiment, the shape of the touch area may be accurately calculated. The shape of the touch area when the user draws letters using the side surface of the index finger and the shape of the touch area when drawing letters using the lower surface of the index finger are different. In other words, when a character is input using the side surface of the index finger, the thickness of the touch region is thin, and when the character is input using the lower surface of the index finger, the thickness of the touch region is thick. When the shape information of the touch area is reflected in the touch input, the line thickness of letters or pictures may be expressed differently according to the difference in the shape of the touch area.

Conventionally, since there is no method for calculating the shape of the touch area, even if the user changes the touch tool or changes the touch method, this cannot be recognized. However, since the shape of the touch area can be accurately calculated in the input sensing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, the input desired by the user can be provided according to the difference of the touch tool or the difference in the touch method.

35 is a view illustrating an operation performed according to a change of a touch area in an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 35A, the user touches the screen in the electronic device with the index finger. Rotatable objects exist in the area touched by the user.

Referring to FIG. 35B, the user rotates the index finger 30 degrees counterclockwise while keeping the touch. When the user rotates the index finger, the shape of the touch area displayed as an ellipse is changed. In particular, the central axis (ie, long axis) of the ellipse is rotated. When the central axis rotates more than the threshold angle, it is determined that the user wants to rotate the object, and the signal processor 230 generates a rotation signal for the object. After this, the object will rotate according to the rotation signal. In this case, at least one of the rotation direction, the rotation angle, and the rotation speed of the object may be determined based on the change of the central axis.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the touch area value of the independent touch cell may be obtained, and the shape of the touch area may be obtained therefrom. Various user input gestures may be provided using the change of the shape of the touch area.

In addition, as described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention, coordinates may be acquired according to a change in the touch area. In this case, the touch area value can be precisely divided into 8 to 12 bits in the area of the unit electrode pad. Since the actual touch is made on four to nine electrode pads, the change in touch area value can be detected more precisely. If the precise change in the touch area value is detectable, since the precise change in the touch coordinates is also detectable, the user input sensing device according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention may read a very fine touch coordinate change in a narrow touch area.

FIG. 36 is an enlarged view of a front view and a portion of a track pad that is a part of an input sensing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to the front view of the left input sensing device of FIG. 36, the user input sensing device may include a screen on which the pointing cursor 350 is displayed and moved and a track pad 300 for performing a touch for this purpose.

Referring to an enlarged view of a portion of the right track pad 300 of FIG. 36, the track pad 300 recognizes whether the external display area 330 that recognizes touch and the touch direction and whether the external display area 330 touches. It may include an extension area 310 to assist.

The external display area 330 is a part where the user can visually recognize the track pad 300, such as is formed by protruding from the input sensing device, and the extended area 310 is not visually recognizable by the user. Part.

The extended area 310 is further formed to generate touch coordinates in the external display area 330. In detail, the coordinates near the edge of the external display area 330 may be detected when the extension area 310 is simultaneously touched. Therefore, the touch detection value in the extended area 310 is used to calculate touch coordinates adjacent to the edge of the external display area 330.

The track pad 300 may be manufactured integrally with the electrode pad 110 or may be manufactured separately from the electrode pad 110.

In addition, the track pad 300 may be disposed on the substrate 100 at a first density, and the rest of the plurality of electrode pads 110 may be disposed on the substrate 100 at a second density. . However, the first density and the second density may be manufactured to the same density. The higher the density of the electrode pad 110, the higher the resolution of the touch coordinates, and the lower the density, the lower the resolution of the touch coordinates. When the resolution of the touch coordinates is higher, since a change in the minute touch area distribution can be detected, a fine touch change can be detected by increasing the density of the electrode pad 110.

37 is a schematic diagram for explaining a movement operation of a pointing cursor.

Referring to FIG. 37, the signal processor 230 recognizes a four-way or eight-way mode that scrolls in one of up, down, left, and right directions based on a direction in which the track pad 300 is touched. In operation 300, the pointing cursor 350 on the screen may be moved. In addition, the signal processor 230 may move the pointing cursor 350 on the screen in a movement direction of the track pad 300 in an arbitrary direction in the same manner as in the general method of moving the pointing cursor of a display device.

If the touch area touched on the track pad 300 is greater than or equal to a threshold value, the pointing cursor 350 may be treated as being clicked. For example, when the entire area of the track pad 300 is touched, the track pad 300 recognizes that the content of the location of the pointing cursor 350 is clicked.

38 is a flowchart of an operation performed by a touch of an input sensing device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 38, an operation relating to a method of detecting a user touch may be performed in the same order as illustrated.

First, a step (S410) of driving a touch cell corresponding to a plurality of electrode pads 110 of a transparent material arranged in a matrix form is performed. Thereafter, in operation S430, a touch detection value is output based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch. In operation S450, a touch area is calculated based on the touch detection value. Finally, the step S470 of moving the pointing cursor 350 on the screen is performed based on the calculated touch area.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the same pointing cursor control method may be applied to a virtual keyboard.

39 is a block diagram of an interface device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The interface device 2000 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an output unit 2010, a setting unit 2020, and a control unit 2030.

The output unit 2010 configures a screen and outputs it to the display panel. The output unit 2010 may configure a screen corresponding to a user input or a preset condition. In particular, when a situation in which the user requests to display the virtual keyboard or the virtual keyboard occurs, a screen including the virtual keyboard may be generated and displayed.

The setting unit 2020 sets first to fourth areas on the touch screen. The first area is an area where the virtual keyboard is displayed when the virtual keyboard is displayed, the second area is an area for controlling the operation of the pointing cursor (for example, the movement of the pointing cursor or the click of the pointing cursor), and the third area. The area is an area in which a function key for providing a specific function is arranged, and the fourth area is an area not included in the first to third areas and provides a general touch function. The setting unit 2020 stores information about the first area, the second area, and the third area in a memory. According to an exemplary embodiment, when the setting unit 2020 sets at least one of the first area, the second area, and the third area, the first area, the second area, and the third area are divided in the above-described output unit 2010. The generated screen can also be created and displayed.

The controller 2030 generates a control signal according to the touch input. Even in the same touch input, different control signals may be generated depending on in which area.

For example, a virtual keyboard is displayed in the first area. When the user touches a specific coordinate in the first area, the controller 2030 generates an input signal for a key (that is, a letter key, a numeric key, and a special key) disposed at the corresponding coordinate. Since only a tap input is possible in the first area, when the multi-tap or drag input is received in the first area, the controller 2030 may generate an error signal or no signal.

The second area is an area for controlling the operation of the pointing cursor. Therefore, when a drag input is received in the second area, the controller 2030 generates a control signal for moving the pointing cursor according to the direction and length of the drag input. When the tap input is received in the second area, the controller 2030 Generates a control signal corresponding to the click of the pointing cursor.

The third area is an area where a function key providing a specific function is arranged. When the user touches a specific coordinate in the third area, the controller 2030 generates a control signal for controlling the operation of the function key disposed at the coordinate. Since only a tap input is possible in the third area, when the multi-tap or drag input is received in the third area, the controller 2030 may generate an error signal or no signal.

The interface device 2000 may include an input sensing device 200. The input sensing device 200 may include a driver 210, a detector 220, a signal processor 230, and a memory 240, and the driver 210, the detector 220, the signal processor 230, and the memory may be provided. Since the description of 240 is the same as described above with reference to FIGS. 2 to 19, a description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 20, although it is assumed that the interface device 2000 includes the input sensing device 200 shown in FIG. 2, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the interface device 2000 may detect a touch. If it is a device, the form or method is irrelevant. Accordingly, the interface device 2000 may include the touch panel or other input sensing device illustrated in FIG. 1 instead of the input sensing device 200 illustrated in FIG. 2.

 40 is a flowchart illustrating a method of providing an interface according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, a virtual keyboard is displayed on a first area of the touch screen (s2110). The location of the first area may be designated by a user or default. For example, the virtual keyboard may be disposed at the bottom of the screen. The virtual keyboard may be displayed when requested by the user or when a specific situation (eg, when a specific application such as writing an email is operated) is satisfied.

Next, a second area is set in the touch screen (s2120). The second area is an area for controlling the operation of the pointing cursor and may be referred to as a track pad area or a finger mouse area. For example, the second area may be set in the touch screen when a user requests or a virtual keyboard is displayed.

The location of the second area may be specified by the user or may be designated by default. For example, the second area may be located directly above the virtual keyboard or directly below the virtual keyboard. As such, when the second area is determined as a position relative to the reference point, when the reference point moves, the position of the second area may also move together. For example, when the second area is located directly above the virtual keyboard, when the user moves the location of the virtual keyboard or enlarges or reduces the virtual keyboard, the location of the second area may be moved.

In addition, a third area may be further set in the touch screen. A function key for performing a specific function is arranged in the third area so that when a user selects a function key, an operation corresponding to the selected function key can be quickly performed.

The interlace device sets the first area, the second area, and the third area, and simultaneously obtains and stores the address (or identification information) of the area corresponding to the first area, the second area, and the third area in the touch sensor. Can be. For example, the electronic device stores information (eg, location information or identification information) about electrode pads corresponding to the first area, the second area, and the third area, so that the touched electrode pad corresponds to which area. Make sure you can identify it.

However, when the positions of the first area, the second area, and the third area are fixed, the electronic device may store only information on whether the first area, the second area, and the third area are set. Areas other than the first area, the second area, and the third area may be set as the fourth area.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, the precision of touch detection in the first area, the second area, the third area, and the fourth area may be set differently. The precision of touch detection can be designed to make the electrode pad size smaller or to increase the number of bits of the analog-to-digital converter.

Finally, a corresponding control signal is generated according to a touch input to the first area, the second area, the third area, or the fourth area (S2130). As described above, the same touch input may be interpreted differently according to the region where the touch is generated. For example, when a drag input is received to the fourth area, a control signal corresponding to a general drag operation (moving an object at the touched position or panning the screen) is generated. Generates a control signal corresponding to the movement of the cursor.

41 illustrates an interface screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 41, the bottom of the screen on which the virtual keyboard is displayed is set as the first area 2210. When the virtual keyboard is displayed, the second area 2220 and the third area 2230 are set directly above the virtual keyboard, and included in the first area 2210, the second area 2220, and the third area 2230. An area not to be set is set as the fourth area.

The user may move the position of the virtual keyboard or enlarge or reduce the size of the virtual keyboard, and accordingly, the first area 2210, the second area 2220, the third area 2230, and the fourth area may be adjusted. The location can be changed. In addition, the user may remove the virtual keyboard, and when the virtual keyboard is removed, the settings for the first area 2210, the second area 2220, and the third area 2230 are canceled, and all areas of the screen are the fourth. It may be set to an area (ie, a general touch space).

If the user drags the second area 2220 after the virtual keyboard is displayed, the pointing cursor 2240 moves based on the direction or length of the drag. Alternatively, the cursor located on the text input by the virtual keyboard may be moved up, down, left, and right by one letter in response to dragging of the second area 2220.

FIG. 42 illustrates an example of an electrode pad corresponding to each region when the region of the touch screen is set as illustrated in FIG. 41.

The voltage values of the plurality of electrode pads illustrated in FIG. 42 change before and after the touch, and the touch coordinates and the touch area are calculated according to the change of the voltage value.

Referring to FIG. 42, the ten electrode pads 2310 disposed at the bottom thereof are electrode pads corresponding to the first region 2210 of FIG. 40, and the three electrode pads 2320 disposed at the center thereof immediately above the same. Are electrode pads corresponding to the second region 2220 of FIG. 40, and the two electrode pads 2330 disposed at the right and left ends thereof are electrode pads corresponding to the third region 2230 of FIG. 40. That is, when the user touches the first area 2210 of FIG. 40, one of the ten electrode pads 2310 disposed at the bottom thereof detects the touch.

42 exemplarily shows that each of the electrode pads may be allocated to the first to fourth regions to perform a touch or pointing function. It will be fully understood that the number and size of electrode pads belonging to each region are not limited to the example shown in FIG. 41 and can be variously changed.

As described above, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the pointing cursor can be efficiently controlled by setting a predetermined area of the touch screen as an area for moving the pointing cursor only when a predetermined condition is satisfied, such as when a virtual keyboard is displayed. do.

The foregoing description of the disclosure is provided by way of illustration, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure may be easily modified into other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features of the present disclosure. will be. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive. For example, each component described as a single type may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of protection of the present disclosure is indicated by the appended claims rather than the detailed description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are included in the scope of the present invention. Should be.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the resolution and accuracy of the touch sensing may be increased, and the accurate touch area and the touch coordinate may be calculated. In addition, a new user input method can be provided by using an accurate touch area and touch coordinates.

Claims (16)

A user input sensing device, A plurality of electrode pads of a transparent material disposed in a matrix form; A driving unit including a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads, and configured to output a voltage change in response to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. ; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And A signal processor that calculates a touch area using the touch detection value and calculates touch coordinates using the touch area. User input detection device comprising a. The method of claim 1, And the signal processor is configured to calculate the touch area by extracting a touch cell group corresponding to touched adjacent electrode pads and summing touch detection values of the touched touch cell group. The method of claim 2, And the signal processor is configured to calculate multi-touch coordinates by using touch areas of a plurality of touch cell groups. The method of claim 1, And the signal processor calculates the touch coordinates based on a position of the electrode pad on the matrix and a touch area occupying the electrode pad. The method of claim 4, wherein And the signal processor calculates touch coordinates based on a position of the electrode pads on the matrix and a distribution of touch areas in the X-axis and Y-axis directions. The method of claim 5, And the signal processor is configured to calculate touch coordinates by using a center point of touch areas in the X and Y axis directions. In the user input detection method, Driving touch cells corresponding to electrode pads of a transparent material arranged in a matrix; Outputting a touch detection value based on a difference in voltage change generated from the driven touch cell before and after the touch; Calculating a touch area based on the touch detection value; And And calculating touch coordinates using the calculated touch area and position information of the touched electrode pad. The method of claim 7, wherein The touch cell driving step, Charging and floating the electrode pad using a switch electrically connected to the electrode pad, and outputting a voltage change generated by applying a voltage signal to a first capacitor electrically connected to the electrode pad, The touch detection value output step, Detecting the difference in the output voltage change before and after the touch as a touch detection value. The method of claim 7, wherein And extracting a touch cell group including adjacent cells from which a touch is detected, based on the touch detection value. The method of claim 8, And calculating the touch coordinates based on the coordinates of the center point of the touch area. The method of claim 10, The center point coordinate of the touch area is calculated based on the distribution of the touch area occupying the electrode pad. The method of claim 11, And a center point coordinate of the touch area is calculated using an area center point in the X axis direction and an area center point in the Y axis direction of the touch area. In the integrated circuit (IC) used in the user input sensing device, And a switch and a first capacitor electrically connected to the plurality of electrode pads arranged in a matrix form, wherein the voltage change is responsive to a voltage signal applied to the first capacitor after charging and floating the electrode pad using the switch. A driving unit for outputting; A detector configured to output a touch detection value based on a difference between the output voltage change before and after the touch; And A signal processor that calculates a touch area using the touch detection value and calculates touch coordinates using the touch area. Integrated circuit comprising a. The method of claim 13, And the signal processor is configured to calculate the touch area by extracting a touch cell group corresponding to touched adjacent electrode pads and summing touch detection values of the touched touch cell group. The method of claim 13, And the signal processing unit calculates the touch coordinates based on the position of the electrode pad and the touch area occupying the electrode pad. The method of claim 15, And the signal processor calculates touch coordinates by using the position of the electrode pad and the center point of the touch area in the X and Y axis directions of the touch panel.

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